HomeIf you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
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mogmartin
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If you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
Admin Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:07 pm
It would be great to start this forum off with anyone sharing their experience of their Bilbo. So if you want to post, be great to hear how which conversion you have, how long you have had it, and what your experience has been so far. Look forward to hearing from any Bilbo owners 
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- Posts : 12
Join date : 2010-11-09 -
Updated website
mogmartin Sat Jan 08, 2011 7:27 am
I have mad a bit of an overhaul to the existing stuff on my website (which is featured in the links). www.vw-t5-camper.co.uk. I now intend to start adding a bit more content. Keep a look out if you are interested ...
Last edited by mogmartin on Sat Jan 08, 2011 7:35 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : spelling!)
mogmartin- Posts : 5
Join date : 2011-01-08
Location : cambridgeshire -
Re: If you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
dartmoor Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:47 am
mogmartin wrote:I have mad a bit of an overhaul to the existing stuff on my website (which is featured in the links). www.vw-t5-camper.co.uk. I now intend to start adding a bit more content. Keep a look out if you are interested ...
Hi and welcome mogmartin! I set up this forum - so hope you didn't mind my link to your website - its was one of places that first got me on to Bilbos. I am very pleased with mine so far: Celex SE on the new two litre diesel engine. I was a bit worried about having just 84hp, but actually it's been fine - pulls really well. I bought those wind deflector things that you had shown on your T5 - haven't fitted them yet. Were they easy to fit?
Best extra we have had has been roof bar system. So easy to use. We wanted this for a double Kayak - the only challenge is the height of the vehicle!
Keep us posted on your developments on your website.
dartmoor- Posts : 15
Join date : 2010-12-16
Re: If you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
mogmartin Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:45 am
Absolutely delighted that 'my' link is on the forum links page.
I am sure that, unless you are in a hurry, 84 PS is quite enough. You had to (and still do have to) have 130 odd horses or more for an automatic.
The ClimAirs, as I recall, took about 15 minutes to fit the pair.
We find, touch wood, that you get very used to the height and looking out for potentially damaging stuff. So far, no close scrapes. In our previous e/r roof T25 where we were far less aware of the height, we exited a French supermarket through a tunnel without looking. Once in it it felt very tight. We escaped unscathed only to look back and see it was officially lower than we were!
To anybody reading this, do not be afraid to register my website with 'Watch That Page'. I update quite infrequently and you won't get bombarded with messages.
Have you tried to get some more publicity? I'd have thought that if you asked Mike Jago nicely he might put a small item in MMM in Motorcaravanabout. It would be nice to get some more members on the forum. There must be around a thousand Bilbo owners (and now one in Australia!) out there and, potentially, many more.
I am sure that, unless you are in a hurry, 84 PS is quite enough. You had to (and still do have to) have 130 odd horses or more for an automatic.
The ClimAirs, as I recall, took about 15 minutes to fit the pair.
We find, touch wood, that you get very used to the height and looking out for potentially damaging stuff. So far, no close scrapes. In our previous e/r roof T25 where we were far less aware of the height, we exited a French supermarket through a tunnel without looking. Once in it it felt very tight. We escaped unscathed only to look back and see it was officially lower than we were!
To anybody reading this, do not be afraid to register my website with 'Watch That Page'. I update quite infrequently and you won't get bombarded with messages.
Have you tried to get some more publicity? I'd have thought that if you asked Mike Jago nicely he might put a small item in MMM in Motorcaravanabout. It would be nice to get some more members on the forum. There must be around a thousand Bilbo owners (and now one in Australia!) out there and, potentially, many more.
mogmartin- Posts : 5
Join date : 2011-01-08
Location : cambridgeshire -
Sadly, for sale.
mogmartin Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:28 am
Owing to ill health, neither us will be allowed to drive shortly so our Celex is up for sale. Please see http://www.vw-t5-camper.co.uk/ and please pass the link on to anybody who might be interested.
mogmartin- Posts : 5
Join date : 2011-01-08
Location : cambridgeshire -
Re: If you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
Cello297 Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:15 pm
Mogmartin, I'm really sorry to hear that you won't be on the road for much longer and hope that the health issue is a recoverable one.
You started a useful thread, so let's keep it going.
I have run Auto-Sleepers vehicles for some time, a Clubman and a Nuevo ES and, when the requirement for a larger vehicle became redundant, sold the Nuevo to move down in size, with the idea of being able "to boldly go where other motorhomes have never gone before". I worked in my past life for VW, first selling vehicles at the time when the Beetle broke through the £500 barrier and we genuinely thought that we would never sell another car, as people just didn't have that kind of money. As a consequence, I just had to go for a VW. There were just three converters I would consider, because of the quality and specs available - Auto-Sleepers, Jerba and Bilbo's. Bilbo's is the nearest - we live just south of Cambridge - and we went, "just for a look mind. No decisions to be made before we had seen what was available at the Caravan and Motorhome Show.
Bilbo's impressed on all fronts except the awful entrance from the A22! Their quality was better than I had remembered, they had demo vehicles and a good stock of used vehicles. I wanted a pop-top and Lucinda wanted a high top. We saw a Celex pop-top and a Lezan high-top and came away having ordered the Lezan, a 2007 vehicle (2008 model), 2.5 Tiptronic with goodies.
We didn't discuss the fact that we weren't going to buy then; it just happened. Thank God we were both happy with what we did and we are both in love with the new beastie.
I can only commend the staff at Bilbo's, with Steve taking us out and giving a good account of the product and answering our questions and then Chris, who oversaw preparation and handed over the vehicle.
The next thing has to be a local trip with the Grandchildren, who will love the vehicle. Ashridge Forest is the target for that run out, shortly to be followed by a trip to Dorset and perhaps the Algarve in January.
Hopefully there will be more owners out there who are able to share their experiences??
Shane
You started a useful thread, so let's keep it going.
I have run Auto-Sleepers vehicles for some time, a Clubman and a Nuevo ES and, when the requirement for a larger vehicle became redundant, sold the Nuevo to move down in size, with the idea of being able "to boldly go where other motorhomes have never gone before". I worked in my past life for VW, first selling vehicles at the time when the Beetle broke through the £500 barrier and we genuinely thought that we would never sell another car, as people just didn't have that kind of money. As a consequence, I just had to go for a VW. There were just three converters I would consider, because of the quality and specs available - Auto-Sleepers, Jerba and Bilbo's. Bilbo's is the nearest - we live just south of Cambridge - and we went, "just for a look mind. No decisions to be made before we had seen what was available at the Caravan and Motorhome Show.
Bilbo's impressed on all fronts except the awful entrance from the A22! Their quality was better than I had remembered, they had demo vehicles and a good stock of used vehicles. I wanted a pop-top and Lucinda wanted a high top. We saw a Celex pop-top and a Lezan high-top and came away having ordered the Lezan, a 2007 vehicle (2008 model), 2.5 Tiptronic with goodies.
We didn't discuss the fact that we weren't going to buy then; it just happened. Thank God we were both happy with what we did and we are both in love with the new beastie.I can only commend the staff at Bilbo's, with Steve taking us out and giving a good account of the product and answering our questions and then Chris, who oversaw preparation and handed over the vehicle.
The next thing has to be a local trip with the Grandchildren, who will love the vehicle. Ashridge Forest is the target for that run out, shortly to be followed by a trip to Dorset and perhaps the Algarve in January.
Hopefully there will be more owners out there who are able to share their experiences??
Shane
Last edited by Cello297 on Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:05 am; edited 1 time in total
Cello297- Posts : 24
Join date : 2013-10-03
Location : Saffron Walden
Re: If you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
Cheeser Sun Nov 24, 2013 2:32 pm
We have had our Celex swb 140ps manual for just over a month now and have bought her to act as our main everyday vehicle. We opted for a 'continental' roof because we wanted the good size of the bed that it gives and also the larger aperture that this type of roof provides through the original tin roof! No one seems to mention the advantage of the larger aperture and the better headroom area this provides and therefore less chance of clouting your head!
So far we have been to Snowdonia, Cornwall and Heathrow (don't ask!) seeing family, but also local picnic type day trips,so the engine is starting to loosen up a bit now.
Kipper,as she has been named, cruises effortlessly on the motorway,and I find her more comfortable to drive than my previous old Renault Scenic.You do become aware of the width and length when parking or travelling through village streets,but she has already proved very capable of negotiating narrow Dorset and Cornish lanes.
A quick check brim to brim showed about 36.5 mpg,but that was during the initial running in period keeping the engine spinning and pussyfooting it along rarely using 6th gear. So it remains to be seen what a more realistic mpg figure will be.
So far we are very pleased with Kipper but there are a couple of minor details we are currently trying to sort with the Bilbos factory.
Our neighbour has a 174ps California that is a couple of years old,It is very interesting to make a comparison. We believe that we made the right decision.We didn't like the lhd conversion the top loader fridge,electrical operation of the poptop and less useable storage,although I did like the ingenious table and chairs.
We tried out a 'new' T2 first and found the quaint 1950s technology not to our liking especially when the gear lever came off in my hand!!
After looking at a number of conversions and in more detail at a couple of shows we homed in on a Bilbos T5.
Bilbos gave us the opportunity to try a Celex for a couple of nights before we finally placed our order.
We have a lot to learn,having only spent one night in Kipper so far,but you can definitely see the thought that has gone into the detail of the design of a practical camper rather than a design that is more for show.
So now we are trying to find the best equipment for practical use and stowage while keeping an eye on weight.
We'll keep you posted on how our relationship with Kipper develops.
So far we have been to Snowdonia, Cornwall and Heathrow (don't ask!) seeing family, but also local picnic type day trips,so the engine is starting to loosen up a bit now.
Kipper,as she has been named, cruises effortlessly on the motorway,and I find her more comfortable to drive than my previous old Renault Scenic.You do become aware of the width and length when parking or travelling through village streets,but she has already proved very capable of negotiating narrow Dorset and Cornish lanes.
A quick check brim to brim showed about 36.5 mpg,but that was during the initial running in period keeping the engine spinning and pussyfooting it along rarely using 6th gear. So it remains to be seen what a more realistic mpg figure will be.
So far we are very pleased with Kipper but there are a couple of minor details we are currently trying to sort with the Bilbos factory.
Our neighbour has a 174ps California that is a couple of years old,It is very interesting to make a comparison. We believe that we made the right decision.We didn't like the lhd conversion the top loader fridge,electrical operation of the poptop and less useable storage,although I did like the ingenious table and chairs.
We tried out a 'new' T2 first and found the quaint 1950s technology not to our liking especially when the gear lever came off in my hand!!
After looking at a number of conversions and in more detail at a couple of shows we homed in on a Bilbos T5.
Bilbos gave us the opportunity to try a Celex for a couple of nights before we finally placed our order.
We have a lot to learn,having only spent one night in Kipper so far,but you can definitely see the thought that has gone into the detail of the design of a practical camper rather than a design that is more for show.
So now we are trying to find the best equipment for practical use and stowage while keeping an eye on weight.
We'll keep you posted on how our relationship with Kipper develops.
Cheeser- Posts : 1
Join date : 2013-11-24
Location : West Dorset
Re: If you already have a T5 Bilbo, share your experience
mojo Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:53 pm
Good to hear that you're getting on well so far - I've had my Celex a few months longer than you and I'm still thinking about ways to make the best of the space available.
I understand your point about the bigger roof opening - I didn't realise that the Reimo-style one had a larger aperture but, as I regularly knock my head on the surround of the side-opener, I can see what you mean.
Once the engine has loosened up I would guess you will be getting more like about 38mpg, which is what mine is on (calculated independently by a Garmin application). Mine has a DSG rather than the 6-speed manual, but I doubt the difference is significant, as I think the slightly less efficient auto is offset by the slightly longer gearing overall.
I understand your point about the bigger roof opening - I didn't realise that the Reimo-style one had a larger aperture but, as I regularly knock my head on the surround of the side-opener, I can see what you mean.
Once the engine has loosened up I would guess you will be getting more like about 38mpg, which is what mine is on (calculated independently by a Garmin application). Mine has a DSG rather than the 6-speed manual, but I doubt the difference is significant, as I think the slightly less efficient auto is offset by the slightly longer gearing overall.
mojo- Posts : 19
Join date : 2013-04-01
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