Mr Dullabh of Brentford, BMW 330i (e46) Sport
 

'My job as National Sales Manager means I cover at least 35000 miles pa and should be driving a 330 diesel, not a 330 petrol! Even though the modern diesels are superb, they still lack the smoothness, rev range and most of all, the exhaust note that the 330i offers. After doing some research on LPG conversions I decided to buy a 330i and then convert it to LPG and enjoy the best of both worlds - petrol performance and diesels costs!

After I bought the car I had to select the LPG converter. Realising that an LPG conversion is in fact a major task, I took my time to find a supplier I was confident in.

I did much research on LPG converters but was left less than impressed by most of the converters I found. When I came across AFS on the internet I was immediately impressed by what I saw. I called Paul Quickenden who was friendly and informative and was happy for me to come and see their operation before committing to do the conversion with them.

I was impressed by the facilities and the calibre of vehicles they were converting. Although they had never converted a 330i before they had done V8 BMW's and assured me that they would get the necessary back up from the LPG kit manufacturer, Prins.

The conversion is very neat. The LPG gauge is discreet and even the new filler cap is barely noticeable as it was colour coded to match the body work. There were some initial running problems with the conversion which AFS promptly rectified. They even arranged a hire car for me to use for the day my car was out of service.

The performance is impressive with minimal reduction in power and torque and on run in Germany the car still achieved its electronically limited top speed of 155mph on LPG!

I am pleased to say that the car has run faultlessly over the last 13000 miles and have recovered £910.00 in savings.

All the staff at AFS have been exceptional. Their service, knowledge, advice and quality of workmanship have more than met my expectations.'

I am sad to say that I have to sell the car soon. We are moving to Greece and they do not have LPG yet. Also, the steering is on the wrong side and they will tax me heavily if I import the car. I am gutted...

MR KENT OF SUSSEX AUTO SERVICES FROM HAILSHAM – TOYOTA HILUX VANS x 2

Dear Rob,

Thanks for your e-mail regarding the up date of your web site. I wasn’t around when the current vehicles were converted as I have only been with Sussex Autos for about 2 years, but I can say that the service you provide is excellent, the vehicles have now covered approx 160,000 miles each, and have been virtually fault free, in respect of the gas conversion, and the mechanicals of the running gear i.e.; engine, we have noticed also that the internals of the engine remain very clean as they run on gas most of the time.

The cost savings are great too, as the cost of gas is so much cheaper than petrol, and they had covered the cost of the conversion quite quickly, both vehicles are still running perfectly and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so for many more thousands of miles.

Regards

Paul.

MR DYER FROM HORSHAM – BMW 523i

Having now run my 5 series BMW on LPG for around 120,000 miles, I can say I am extremely pleased with the performance and more importantly the savings I have had. My fuel bill has gone down from around £23 per day on petrol to around £14 per day on LPG. Rob and his team at AFS have provided excellent service to me at all times both during installation and aftercare of their product.

MR PHILBROW OF ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS – BMW 328i

Hi Rob,

I would be more than happy to extol the virtues of my cars conversion to LPG.

I have now covered more than 207,000 miles in my BMW 328i, which is over 137,000 since its conversion.

I am very pleased with the car and the conversion that you performed with no problems experienced. I estimate that I am saving 7p per mile by using LPG rather than petrol, making a saving to date of approx. £9,600 (for an outlay of approx. £2,000).

MR STOVOLD FROM BEXHILL – BMW 540i

I do between 12,000 and 20,000 miles a year, much of which is long distance motorway mileage. Like everyone I had become fed up with the appalling taxation rules for Company cars with big engines, so I decided to buy a high mileage BMW 540i and convert it to gas.

I found AFS on the auto gas website and approached them for a quote to convert my silver BMW 540i, with 78,000 miles. They were very helpful, explaining that they would only take on the job if I wanted it done professionally, explaining the risks of what can happen if you try to do a ‘cheap’ gas conversion. They also assured me that it is important to make sure you have ongoing support for a conversion of this type.

The job took a week and cost around £2300+VAT. The car was ready on time, despite the fact that converting a 540i is quite a challenge as there is precious little room under the bonnet for adding anything.

I drove the car subsequently about 15,000 miles. The gas conversion never let me down. There were two situations when the system switchover malfunctioned, requiring a return to AFS. On both occasions I was given first class treatment, and on the second occasion we discovered there was a problem with the gas cutting in and out in time with the vehicle air-conditioning during summer months. To rectify this required several days of re-routing of the pipework to avoid the temperature changes in the heating system affecting the gas flow. All of the help and support given was done with a positive professional approach and without further charge.

I eventually changed the vehicle for a much newer car of the same type, and I arranged for another conversion to be done. The car has worked faultlessly from the day I drove it out of AFS. Clearly this conversion has been perfected by them. I have now driven this blue BMW for approx. 12,000 miles and would not hesitate to recommend a gas conversion by AFS to anyone looking for decent economy and reliability.

What are the results of the conversions? The BMW 540i has a 4.4litre V8 engine and naturally drinks fuel. Round town it will turn in about 17mpg (petrol) and about 28 mpg on a motorway run. The auto gas conversion results in no noticeable loss of power and I get an average of 15mpg round town and 25mpg on a run. The real benefit is when you apply the difference in fuel cost to this. This means that I have a car with superb acceleration and power that costs me 10p per mile to run. With the current tax allowance of 40p per mile that means I have a fair chance of recovering most of my motoring costs out of the standard tax allowance – almost tax free motoring – and I am helping the environment at the same time. Compare the cost of petrol versus auto gas and this is equivalent to getting 55+mpg (Gas for the cost of petrol).

When my car goes into BMW for an oil change the mechanics are amazed to find that the oil is still as clean as when it was new. My car has an annual check over for a small charge by AFS to ensure it remains correctly tuned. The conversion does not cause me any problems with BMW servicing people.

It does not take much to work out that the cost of the conversion is paid back in less than 30,000 miles, (including the VAT).