LPG, ing a X5 V8.?

[Big Dave]

Hi. My first post on here..
Just looking into getting a 4.6iS.
Has anybody on here had any experience of getting there X5 V8 ,,LPG,ed .? The E53 version , not the later E70...
What are the pro,s and con,s.
Can you get a underslung tank, or do the LPG tanks have to replace the spare wheel.? Dont want to have the LPG tank in the load space in the back of the car. It takes up too much room...
Ive done some calcs + itd take around 12 months to break even...
I do around 10-12K / year + the LPG kit fitted is about £1750...
Not bought a car yet, just doing some investigations etc...
Thanks.

[phill]

Usually it fits were the spare wheel fits, beware the battery is under the spare wheel. I have not got LPG in mine and do about 6000 a year so the price of fuel never really affected my choice. My only concern with LPG if it is as good as people say it is, why can't you buy a new car from the dealer with LPG?


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[AW8]

Tank sits in spare wheel well more often than not.

Filler moth locates nbehinf towabr cover if not fited otherwise norm is to fit to side of bumper.

Cant stress enough the value of choosing a decent system, (prinz seems to be favourite), & installer.

It will need servicing.

It may not want to work when very cold but I think latest sytems statrt on petrol when cold then autoswitch to lpg.

Pro's - Cheaper to run once you break even on supply/fit cost. Possibly quicker to sell car on in future if you install a top kit keep it well serviced & market the reliability of same when advertising. Wouldn't go so far as to say it will increase value of car as prices of lpg equipped cars can vary the issue being most wanting same also seek reliability & thus like to have input on what kit is fitted rather than fearing unknown passed on issues. Also a greener option & an LPG sticker may put off the anti 4x4 brigade.

Con's - LPG can make a big explosion. Last I heard you weren't allowed to take an LPG car on eurotunnel. LPG reckoned by most as not quite as efficient as petrol so whilst cheaper per litre maybe expect slightly worse mpg albeit higher equivalent mpg in terms of cost per mile of fuel. Lets say 4.6is average is 19 maybe 17 real world depending where you live. If you LPG it you may get 15-17 mpg on lpg the equivalent cost may give return equivalent to mid high 30's. A 3.0d can return in 30's if in fine health albeit a prefacelift 3.0d non remapped will but out much lower HP than the 4.6is even if you allow for those that argue LPG causes a slight HP trade off. Insurance will need to be notified dont know if they charge more or not. 3.0d cheaper to insure also,(do check 4.6is insurance prices against 3.0d if not insured by own business and costs a relavant factor). Finally consider some report having yellow emissions light on lots of the time - supposedly the LPG confusing the emissions monitoring of the car.

For some reason some have the impression that folk with LPG cars dont keep them that long. Not convinced if this is the case & can think of at leat one member, (lezmtaylor),on here who has had car & LPG a fair while now. Perhaps some that decide to reduce running costs later decide to sel their X5 as repair costs still significant.

There is also a dedicated forum for lpg vehicles in general http://www.lpgforum.co.uk

I dont have LPG as dont tend to do high miles however, if I had fitted it when I bought the car in 2006 and over 40k miles ago I would have broken even long ago - assuming I didnt have issues & still kept the car this long. I havent ruled out getting LPG main things stopping me is are fear of being out of pocket if I sold before break even period also in back of mind worries, ( perhaps unfounded), of potential for it to go wrong. Yellow emissions light being on would drive me nuts as I would want to check my codes & sort issues at first sign of same.

Others far better able to advuise you - g60renshaw recently had a kit installed & possibly another member too.

Differences in opinion re LPG can suprisngly cause significant heated debate - hopefully rows wont follow

[IanP]

You will get less mpg on lpg, my 4.6 worked out at the equivalent of 30 mpg. You cannot fill the lpg tank to the 100% as the pump will cut out around 80% full so you will need to fill up more often.I was filling up every 2 days. Make sure the kit fitted will cope with full power fuel demand on lpg. The one fitted on mine does not, so needs to be on petrol when 'making progress'. Some engines do not like lpg due to the lack of lubrication in the fuel, my engine blew up for other reasons , but the inlet valves were well pitted at 80000 miles.

[gchristofi]

[quote=""Big Dave""]Hi. My first post on here..
Just looking into getting a 4.6iS.
Has anybody on here had any experience of getting there X5 V8 ,,LPG,ed .? The E53 version , not the later E70...
What are the pro,s and con,s.
Can you get a underslung tank, or do the LPG tanks have to replace the spare wheel.? Dont want to have the LPG tank in the load space in the back of the car. It takes up too much room...
Ive done some calcs + itd take around 12 months to break even...
I do around 10-12K / year + the LPG kit fitted is about £1750...
Not bought a car yet, just doing some investigations etc...
Thanks.[/quote]

Hi. I looked into LPG when buying a couple of years ago. At similar mileage per year to you, I'm sure I calculated a much longer return on investment period, and that being with no issues in the mean time. What % efficiency did you use to calculate the value of the LPG fuel? I was a little put off by the potential for future issues and lack of dealer good will should I ever need it in future!
Might still do a conversion if the number stack up when I'm further out of goodwill age.

[Raj]

I've spent quite sometime researching this for the 4.8, but for me there are too many drawbacks.

I too do about 10-12k a year but you have worked on pretty much only running on LPG. I think I worked out about 2 years or just under as I believe you should run a full tank of petrol through every 3-4 tank fulls of LPG as otherwise it can have a detrimental effect on the engine/heads.

Also, depending upon how long each journey is, the car will always start on petrol and only autoswitch over when the LPG system is upto correct running temp. So you will be burning petrol each time you start the car also.

The other big factor for me too is that mine is under warranty with BMW and they will use any opportunity to reject a claim. So the fact the LPG system has direct contact with the engine and ecu means BMW will in my case probably use it to not payout on any kind of engine issues.

And as stated in one of the other posts, this is all without any costs to servicing of the LPG system and any possible issues/repairs.

[bigshout]

Raj, I can't see how running a full tank evert 3-4 tanks would affect the engine heads, all LPG units on the X5 will always start on petrol from cold, therefore all the compents are used and working at least once in a journey. I have a BRC system and can't fault it, never run this tank combo and the car only run on petrol for the first couple of miles on each journey. It's never let me down. Very professionally fitted and cheaper to run the car. You do hear the injectors over the a standard V8 when the bonnet is up but overall it's an impressive system and one I would recommend.

[quote=""Raj""]I've spent quite sometime researching this for the 4.8, but for me there are too many drawbacks.

I too do about 10-12k a year but you have worked on pretty much only running on LPG. I think I worked out about 2 years or just under as I believe you should run a full tank of petrol through every 3-4 tank fulls of LPG as otherwise it can have a detrimental effect on the engine/heads.

Also, depending upon how long each journey is, the car will always start on petrol and only autoswitch over when the LPG system is upto correct running temp. So you will be burning petrol each time you start the car also.

The other big factor for me too is that mine is under warranty with BMW and they will use any opportunity to reject a claim. So the fact the LPG system has direct contact with the engine and ecu means BMW will in my case probably use it to not payout on any kind of engine issues.

And as stated in one of the other posts, this is all without any costs to servicing of the LPG system and any possible issues/repairs.[/quote]