LPG auto gas

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Bumble

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2013
Messages
58
Car
W140
Has anyone ever converted the old CL model to LPG ? are there any issues that I should be aware of as I am considering it, petrol costs would be outside budget unfortunately

Cheers

John
 
Does the CL you're considering have the 5litre V8? I had an E500 with that engine converted.
 
Does the CL you're considering have the 5litre V8? I had an E500 with that engine converted.
Sorry for my ignorance - the 4.2 litre is the one I am considering, just been asked this morning by a conversion garage what type of injector it has Bosch or multipoint - must admit I do not have the knowledge ! any ideas how to find that out.

Cheers

john
 
If they are the company carrying out the conversion, I would be worried that they are asking the customer questions about the type of injection system! If you want this sort of thing done it really needs to go to a specialist with previous experience.
 
Has anyone ever converted the old CL model to LPG ? are there any issues that I should be aware of as I am considering it, petrol costs would be outside budget unfortunately

Cheers

John

I would think the price of an lpg conversion would buy an awful lot of unleaded!
Do you do a lot of mileage?
 
LPG query

Thanks for that, I do not do vast amount of miles but would plan to keep the car a good while. I have researched the conversion specialist and he has a good reputation. We had a good chat he just described that the injection system on the age of the car I was looking at had the Bosch system and was not as efficient as later multipoint systems so just need to find out when they were introduced.
Cheers
 
I have to ask, if you're worried about the petrol costs, have you factored in the maintenance costs?
 
Fair comment Ian , there is a lot to consider and not renown for being hasty. maintenance is a tricky one , ok regular service but not sure how to quantify possible repairs ! a lot to think about

Cheers
 
I have 2 customers running CL500's on LPG with no issues at all. The company who did them are in Accrington. Real works of art and cost about £2000 per install.
 
Thanks Ian, that is good to know !
 
This is just my point of view, but the thought of lpg in a car has never really appealed to me. To the point that I wouldn't even view a car for sale if it was fitted. If you don't do many miles it will take longer to pay for itself.

My uncle has a large Dodge pickup truck with a huge lpg tank in the back, this makes a little more sense but I still wouldn't bother. Since he had the conversion lpg has gone up a lot in price, and then he has a long drive to get to a big station that stocks lpg.
It is also worth remembering that your car will do less mpg on gas than on unleaded.

I'm not trying to put you off or start any arguments, but I feel these are all valid considerations.

As previously stated, the lpg system will need maintainence even if not faulty, as will the car. Maintaining and fixing an old v8 can be reasonably expensive and will certainly make fuel costs one of the smaller running costs.
 
Routine maintenance of modern LPG systems consists of nothing more than a change of filters and a check for leaks. It is easily DIYable and the parts are less than 20 quid.
I do agree though that if you don't have a station close by, LPG is not the answer.
 
I ran two w211 E500's for c150k miles on LPG and it was indistinguishable what they were running on. Servicing consisted of a filter check/replace every 20k miles for about £100 but that was it. I think, given the car you're looking at, you need to firstly check whether the car will run well on it - I'm sure it will but it's worth speaking to a reputable LPG specialist for this - and secondly do the maths on how many miles you intend to do. For me break even was around 23k miles on the first car I converted - as I did 30k pa this took under a year and was for a multi-point BRC system that cost over £2k. You're might well be significantly less. Hope this helps.
 
Does the CL you're considering have the 5litre V8? I had an E500 with that engine converted.
sorry cp3377,

Not sure if I replied !!! the one I am considering is the 4.2 litre - busy shopping around for LPG conversion recommendations - typically just to put me on edge a little one company I rang were not sure they can do it on that vehicle - something to do with the manifold type or something ( not really sure what he was on about it. Wilkl not buy the CL if I cannot do it ( just found one I like the look of - typical 0

Cheers

john
 
Where are you, there's a place I can recommend but it's in Wellingborough.
 
This is just my point of view, but the thought of lpg in a car has never really appealed to me. To the point that I wouldn't even view a car for sale if it was fitted. If you don't do many miles it will take longer to pay for itself.

My uncle has a large Dodge pickup truck with a huge lpg tank in the back, this makes a little more sense but I still wouldn't bother. Since he had the conversion lpg has gone up a lot in price, and then he has a long drive to get to a big station that stocks lpg.
It is also worth remembering that your car will do less mpg on gas than on unleaded.

I'm not trying to put you off or start any arguments, but I feel these are all valid considerations.

As previously stated, the lpg system will need maintainence even if not faulty, as will the car. Maintaining and fixing an old v8 can be reasonably expensive and will certainly make fuel costs one of the smaller running costs.
Thanks James,

Fair comments that I should consider as they are valid !

Cheers
 
Where are you, there's a place I can recommend but it's in Wellingborough.
Thanks Ian,

Unfortunately I am in the West Midlands ( an believe me when I say unfortunately ! )

John
 
These cars are capable of making the long jouney from the West Midlands to Northants you know? ;)




Doing the quick sums, that car will do around 24mpg average, on LPG around 20mpg.

A decent V8 system will cost you between £1800-2500, lets say £2000.


24mpg
£2000 fuel gives 325 gallons, so 7831 miles.

7831 miles on LPG doing 20mpg it will cost…£1422 saving £578.

So 27,000 miles to break even.

Another 27,000 miles will see you £2000 better off.


Is it really worth it? If you're doing 27k miles a year maybe, by year 2 you are seeing benefits. For someone doing say 9,000 miles a year you will see an average of £12 week saving in years 4, 5 and 6 if LPG stays at around 60% of petrol prices.
 
You're right - if you're doing a high mileage and the car can be converted it's worth it. If not then just enjoy the V8 on petrol... It's worth checking the net to see if there is an example of the 420 being converted - if someone's done it you'll probably find it.
 

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