This is something I want to share with you guys because I couldn't find any information about any person who was using a LPG fuel system in a E60/E61 520i(2004) series BMW on the internet.

LPG (Liqified petroleum gas) is a kind of propane which is a product that is formed when creating gasoline from oil. http://www.wps.com/LPG

Around 30% of the gasoline stations in the Netherlands are equipped with LPG refueling system. In the rest of europe its between (3% and 20 %)


I equipped my car with LPG because its cheaper to drive that normal gasoline.
Gasoline costs around 1.30 euro per Liter (6 dollar per us gallon)
LPG costs around 0.45 euro per liter (2 dollar per us gallon)

The cost of a LPG system for a BMW E60 for my BMW 520i (2004) is 2200 euro (2640 Dollar)

I choose for a system of Vialle and I had it build in at a shop in the netherlands ( 2M alternative fuel systems )
The LPG tank (67 Liter) is in the boot where the spare tire is located.

There are a few disadvantages:

- With gasoline I can drive around 550 KM and with LPG my range is 380 km
- You can drive less kilometers per liter of LPG than Gasoline with gasoline its 1 liter per 10 kilometer and with LPG its 1 liter 7,2 kilometer
- expensive installation
- No space for the spare tire

Advantage:
- Engine has slightly more power with the LPI (Liqified Petrolium gas system Injection) I have installed
- Cheaper to drive

Now I drove 15000 kilometer without any problems ( just a small problem with a rubber -O ring of one injector but was quickly fixed )

Here I have some foto's of my installation:

The 67 liter Tank:
Attachment 16228




The boot:
Attachment 16229




The fill nozzle:
Attachment 16227




The fuel gauge meter/on off switch ( its possible to switch between gasoline and LPG while driving)
Attachment 16230




The LPG ditributor
Attachment 16231




The injectors
Attachment 16232



The not so pretty cables and hoses
Attachment 16233

Justin,

My brother uses LPG in his Volvo S40 and has done so for about 4 or 5 years now. (He's on his 2nd Volvo which he's had converted to LPG).

Experiences seem to be the same regards less MPG's on LPG, but hey, in the UK the LPG is half the price per lite than unleaded petrol.

I've not come accross anyone using LPG on an E60 I'm afraid so can't help you there. If I did lots of miles a year then I would probably consider having the conversion done - my brother paid about ?1,500 to have his Volvo converted. I only do around 10,000 miles per year so the payback isn't really worthwhile for me.

Nice to see that someone has been brave enough to convert their E60 though. Do you have runflats, so that you can ditch the spare wheel? Most of us don't have spares in the boot anyway so the space for the donut LPG tank is ready and waiting.

Kev

That's some good info there, thanks.

This topic as not a question for help, but before I made the jump into the deep I was looking if anyone did this before. But nobody described this on the Internet.

My goal is to inform people who are thinking of installing such system. I drove already 15000 Kilometers with this LPG installation.

Yes I have runflats (18" m5 rims) but At the moment its snowing in The Netherlands, and I have my winter-tyres mounted (16" rims) and they are not runflat

Thanks Justin,

new resources are always needed, I will not do this I do not care how much is to have the gas in my car, I bought it and now pay whatever it takes...3L diesel is ok, I am doing 900kms on highway, 450-500kms in city even in DS, nowadays more DS.

But thx for the info, what is the weight you added to your car? Is that 2L???

EU will increase biodiesel/ethanol usage quite rapidly. Now new cars are offered by different brands, not yet by BMW.

thanks for sharing your experience, Justin :thumbsup:

Can you explain me what do you mean with DS and 2L?
The "paper" weight that is added is 70 kg but because the gasoline tank is almost empty, the real weight is not increased.

Sorry Justin, right, so wanted to ask what kind of engine you have ?

DS-is the sports mode of Steptronic when you can achieve full performance.

Like your Parrot too :thumbsup:

I have the 2.2 liter 170 HP, 6 cylinder petrol engine.
Its also used in the older versions of the 5 series if i'm not mistaken.

yeah, ok 525i? is it...

where did you get your Parrot, is it nice displaying the pics?