Land Rover Discovery 3 HSE - The dream Car
Discussion
I picked this up three weeks ago. Its a 2004 Discovery 3 HSE 2.7TDV6 in adriatic blue. As far as I can tell the only options are the Logic7 stereo, tow bar, chrome side steps and mud guards. Steering wheel has also been re-trimmed. It’s much nicer than poorly trimmed original. This is literally my dream car. I’ve wanted a Discovery since I was 11 year old.
Its an auto. I've driven a manual and the auto is a much better vehicle to drive IMO. Gear change on the manuals feels like its been taken from a 7.5T truck.
Bit of Background…
At the age of 11 or 12, my Dad took me to the London motor show. We saw an early Discovery and I took home a brochure and in that brochure, was a three door with the compass graphics and two Scuba Divers sat on the back. I’ve wanted a Discovery ever since.
I’ve come close to buying a Discovery before. Approximately five years ago I looked at buying a 300TDI and viewed three cars. All of them were in a right state and I eventually bought a Mitsubishi Pajero SWB 2.8TD instead.
I’ve just finished paying off my wife’s C-Max, so I decided to could treat myself to the car I’ve always wanted. Thought about late D2s, but the interior put me off. D3s have been on my radar since they came out, but they have only been in my price range for the last year and summer is great time to buy as prices are usually at their lowest
The D3 isn’t my only Land Rover. Four years ago I bought a 1983 Series 3 van body with the awful diesel engine. Truth be told, I should have spent more money on that, but it's been a long term project. More info here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=114...
Anyways, back to the D3. Due to having a 18 month old and a wife who occasionally works weekends, viewing was always hard work and I only ever viewed two. I chose this one as it had a fully stamped book, clean MOT history and a decent amount of invoices with car including belt change, new diff, prop, battery and alternator and numerous bushes and suspension components. Its also running Michelin Lattitudes (£180 a corner) and that shows an owner who cares about the maintenance!
I’ve removed the iO Play2 Bluetooth handsfree as it only streamed audio through the two speakers and didn’t utilise the Logik 7 Amp. A Parrot MKi9200 has been installed along with the kam cable which connects directly into the amp.
Also installed a dog guard. Managed to get a used one on Ebay for £20. Pretty pleased with that as they are £130 new
The gearbox has had an oil change along with new filter and metal sump pan. Had a suspension valve block fitted to the front of the car in an attempt to stop the car dropping to its bump stops.
Got a cycle rack arriving in the next few days, so that will be a test of the tow bar electrics.
Long Term Plans:
Fit Cooper Discoverer LTZ tyres (recon I have 3-4k in the current set)
Full waxoyl (or similar treatment)
Full leather treatment
Full machine polish (Too many cheap car washes. Lots of swirls)
There is a guy on the D3/4 owners FB page who offers numerous software upgrades to the D3 including clock on the dash, gearbox re-set, remaps and 4x4 info display. Going to leave the mods until it gets through the MOT in February. EGR blank and a remap is tempting as it’s a little slow off the mark...
I’ve done about 400 miles in it now and the drive home with any new (used) car is always nerve wracking and knowing the big things that can go wrong with a D3, it was even more so. It didn’t miss a beat. When I was searching I was never that bothered by options on the HSE as it had everything I needed as standard. However the Logic7 is the best stereo I have ever heard in a car.
I’ll update this thread as more work gets done on it
Its an auto. I've driven a manual and the auto is a much better vehicle to drive IMO. Gear change on the manuals feels like its been taken from a 7.5T truck.
Bit of Background…
At the age of 11 or 12, my Dad took me to the London motor show. We saw an early Discovery and I took home a brochure and in that brochure, was a three door with the compass graphics and two Scuba Divers sat on the back. I’ve wanted a Discovery ever since.
I’ve come close to buying a Discovery before. Approximately five years ago I looked at buying a 300TDI and viewed three cars. All of them were in a right state and I eventually bought a Mitsubishi Pajero SWB 2.8TD instead.
I’ve just finished paying off my wife’s C-Max, so I decided to could treat myself to the car I’ve always wanted. Thought about late D2s, but the interior put me off. D3s have been on my radar since they came out, but they have only been in my price range for the last year and summer is great time to buy as prices are usually at their lowest
The D3 isn’t my only Land Rover. Four years ago I bought a 1983 Series 3 van body with the awful diesel engine. Truth be told, I should have spent more money on that, but it's been a long term project. More info here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=114...
Anyways, back to the D3. Due to having a 18 month old and a wife who occasionally works weekends, viewing was always hard work and I only ever viewed two. I chose this one as it had a fully stamped book, clean MOT history and a decent amount of invoices with car including belt change, new diff, prop, battery and alternator and numerous bushes and suspension components. Its also running Michelin Lattitudes (£180 a corner) and that shows an owner who cares about the maintenance!
I’ve removed the iO Play2 Bluetooth handsfree as it only streamed audio through the two speakers and didn’t utilise the Logik 7 Amp. A Parrot MKi9200 has been installed along with the kam cable which connects directly into the amp.
Also installed a dog guard. Managed to get a used one on Ebay for £20. Pretty pleased with that as they are £130 new
The gearbox has had an oil change along with new filter and metal sump pan. Had a suspension valve block fitted to the front of the car in an attempt to stop the car dropping to its bump stops.
Got a cycle rack arriving in the next few days, so that will be a test of the tow bar electrics.
Long Term Plans:
Fit Cooper Discoverer LTZ tyres (recon I have 3-4k in the current set)
Full waxoyl (or similar treatment)
Full leather treatment
Full machine polish (Too many cheap car washes. Lots of swirls)
There is a guy on the D3/4 owners FB page who offers numerous software upgrades to the D3 including clock on the dash, gearbox re-set, remaps and 4x4 info display. Going to leave the mods until it gets through the MOT in February. EGR blank and a remap is tempting as it’s a little slow off the mark...
I’ve done about 400 miles in it now and the drive home with any new (used) car is always nerve wracking and knowing the big things that can go wrong with a D3, it was even more so. It didn’t miss a beat. When I was searching I was never that bothered by options on the HSE as it had everything I needed as standard. However the Logic7 is the best stereo I have ever heard in a car.
I’ll update this thread as more work gets done on it
OldGermanHeaps said:
Very nice, i'd love one of these but put off by my friends which cost a few grand every year in maintenace and repairs, I hope the gods of lr borkage are smiling on you though and you get off lightly.
Yes, the Disco3 forum is fairly active with people discussing issues and fixes. I'm not looking forward to the first MOT. I'm not too bothered by the basic service, but its everything else you have to keep an eye on (Air suspension, gearbox and electronic handbrake)
Calling LR tomorrow to check if its had all the recalls done.
Rich_AR said:
Great motor OP. I've got the 4.4 V8 LR3 HSE, great workhorse.
Which is the FB page you talk of?
Its the Discovery 3 & 4 Owners Group. Some very knowledgeable individuals on there including LR mechanics and people who run Land Rover Specialist Garages. Which is the FB page you talk of?
Bit of a small update. The wheel centre caps were well past their best. Very faded, scratched and you could barely see the LR logo.
Bought myself four new caps on amazon. Quality seemed good and they certainly looked much better than the originals.
I was really panicking about jacking the car up as I have read a few horror stories on the net about these vehicles being difficult to jack up due to the air suspension.
Turned out it wasn’t that tricky. I put the car into off road height and used my trolly jack along with several blocks of wood to get it to the required height. Also had an axle stand under the car just in case.
The other reason for getting the wheels off was so I could inspect the discs and pads. Pads on the back are pretty low, but the there is plenty of pad material on the fronts and car actually stops quite well which suggests discs are good. Probably going to replace the pads and discs on the back.
Few pics of the replacement of the centre caps. Wheels look much better for not a lot of outlay.
Bit of a small update. The wheel centre caps were well past their best. Very faded, scratched and you could barely see the LR logo.
Bought myself four new caps on amazon. Quality seemed good and they certainly looked much better than the originals.
I was really panicking about jacking the car up as I have read a few horror stories on the net about these vehicles being difficult to jack up due to the air suspension.
Turned out it wasn’t that tricky. I put the car into off road height and used my trolly jack along with several blocks of wood to get it to the required height. Also had an axle stand under the car just in case. I was amazed how much travel the suspension had!!
The other reason for getting the wheels off was so I could inspect the discs and pads. Pads on the back are pretty low, but the there is plenty of pad material on the fronts and car actually stops quite well which suggests discs are good. Probably going to replace the pads and discs on the back.
Few pics of the replacement of the centre caps. Wheels look much better for not a lot of outlay.
I've done about 1500 miles in the car now and I still love it. Its taken the family to centre parcs, Gatwick, LRO show, the zoo, Dorset and several trips to tip. I think the wife even secretly likes it. The centre parcs trip highlighted what a superb load lugger it is. back seats were clear, boot was full and we had a bike rack on the tow bar. Previous family holidays involved us filling every available space in what ever car we had.
Its being serviced on Monday, so I'll do another update for that too.
Bought myself four new caps on amazon. Quality seemed good and they certainly looked much better than the originals.
I was really panicking about jacking the car up as I have read a few horror stories on the net about these vehicles being difficult to jack up due to the air suspension.
Turned out it wasn’t that tricky. I put the car into off road height and used my trolly jack along with several blocks of wood to get it to the required height. Also had an axle stand under the car just in case.
The other reason for getting the wheels off was so I could inspect the discs and pads. Pads on the back are pretty low, but the there is plenty of pad material on the fronts and car actually stops quite well which suggests discs are good. Probably going to replace the pads and discs on the back.
Few pics of the replacement of the centre caps. Wheels look much better for not a lot of outlay.
Bit of a small update. The wheel centre caps were well past their best. Very faded, scratched and you could barely see the LR logo.
Bought myself four new caps on amazon. Quality seemed good and they certainly looked much better than the originals.
I was really panicking about jacking the car up as I have read a few horror stories on the net about these vehicles being difficult to jack up due to the air suspension.
Turned out it wasn’t that tricky. I put the car into off road height and used my trolly jack along with several blocks of wood to get it to the required height. Also had an axle stand under the car just in case. I was amazed how much travel the suspension had!!
The other reason for getting the wheels off was so I could inspect the discs and pads. Pads on the back are pretty low, but the there is plenty of pad material on the fronts and car actually stops quite well which suggests discs are good. Probably going to replace the pads and discs on the back.
Few pics of the replacement of the centre caps. Wheels look much better for not a lot of outlay.
I've done about 1500 miles in the car now and I still love it. Its taken the family to centre parcs, Gatwick, LRO show, the zoo, Dorset and several trips to tip. I think the wife even secretly likes it. The centre parcs trip highlighted what a superb load lugger it is. back seats were clear, boot was full and we had a bike rack on the tow bar. Previous family holidays involved us filling every available space in what ever car we had.
Its being serviced on Monday, so I'll do another update for that too.
Nice Disco Bakerstreet. My Mum has one which I had borrowed for the past 6 months while I did the clutch and timing belt on my Alfa GT v6.
Just registered to say, you aren't quite right on how to jack it up. you need to lower the suspension to access height, then lower it again. This locks it in access height untill you raise it backu up or drive off allowing you to safely jack it up and work on it.
Just registered to say, you aren't quite right on how to jack it up. you need to lower the suspension to access height, then lower it again. This locks it in access height untill you raise it backu up or drive off allowing you to safely jack it up and work on it.
I do love a Disco, have had three in my time, four if you count the one I used for spares, but I had an original 200tdi, and have had 2 300tdi
Would love a 3 or 4 at some point, I am slightly hoping that my wife's uncle will let me have his when the repair bills get "too high" for what they consider reasonable (they are the type who would rather buy a new car than spend a few quid repairing the current one).
Agreed with the above though... now that you have put those new caps on, the current wheels look filthy!
Would love a 3 or 4 at some point, I am slightly hoping that my wife's uncle will let me have his when the repair bills get "too high" for what they consider reasonable (they are the type who would rather buy a new car than spend a few quid repairing the current one).
Agreed with the above though... now that you have put those new caps on, the current wheels look filthy!
Maty said:
Why didn't you give the wheels a good clean whilst they were off ??
I may have imagined this but did I read somewhere that there is a certain engine job that needs doing on these at some stage in their lives that requires the whole body to be lifted from the chassis?
Brake lines are a body off job to replace. I refused to look at one that had brakes listed as as an advisory on the MOT. However garages have refined their techniques and jobs that used t be a body off can no be done with the body on (turbo, exhaust link pipe and cam belts)??I may have imagined this but did I read somewhere that there is a certain engine job that needs doing on these at some stage in their lives that requires the whole body to be lifted from the chassis?
The wheel centre caps was a big last minute and it was getting dark and raining. If I had a bit more time I would have washed the car.
Another update.
Even if my cars do low miles, I still like to get them serviced annually. I try to follow the yearly schedule that’s in the service book. In my cars’ case it was last serviced on 08/10/2015 @ 157k, so I decided that I would do the same.
For servicing, I use an independant mobile mechanic. He is a good friend of mine and he has looked after nearly all of my cars. Not LR trained, but he is very good and I’m very picky on who I let look after my cars. He also comes to my house and services my wife’s car as well as looking after my Mum and Dad’s vehicles.
He lets me supply the parts. Generally speaking I get my LR service parts from DLS on Ebay and the Oil from Euro Car Parts. I try and take advantage of the 30% off weekends. I do not buy LR service parts.
When I removed the rear wheels, I saw the pads were quite low, so I decided to replace with new pads (Eisher from Euro Car Parts). Also purchased new discs from DLS. The good thing about Land Rovers is parts like brake discs and pads are very cost effective to replace. My mechanic informed me that there discs were ok, but I as I had bought the discs, it was a chance for a clean sheet on the brakes, so on my request he fitted the discs and adjusted the handbrake shoes at the same time.
Nothing dramatic to report on the service. He did find a bit of slight play in the front drivers side wheel bearing, so I shall order a new one and probably get a small local LR specialist to fit it. I recently found them whilst out riding my bike. Only two miles from my house, which is much closer than the other company I used. They look like they mostly deal in Defenders, but a wheel bearing shouldn’t be too complex. Previous experience has also taught me that it's good to not stick to one garage for servicing and or repairs.
Next item on the list is sort the drivers door trim, choose some tyres and order the wheel bearing.
Aim off t a Land Rover restoration department open day at Solihull on the 14th of next month, so I'd like it to be in good working order for that trip
Very nice. We quite fancy one as the family bus but a friend has one. Unfortunately he keeps me up to date with his expenditure on it. It seems to require frequent maintenance, all of which are at least four figure bills (plus the jobs that he does himself). A real shame as these things are amazing.
You need to try some proper off roading in it. We went on a Land Rover Experience day and it has s unbelivable what these will do. Also how much fun you can have while going so slowly.
Good luck with this.
You need to try some proper off roading in it. We went on a Land Rover Experience day and it has s unbelivable what these will do. Also how much fun you can have while going so slowly.
Good luck with this.
LanceRS said:
Very nice. We quite fancy one as the family bus but a friend has one. Unfortunately he keeps me up to date with his expenditure on it. It seems to require frequent maintenance, all of which are at least four figure bills (plus the jobs that he does himself). A real shame as these things are amazing.
You need to try some proper off roading in it. We went on a Land Rover Experience day and it has s unbelivable what these will do. Also how much fun you can have while going so slowly.
Good luck with this.
This was pretty much my summary of them when I was considering one.You need to try some proper off roading in it. We went on a Land Rover Experience day and it has s unbelivable what these will do. Also how much fun you can have while going so slowly.
Good luck with this.
Scared of the big bills and with two classic cars to spend money on, I really couldn't justify it.
LanceRS said:
Very nice. We quite fancy one as the family bus but a friend has one. Unfortunately he keeps me up to date with his expenditure on it. It seems to require frequent maintenance, all of which are at least four figure bills (plus the jobs that he does himself). A real shame as these things are amazing.
You need to try some proper off roading in it. We went on a Land Rover Experience day and it has s unbelivable what these will do. Also how much fun you can have while going so slowly.
Good luck with this.
Your friend is right. All you have to do is look how busy the Disco3 forums are to confirm that. General advise being given out is you have to factor £1k per year on servicing.You need to try some proper off roading in it. We went on a Land Rover Experience day and it has s unbelivable what these will do. Also how much fun you can have while going so slowly.
Good luck with this.
When I've had it a year, I might do another thread on what's it's been like for a year and how much its cost to run and fix. Should be quite interesting as mine is a risky high miler. Obviously I will update this thread when I get things done to it.
Mine will have an expensive 12 months as its had the gearbox oil changed and will need new tyres in the next few months. However, after that it should ok, as it shouldn't need tyres and gearbox oil changing for 30k (tyres) and 100k for the gearbox.
It's the air suspension that can be a pig. People are quick to advise plugging it in to find faults, but in some occasions it just isn't that simple.
Land Rover experience West Country offer trek days, where you pay £135 to be led on a soft roading tour and it's geared towards first timers and low damage routes. I've done off roading before, but the D3 is a different beast compared to other off roaders I've driven. I'm hoping Santa is going to bring me a trek day 😀
Time for another update.
Had the dreaded yellow suspension warning light come on the dash a couple of months ago. It came and went a few times. However, I’ve been driving long enough to pay attention to the behavior of the car combined with warning lights. The car was driving fine. Suspension was even raising and leveling properly on startup. The warning bong was more annoying, especially as my 22 month old would replicate the bong every time is sounded!
The specialist originally traced the fault to a faulty exhaust port located above the rear diff. They replaced the part, but after a day the issue re-surfaced. I don’t use the car during the week, so it just spent a week at the garage.
They traced the problem back to the compressor. I asked about the refurb kits and they said based on their experience, they weren’t really worth it, so I decided to go for the new compressor. My car is an early model and I’m not surprised its failing, as it’s 11 years old and my car isn’t exactly low miles. They did me a package price on the new compressor and the exhaust port, so I’m relatively happy. Also, when I eventually sell it, it will be a good selling point.
Whilst it was in the garage I asked them to reattach the side trim on the driver's’ door. That has been half hanging off since I bought it and it really lets the look of the car down. I was a bit scared to try and pull the trim off and reattach accordingly, and the specialist said it was an easy job. Looks much better for it Smile
This was my original short term plans for the car when I purchased it in July.
Remove the chrome side tubes (Don’t like them) - Decided I’m keeping them
Replace the IO Play bluetooth kit with a parrot MKi9200 or Asteroid and a KRAM cable so I can get music from phone through all the speakers. - Done (Really pleased with it)
Fit Dog guard and divider - Fitted a dog guard. Trying to find a divider
Basic Service (Oil change, Air filter, oil filter, cabin filter and lubricate the hinges) - Done
Re-attach the flapping plastic trim on the drivers’ door - Done
I know the car will need new tyres before the MOT. I recon there is around another 2k’s worth left on the current Michelins. I’m still undecided on what tyre to go for. Quite tempted with some early D4 19in alloys, but that’s an upgrade and I’m trying to resist those.
Updated To Do List
Decide on new tyres
Paint the metalwork and towing eye by the tow bar electrics
Source a dog guard divider
Purchase new wheel bearing
Off to the Land Rover factory on Monday, so will post some photos up from the visit. Going to try and get a pic of the Disco by a large Land Rovber sign at the factory Smile
Had the dreaded yellow suspension warning light come on the dash a couple of months ago. It came and went a few times. However, I’ve been driving long enough to pay attention to the behavior of the car combined with warning lights. The car was driving fine. Suspension was even raising and leveling properly on startup. The warning bong was more annoying, especially as my 22 month old would replicate the bong every time is sounded!
The specialist originally traced the fault to a faulty exhaust port located above the rear diff. They replaced the part, but after a day the issue re-surfaced. I don’t use the car during the week, so it just spent a week at the garage.
They traced the problem back to the compressor. I asked about the refurb kits and they said based on their experience, they weren’t really worth it, so I decided to go for the new compressor. My car is an early model and I’m not surprised its failing, as it’s 11 years old and my car isn’t exactly low miles. They did me a package price on the new compressor and the exhaust port, so I’m relatively happy. Also, when I eventually sell it, it will be a good selling point.
Whilst it was in the garage I asked them to reattach the side trim on the driver's’ door. That has been half hanging off since I bought it and it really lets the look of the car down. I was a bit scared to try and pull the trim off and reattach accordingly, and the specialist said it was an easy job. Looks much better for it Smile
This was my original short term plans for the car when I purchased it in July.
Remove the chrome side tubes (Don’t like them) - Decided I’m keeping them
Replace the IO Play bluetooth kit with a parrot MKi9200 or Asteroid and a KRAM cable so I can get music from phone through all the speakers. - Done (Really pleased with it)
Fit Dog guard and divider - Fitted a dog guard. Trying to find a divider
Basic Service (Oil change, Air filter, oil filter, cabin filter and lubricate the hinges) - Done
Re-attach the flapping plastic trim on the drivers’ door - Done
I know the car will need new tyres before the MOT. I recon there is around another 2k’s worth left on the current Michelins. I’m still undecided on what tyre to go for. Quite tempted with some early D4 19in alloys, but that’s an upgrade and I’m trying to resist those.
Updated To Do List
Decide on new tyres
Paint the metalwork and towing eye by the tow bar electrics
Source a dog guard divider
Purchase new wheel bearing
Off to the Land Rover factory on Monday, so will post some photos up from the visit. Going to try and get a pic of the Disco by a large Land Rovber sign at the factory Smile
I’ve never liked the rub strips fitted to the doors on D3s. I think the ruin the lines of the car and make the bodywork look a little cluttered. Also, as discussed here and other forums, they don’t actually do anything. They should be much higher up on the door, but no one fits them there.
From what I’ve gathered, they were a dealer fit option.
Using a willing friend, two nylon guitar strings and a heat gun, we managed to remove them quite easily.
As expected there was quite a bit of residue left behind as well as the foam from the adhesive strips that attach the rubbing strips to the car.
I’ve removed car decals before. Many years ago, I removed the City E badging on the rear panels of my 87 Mini. All I used was a blunt knife, my finger nail and my others hair dryer. It took a long time. Because there was foam pads still on the car, I did a bit of googling and came up with something called a caramel wheel, which is designed to remove pin stripes.
Bought one on Amazon Prime and had a go at removing the foam and residue today. I learned that my 18V makita had a little too much torque and I did mark the bodywork in one place as I didn’t keep moving the wheel in one direction.
My older 12V cordless was actually much better and easier to control. Overall I’m fairly please with the end result. Ultimately I think it will look better with a machine polish. There are several car bodyshops near me, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to find someone who will do it for a nominal sum of money.
Now that I’ve successfully removed the rubbing strips, I may move onto the rear badging, as its badly faded and could do with a refresh. I was thinking about going for gloss black badging, but I’d have to change the bonnet badge to match and the bonnet badge looks fine.
The car also passed its MOT at the beginning of Feb week. This was a genuinely surprise as I was expecting it fail on the wheel bearing and god knows what else. Tyres were marked as an advisory.
On Friday I had a set of General Grabber AT3s fitted at AJS Tyres in Reigate (well known on the Disco3 forum). Fitting was very quick and I was impressed watching them jack the front using two trolley jacks simultaneously. I also looked at the Goodyear Duratracs, which is a more aggressive pattern, but the reality is that the car spends most of its time on the road, so a more aggressive tread would be wasted.
The AT3s seem to be just as quiet on the motorway as the Michelin Lattitudes that they replaced.
I spent ages researching tyres including buying them online and paying a local garage to fit them, but sourcing them separately meant tyres being delivered to home and no one would be in and I wasn't comfortable with them being left outside.
I'm taking the car to Salisbury Plain on Sunday and it will be its first ever off road outing. Really looking forward to it. Expect a few photos either on this thread on in the LR/Off road section.
From what I’ve gathered, they were a dealer fit option.
Using a willing friend, two nylon guitar strings and a heat gun, we managed to remove them quite easily.
As expected there was quite a bit of residue left behind as well as the foam from the adhesive strips that attach the rubbing strips to the car.
I’ve removed car decals before. Many years ago, I removed the City E badging on the rear panels of my 87 Mini. All I used was a blunt knife, my finger nail and my others hair dryer. It took a long time. Because there was foam pads still on the car, I did a bit of googling and came up with something called a caramel wheel, which is designed to remove pin stripes.
Bought one on Amazon Prime and had a go at removing the foam and residue today. I learned that my 18V makita had a little too much torque and I did mark the bodywork in one place as I didn’t keep moving the wheel in one direction.
My older 12V cordless was actually much better and easier to control. Overall I’m fairly please with the end result. Ultimately I think it will look better with a machine polish. There are several car bodyshops near me, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to find someone who will do it for a nominal sum of money.
Now that I’ve successfully removed the rubbing strips, I may move onto the rear badging, as its badly faded and could do with a refresh. I was thinking about going for gloss black badging, but I’d have to change the bonnet badge to match and the bonnet badge looks fine.
The car also passed its MOT at the beginning of Feb week. This was a genuinely surprise as I was expecting it fail on the wheel bearing and god knows what else. Tyres were marked as an advisory.
On Friday I had a set of General Grabber AT3s fitted at AJS Tyres in Reigate (well known on the Disco3 forum). Fitting was very quick and I was impressed watching them jack the front using two trolley jacks simultaneously. I also looked at the Goodyear Duratracs, which is a more aggressive pattern, but the reality is that the car spends most of its time on the road, so a more aggressive tread would be wasted.
The AT3s seem to be just as quiet on the motorway as the Michelin Lattitudes that they replaced.
I spent ages researching tyres including buying them online and paying a local garage to fit them, but sourcing them separately meant tyres being delivered to home and no one would be in and I wasn't comfortable with them being left outside.
I'm taking the car to Salisbury Plain on Sunday and it will be its first ever off road outing. Really looking forward to it. Expect a few photos either on this thread on in the LR/Off road section.
We had a 2006 which was great for family duties. There was loads of room and it was surprisingly more economical that I was expecting. The car came from my brother who I know had looked after it extremely well so I was confident it was as good as they came. However, over a 12 month period it consumed money on repairs faster than any car I've ever owned. The list of things that failed or fell off was like reading the 'things that can go wrong with disco 3's buyers guide'.
Now whilst I accept that all cars have their faults, these just seem to have them in every aspect of the car. In my short tenure alone it had, alternator, battery, electronic handbrake, suspension bags, suspension compressor, suspension accumulator, tailgate actuator, throttle pedal, egr valves and it blew more bulbs and threw more warning lights than any car I've ever known. All of this faults are expected. Mine was a manual so was expecting to have to a clutch at some point which is an expensive job and of course it was nearing a cam belt change and wisdom would have you change the oil pump too since some have been known to shear their mounting taking the engine with it.
In the end I was always wondering what was coming next so sold it on.....to my mate...who of course has had it over a year without a single issue !
ETA it was also the first car in twenty years to actually leave me stranded at the side of the road.The RAC man said 'oh I see a lot of these'
Now whilst I accept that all cars have their faults, these just seem to have them in every aspect of the car. In my short tenure alone it had, alternator, battery, electronic handbrake, suspension bags, suspension compressor, suspension accumulator, tailgate actuator, throttle pedal, egr valves and it blew more bulbs and threw more warning lights than any car I've ever known. All of this faults are expected. Mine was a manual so was expecting to have to a clutch at some point which is an expensive job and of course it was nearing a cam belt change and wisdom would have you change the oil pump too since some have been known to shear their mounting taking the engine with it.
In the end I was always wondering what was coming next so sold it on.....to my mate...who of course has had it over a year without a single issue !
ETA it was also the first car in twenty years to actually leave me stranded at the side of the road.The RAC man said 'oh I see a lot of these'
Edited by mark.c on Friday 2nd June 19:12
Good purchase OP. We were very tempted to go for a D3, looked at a few in auction and privately, but we went with the XC90 as we wanted something that would be a bit more reliable. But, the XC90 turned out to be not so reliable anyway! The D3 really is that bit more premium of a car, maybe this would have been a bit of a nicer car to buy instead of the XC90, but that's just my opinion. Nice car.
I did 100k miles in my old D3
A brilliant car, which I miss. The only issues I had with mine was the electric handbrake, twice (that makes a lovely noise when parking up on the drive at 2am ), wheel bearings x2, tailgate release cable - actuator, drivers door lock stopped locking and the usual seized EGR x2. It also averaged 31MPG - including a mix of London traffic and motorway, I think I even managed 43 MPG on one trip.
I'd love a late D4.
A brilliant car, which I miss. The only issues I had with mine was the electric handbrake, twice (that makes a lovely noise when parking up on the drive at 2am
), wheel bearings x2, tailgate release cable - actuator, drivers door lock stopped locking and the usual seized EGR x2. It also averaged 31MPG - including a mix of London traffic and motorway, I think I even managed 43 MPG on one trip. I'd love a late D4.
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