do i really have to use real diesel this summer?

hi chaps,
in the past i've run my discovery 300tdi's on either uvo or clean oil from cash and carry (yes i'm naughty)

i have been told to not even think about putting anything other than real diesel in my 99 p38 cos its got a stupid bmw 2.5 engine,

am i stuck with payng full price for diesel or could i run a mix to save a few pennies?

i'm so worried about screwing up my pride and joy i've not even put heating oil in it when i've arrived at mums where i have a tankful going spare!

also since i fixed fip its now starting much better even when hot, but every so often when i start it, it revs like hell and then i turn it off and turn it on again and its back to normal, it did this more often before i changed the seals on fip so is not such a problem now only does it once a fortnight or so.

next project after rear brake pads at weekend, is to install gun cabinet in boot but got to decide where to put amp, sub and saddle!

looking forward to your advice as usual chaps xx

the intank electric fuel pump does not like straight veg oil (search bmw forums)
but will run a 50% mix ok.
i ran my previous dse on 100% bio diesel without any problems and i run my new dse on a mix of diesel and bio diesel.
my only reason for not running this one 100% on bio is i stopped making it myself and started buying it but there is a limit to the quantity i can buy.
many people will tell you bio will **** up your pump but thats rubbish the problem is not with biodiesel the issue is with quality, easy to make average to poor bio but not so easy to make excellent quality bio.

Chuck 300ml of low ash mineral two stroke oil in with every tank. It'll ensure decent lubrication of the pump. Only use the cheap mineral stuff don't use fully-synth.

I wouldn't even go there.


simple as

I have been running my DSE on a 50/50% mixture of diesel and SVO for the past year.
No adverse effects. Sometimes a bit lumpy on startup on very cold mornings.
Engine actually sounds better. I buy the SVO (rapeseed) from Costco at £1/L.
The Bosch injection pump and indirect injection engine are well suited to veg oil.
You are allowed to use up to 2500L per annum.
Not heard too many problems with the in tank pump but I'm running 50%.

well i was brave and when the light came on i put £20 of nice bio in ata cost of £1.15 per litre, its been running okay so plan to put more in tommorrow, probably do a mix overthe summer of the nice bio from the chap down the road from me, and then some svo, cos i can get it at about 90p per litre at the moment, will fill my garage with it while its this cheap.

thanks for your help chaps and watch this space for when i blow the engine up! xx

Am planning on running my 2.5 P38 on Bio (yes proper Bio not SVO or WVO)

Previously ran my Freelander 2L Rover Diesel and 2.5 Frontera for many 1000's of miles on 100% Bio, both of these had the Bosch VP37 pump and no issues.

Used to be able to get Bio for 90p per litre, recently went up to £1- so quite a substantial saving over pump diesel

Stand by and watch the thieving socialist and sandal-wearers slap a tax of some kind on veggie oil now... Can't possibly have people beating the system, can we??

What on earth do you do with all the plastic bottles it would take to half-fill a 90 litre tank???

Clarky130 said:

Stand by and watch the thieving socialist and sandal-wearers slap a tax of some kind on veggie oil now... Can't possibly have people beating the system, can we??

What on earth do you do with all the plastic bottles it would take to half-fill a 90 litre tank???

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recycle them

jamesmartin said:

recycle them

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share them between your neighbours bins

Clarky130 said:

Stand by and watch the thieving socialist and sandal-wearers slap a tax of some kind on veggie oil now... Can't possibly have people beating the system, can we??

What on earth do you do with all the plastic bottles it would take to half-fill a 90 litre tank???

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You've been trapped under your Rangie for too long. We got a Tory mob with sandal-wearer's now. They appear to be much worse than the other version.

jt_armstrong said:

You've been trapped under your Rangie for too long. We got a Tory mob with sandal-wearer's now. They appear to be much worse than the other version.

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Aye....twas tother bunch that brought in 2500l duty free

They're all the bloody same... Sadly.

Back to the original question the answer is of course no sell your tractor and buy a nice v8 p38 running on nice petrol and cheap gas and not that nasty smokey stuff
and as for the donkeys all the same in my opinion liars and cheats

yup - and no worries about smelling like a mobile chip shop, or what to do with the bottles

Clarky130 said:

Stand by and watch the thieving socialist and sandal-wearers slap a tax of some kind on veggie oil now... Can't possibly have people beating the system, can we??

What on earth do you do with all the plastic bottles it would take to half-fill a 90 litre tank???

Click to expand...

Well considering you could get 21 litres of it for £11.00 not long ago, and now it's around a quid a litre, looks like someone is cashing in. Funny how the son in law can still get it at 50p a litre for his chippy. BUT it has a gelling agent added and cannot be used for vehicles. Goes solid when cool.

wammers said:

Well considering you could get 21 litres of it for £11.00 not long ago, and now it's around a quid a litre, looks like someone is cashing in. Funny how the son in law can still get it at 50p a litre for his chippy. BUT it has a gelling agent added and cannot be used for vehicles. Goes solid when cool.

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its palm oil that goes solid below 10 degrees and most chip shops use it for fryers.
can be used in vehicles but summer time only or for svo use if in a proper heated conversion.
palm oil can be converted into bio but the prob is it will still go solid below 10 degrees even once converted.
nothing to do with gelling agents just the type of oil.

Just goes to show you, doesn't it? If all this really WAS about 'saving the planet', they'd make it cheap as chips and readily available...

6704nathan said:

its palm oil that goes solid below 10 degrees and most chip shops use it for fryers.
can be used in vehicles but summer time only or for svo use if in a proper heated conversion.
palm oil can be converted into bio but the prob is it will still go solid below 10 degrees even once converted.
nothing to do with gelling agents just the type of oil.

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Yeah Nath asked him and he confirms it's palm oil. But it still looks like someone is making a killing on the liquid vegie oil. Just looked a VAT rates. Vegetable oil is zero rated, but strange as it may seem used oil for recycling is to be charged at standard VAT rate.

government have just changed laws on what dutie has to be paid on bio as well has put a few commercial suppliers out of buisness but it was all a matter of time before they clocked onto it same as the ever increasing price of lpg used cooking oil prices have gone the same as will bio diesel.
when i started making bio used cooking oil was free then steadily it has grown to people wanting 40-50p a litre for it.
biggest killer for the home producer was the likes of a and b oils who supply the oil to outlets but in the contracts the waste oil has to go back to them.
one of the many reasons why i gave up making it just got to be to much of a pain in the arse! when it can be bought for around the £1-£1.10 mark