Diesel conversions - could they help save the BX ?

[hilarystone]

so will be a lot less on fule for me

Probably not, a good 16v driven gently and with a Turbo diesel 5th gear will easily do 35mpg and up to 40mpg… And I have a heavy right foot. Unless you are doing 20000 miles a year you won't notice much difference to your wallet.

[Kitch]

well I am the one putting the diesel in the 16v and I don't see y so meny people say no to doing it I wil be use it every day and for shows so will be a lot less on fule for me

It's this thing called having an opinion

[citsncycles]

It'll be worth checking the insurance, as you'll have a modified car there and the resulting increase in premium may swallow your fuel saving.

[Kitch]

It'll be worth checking the insurance, as you'll have a modified car there and the resulting increase in premium may swallow your fuel saving.

It'll more than swallow it - I reckon it'll reverse it.

Not easy to get around, either. I'm not a prude - I'd consider not declaring an engine change if it wasn't obvious as I already class insurance as legalised theft. For example, 1.0 TU to 1.4 TU - externally the same, so you're relying on an insurance engineer to know the difference between carbs fitted to a Citroen AX from 1988. I'll give you a hint - he won't, and he certainly wouldn't care about the 0.004% saving he'll make to his repair pot enough to put in countless hours of research on the off-chance this £300 T/L value car is legit or not. Same goes for 1.8 diesel to 1.9 diesel on BXs - they simply won't care, they'll just write it off. They'd start caring more if it was worth more than £3k. I know, I've seen it.

But - petrol to diesel? Jesus, you only need a VRM check to spot that one! And the savings made in fuel (even if you risked running it on red) would be outweighed by the additional insurance premium.

And you've made the car slower.

And you've put in a load of work when you could have just bought a BX diesel (and fitted a bodykit, if that was important to you).

And you've decreased the value of it. The 16v is probably the most valuable of all BXs (in the UK), but for every mint £2k 16v there is a mint £1k TD. A 16v with a TD engine in it would be worth less than a regular TZD Turbo.


There is only one reason to do it - if you want to. Life's too short, you only get one. Do what the hell you want, just don't expect others to see sense in it!

[gilly45]

I have a tzd nd the 16v and it wont make much diff on the insurance from petrol to diesel and I don't use red diesel

[mat_fenwick]

The point is not the difference between a standard TD and a standard 16v, but the difference between a standard car and a modified car. I've declared the engine change in mine, which reduces the number of insurance companies I can choose from and hence increases the cost. Despite only an extra 2 bhp (officially anyway) I'm paying roughly £250 a year versus £150 a year for a standard car.

There's bugger all extra risk involved, but the cost increase is mainly down to the fact I have to use a specialist broker rather than a 'normal' insurance company. I'm dreading getting quotes for the Stellar though!

By all means do it if you want to, so long as you are aware of all the possible downsides so you can make a well-informed decision.

[Thread Bear]

. Despite only an extra 2 bhp (officially anyway) I'm paying roughly £250 a year versus £150 a year for a standard car.

That is the point for the insurer though. It is not the minimal increase in power that is the risk. Its that the car is no longer standard. Statistically there will be a increased likelihood of a claim on modified cars and less defense against a claim coming in from another motorist. Who are you going to back training for on a specific task in your business. The average fit guy or the one who just had a heart transplant?
What is interesting is that the same deal does not occur with the change of a dud engine for one of the same spec. Thus destroying my analogy unless it is a pigs heart. Clearly its deviation from standard that is the worry not poor working standards during the alteration. That makes less sense. But then I here that there s beginning to be a paper-chase over major car works now.

[citsncycles]

When there's work such as an engine change, there is increasingly a demand from insurance companies that any such work is carried out by a professional garage.

[Kitch]

Yet you can change your brake master cylinder on your driveway with no experience required

Like I said, it's legalised theft.

[Thread Bear]

There is a lot of it about, strangely mostly in the interest of the State, or its cosy cor-pirate chums, who strangely have senior politicians as directors, more often than not.

[Vanny]

Back to MY EXPERIENCE of doing the same thing, I actually found (possibly due to age) that an engine modified Citroen BX 16v (that is what an insurer will class it as, regardless of the significant drop in power, performance etc) was considerably more expensive than a straight 16v. Most wanted to know exactly where the engine came from, and seemed add half of the cost of insuring the donor to the cost of insuring the valver. As mad as that sounds, when it had a Xantia diesel engine in the cost was a good few hundred quid more than when it had a TZD engine in!

Then there is the ball ache of changing the fuel type with the DVLA. This used to be quite easy, but when the London LEZ came in, suddenly the DVLA found they had a great number of diesel engine conversions on Lamborghini's! So now they want to see a LOT of evidence as to where the engine came from, documentation and photo evidence of the fact, and an inspection report from the vehicle manufacturer of the change although on being pressed i found that this could actually come from any garage. It took me a single phone call and a letter to change from petrol to diesel before the rules changed, but took three months to convert the paperwork back from diesel to petrol.

Then there is the obvious fuel difference. For a good few years i had a Focus diesel that returned 50mpg, but with an 8p difference in fuel cost between petrol and diesel it was actually cheaper on long journeys to take the petrol valver and only get 35mpg.

I did my conversion in the face of a lot of opposition, but i did it for the challenge, and ultimately it probably helped me keep my driving license. 13 years on though, i wish i'd never bothered as i could have saved a fortune and had a lot less stress!

[Leobx16v]

In my opinion a 16valve is a 16valve, and a td is a td, the point of the 16valves are that they are quick and sound well, I agree with kitch, there aren't enough valvers left to rip another engine out, if you can't afford the fuel buy another car that's a deisel please don't ruin another valver they are just too rare to do it to.
That's my opinion don't take it personally I would say it to anyone.

[mat_fenwick]

please don't ruin another valver

If it was done sensibly and all modifications reversible, it wouldn't IMO ruin the car (at least not permanently - look at Vanny's for example), but I still can't see why you would!