Hi All,

I've been looking at converting my 1993 BMW 316 (50,000 miles) to LPG and have been surprised at the variation in price for SGI systems.

I have a number of quotes from £1150 or £1900, and have been thinking about going the DIY route...

I haven't been able to find many 'Full' DIY conversion kits, but did come across this one on ebay :

KME SGI System

I've had a look at the KME website, and there is lots of info, manuals etc. The software for programming the system also looks straight forward.

Does anyone have any experience of these systems ?

At £575 delivered, it looked like good value.....?

Cheers.
Phil.

hi , have you had a look at tinleytec or wtv these sell complete kits.
dont know anything about your car but make sure you need an sgi kit, these are harder to fit and set up(need a laptop) although you will get better mpg . ive fitted a closed loop to my 3.2 jag and am glad i didnt bother with the sgi. remember though with closed loop your ignition system will need to be a+ or it could backfire(ive had non yet, even when i leaned out the mixture to stall) andy
ps dont forget forget to get it checked over and leak tested by an lpg converter(while your there get it set up right aswell using exhaust tester)

Hi,

Checked various lists, all say I need an SGI kit...

Had a look at the Tinley Tech kits, but these work out at £850 for a SGI + Donut tank (£300 more expensive)

WTV also come out at £850 + programming software that you have to hire...

This looks like a big difference to me, which is why I wondered if anyone had experience of this 'AFC' system

Here is the link to their website...

http://www.alternativefuelcompany.eu/index.html

They have good feedback on Ebay, but I just wanted to find someone with one of their systems before I took the plunge...

I'm afraid i can't help with the kit but can vouch for the guys at tinley tech... They are very knowledgeable and are more than happy to lend assistance and advice over the phone or in person if you turn up at their premises

Hi,
I have also looked at the KME sequential kit and soon will to go ahead with one myself. The alternativefuelcompany.eu seem to have very good technical knowledge and have been extremely helpful regarding the suitability of the kit for my vehicle. I am converting an American Ford 351W EFI engine which is a 5.8 litre V8. The main reason I am not going for closed loop is the backfire problem - this engine has a very large inlet manifold which can hold a lot of gas - have heard that a backfire can be quite lethal and very expensive. There are of course many other very positive factors as well, including the price.

Car Mechanics magazine speak highly of Tinley Tech, so do people on the Landrover forum. You get what you pay for usually. Birmingham Autogas fit the same kit for £1250.

Ask your self where are the kme supplier/installers based what kind of back up would you get? HOW FAR TO TRAVEL IF ANY PROBLEMS ETC ETC

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on the ball city

With regard to backup on a self install of a KME sequential kit, I would sort out myself any problems after installation, as long as there is a warranty on parts. I should have mentioned in my earlier post that in no way would I contemplate a self install of this nature without an engineering background and a good sound knowledge of electrics and computers. After the conversion I will post some comments on how it went.
Living down the bottom end of Cornwall is a nightmare with regard to being near suppliers/installers - have to travel a long way for everything, which includes 6 miles or 18 miles for LPG - both these outlets are also not service stations, so not open evenings and only for a small part of weekends. Unfortunately, the one 6 miles away is charging 55p a litre which I consider is rather high. Still going to be worth a conversion - consumption on petrol at its best on a long run is 13 mpg - around town I dare not hazard a guess.

Is it worth putting SGI on there? with it being an older car anyway sounds like a mixer would do the job & be a lot easier to fit & set up.I would be reluctant to put on an SGI kit that I had never heard of-if u are going to fit it I would want to know what results people have had with it first

There would be a lot of grey areas regarding warrenty for example what is down to poor instalation/damage of parts etc etc.With respect no matter what background you are from mistakes can and do happen. It was only the other week that on this very forum somebody was saying
"i am very competent ,i am an aeroplane technician i dont make mistakes".
Since then there have been several crashes(not caused by the chap i was talking with) but it goes to show how ever good you may be mistakes/problems occur .

_________________
on the ball city

I appreciate what everyone is saying on the 'You get what you pay for' front.., but I don't think this necessarily applies as strongly for kits as it does when paying for full installs.

Garages say it will take 2 days to do a LPG install, fair enough, so £50/hour (on the cheap...) x 16 hours = £800. This is the part of my LPG system I don't want to pay for – since its more than 50% of the cost.

eg. In the case given above, of Birmingham Autogas fitting a 'Tinley Tech' kit comes out at £1468.75, minus the cost of the kit @ around £850 = £620 for labour. However, as a trade supplier, the actual cost of the kit is going to be less, so we are back to £800 for labour.

I'm not saying this is a rip-off, garages have to make a living, (real garages I mean, not Main stealerships that charge £175/hour...!), it's just that I would rather do the work myself and retain the ability to fix and service the system, as well as keeping the cash.

My point is that a large proportion of the cost of an LPG installation is the labour to have it fitted, not the cost of the components. So I don't think £550 for all the components is actually all that cheap – it is however cheap in 'kit' the market, which is something completely different. i.e. At £550 this has to potential to be a good quality kit at the right price (and vica versa of course), which was why I was after some 'real' feedback.

As far as kit prices in general go, I think these are generally high, there being little competition and somewhat of a 'closed' market. Eg. I've seen adverts for 'front-end' kits for £600+, then 'of course you'll need a tank sir' at another £300, 'would you like a filler kit to go with that sir' – what the hell do you think.. Oh.. another £75.., it just goes on...! This makes many kits close enough to the full installation cost for people not to bother, and just have the thing fitted (or it may be just me being cynical about the automotive industry in general....)

Anyway, kernowman, I look forward to hearing how it all went.

2 Days? Most places say 3 days . Are these places good or are they just throwing it on? If you go to any main garage what is thier labour rate?
If you want a decent warrenty on the parts they have to be looked after,most equipment suppliers offer the back up not only to sort out problems but to offer best practice etc ect

_________________
on the ball city

Point taken. We all make mistakes in this life, and I am no exception - however, I would rather cope with my own mistakes and put them right myself.
Going for SGI against a mixer. A mixer would certainly do the job, however I have never really considered one because of the possibility of backfire problems. Also, I think I would benefit from SGI, performance and consumption wise, particularly with regard to setting up the system myself on my laptop. Although the vehicle is 1989, the American Ford of this period seems to have a reasonably good engine management system (EECIV).
The pdf installation file from KME http://www.kme.com.pl/pdf/ManualAkme-2.12_EN.pdf makes interesting reading.