Would you do this to an M5

[chimera40]

This argument started on another thread but rather than hijack I thought I would open it up as it deserves the wider opinion of the PH unwashed.

Discussion the other thread was around the choice of M5 or S4, one guy pipes up that he would go for S4 and his mate has one converted to LPG. I cry foul on this and he continues to attest that this is a good move and if he where to buy an M5 he would have this converted to LPG.

At this point I was verging on assault, to me taking an M5 and sticking up to 200lbs of st in it, reducing the performance and handling of one of the most iconic cars of the age is beyond contempt. If you want an economical car get a fking 530 diesel. Why oh why would any sane person do this

So what are the thoughts is this a good idea or is it just plain stupid.

[eldar]

Get the performance of an M5 for the fuel costs of a 530D?

[pinchmeimdreamin]

lets think about this ......................................

lpg mileage on the daily commute................

Feel like a hoon>>>>>>>400bhp.....


Sounds like a good idea to me

[fathomfive]

So you get the nice car and the warm feeling inside from getting a little bit of one over on the government?

[dibbly_dobbler]

If you go LPG do you still get the engine noise and the power ?

[hairykrishna]

It's best of both worlds. You still have most of the performance of an M5 but enough practicality that you can do many hundreds of miles a week for reasonable cost.

An M5's a compromise of performance for practicality to begin with so it makes a perfectly sensible choice I think.

[mmm-five]

eldar said:

Get the performance of an M5 for the fuel costs of a 530D?

You end up with neither, as the calorific value of LPG is about 15% less than petrol so you'd either live with 15% less power, or adjust the settings to put 15% more fuel in.

This then negates some of the savings, and you've also got to pay for the conversion.

If you're not doing 30,000+ a year it won't be worth it - you might as well sell the M5.

On the positive side, it makes touring around Europe a little easier (once you've gone over on the ferry as LPG is not allowed on Eurostar) as you can do almost double the miles between fill-ups if you use both petrol & LPG.

[pinchmeimdreamin]

dibbly_dobbler said:

If you go LPG do you still get the engine noise and the power ?

at the flick of a switch

[chimera40]

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

[johnnyBv8]

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

[W00DY]

LPG seems to be getting really expensive too, can't be long before there'll be no saving at all. Made sense before but now i think it makes no sense for 97% of people

[dibbly_dobbler]

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Nah - lots of 'Devil's Advocates' on here. You are correct.

I'm sure you could make a good kettle out of a toaster but why not just buy a kettle in the first place ...

[pinchmeimdreamin]

dibbly_dobbler said:

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Nah - lots of 'Devil's Advocates' on here. You are correct.

I'm sure you could make a good kettle out of a toaster but why not just buy a kettle in the first place ...

How many kettles can you flick a switch and make toast in ?

[hairykrishna]

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Why? An M5 is already compromised. You complain about '200lbs of st' but an M5's already crammed with air con, electrically adjustable crap etc. It's not some lightweight drivers car. It's a big super saloon that drives well; LPG will not ruin it.

[MrMoonyMan]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

dibbly_dobbler said:

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Nah - lots of 'Devil's Advocates' on here. You are correct.

I'm sure you could make a good kettle out of a toaster but why not just buy a kettle in the first place ...

How many kettles can you flick a switch and make toast in ?

I reckon nearly all of them. Think about it.

Empty out kettle, put bread on element and flick the switch.

Similarly for the kettle on my Aga, empty out put bread in kettle and await toast.

Jobs a good'un

[2 Wycked]

chimera40 said:

Why oh why would any sane person do this

I'm assuming that's a question, although you don't make it clear.

As far as I'm concerned if you were someone who covers a considerable mileage and wants to do it in an M5 it'd make perfect sense.

If you were to raise the compression a bit you'd lose no performance and save a fair bit of money I should think.

[dibbly_dobbler]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

dibbly_dobbler said:

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Nah - lots of 'Devil's Advocates' on here. You are correct.

I'm sure you could make a good kettle out of a toaster but why not just buy a kettle in the first place ...

How many kettles can you flick a switch and make toast in ?

Well you could stuff my kettle with bread and flick a switch - some of the bread around the element would be toasted but it really wouldn't work that well. Better just to have a toaster.

[OnTheOverrun]

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Yeah, what kind of idiot would think running an M5 on 114 octane LPG instead of 98 octane petrol would be a good idea. . . . . . .

[Huntsman]

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

I'm with you Chim40, LPG in a M5. Sacrilage.

Far too many MPG freaks around these parts of late.

As you say, if someone wants MPG then buy a bloody oil burner and stop messing with utopian petrolhead icons.

[dibbly_dobbler]

MrMoonyMan said:

pinchmeimdreamin said:

dibbly_dobbler said:

chimera40 said:

Loosing my faith in the PH community, I think I may resign my membership.

Nah - lots of 'Devil's Advocates' on here. You are correct.

I'm sure you could make a good kettle out of a toaster but why not just buy a kettle in the first place ...

How many kettles can you flick a switch and make toast in ?

I reckon nearly all of them. Think about it.

Empty out kettle, put bread on element and flick the switch.

Similarly for the kettle on my Aga, empty out put bread in kettle and await toast.

Jobs a good'un

beat me to it !