I purchased a BMW X5 4.4 6 months ago and had the conversion done a week later. The conversion was priced at £2300, whilst it was the most expensive quote I had been given, the person came with a glowing referal so I went ahead. A doughnut shaped tank which holds 60 litres of gas was fitted, this replaced my spare wheel, (A punctur kit from BMW £70 needed) the only other change to my car was the suspension pump had to be moved to allow the fitting (no visible change inside or out) this is an X5 issue only. Since having it fitted I have only encountered one problem - the car cut out on me without warning - the fitter traced it down to a faulty injector and I havent had issues since. I am paying 50.9 pence per litre and have the choice of 3 stations with 3 miles (one being a Morrisons - save the points and you soon rack up the credits) I have worked out I am getting about the equivelent of 36-40MPG because of the price of petrol (104p a litre).
Filling up takes a bit of getting used to - totally different system - but once you have used it a couple of times its easy
I havent noticed any loss of power and although I was advised you lose about 10% off your top end MPH figure - I never drive at 125 MPH anyway!!
Just taxed my car and it cost £195 for the year - a saving of £25 on the cost of a mondeo's tax (now £220) and £105 on the cost of a 4x4 (now £300) - so another saving!
Overall I would recommend getting the conversion - petrol isnt going to get that much cheaper if at all and whilst they may want to put up the tax on LPG - the fact it is classed as a green fuel might keep them from doing it. One thing - the person who fitted my system has been doing it for 15 years - he is Romanian - nd told me that everyone who buys a new car in his country gets it converted almost immediately
'the only reason it isnt so popular in the UK is because people are too rich' he told me.
I spoke to him 6 weeks later as I was getting my 1000 mile check and he said he was now booked solid for the next 3 months with conversions and whilst there 2 people showed up in their cars to ask when they could be converted!!
Tips:- 1. Get a recommendation 2. check where your nearest filling stations are (Most Morrisons stores have them) 3. Get converted 4. Feel smug when filling up at the petrol station
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Advantages: Extremely luxurious, amazing handling and ride stability for its size, bloody nippy. good top end speed Disadvantages: its big, so not gonna fit it in small parking spaces, bad on MPG. spares and repairs can be costly
KushanFarsight 26.05.2005 ·
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