Discussion
I've got an old 2003 E500, currently it's a 2nd car so doesn't do much mileage. I might potentially be looking at increasing my commuting mileage to 30K next year, any sense/value in dropping a LPG conversion in? Or would I be wiser picking up a diesel?
Are LPG conversions still popular in 2018?
Are LPG conversions still popular in 2018?
Far less popular than they were, specialists are much thinner on the ground and good ones even fewer. The availability has always been surprisingly poor, countrywide still have a filling station setup but I often found I had to plan trips carefully to be able to fill up without making a special journey, which rather defeated the object of saving on fuel!
A decent conversion is going to cost 1500-2000 for a turnkey. Costs per L are still a lot less than petrol but you'd have to check what yours are locally and then do the maths. I'd guess on 30k a year you'd still be looking at 18 months plus to recoup the money.
Resale will probably be less or at least harder with an lpg conversion on an e class, I think you'd need to keep it.
I believe the 113 engine converts ok, or rather I've seen others done. Some engine types do some don't
LPG divides opinion like almost nothing else I've come across, some like others absolutely hate it.
To make it practical you'd need a specialist close by, to really want to keep your car and not need to sell it any tiome soon. If this is the case it could work really well as a cost effective option.
A decent conversion is going to cost 1500-2000 for a turnkey. Costs per L are still a lot less than petrol but you'd have to check what yours are locally and then do the maths. I'd guess on 30k a year you'd still be looking at 18 months plus to recoup the money.
Resale will probably be less or at least harder with an lpg conversion on an e class, I think you'd need to keep it.
I believe the 113 engine converts ok, or rather I've seen others done. Some engine types do some don't
LPG divides opinion like almost nothing else I've come across, some like others absolutely hate it.
To make it practical you'd need a specialist close by, to really want to keep your car and not need to sell it any tiome soon. If this is the case it could work really well as a cost effective option.
You can run a car like that for not much more than the cost of a diesel with a LPG conversion.
You're rolling the dice on something older like that throwing 30k miles a year on it and you probably won't see payback on the conversion for a year or so, depending on the cost of the install and price differential between LPG and petrol.
I did it on an E39, the LPG kit was perfect and never gave me trouble. The rest of the car bled me dry with maintenance costs - but it would have done that regardless of what fuel was going in the tank. I've had several LPG cars, in each case the LPG system didn't give me any trouble. Maybe I've just been lucky.
These days I don't do the mileage to warrant one but I'd certainly seriously consider having another one if I did. My problem is that I just don't tend to keep cars very long and you really need to run it for a few years to realise the savings. That said, big petrol engine sensation, diesel fuel bills, it works for me.
You're rolling the dice on something older like that throwing 30k miles a year on it and you probably won't see payback on the conversion for a year or so, depending on the cost of the install and price differential between LPG and petrol.
I did it on an E39, the LPG kit was perfect and never gave me trouble. The rest of the car bled me dry with maintenance costs - but it would have done that regardless of what fuel was going in the tank. I've had several LPG cars, in each case the LPG system didn't give me any trouble. Maybe I've just been lucky.
These days I don't do the mileage to warrant one but I'd certainly seriously consider having another one if I did. My problem is that I just don't tend to keep cars very long and you really need to run it for a few years to realise the savings. That said, big petrol engine sensation, diesel fuel bills, it works for me.
Wooda80 said:
Leaving aside the issue of which fuel to use, suddenly pressing a 15 year old car into 30k per year is going to advance the appearance of all kinds of faults, wear & tear etc.
If the car is your pet then it would be better to buy something newer to use for that kind of mileage.
This is where the man maths comes into question. The car probably won't be worth any less than it is now so I can forget about depreciation. In the past year I've deleted the airmatic suspension and it's had lots of new suspension arms etc. The autobox on these is apparently reasonably bullet proof as is the engine. The only borky bit left I think is the sbc brake pump. Oh and my local filling station has a LPG pump.If the car is your pet then it would be better to buy something newer to use for that kind of mileage.
Maybe the bigger question is taking a job with the 1 hour + each way commute worth it in the long run...
I've ran Grand Cherokees for the last ten years or so, all on LPG.
Current one is a 170,000 mile 2001 V8 60th Anniversary and I've done about 18,000 miles in it since February, mostly towing.
I've not had any LPG issues, and in that time i've towed in friends Q7s, X5s etc when they have broken down
I also had an E32 740i on LPG and a friend currently runs a ML500 on LPG.
I think he's fibbing, but he recons on getting over 200 miles on £25 worth of gas!
Current one is a 170,000 mile 2001 V8 60th Anniversary and I've done about 18,000 miles in it since February, mostly towing.
I've not had any LPG issues, and in that time i've towed in friends Q7s, X5s etc when they have broken down
I also had an E32 740i on LPG and a friend currently runs a ML500 on LPG.
I think he's fibbing, but he recons on getting over 200 miles on £25 worth of gas!
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