what a sh*t day!

[e301988325i]

There seems to be a distinct view on the lpg forum, that with lpg injectors you very much get what you pay for.

I like the idea of a diesel glow plug in an Aluminium or brass block, heating the coolant when the car first starts.

With regards to the newer ECU, the dyno man said my AFR was so good on lpg that his initial thoughts were his gas anyliser was broken!

I converted for a whole host of distinctly questionable reasons:
1, I was offered a whole kit inc leo from an M50 b25 E34 for £100. 2, I like playing with my car. 3, My job looked a bit shaky and I thought I may have to use the car for commuting. 4, The memory of all my cards being stopped in Germany because I spent SOOO much on petrol. 5, We tended to take the diesel E36 on longer trips. 6, The M20 and basic petrol ECU was well suited to LPG. 7, For the expected £250 outlay it would only take 4,000 miles to break even, £800 in the end whoops!

Since installing I've done just over 5,000 miles which is half way to break even point!

[CHR1S1990]

how did you spend £800? you could have probably found an injector kit for that much, surely?

[e301988325i]

The kit I bought for £100 was over 10 years old, I ditched everything apart from the leo, stepper, and fuel level gauge/switch over switch. I bought it from a friend, and learnt a lot doing so, the leo was worth £100 anyway I guess.

£100 for old kit
£50 for a lambda boss welded on to each downpipe.
£300 for new, tank, multivalve, polyflex lines, solenoid valves, vent ducting.
£100 for filler and vap.
£75 for new tools, wire, heatshrink, jubilee clips.
£50 for lpg interface lead and usb adaptor.
£40 for the new mixer.
£85 in lambda sensors (cheap one replaced unecessarily with bosch).

Am I mad? Or is everyone else not counting everything? Why did you convert dude?

[CHR1S1990]

Seems heft compared to mine! But you have more new parts than i. I bought the 80l tank for £10 (had an old valve system so a new voltran was £30 IIRC), leo was 60 quid originally of a land rover, lambda was £4 (bosch jobby of a peugeot), boss was 2 quid off ebay and my brother welded it on (a very good welder), piping was about 40quid i think but i over bought for spares - polyflex from filler to tank as i couldnt do the 8mm pipe where i wanted it was too thick, wish i had used polyflex for the 6mm to front though but will do in the future when the brake/fuel lines get done, mixer was £15, stepper motor & pipe, filler cap all came with the leonardo kit. The data cable and disk was about £40 quid IIRC, couldnt be bothered making anything. Vap was 80quid new IIRC (OMVL R90E). Think thats about it!

Would defo like to replace the 6mm piping for polyflex, a brand new filter/solenoid near the bulk, refurb the diaphragm/gaskets on the vap, and a injection kit for the engine swap. We will see!

[CHR1S1990]

Also a cool little tip, is i didnt "T" into the water system, i simply used the two heater pipes from the throttle body. 2 birds with one stone! They get red hot pretty quick probably why it starts so well on LPG.

[e301988325i]

I got into the mindset that I was saving loads of money DIY installing, and by buying new and best, I wouldn't have to make any judgements as to what was safe or not, and would also make it easier to install and less problematic in the future.

I've left the throttle body heater pipes thinking they will reduce the backfire risk by warming the inlet charge slightly, paranoid maybe, but I'm running without a cat flap now. The other benefit of t-ing off heater matrix is you create extra flow from the rear of the head, which as I'm sure you know on our M20's is prone to cracking and overheating. Every little helps as they say!

[CHR1S1990]

lol, i do know this all to well unfortunately, think i missed a head cracking by the skin of my teeth! Why now cat flap? Ive had 2 backfires since i installed. 1 sat at traffic lights when i blipped the throttle (gave the chavs besides me a bit of a scare), but the first was whilst i was setting it up and my head was under the bonnet lol very nasty. The cat flap is one resistant piece of kit.

[e301988325i]

I've never had a backfire, touch wood! Power sapping thing mainly, but also all of the proffesionals I've spoken to said they very rarely actually save the AFM. Have you broken even yet? I'm going on the Zone roam in April, so that will be another 1500 odd miles on LPG, it just wouldn't be viable on petrol.

I'm currently looking for something to raise the back of my car 10-15mm, as the weight of a full gas tank, 1/4 to 1/2 a tank of petrol and luggage is making the back of my car ridiculously low!

[CHR1S1990]

not in the slightest! neither of the 2 times did it even blow any pipes off let alone touch the AFM. Adjustable rear shocks? lol If im being honest, i have my petrol tank filled up only to stop the reserve light coming on lol I didnt state why i converted did i. I stayed on campus last year at university, but this year i started renting a place of my own. In anticipation, i converted to LPG as its a a good 40mile drive and would cost me an arm and a leg mon-fri on petrol. plus, i had a major overfueling issue on petrol that i couldnt get to the bottom of, started when i put a 325i tb on, but didnt revert when i put the old one back on. Havent really run it on petrol since! I Tend to top up a tenner every 3 days or so. I would add a spare AFM to your luggage if i was you then just in case lol..

[e301988325i]

Have an AFM and AFM to TB boot in the boot already. LOL. The petrol cools and lubricates the fuel pump, you can't turn off the fuel pump else the petrol in the rail will boil.

[Brianmoooore]

You definitely need to carry a spare AFM if you don't have a cat flap! Leave the hose clips on either end of the main air hose as loose as you dare.
I run my cars with the fuel pump turned off (spare demister switch) and haven't seen any petrol boiling yet!