E39 vs E60. Diesel vs LPG!
Discussion
I currently have a 2005 MCS and want to swap it for a 5-Series.
My criteria is that the car must have full leather, sat nav, auto and loads of other toys.
I want to keep it for around 100k, (4yrs) hopefully so tempted to get a 530i and LPG it. Will more than pay for itself.
The question is is this a viable alternative to a 530d. In my eyes it will be cheaper to buy before LPG and will drive far nicer using less fuel cost wise.
My budget is around 8k so can bag a good late E39. My question is should I wait another year and get a E60 when good 2004/5 models will dip below 10k. To rack up to 200k is the E60 much better than the E39.
For the record I have a E34 which still in my eyes drives better than most modern cars so I would not consider the E39 "old"
My criteria is that the car must have full leather, sat nav, auto and loads of other toys.
I want to keep it for around 100k, (4yrs) hopefully so tempted to get a 530i and LPG it. Will more than pay for itself.
The question is is this a viable alternative to a 530d. In my eyes it will be cheaper to buy before LPG and will drive far nicer using less fuel cost wise.
My budget is around 8k so can bag a good late E39. My question is should I wait another year and get a E60 when good 2004/5 models will dip below 10k. To rack up to 200k is the E60 much better than the E39.
For the record I have a E34 which still in my eyes drives better than most modern cars so I would not consider the E39 "old"
Fox- said:
pgilc1 said:
I'm not sure a year for year 530i will be cheaper than its equivalent 530d?
Are you not? I'd have thought they would be - they always have been in the past. When I bought my 530i Sport, a few years ago I admit, a 530d was about £2k more than the equivilent 530i.Also the diesels generally have much higher milages vs the petrols.
I think the issue is over LPG vs diesel rather than petrol vs diesel.
If you were to get an E60 and convert it to LPG, where would you put the tank? This usually goes in the spare wheel well, but I think you might be out of luck with an E60. I would talk to an installer who had done E60's before.
If you want to stick with an E39, I think a 530i/lpg would have an advantage over a 530d in terms of performance, refinement and running costs. The only thing that might concern me would be the reliability of an LPG system over 100k miles. I'm starting to get the impression that after-market systems are not as well engineered as factory systems.
Nick
If you were to get an E60 and convert it to LPG, where would you put the tank? This usually goes in the spare wheel well, but I think you might be out of luck with an E60. I would talk to an installer who had done E60's before.
If you want to stick with an E39, I think a 530i/lpg would have an advantage over a 530d in terms of performance, refinement and running costs. The only thing that might concern me would be the reliability of an LPG system over 100k miles. I'm starting to get the impression that after-market systems are not as well engineered as factory systems.
Nick
Welshbeef said:
Fox- said:
pgilc1 said:
I'm not sure a year for year 530i will be cheaper than its equivalent 530d?
Are you not? I'd have thought they would be - they always have been in the past. When I bought my 530i Sport, a few years ago I admit, a 530d was about £2k more than the equivilent 530i.Also the diesels generally have much higher milages vs the petrols.
welwynnick said:
I think the issue is over LPG vs diesel rather than petrol vs diesel.
If you were to get an E60 and convert it to LPG, where would you put the tank? This usually goes in the spare wheel well, but I think you might be out of luck with an E60. I would talk to an installer who had done E60's before.
If you want to stick with an E39, I think a 530i/lpg would have an advantage over a 530d in terms of performance, refinement and running costs. The only thing that might concern me would be the reliability of an LPG system over 100k miles. I'm starting to get the impression that after-market systems are not as well engineered as factory systems.
Nick
Its back to my fear though that LPG cars tend not to be worth the cost of the conversion over their non converted counterparts come resale time. The motor trade still fear them for one thing, so you could spend £2K converting the 530i for it to be worth no more come resale time.If you were to get an E60 and convert it to LPG, where would you put the tank? This usually goes in the spare wheel well, but I think you might be out of luck with an E60. I would talk to an installer who had done E60's before.
If you want to stick with an E39, I think a 530i/lpg would have an advantage over a 530d in terms of performance, refinement and running costs. The only thing that might concern me would be the reliability of an LPG system over 100k miles. I'm starting to get the impression that after-market systems are not as well engineered as factory systems.
Nick
The break even point may be say 2 years, but if you change your car every two years its not going to be worth it.
I have been using an E320 V6 petrol for a few weeks and there is nothing in it anymore between the petrol and the diesels.
I did 55 miles today nipping round, half of which on the dual carrigeway and it was returning 31.7mpg, if the E320cdi returned 35mpg I wouldn't be any better of financially.
Small manual diesels are really the only ones that show a real benefit over there petrol conterparts.
LPG conversions??
Well there were two 540i auto estates on ebay the other week, one of which has 30k miles less on it, had individual leather and full sat nav and was a year newer, it only got £4k where as the other one got just over £5k, the reason?? The £4k one had an LPG conversion, which will put more people off than excite people.
I did 55 miles today nipping round, half of which on the dual carrigeway and it was returning 31.7mpg, if the E320cdi returned 35mpg I wouldn't be any better of financially.
Small manual diesels are really the only ones that show a real benefit over there petrol conterparts.
LPG conversions??
Well there were two 540i auto estates on ebay the other week, one of which has 30k miles less on it, had individual leather and full sat nav and was a year newer, it only got £4k where as the other one got just over £5k, the reason?? The £4k one had an LPG conversion, which will put more people off than excite people.
gizlaroc said:
I have been using an E320 V6 petrol for a few weeks and there is nothing in it anymore between the petrol and the diesels.
I did 55 miles today nipping round, half of which on the dual carrigeway and it was returning 31.7mpg, if the E320cdi returned 35mpg I wouldn't be any better of financially.
Small manual diesels are really the only ones that show a real benefit over there petrol conterparts.
LPG conversions??
Well there were two 540i auto estates on ebay the other week, one of which has 30k miles less on it, had individual leather and full sat nav and was a year newer, it only got £4k where as the other one got just over £5k, the reason?? The £4k one had an LPG conversion, which will put more people off than excite people.
i found LPG definitely cost more unless it is an ancient system. however if im wrong then problem solved ill buy a already LPG'ed 530 I did 55 miles today nipping round, half of which on the dual carrigeway and it was returning 31.7mpg, if the E320cdi returned 35mpg I wouldn't be any better of financially.
Small manual diesels are really the only ones that show a real benefit over there petrol conterparts.
LPG conversions??
Well there were two 540i auto estates on ebay the other week, one of which has 30k miles less on it, had individual leather and full sat nav and was a year newer, it only got £4k where as the other one got just over £5k, the reason?? The £4k one had an LPG conversion, which will put more people off than excite people.
pgilc1 said:
Its back to my fear though that LPG cars tend not to be worth the cost of the conversion over their non converted counterparts come resale time. The motor trade still fear them for one thing, so you could spend £2K converting the 530i for it to be worth no more come resale time.
The break even point may be say 2 years, but if you change your car every two years its not going to be worth it.
Indeed. So there's every reason to get a car that has already been converted. The break even point may be say 2 years, but if you change your car every two years its not going to be worth it.
You also have the opportunity to see whether that particular conversion works properly before spending any money. Great advantage I think.
Edited by welwynnick on Wednesday 8th October 09:15
I would guess that the V8-engined cars are best value for an LPG conversion because their purchase price is lower than the equivalent 6 cylinder spec. The 525i and 530i are reasonably frugal for their size and engine capacity, especially the manual versions.
welwynnick said:
If you were to get an E60 and convert it to LPG, where would you put the tank? This usually goes in the spare wheel well, but I think you might be out of luck with an E60.
The E61 has a spare wheel well big enough for a space saver spare and there's space between it and the boot floor for a storage compartment about 3 inches deep. Not sure just what the full available depth is. I would guess the saloon is much the same?Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff