shifty1979
03-07-2010, 05:51 AM
I have a 1998 BMW 540i Touring, which I converted to LPG back in 2008. It cost me £2000 so, approx $3020 to have the conversion done. I had a really good quality conversion kit put in, made by Tartarini (Italian Co) with a 76ltr LPG tank in the boot.
To save on labour costs, I prepared the car ready for the conversion. Here are some of the problems I encountered...
If you don't want the tank clogging up your boot, your need to have a ring tank fitted. My 76 litre tank was the largest tank I could fit in the spare wheel well. It was a really tight fit and required some cutting away of the BMW boot tray, e.g. a small section where car jack used to live.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/004.jpg
After removing the spare, I had to remove the pump for the self levelling suspension unit out of the spare wheel well and find a new discreet home for it.
I decided to remove the sub woofer unit and replace it with the self levelling suspension unit. Despite being an amateur, this was not actually that difficult. I piggy backed the existing brackets in the back of the car, bolting the bottom fixing pan of the self levelling suspension unit in place.
I spotted a couple of welds to hold the bolts in place nice and tight. Then I placed approx 6-8 inch of foam padding, which I cut with scissors into a circular shape the same size of the unit, placing it
between the bottom fixing pan and the base of the self levelling suspension unit before, before bolting the unit back together.
This first time I did this, I did it without spot welding. I tried using Araldite rapid steel super strong metal bond on the bolts heads against the fixing unit. In a sense the araldite worked, holding the bolts and unit in firm place. However, I discovered the unit was too noisy, as the vibrations rattled through the metal brackets amplifying the noise.
This is why I had to add extra foam padding, hence me putting in the 8 inch worth. When I tightened the bolts with that much foam padding in, I really had to apply extra torque to compress the foam and get the unit to pressed as tight / close to the fixing pan as possible. Every time I tried the araldite bond snapped, hence me having to spot weld the fixing bolts in place.
After that it was easy. The unit tightened up nice and firm, the foam padding eliminated all the noise and the unit sits out of site where the sub woofer used to be.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/005.jpg
The only problem now is when I have to replace the battery or fuses in rear, as it takes about 45 minutes to remove and re-fit the self levelling suspension unit, purely because it's a fiddly job. It also makes it harder to replace bulbs in the rear light cluster, though not impossible as I can do it without having to remove the suspension unit.
I retained all the wiring for the sub-woofer so can sit it in the boot, still wired up. I simply remove the wiring clip and take out the sub-woofer if I am carrying the dogs or any luggage in the boot.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/007.jpg
One other thing to bear in mind is where to situate the gas filler points - In the E39 you are limited where the filler tank hose insert goes. It can't go in the rear bumper, you can't fit it inside the car due to safety / legislation. See the photograph where mine is situated this is about the only place she will go give or take a few inch.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/006.jpg
Despite the hassle of the initial fit, the costs savings have been well worth it. Why? Well compare current UK fuel prices to US prices and you will see why so many people with big petrol engines in the UK have already converted....
Gas / Petrol in the UK costs £1.12 per litre at the moment. That's approx $1.69 per litre. There are 0.26 US Gallons to every litre. 1 US gallon of gas is just slightly more than 4 litres.
Based on current UK prices after conversion to the dollar we are paying the equivalent of $6.76 per US gallon here in the UK. :( I understand your paying approx $2.50 to $2.90 depending on location at the moment!
For your info, I get approx 200-230 miles out of the 76 litre LPG tank. LPG costs £0.58 per litre at the moment, so the savings for me are huge. There is no obvious loss of power from using LPG on such a large powerful engine.
It's bit annoying have to refill every 200 miles or so, but the savings are worth it. :p
I'd like to hear from anyone who has successfully converted a newish M5 Touring. I suspect with all the extra electrical equipment, bigger and better toys, space is even more limited, making conversion harder if not impossible. It's the only thing that puts me off buying one, as I could not afford to run one in the UK otherwise.
To save on labour costs, I prepared the car ready for the conversion. Here are some of the problems I encountered...
If you don't want the tank clogging up your boot, your need to have a ring tank fitted. My 76 litre tank was the largest tank I could fit in the spare wheel well. It was a really tight fit and required some cutting away of the BMW boot tray, e.g. a small section where car jack used to live.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/004.jpg
After removing the spare, I had to remove the pump for the self levelling suspension unit out of the spare wheel well and find a new discreet home for it.
I decided to remove the sub woofer unit and replace it with the self levelling suspension unit. Despite being an amateur, this was not actually that difficult. I piggy backed the existing brackets in the back of the car, bolting the bottom fixing pan of the self levelling suspension unit in place.
I spotted a couple of welds to hold the bolts in place nice and tight. Then I placed approx 6-8 inch of foam padding, which I cut with scissors into a circular shape the same size of the unit, placing it
between the bottom fixing pan and the base of the self levelling suspension unit before, before bolting the unit back together.
This first time I did this, I did it without spot welding. I tried using Araldite rapid steel super strong metal bond on the bolts heads against the fixing unit. In a sense the araldite worked, holding the bolts and unit in firm place. However, I discovered the unit was too noisy, as the vibrations rattled through the metal brackets amplifying the noise.
This is why I had to add extra foam padding, hence me putting in the 8 inch worth. When I tightened the bolts with that much foam padding in, I really had to apply extra torque to compress the foam and get the unit to pressed as tight / close to the fixing pan as possible. Every time I tried the araldite bond snapped, hence me having to spot weld the fixing bolts in place.
After that it was easy. The unit tightened up nice and firm, the foam padding eliminated all the noise and the unit sits out of site where the sub woofer used to be.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/005.jpg
The only problem now is when I have to replace the battery or fuses in rear, as it takes about 45 minutes to remove and re-fit the self levelling suspension unit, purely because it's a fiddly job. It also makes it harder to replace bulbs in the rear light cluster, though not impossible as I can do it without having to remove the suspension unit.
I retained all the wiring for the sub-woofer so can sit it in the boot, still wired up. I simply remove the wiring clip and take out the sub-woofer if I am carrying the dogs or any luggage in the boot.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/007.jpg
One other thing to bear in mind is where to situate the gas filler points - In the E39 you are limited where the filler tank hose insert goes. It can't go in the rear bumper, you can't fit it inside the car due to safety / legislation. See the photograph where mine is situated this is about the only place she will go give or take a few inch.
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b411/shifty1979/BMW%20LPG%20Conversion/006.jpg
Despite the hassle of the initial fit, the costs savings have been well worth it. Why? Well compare current UK fuel prices to US prices and you will see why so many people with big petrol engines in the UK have already converted....
Gas / Petrol in the UK costs £1.12 per litre at the moment. That's approx $1.69 per litre. There are 0.26 US Gallons to every litre. 1 US gallon of gas is just slightly more than 4 litres.
Based on current UK prices after conversion to the dollar we are paying the equivalent of $6.76 per US gallon here in the UK. :( I understand your paying approx $2.50 to $2.90 depending on location at the moment!
For your info, I get approx 200-230 miles out of the 76 litre LPG tank. LPG costs £0.58 per litre at the moment, so the savings for me are huge. There is no obvious loss of power from using LPG on such a large powerful engine.
It's bit annoying have to refill every 200 miles or so, but the savings are worth it. :p
I'd like to hear from anyone who has successfully converted a newish M5 Touring. I suspect with all the extra electrical equipment, bigger and better toys, space is even more limited, making conversion harder if not impossible. It's the only thing that puts me off buying one, as I could not afford to run one in the UK otherwise.