coop

Has anyone had much to do with these? I may be looking at a 260km round commute to work each day, most of it on the Waikato expressway. I like driving... Used to do 4500km/week in a B train so it is nothing to me. Looking at buying a new F20 1 series. New, as I'd want a manual and there are no used/ex demo ones on the market. Options are the 2.0 diesel which by all accounts can manage high 3.5-4l/100km hwy. Or the 1.6 turbo petrol that can get 4.5-5l/100km hwy. Owners seem to return around 8 litre city driving, the same as my 320d. Highway figures can be misleading as a lot of it is from EU forums where they are 130kmh+ What are both these models like in the real world? Nearly 10 grand extra on the sticker price for the diesel and not a lot better economy... add in road users and the figures dont stack up. Are modern direct injected turbo petrols making them redundant, and they're only selling because they are like those rubbish Hyundais, a trendy fad where everyone needs one?!

Sucker for punishment owning one of them! I've had one and been bitten. Is that bloke still out Warkworth who wrecks them? Rodney spares I think (?). I have a soft spot for them, and wouldn't mind owning another one, but I think the best bet would be to buy one of the non wof & reg ones for <2 grand to keep as spare parts.

I wouldn't fork out one third of what he's asking. The only thing it has going for it is the novelty factor of very low kays and NZ new (?) one owner. Tacky body kit and wheels make it look like a south Auckland/Hutt Valley special. For that price you'll be better off with a facelift 540i motorsport at around 120k. If anything, that low a mileage on a near 20 year old car is more of a downfall than a positive. You'll most likely be looking at perished, brittle cooling and vacum hoses, brittle plastic cooling parts, buggered suspension and driveline bushes, hardened engine/g.box/diff/steering rack seals that will most likely start leaking after a good week of driving. A last run E39 with around 120-150k on it and a record of R&M will be a much better option. Plus, I still maintain the facelift 530/540 Msport shape is one of the best looking sedans on the road 12 years on.

You're going off track here, did you not see the OP has '000s' to spend, not '0000s', tell me what decent turbo diesel that can do what you describe will be had for under 10 grand. They will all be gutless slugs that wont be efficient, but will be getting long in the tooth. Hence why a Commodore or Falcon already converted to LPG will be a better financial option... I've already given rough figures showing my old Falcon on gas is cheaper per km than my 320d... before servicing is taken into account too. OP could take a gamble on a 4.0 Disco or other full size petrol SUV of the era but geez they like to drink and dont have much go to show for it. OP could also take a gamble on an older tech, gutless, over priced diesel around that prce range but there wont be much $$$ left over for any repairs if anything happens. How much towing have you done with petrol... My 400hp ute will do SH1 up/down the North Island with 1700kg including trailer behind it and 3-400kg in the tray at just over 17l/100km holding 100k up evey hill. I wouldn't do this every day, but every one to two months wont break the bank, which is why if mileage isn't excessive, petrol is better buying once the higher purchase price of diesel vehicles, rego, R&M, RUCs is taken into account - and no I'm not biased, I'm a diesel mech btw. We have several Land Cruisers and work. Three of the old 4.2td 6 cylinders, two new 4.5 td V8, and they are thirstier than my V8 ute. No way would I want to fuel these things AND pay ruc. Cruise at 110kmh and they wont better 15l/100km, try and hold 120-130 and they're up into the 20s. Use more gas than our 6 tonne service truck! Tools on board no trailer. So to paint diesels as a be all and end all is misleading, maybe if your budget is over 20 grand. BTW, LPG was for the taxi market, Govt and private sector fleets who have feel good greenie policies that restrict their buying to 'clean' cars - Hybrid, 4 cylinders and LPG. Bugger all new car private sales with LPG. Whether it is subsidised or not is beside the point, it is currently cheaper to run than the petrol equalivant. Before you get on your high horse about efficiency, consider that pretty much every engine driving on the road has an efficiency rating of less than 40%, lol.

3pedals you're correct about the loss of torque in LPG conversion which is why if I towed something between 1-2 tonne I'd use petrol. If the OP is occasionally towing this shouldn't be an issue. It didn't effect every day driving to be noticeable. However Ford Au have developed a liquid injection set up which, apart from consumption, shows up the petrol 4.0 in power and torque. So with enough development behind it, it is not 30 years out of date as you put it. A quick look and owners of these in Oz are getting sub 10 l/100km highway so if you're paying 1.26-1.30/litre thats good economy. From memory there is talk of it becoming more popular in the UK as the enviro nazis are putting the squeeze on diesels as LPG is a lot cleaner. Your assumption of LPG is as outdated as likening modern turbo diesels to an old Perkins powered TK Bedford. The diesel guy - put the same gear ratios of that commodore behind the 2.0td and you'd have to drive it everywhere in 1st gear

I've had three 4.0. Yes the AU would consistently get 7.6 on a trip, could squeeze 850km out of a tank. As i said i put around 80k on it so I have a fair idea. BA not so great 8.2 was all it was good for. FG XR6 again 7.6 but I've had it down to 7.2 Te Rapa - akld return. No such luck with my V8. 3 pedals I had to laugh at that BBQ statement but obviously no real world experience from you just a few myths so why bother commenting... OP I have a lifestyle block out of Cambridge. Am thinking of buying a cheap V8 Discovery as a hack. Can pick up an ok one for 3 grand. This will be luck to see over 5,000km a year so fuel economy won't be a killer. There aren't that many long unsealed roads around the Akld/Waikato area these days so your 320d should do the job(?).

And your first hand experience with LPG is... As per my first reply, my old dual fuel Falcon running the inefficient mixer set up, a run up the North Island on 91 is 7.6l/100km at 2.19/l, so 650km Wgtn CBD to North Shore =$108. Running LPG 10.5l/100km at 1.26/l = $86. So not a bad saving in one trip, or about as cheap as some small gutless cramped 1.6l shitbox. The gap would be even bigger using a rockgas card. In comparison my 320d is about $91 including RUC. I'm no LPG nut, the old man bought the car for me when I left school and I racked up 80 odd thousand km in it before selling. So I can see the benefits, as long as someone else has footed the conversion bill. If converting you'd need to do a lot of km to break even, but the same thing goes with the price premium of diesel v petrol SUV. It seems OP isn't too worried about towing or off road to consider the small soft roaders, so a Commodore on LPG would be the best choice, as it will do everything better than those horrible soft roaders. If hell bent of an SUV, and one running LPG, in my opinion the best buy would be the WJ 4.7 Grand Cherokee. Cheap enough to buy, good power and easly one of the most capable 4wds out of the box. Your main problem is finding one already converted, but they are good for 11-12l/100km open road running petrol anyway so arent as bad as some assume. To buy a diesel with similar performance and off road ability you'd be looking at 25 grand plus.

Territory doesn't come factory fitted. You'd be best off buying one already converted. I don't think it's worth while to pay for conversion these days. LPG has same rego as petrol. I've had two dual fuel Falcons. One AU 4.0 with the old mixer set up, similar to a carby. On highway I'd get 7.6-7.8l/100km running 91, and 10.5 on LPG. Second 5.4 V8 Falcon that ran the more modern LPG vapour injection. This would return 9.5 on 91 and 11.5 on LPG over the same roads as that AU. Bear in mind LPG is about 90 cents to one dollar cheaper per lite than 91. Shop around cos price varies. BP are always the most expensive. Las time I checked rockgas card had it at about $1/litre. Do the sums on what ever you're looking at.

Nice thread. Did the cat removal result in better fuel economy? You fuel figures are a bit off from my experience, especially up and down the Waikato expressway which is a good piece of road. I usually manage 5.8l/100km wgtn-akld consistently. Last long trip I did was Wgtn-Napier-Cambridge-Wgtn and worst was Napier to Cambridge, just over 6l/100km - Napier Taupo an economy killer. In saying that I have a 4dr. I've had a couple Falcon sedans and wagons in the past and the sedans have always bettered the wagons with the same driving style and roads. I see you've done the EGR delete/disconnect, but have since replaced the EGR thermostat... This would be pointless would it not?... I'm in Oz for five weeks but when I get back I'll look into the EGR delete, cat removal and intake clean with new O rings and swirl flap blanking plates, as I suspect I may have boost leak... which will effect economy and make the turbo work harder. I'm also after economy with these thing. My V8 ute very rarely sees below 10/100km, except up the Waikato expressway, its not a bad feeling nearly halving that. Also have two sport motorbikes 675cc and 1100cc which use more fuel than the diesel bimmer lol.

This, I'd start with a piece that fits inside the torx and work your way up to the thread diameter. Use, or go and spend $100 on left handed drill bits, because as you're drilling the drill will most likely catch and unwind the bolt... unless some tard had cranked her right up. Left handed drill kit would be the most un used tool in my box, but when I need em they're worth their weight in gold. Managed to drill out a snapped 10mm exhaust stud in place last week, 20 min job, pulling the turbo and manifold would have been 3+ hr, 15 litre Cummins,

Parts for these aren't badly priced eh... What kind of fuel mileage are you getting out of it, highway and city? Have you addressed the swirl flap issue? I did mine the day I bought it, although I used self tappers and loctite silicon/silastic, am not sure if they've sealed from any boost leaks completely, so will order the proper machined blanking plugs as well as this thermostat off ebay when I get around to it. Also when I had the intake manifold off she was caked in carbon. Didnt have enough time to clean it properly, might just buy a complete new manifold to save time. Will see if this all this improves mpg.

Right, I stand corrected. Open road and the overall running costs between the petrol and diesel narrow, to a point of making the diesel redundant. This is laughable... Who buys a two tonne luxury sedan to 'handle'... And who drives them at such a pace to notice, and be put off by the difference. My old 540i pulled two tonne regularly no worries. Was a great car for driving around NZ, ideal mix of ride quality, road holding and enough balls come over taking. Just a good all rounder. Highway mileage I could get down to 8.6l/100km Wgtn-Akl. E39 540i would have to be one of, if not the best used car bargain, if a larger sedan is on the cards. If OP is worried about a cost per km basis then a 530i will probably be a better buy. Then again, 10 year old car, anything can happen down the track that will blow the budget.

Southwards car museum, this old Mercedes, 24 litre

You'll be better off with a 530i petrol. Unless you're towing something decent most of the time diesels are false economy. Have in mind rego is nearly twice the price, RUCs is about $55 per 1000km (makes that 1000km per tank claim not so great), more religious servicing, and if a HP fuel pump or turbo lets go be prepared to bend over ($$$).

Back in a BMW after a few years. Had E30 318i 2dr 5spd, E28 525e, E34 525i 5spd, and my favourite E34 540i, beutiful car, all NZ new. I was about to buy the immac Lemans blue ~90,000k old E39 M5 that was listed on TM end of last year in Botany area Akld but the bastard pulled the listing and wouldnt return my calls or txts, childhood dream car but oh well. Picked up this NZ new 320d a few months ago as a cheap run around. Preferred E46 as opposed to a newer DPF equipped model because they just spell drama. Best economy so far is 5.6l/100km, 5.8 seems to be the norm Welly-Akld, and 8ish around the city. Not a bad result, after RUCs are paid i dont think it'll be any cheaper to run than a 318i manual (?). Towed her home after reading about the swirl flap dramas. That and full engine service was the first thing I've done. Need to clean EGR valve and intake manifold of all the carbon properly and then see if economy figures improve, not a bad run around anyway. When I picked her up I was thinking... I hope this isn't a common sight, lol. Cheers.