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Do you use your Elgrand as your main car?

Drive mine every day - I have a choice of other cars, but mainly select the Elgrand, it’s just an easy drive….

Plus if on the off chance I need to pick up three corpses then I can - without chopping them into six pieces, messy business.
 
Yup, well the wife does, I'm trying to get a cheap one, we've just come back from 2 weeks in France, 2300k's and €700 ish in fuel 😂
 
Thanks for that. How long to say fill a tank up? And if got a 47kg bottle how many fill ups? Also what's the approximate price these days for the conversion and pump?

1kg of LPG equates to 1.96 litres of LPG at 15degC (fuels including LPG expand and contract with temperature changes, 15degC is the temperature at which pumps for petrol, diesel and LPG are 'normalised'). This means that there are 92.1 litres of LPG in a 47kg bottle.

I charge £2095 to convert Elgrands, £375 for the pump.

Usually an LPG tank will only allow you to fill it to 80% of capacity, this allows for a 20% headroom to allow for expansion of the liquid gas in case the tank is heated after filling. The fill limiter is automatic and works like a toilet cistern fill valve (when it rises on the liquid it closes the valve which stops any more gas entering from the pump), you don't need to worry about overfilling the tank because fill limiter is automatic. The 20% headroom is unnecessarily excessive so I modify the fill limiter on tanks I fit to allow them to fill to 90% of capacity, which gives gains of 10% capacity and range. I fit the biggest tank that will fit on Elgrands, this has capacity of 93 litres so would normally allow filling to 74 litres at the usual 80% limited capacity but allows filling to around 84 litres with the 90% fill limiter modification. I not only fit a bigger capacity tank than competitors but am also the only installer to do the 90% mod, the combination means Elgrands I convert have much better onboard capacity and range on LPG than competitors conversions.

If the Elgrand tank holds 84 litres of LPG and the red bottle holds 92.1 litres you can work out that the red bottle has enough gas to completely fill the Elgrand tank and still leave some gas remaining in the bottle. No problem, you could use a bit of gas from the vehicle full tank then pump the remaining gas from the red bottle into the vehicle tank. Or (though I haven't bothered myself) keep 2 red bottles, fill the vehicle tank when it's empty, next time you come to fill pump the remaining gas from one bottle into the vehicle first then pump some gas from the full red bottle into the vehicle tank. Order another red bottle as soon as you've emptied one and there'll never be a time when you don't have some gas at home to pump in.

There are a few types of LPG tank, by type I don't mean dimensions or capacity I mean design. Full toroidal (shape) tanks are fitted at the ELgrands spare wheel position. Of full toroidal tanks the vast majority are single hole, meaning they have a port to connect a single large valve block, the valve block has the output port that feeds the engine, the fill port, the fill limiter is built in, safety measures such as a pressure relief valve and thermal fuse are built in. Single hole tanks have an inlet port to accept an 8mm pipe, which seems narrow but the gas is forced in through pressure. Even at the higher pressure the 8mm fill port does slow filling compared to a different design called a 4 hole tank design. As you might expect 4 hole means there are 4 holes in the tank, one for gas inlet, one for a combined pressure relief valve / thermal fuse, one for the gas level sensor float, the other the output that provides gas to the engine. The 4 hole design uses a 12mm inlet and can fill at the same speed as filling with petrol but the 4 hole design are far more expensive and not often available. I am probably the only installer who has ever fitted a 4 hole tank on an Elgrand, only a few customers have been willing to pay the extra hundreds of pounds.

The pump I sell is slower than filling at a forecourt, it pumps at 3 litres per minute so takes 28 minutes to fill the 84 litre working capacity tank from empty, but you can be at home having a coffee etc while it's pumping.
 
I use mine as a daily driver an average just over 20mpg with varied driving calculated over 10 tank fulls.

I'm about to fit a flexfuel kit which means I can use E85 which is the equivalent of 58p/litre here. I can buy E85 at both the supermarkets I use locally.

Not sure how the engine will take to E85 but it's very popular with the 350z gang in the US who seem to get along with it just fine. I'll be doing a complete top end service whilst fitting the kit, including cleaning injectors, and will change the oil more regularly, so we will see how it goes. I know the mpg will reduce with the high level of ethanol but the price per litre is less than half that of 98RON and E85 is 105RON.

Don't know about availability or price of E85 in the UK though.
 
Don't know about availability or price of E85 in the UK though.
Not sold at UK forecourts but can have it delivered to your door for around £4 per litre plus shipping.

The E rating for E5 and E10 is the maximum ethanol content, not sure if E85 is usually close to 85% ethanol or the percentage varies but if you buy some that actually has near 85% ethanol you might go 40% less distance on a litre,.. but if you'd be paying less than 40% of the price of petrol for ethanol that would still be a cost per mile saving though not as good a saving as LPG and less range on E85 as opposed to more range on LPG.
 
Apparently E85 can have between 51% and 83% bioethanol. I'm led to believe that the percentage of ethenol is reduced in the winter for easier starting. It's all a bit of an experiment really. The kit was 500€, I can fit it myself and fuel is readily available, so it seemed a bit daft not to give it a go. The gumph quotes 15% to 25% increased consumption depending on vehicle, usage and actual ethanol percentage.

Not sure if the Elgrand VQ35 will benefit from the increased octane without modification. The box comes with an app to view parameters and 'tune' the system for best results. If it's able to produce a bit more torque, then that will also offset the increased consumption. Depends on how much range the engine ECU has to advance ignition being that it was designed for E0 petrol. I do currently have an Impul ECU fitted. This is what they show for a 350Z.

Screenshot 2025-08-29 223617.png
 
I daily mine but I use lpg so fuel costs are not really a big issue. As said without the lpg you need deep pockets but with the lpg I can't see any reason not to daily an Elgrand have been doing for 2years. The only issue is I find I park further away in car parks as I don't want any dents in my paintwork.
 
FWIW my memory of E85 was trying it on my JDM Toyota when Morrisons supermarkets sold it for a short while many years ago - the pump nozzle at the site I used leaked badly - apparently E85 can attack rubber/synthetic seals.
 
1kg of LPG equates to 1.96 litres of LPG at 15degC (fuels including LPG expand and contract with temperature changes, 15degC is the temperature at which pumps for petrol, diesel and LPG are 'normalised'). This means that there are 92.1 litres of LPG in a 47kg bottle.

I charge £2095 to convert Elgrands, £375 for the pump.

Usually an LPG tank will only allow you to fill it to 80% of capacity, this allows for a 20% headroom to allow for expansion of the liquid gas in case the tank is heated after filling. The fill limiter is automatic and works like a toilet cistern fill valve (when it rises on the liquid it closes the valve which stops any more gas entering from the pump), you don't need to worry about overfilling the tank because fill limiter is automatic. The 20% headroom is unnecessarily excessive so I modify the fill limiter on tanks I fit to allow them to fill to 90% of capacity, which gives gains of 10% capacity and range. I fit the biggest tank that will fit on Elgrands, this has capacity of 93 litres so would normally allow filling to 74 litres at the usual 80% limited capacity but allows filling to around 84 litres with the 90% fill limiter modification. I not only fit a bigger capacity tank than competitors but am also the only installer to do the 90% mod, the combination means Elgrands I convert have much better onboard capacity and range on LPG than competitors conversions.

If the Elgrand tank holds 84 litres of LPG and the red bottle holds 92.1 litres you can work out that the red bottle has enough gas to completely fill the Elgrand tank and still leave some gas remaining in the bottle. No problem, you could use a bit of gas from the vehicle full tank then pump the remaining gas from the red bottle into the vehicle tank. Or (though I haven't bothered myself) keep 2 red bottles, fill the vehicle tank when it's empty, next time you come to fill pump the remaining gas from one bottle into the vehicle first then pump some gas from the full red bottle into the vehicle tank. Order another red bottle as soon as you've emptied one and there'll never be a time when you don't have some gas at home to pump in.

There are a few types of LPG tank, by type I don't mean dimensions or capacity I mean design. Full toroidal (shape) tanks are fitted at the ELgrands spare wheel position. Of full toroidal tanks the vast majority are single hole, meaning they have a port to connect a single large valve block, the valve block has the output port that feeds the engine, the fill port, the fill limiter is built in, safety measures such as a pressure relief valve and thermal fuse are built in. Single hole tanks have an inlet port to accept an 8mm pipe, which seems narrow but the gas is forced in through pressure. Even at the higher pressure the 8mm fill port does slow filling compared to a different design called a 4 hole tank design. As you might expect 4 hole means there are 4 holes in the tank, one for gas inlet, one for a combined pressure relief valve / thermal fuse, one for the gas level sensor float, the other the output that provides gas to the engine. The 4 hole design uses a 12mm inlet and can fill at the same speed as filling with petrol but the 4 hole design are far more expensive and not often available. I am probably the only installer who has ever fitted a 4 hole tank on an Elgrand, only a few customers have been willing to pay the extra hundreds of pounds.

The pump I sell is slower than filling at a forecourt, it pumps at 3 litres per minute so takes 28 minutes to fill the 84 litre working capacity tank from empty, but you can be at home having a coffee etc while it's pumping.
Thank you @Lpgc when I get one I will have to get this done fairly quick. Being in Cornwall that won't be easy. If my maths is on it I think at current price of £1.35l for petrol id be on 30 tank fill ups for 8-9k miles l.

£101 per fill up and 300 miles travelled. 30 fill ups is £3000.
Think I was quoted £80 for a 47kg. When I have sorted a Elgrand I'll contact you.


One last thing here no one has mentioned reliability, is this a issue?
 
In 2 years the only issue I've not had to fix anything. Doesn't mean I haven't fixed minor issues or replaced anything but that has been through choice. Only thing that has actually broke was recently and that was the bonnet stay clip. So I would say there pretty reliable. There are preventive things you can do like remove cats, make sure you service regularly etc but I don't think there any less reliable than most cars.
 
If miles are smiles, you'll be skint
Yip got a daily
But handy with spanners helps a packet
All a choice thing
Money makes the world go round, but an Elgrand, don't think so
 
In 2 years the only issue I've not had to fix anything. Doesn't mean I haven't fixed minor issues or replaced anything but that has been through choice. Only thing that has actually broke was recently and that was the bonnet stay clip. So I would say there pretty reliable. There are preventive things you can do like remove cats, make sure you service regularly etc but I don't think there any less reliable than most cars.
Thanks, when you say remove cars, I've hat on a E51, still nessersory on a E52?
 
If miles are smiles, you'll be skint
Yip got a daily
But handy with spanners helps a packet
All a choice thing
Money makes the world go round, but an Elgrand, don't think so
Thank you. I'm not handy with spanners, will most likely get LPG, I'll be honest on a test drive I was smiling. Also it's a big car with my family will need it
 
Had Simon do our LPG, at least once a month we will visit family who are in other parts of the country, we just fill up then as you'll inevitably pass a place within 10/15 mins detour.. or go to derby and do some shopping on the odd occasion where we've run out and not done a trip.

It's about 25 mins to derby from us and a 30 mile round trip. Still very much worth it to fill up on LPG.

Use it as main car.
 
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I use mine daily and its generally short 10 mile round trips to work, supermarket, etc. and only get about 17miles to the gallon.
Insurance was a bit dearer and so was the tax.
All in it costs me about £100 a month more than my previous car, but i love it and think its worth it.
Bought it to use as a camper, so as long as i get away for a few nights each month, i consider that extra £100 to be paying for those trips.
 
E51 seems to have a weak link in the cats which doesn't effect the E52. I've never had an E52 as there too car like for me but only real issue I've heard of is the CVT gearbox which would worry me but no real experience.
 
Had Simon do our LPG, at least once a month we will visit family who are in other parts of the country, we just fill up then as you'll enevitby pass a place within 10/15 mins detour.. or go to derby and do some shopping on the odd occasion where we've run out and not done a trip.

It's about 25 mins to derby from us and a 30 mile round trip. Still very much worth it to fill up on LPG.

Use it as main car.
Thank you. Even more confidence to buy for daily
 
I use mine daily and its generally short 10 mile round trips to work, supermarket, etc. and only get about 17miles to the gallon.
Insurance was a bit dearer and so was the tax.
All in it costs me about £100 a month more than my previous car, but i love it and think its worth it.
Bought it to use as a camper, so as long as i get away for a few nights each month, i consider that extra £100 to be paying for those trips.
Thank you, already looked in to insurance and it was a pain. I was quoted 3 times my current insurance, until I went with a company that does my partner's car and our house insurance. Now it would be about double the price of current. Worth it for the extra I would be gaining like you are.
 
E51 seems to have a weak link in the cats which doesn't effect the E52. I've never had an E52 as there too car like for me but only real issue I've heard of is the CVT gearbox which would worry me but no real experience.
The CVT is what have read the most and it worries me a lot but I'm getting more desperate longer I leave it
 
E51's are a bit heavy on wheel bearings and brake components but every make/model car has it's common wear points. I think E51's are very reliable as long as the cats have been sorted.

E52's, personally I think the E51 is a better people carrier, more practical and I wouldn't want the CVT (partly because I do a fair bit of heavy towing) and the electric pas pump has failed for more than a few owners. The E52 has a very different exhaust setup and cats don't seem to be an issue.

On E51's the LPG tank fits outside underneath the back where the spare wheel usually goes. E52's don't have a spare wheel, there is no space outside underneath to fit an LPG tank, the LPG tank is fitted inside in what I call the 'bath tub', the below floor level storage area at the rear of the luggage area. This is a cylinder shape design as opposed to the toroidal spare wheel design that fits to an E51, and it has capacity of 75L as opposed to the E51's 93L. But the E52 does a bit better mpg than the E51 which in terms of range offsets the smaller tank capacity.
 
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