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Thread: BMW LPG Conversion

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Orange County, California
    Posts
    645
    My Cars
    E46 330i ZSP+ZPP

    BMW LPG Conversion

    I just learned about LPG, which is an alternative fuel source. Apparently you can convert any car to LPG.

    What I've learned so far:
    • There is around 10% to 20% reduction in fuel economy (some experience as low as 4% reduction) but no loss in performance.
    • LPG costs considerably less than gasoline. As much as 50% less. In my area, LPG is about 30% less than gasoline - and closer to 40-50% less than premium gasoline.
    • Conversion is expensive, somewhere around $2000 to $4000, although I haven't found any sites actually selling a conversion yet so I can't be sure of actual costs.
    • Some conversions, namely more expensive conversions, will give a better (greater) mpg.
    • One person's 325i got 23.17mpg - that's 280 miles on 45.74 liters of LPG. Also I'm assuming he did't run it to empty (zero) so it's probably a little better than 23.17mpg.
    • I estimate somewhere around $10 to $20 fuel savings on every fill up.
    • Thus for people who drive a lot, you can make your money back fast; but for people who drive infrequently this might not be economical as it would take a long time to make your money back, depending on the cost of conversion.
    • They make self-install kits, which could save a lot of money if you're handy. I don't know how much these kits cost.
    • Apparently when you run out of LPG it seamlessly moves over to gasoline. I'm not certain about this, but if so then you will have considerably more range than your normal gas tank, actually close to double range if you used gas too. Although then you'd be losing money with the gas since you're only saving when you are using LPG.

    325i conversion thread: http://www.lpgforum.co.uk/viewtopic....=11256&start=0 (see page 2 for the update where he talks about mileage etc.)

    p.s. where he talks about LPG costs in that thread, I did the conversion to USD >> 72.9p (UK penny, 100 penny in 1 pound = .729 GPB) * 3.78541 (this many litres in one gallon) = 2.76GBP/gallon = $4.51 USD.

    However, in the US, LPG is considerably less expensive. In my area, the closest LPG station which is just a few miles away, is $2.78 USD per gallon LPG. (link)
    Compare this to the lowest Premium gas in my area, which is at Costco and also Arco at $3.58 USD/gal. That makes LPG 22.3463687150838% (22.3%) less expensive than premium gasoline.

    Anyone else had experiences with LPG? What do you think about it?

    p.s. I don't give a f*** about the environment, Global Warming is already proven to be a scam (source). Only reason to do this would be to save money in the long run.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    1,303
    My Cars
    1995 BMW 328
    50.000+ LPG miles on my 195,000 mile Nikasil engined E36 328. It rocks.
    ESGi II Sequential system, OMVL rails.
    As for the environment, over here the stuff is burnt off on top of refineries as they can't sell it all so my fuel would be burnt off into the atmosphere anyway, whether it moves a car or not so in theory carbon foot print wise my car is only burning the 100ml to 300ml of petrol it uses on a cold start the rest would be burnt regardless of me using it or not so is neutral, let alone cleaner than petrol.
    Last edited by E36328Coupe; 12-21-2014 at 08:05 PM.
    No warranty of any kind implied or given and no liability for any loss, damage or injury, no matter how incurred accepted.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    1,303
    My Cars
    1995 BMW 328
    Also when comparing to UK MPG our gallons are 4.54609 litres
    No warranty of any kind implied or given and no liability for any loss, damage or injury, no matter how incurred accepted.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    München
    Posts
    55
    My Cars
    1996 BMW 523i
    Heya guys,

    I am living in Germany and have got an LPG system from BRC on my 523i and the mileage you get from one tank is pretty good...

    60L gives me about 450-500km on an average.
    I pay 64Cent per L at the moment.. So do the maths.

    It is working good and without problem, have had it for 1 ½ years now.
    The only thing noticable is a small power-loss to petrol, not very much but you do notice the difference when you want to pull on the Autobahn.

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