A Diesel E30?.

[gazm3]

That green estate looks very nice indeed.

Convert it, to used sunflower oil and your laughing.

[320Touring]

That green estate looks very nice indeed.

Convert it, to used sunflower oil and your laughing.

good thinking!!

dos anyone have any idea of the charges for importing and registering a car in this country?!

[Zayyan]

IIRC you have to pay 17.5% VAT and 10% import duty

Were the E30 diesels actually sold in the UK?

Never seen one in RHD...

Though if you can put up with LHD those Ԛ┚¬900 ones Sjoerd posted look a bargain

[Adammcf]

Diesels are just wrong. The new ones might be as quick as some petrol cars but I still hate the way the power comes in. Its just there in one quick burst and then its gone again.
Personally I love revving the nuts off a good petrol engine right up to the redline and then hitting the next gear. I'll never buy a diesel.

[320Touring]

Diesels are just wrong. The new ones might be as quick as some petrol cars but I still hate the way the power comes in. Its just there in one quick burst and then its gone again.
Personally I love revving the nuts off a good petrol engine right up to the redline and then hitting the next gear. I'll never buy a diesel.

the 'all in one go' power delivery of new TD's is all down to the fact that the turbo's are relatively large, and set up to kick in low down.They get asthmatic further up the revrange

Older Td's tend to be 'gentler' in their power delivery, and with a bit of deft fiddling with the fuelling and boost, plus some lightening of the internals, the engine can be extremely 'rev-happy'

Diesels are also good for getting low down grunt (ideal for in gear accel (eg 50-70 in 5th etc)

I do prefer petrol, but a well prepped diesel can be rewarding to drive, and I imagine very much so in an e30 chassis

[stephen]

I've got one, I've got one!!!

This is my 324d.

It's not very fast but it's quite smooth.
It's a right pain to insure though... .





It's got 15" cross spokes on now..

Sucking Diesel!

[320Touring]

sweet

by difficult to insure, i take it you're refering to the fact its LHD?!

i'll prob buy one when i have a year's NCB

whats the mpg like? IE will it beat Zayyan's 40mpg?!

[AndyG]

Stephen
Why is it hard to insure?
Did you buy it here in the UK, or overseas?
AG

[StuBeeDoo]

i take it you're refering to the fact its LHD?!

It's RHD Dude, check the photo again!

[Moofles]

by difficult to insure, i take it you're refering to the fact its LHD?!

the pictures say RHD

i assume it's because it's an import, i don't think we got the diesels...

[StuBeeDoo]

I could be mistaken, but I think that there were a few in ROI, therefore they would be RHD too. Can any of the Emerald Isle 'Zoners confirm or deny this??
Stuart.

[320Touring]

by difficult to insure, i take it you're refering to the fact its LHD?!

the pictures say RHD

i assume it's because it's an import, i don't think we got the diesels...

ahh well spotted moofles

all that walking must give you plenty of time to observe such things

i stand corrected

[Zayyan]

whats the mpg like? IE will it beat Zayyan's 40mpg?!

You've finally realised you're not going to do it with a 2-litre M20 then!

[Brianmoooore]

Would be perfect as I love everything about the E30 except the economy!

Why mess around with this smelly polluting stuff? Convert to LPG.
Gives 325 performance with 50MPG+ equivalence (On a 325,of course)

[Zayyan]

I'm saving up Brian

[320Touring]

whats the mpg like? IE will it beat Zayyan's 40mpg?!

You've finally realised you're not going to do it with a 2-litre M20 then!

nah, course not, but i can beat 40mph

brain-see what you're saying about LPG but the initial investment is very heavy (esp as it appears the plg topics on here have ground to a halt..)

[stephen]

It's not on any of the insurance companies computer systems.

It's a "Computer say's no" situation.

I think this one came from the channel islands.... hence RHD.

[320Touring]

It's not on any of the insurance companies computer systems.

It's a "Computer say's no" situation.

I think this one came from the channel islands.... hence RHD.

ahh the channel islands

take it that its classed as a UK car then?

[glenn]

last time i took the 330d on a run to castle coombe, a 50/50 split of motorway and urban roads it returned 52mpg, and i dont hang around
(according to the trip cpmputer)

ps, i could of got 60+ if i was trying

[cuk325]

jayson the guy who breaks e30s in bilston has got 2 e30 diesels, 1 of them a convertible

[Brianmoooore]

brain-see what you're saying about LPG but the initial investment is very heavy (esp as it appears the plg topics on here have ground to a halt..)

Ԛ£600 will do it, for a system with it's own ECU that you hook up to a laptop.
Doesn't take long to get back Ԛ£600 at today's petrol prices.
Diesels make more sense in some other countries where the stuff is much cheaper than petrol.

[Brianmoooore]

You can easily get 60+ MPG equivalency on LPG on a 325 if you live where there's a bit of competition on gas sales. (e.g. Bristol)

[320Touring]

that is true brian, but its the installation thats the problem, plus as you say LPG prices are as variable as petrol, not to mention the fact that the UK use a different connection to the rest of europe

may be doing eastern europe next year so Diesel would be better due to availablilty

[dazleeds]

morrisons 29.9 litre lpg
my bro in laws runs a poxy 1.6mondeo but just wnt let it go cos of the cost of gas

gimme a 325 on gas and im a happy camper soon i hope

[Brianmoooore]

Installation of a LPG system isn't difficult at all. Couple of days work in total, that can be done in easy stages, without taking the car off the road for more than a few hours at a time. Biggest problem was working out where too physically fit the bits, and I can help out on that, for a M20 installation at least.
My 50MPG+ equivalence was based on the no competition, rip off price of 42p than I pay here. I get far better than that on most long runs, because they normally take me past Bristol (30p).
LPG availibility is generally much better around Western Europe than Britain, except Spain, and i'm fairly sure it's widely available further East as well. Certainly it is in Poland.
There are three different connectors in use. One (bayonet type), will be fitted to your car, and you need a set of two screw in adaptors (Ԛ£6-Ԛ£10 each) to fit the others, although you can borrow them at most filling stations.

[320Touring]

Installation of a LPG system isn't difficult at all. Couple of days work in total, that can be done in easy stages, without taking the car off the road for more than a few hours at a time. Biggest problem was working out where too physically fit the bits, and I can help out on that, for a M20 installation at least.
My 50MPG+ equivalence was based on the no competition, rip off price of 42p than I pay here. I get far better than that on most long runs, because they normally take me past Bristol (30p).
LPG availibility is generally much better around Western Europe than Britain, except Spain, and i'm fairly sure it's widely available further East as well. Certainly it is in Poland.
There are three different connectors in use. One (bayonet type), will be fitted to your car, and you need a set of two screw in adaptors (Ԛ£6-Ԛ£10 each) to fit the others, although you can borrow them at most filling stations.

hmm-sounds destinctly positive!may have to tap you for the guide to fitting the m20 up-cos those cheap diy kits are extremely tempting...

[StuBeeDoo]

The cost factor of gas is very tempting. I can't stand the smell of the bloody stuff though. All the cars (taxis) I have been in that have been converted reek of the gas inside. That puts me right off, I couldn't live with it.

[Brianmoooore]

That's not a cheap kit- that's a decent quality kit, and there's plenty of profit being made on that.

Go to Poland, and you'd get the stuff all fitted for less than that.
Some of the Australian guys post on our LPG forums occassionaly, and they are amazed at the prices we have to pay for our systems.

I can help any of you out by telling you how and where to fit the various parts. Its only fixing a few brackets and routing a few small diameter pipes plus fitting a bit of mostly prewired wiring.

[320Touring]

That's not a cheap kit- that's a decent quality kit, and there's plenty of profit being made on that.

Go to Poland, and you'd get the stuff all fitted for less than that.
Some of the Australian guys post on our LPG forums occassionaly, and they are amazed at the prices we have to pay for our systems.

I can help any of you out by telling you how and where to fit the various parts. Its only fixing a few brackets and routing a few small diameter pipes plus fitting a bit of mostly prewired wiring.

such information would be grately appreciated!may just be an ideal summer project ! (once i get the 101 other things done...)

cheers Brian

[Brianmoooore]

The cost factor of gas is very tempting. I can't stand the smell of the bloody stuff though. All the cars (taxis) I have been in that have been converted reek of the gas inside. That puts me right off, I couldn't live with it.

Reek of gas? There shouldn't be any smell of it.
If there's any gas smell, there's either a leak, or the vehicle's not set up properly and is running very rich, propably at idle.
Taxis - Mercs by any chance?. There's a problem setting up older Mercs on gas, with their primative injection systems.
There should be very little coming out of the exhaust other than CO2 or water. Doesn't really apply to most E30s, but cats can be dispensed with on LPG cars.

[Brianmoooore]

Go to the "group buy" section and sign up on the list!

[Andy_magic]

I'm not a fan of gas cars, personal preference really, you loose too much space due to the napalm tank.

I love the way diesels drive, well decently setup ones anyway. A mate of mine had an E36 325TDS and it flew.

Most modern turbo diesels have very small turbo's that spin up quickly to give plenty of boost at low revs, there are exceptions to this on some VW/Audi motors that have variable geometry vanes in the compressor housings giving the best of both worlds.

The only downside is a relativley short rev range, usually from 2k to 4.5k rpm, but again a well thought out car will be geared accordingly.

Really early TD's with no intercooler are a nightmare (and later 307HDi's) as they use small turbo's with a low efficency, basically turning the engine into a heat pump that self destructs.

In short, diesels are like marmite, you either love it or hate it. I love them for daily drivers as they are so easy to drive. at one point I was driving 6k a month so an easy to drive car is top of the list for me.

I really enjoy revving the 320i to the limiter though

[Brianmoooore]

I have a 180 mile range on gas in my car (+ the petrol range of course), without loosing 1cc of load space.

[Zayyan]

But you're in trouble if you get a puncture....

[Brianmoooore]

I've a spacesaver spare wheel (from a Volvo) that lives in the back when load space is not required, and a couple cans of sealant / tyre inflator that live in one of the sidepockets. Both have never been used in four and a half years.
BMW themselves did some research a few years ago, and came up with an average puncture interval (IIRC), of 96,000 miles.
I'd have made more use of carrying a spare cylinder head than a spare wheel.