E55 K LPG conversion ?

[Les]

I have had my last 2 range rovers converted to gas (a P38 and latest style with BMW 4.4l engine) they have both had AG autogas sequential gas injection systems which have been faultless. Sequential with its own management computer is the best way to control gas.
As many of the previous posts have said don't do it unless you can find a dealer who has done your type of car before and you can speak to a few users. Do plenty research then decide.

Les

 

[Adam230K]

I have yet to hear if anyone that has done an E55K. There are some testimononials from W210 owners on the web but not W211.

Here were my expectations:

1. Cost £2,500, recovered in 12-14 months at my mileage.
2. Reduced power (5-10%) when in use, and at higher revs, but you can turn it off. remember this car has over 475bhp, and on my daily commute the best I get of that is the sound

What has become clear however is that there are a number of horror stories that seems to be associated with an LPG conversion - everyone seems to know someone who's had problems with their engine i.e. poor running; engine management or just complete failure. And it is this overriding question mark and uncertaintly that is making me (and no doubt many before me) shy away from the RISK.

The problem I have is that its all anecdotal - I just wish, as the OP states, someone had practical experience of the E55K.

Thanks to wemorgan for the feedback regarding his Jaguar owning friend.

Marc

Doesn't the fact that no one has had any experience of converting the E55K engine to LPG tell you something?

 

[smillion]

Doesn't the fact that no one has had any experience of converting the E55K engine to LPG tell you something?

No, not really .........

 

[wemorgan]

I think it's more of a reflection of how rare the E55K is and how the typical owner may do few miles in it, which would make the LPG conversion uneconomical.

It sounds as if smillion does relatively high miles in his car, making LPG viable.

Like many new technologies, it's about tapping in to it when it's mature enough............which is something I'm sadly not able to answer about LPG. But credit to smillion for trying to find the facts.

 

[A210AMG]

I really don't see why an AMG car cannot be converted?

It seems a lot of people have heared about someone with problems but have never actually any experience themselfs?

If your getting 40mpg equilant out of an LPG E55 then why not? have your cake and eat it.

My dad had a C200 estate converted years ago when the LPG systems were a little primative and people were not as used to the conversions. However even that once sorted ran very well and he did 60K plus on GAS. Performance is hardly changed so on an E55 thats not and issue.

May v8 Jags and big BMW's are converted. If your planning on keeping your car for another few years and doing 20K plus miles then its well worth doing. The multipoint systems are much much better. You could fit a huge tank under the back shelf. Also some of the fitters can fit the LPG filler in the same gap as your petrol so looks neater.

I hope the OP finds the answers but simply saying don't do it, why do it to an AMG??? I find of no help at all. Its just a car, and one that can be enjoyed all the more.

Good luck in your search.

 

[sauliusagintas]

Hi everyone.

I had 3 car converted on LPG (sequential system). Recently i'm driving Mercedes s320 lpg converted. No problems at all. First car Nissan Primera 1.6i done over 30000 miles no problem. Second Volvo S80 2.9 done over 25000 miles no problem. Sold them to my friend and they still running. My Mercedes on LPG covers 19mpg (average) so what i'm getting around for the price of petrol is 40mpg ish.

If anyone decides to convert to LPG his E55K carry on, but only with sequential system and in proper garage.

I'v never done dyno test to check how much power loosing , but if you want to race always you can switch to petrol and give a blast.
Regards Saulius

 

[horsesuitedfool]

Most people are saying dont do it blah blah because its an AMG etc and they think it just shouldnt be done for that reason alone. Most horror stories are from older crap kits that would give any car problems no matter what. My mate had an ML320 done with no problems at all, none in 3 years. I would say however that it cost him £2k to do it and i doubt he ever got that back over the 3 years so it was most likely break even at best. If you look at the most reputable LPG companies you will see that some of the most popular conversions they do are Porsche Cayenne (V8), Range Rover (V8), and BMW X5 4.4 litre and also the 4.8is too which are both also V8 and the latter has 370 BHP. I guess the only difference is that yours is forced induction.....Personally i wouldnt do it but thats just me, i also wouldnt listen to everyone just saying dont do it for no real reason either....

 

[quasarman]

I have LPG on my C320, it works brilliantly. Start up on petrol then after a while automatically switches to gas. Reckon I get the equivalent of ~38mpg overall.

As for all the scare stories above, I'm sure these are all true stories but it is also true that as a fuel lpg is far cleaner than petrol (ie less crap ends up in your engine) and gives vastly lower particulate emissions than diesel.

For my money (so far) this has been a great choice. I get similar economy to a diesel engine without having to put up with the noise, smell and harshness of using diesel fuel. The tank is where the spare used to live so no problems in the boot.

Out of interest the mechanic who fitted it has a VERY powerful forced induction motor running on lpg also without trouble.

 

[corned]

Another Marmite thread!

I must admit that I can see both sides of the 'argument'. The technical reasons for and against are all worthwhile considering fully. Yes, the fact that no one seems to have done it before could be telling. Or it could be that owners of a rare car like this mostly aren't LPG-minded in the first place. That doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue it if it's what you really want to do.

My own (and only) concern, regardless of the rights and wrongs of the conversion, is the potential resale value of the car if it is converted. Just having the LPG kit fitted may well make the car virtually unsaleable, for the very same reasons that people on here have expressed a negative opinion about it. Possible buyers may well be put off by the potential for future horrors associated with the conversion.

Perhaps not an issue if it's for keeps, but you never know.

 

[horsesuitedfool]

Another Marmite thread!

I must admit that I can see both sides of the 'argument'. The technical reasons for and against are all worthwhile considering fully. Yes, the fact that no one seems to have done it before could be telling. Or it could be that owners of a rare car like this mostly aren't LPG-minded in the first place. That doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue it if it's what you really want to do.

My own (and only) concern, regardless of the rights and wrongs of the conversion, is the potential resale value of the car if it is converted. Just having the LPG kit fitted may well make the car virtually unsaleable, for the very same reasons that people on here have expressed a negative opinion about it. Possible buyers may well be put off by the potential for future horrors associated with the conversion.

Perhaps not an issue if it's for keeps, but you never know.

I think its not been done yet purely because the car is too new and valuable so most owners of these cars dont care about the running costs which is why they could afford one in first place. I bet quite a few 210 E55 have been done already....I know that converted Range Rovers actually go for more money with a good reputable conversion but couldnt say about the other cars....

 

[quasarman]

Interesting point of view re resale values. Mines for keeps but when I bought it I virtually had a race on with someone else who wanted it like me because it had the LPG kit.

 

[horsesuitedfool]

Interesting point of view re resale values. Mines for keeps but when I bought it I virtually had a race on with someone else who wanted it like me because it had the LPG kit.

Yes, Range Rovers with LPG go immediately and for more money than one same without it.....

 

[Ollyman]

I converted mine a year ago, E55 AMG Estate 2003. Its worth it for me as I do quite a lot of miles, 21000+ since then. Perhaps I am not a typical AMG driver, but though I love my car's beastly nature but I just can't drive the car full blast all or even a fifth of the time. I have had no trouble with it whatsoever. Performance wise, on LPG, its more XJR than AMG, but on the rare occasion I need more oomph, I switch to petrol, then back to LPG when the itch is over. That said 1000 of the miles were driven on petrol, particularly in Germany (where its easier to explore the car's full potential) the rest was on LPG. My driving style produces an average 19mpg on SUL and 15mpg on gas; hence I paid a total of just over £3k for 20000 miles. At 12p average savings per mile, it has paid for itself. I have never really being concerned about a car's resale value, and this car I intend to keep for quite a while. I know not everyone is comfortable with the idea of LPG in a performance car, but as a dual fuel car and with the miles I cover, it works for me.

 

[Ian B Walker]

If a car was meant to run on LPG it would have been built that way, same goes for the veg scene with diesels. Sorry but if you want good milage out of a car then choose another brand. LPG in a Merc is sacrilege. But who am I to pass judgement. Just my thoughts. Apologies if I offend anyone.

 

[growlygrowler]

Having done a few LPG conversions myself I would respectfully suggest that you need your bumps feeling if you try to convert this car onto LPG.

Simple engines are simple to convert. I did my old Land Rover 2.25 and my old Range Rover V8 with twin carbs. Piece of cake. Also did a Range Rover 3.9EFI - also a piece of cake. I did my W126 500SE - just as easy using a mixer kit. I then did a W126 560SEC using a DGI kit - this was more complex but simply involved piggybacking an ECU and lambda probes, removing the inlet manifold and installing gas injectors.

Someone here mentioned that he had a BMW done (was it a 540? 740?) - also not too difficult with a multipoint DGI kit.

Then you get onto the modern Merc V8s. The old ones like the M117 in my W126 were simple, mechanical injection jobs. The newer ones (M119 V8, M120 v12) have variable valve timing, sensors everywhere and are much more complex beasts.

I wouldn't go near the M113 engine in my W220 S500 with LPG - sixteen plugs, engine chooses when and how to fire each cylinder, when and how to inject fuel based on about a dozen or more sensors.

Your AMG will have an engine that at its basic is an order of magnitude more complex - and do you have the necessary in-depth manuals to fix it when it goes wrong? PLUS you have the complexity of supercharging, supercharging sensors, pressure sensors etc, feedback to the ECU for mixture forming, ignition timing etc. There are so many variables to control.

You also have the issue that 55AMGs are so much rarer, so much more specialised and there are so fewer of them in scrapyards. So when you do kill that ECU/ignition module/electronic accelerator control/whatever you will end up paying a fortune - all of which means that you'll end up having to drive the car a zillion miles to hit a point of ROI on your LPG installation.

Don't do it. If you do a big mileage buy an E320CDI for the day job and use the AMG as a weekend toy.

Dave

 

[Geoff A]

Couldn't have put it better. Buy yourself a cheap diesel and thrash the E55 at weekends on super U/L :bannana:

 

[masterclk]

Couldn't have put it better. Buy yourself a cheap diesel and thrash the E55 at weekends on super U/L :bannana:

'

That is where my air cooled 964 comes into the equation....however I can say nothing wrong with LPG's just feel that the e55 may be a little too complicated...

My faultless LPG list starts from

Volvo S40
Vectra SRI
Mercedes CLK 230k
Mitsibushi Space Wagon
Audi 1.8t Avant S-Line
Volvo S60
Now Mercedes E320 Avantgarde AMG
and also Land Rover Discovery 3 4.4 V8 300bhp

 

[markevo]

I converted mine a year ago, E55 AMG Estate 2003. Its worth it for me as I do quite a lot of miles, 21000+ since then. Perhaps I am not a typical AMG driver, but though I love my car's beastly nature but I just can't drive the car full blast all or even a fifth of the time. I have had no trouble with it whatsoever. Performance wise, on LPG, its more XJR than AMG, but on the rare occasion I need more oomph, I switch to petrol, then back to LPG when the itch is over. That said 1000 of the miles were driven on petrol, particularly in Germany (where its easier to explore the car's full potential) the rest was on LPG. My driving style produces an average 19mpg on SUL and 15mpg on gas; hence I paid a total of just over £3k for 20000 miles. At 12p average savings per mile, it has paid for itself. I have never really being concerned about a car's resale value, and this car I intend to keep for quite a while. I know not everyone is comfortable with the idea of LPG in a performance car, but as a dual fuel car and with the miles I cover, it works for me.

Can I ask do you still have your AMG and if so have you had any problems with the conversion ?

I am thinking of getting my car converted but finding it hard to find other AMG owners with the conversion .

Thanks
Mark

 

[ivandraganov]

Does anyone have any practical experience about whether this can be done effectively? I have tried to search the forum but LPG is too short a term for the search facility. Apologies if this is therefore an old chestnut

Marc

Haven't you calculated the running costs of E55 before buying it.How about LPG converting a Ferrari ?

 

[John]

This is a old thread now but I think if you are considering converting an E55K, it's time to sell it and buy an E320CDI Sport instead...