Land Rover Discovery 3 HSE - The dream Car

[Fattyfat]

Great car. I had a basic model last year and aside from popping a front air suspension bag (which was a doddle to change) it gave me little trouble.

[Eversleigh]

Lovely car - had mine '08 HSE for 3 years now - really struggling with what to change it for, nothing really comes close for practicality / easy motorway miles and off road performance.

[S100HP]

Any update OP?

[bakerstreet]

So the car has ticked past two years of ownership in mid July and thanks to an unplanned purchase of a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso for my wife (Long story), I am now locked into D3 ownership for another 3 1/2 years or as long as 1) I continue to work London, 2) the gearbox and engine hold out.

Cambelt and Oil Pump will be changed next month. It's due on age rather than mileage. I shall change the oil and filters myself to try and save a few quid. My also change the diff oils as they haven't been done in my ownership and I think two years is about right (12k in my case)

I painted the tow bar and recovery eye on the rear. Will post up some pics of that. Also added pressed ali plates in Feb. Hate standard plastic plates and mine were pretty tired.

My original plan was steer clear of modifications, instead preferring to spoend my money on just keeping the car running and in good shape, but now that I'm in for another 3 1/2 years, I'm tempted by a few items

- Limo tints. It really doesn't suit it having completely clear windows. I've found a place locally that does it for £160, so pretty cheap. Not an essential mod, but nice for security (I have no load cover)
- Steering Guard - Don't really like the plastic guard and the metal ones are much more practical as they have an aperture for the recovery eye
- Remap - This is inevitable. They are underpowered as standard and I'm sure I will take the plunge eventually.
- Audio overall - The Parrot has not been very reliable and I'm craving Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. However it will be £800 to do it properly, so still unsure.
- Light Guards (purley for looks), just don't want to pay new prices.

Last weekend it had an outing to Tixover Quarry and the Rocking land Rover Experience. Organised by the D3/D4 Faebook Owners Group. Good day out and nice to put some faces to names. Mine is bog standard apart from FBH Controller and EGR blank and it performed pretty well.

There was a guy there from Pro Trax who runs off road tours as well as LR Experience events. Pretty sure I will go one of his tours in the future. maybe Greenlaning somewhere. I like the idea of a trip to Wales, but the D3 will need a few other bits for Greenlaning (CB and maybe some underbody protection)

Few pics from the event. There was a Pro Photographer there. These were downloaded from FB, so quality is poor. Thanks to Bradley Page who took the photos.

[Chris x]

Good man taking it off roading!

Did you find the issue of it dropping to its bump stops? Mines currently doing it!

[dandam]

I so want one of these, despite them being slow and unreliable. My friends say no, my head says no, but it is one of the few cars that I would love to own

[shirt]

Regarding the audio just get one of these:

https://www.belkin.com/ph/p/P-F4U037/

Power and jack go into the rear of the centre console and then route the puck to the left of the e-brake. Works perfectly.

Had my HSE V8 2 (suprisingly faultless) years now. Fancy a change but its a hard act to follow without spending a lot of money.

[alfabeat]

I've had a Disco 4 (59 plate) for 3 years and love it. It replaced an XC90 (which was terribly unreliable).

Fantastic cars, and only routine servicing required (cam belt, wheel bearing etc) nothing scary.

Our spends half it's life with a horse box attached.

Love ours to bits.

[bakerstreet]

Chris x said:

Good man taking it off roading!

Did you find the issue of it dropping to its bump stops? Mines currently doing it!

I had an issue with a faulty brake light sensor where you could be driving along and you would get the 'special programs off' and 'vehicle in access mode'. Thankfully that was a £10 fix. However a month after that the yellow suspension warning light came on permanently and that was an issue with poorly repaired wiring. Independent sorted that.

My drive is fairly steep and all the weight shifts to the front, so it sits low, but it no longer slumps to the bump stops. My car has to park on certain side, as all other cars will ground out if they park on that side!

I'm currently hunting for someone to do the belts and oil pump. Found an Ex LR travelling mechanic who may fit the bill and cheaper than the independents.

I'm fairly critical of Land Rover and their failings but the Discovery really is a brilliant car. I'm always looking at what my next car will be and most of time I come back to a Discovery 4. I'm hoping to be able to stretch to a 8Sp D4 in 3 1/2 years...Will have to see what happens with my job and the price of fuel. Give it 12 months and £1.50 a litre will be common and they have big tanks!

One of reasons I don't sell it now, is that I believe in the devil you know. There is no guarantee that if I replace it with say a Mondeo diesel estate will be reliable at all where as at least I know the D3 fairly well.

[bakerstreet]

dandam said:

I so want one of these, despite them being slow and unreliable. My friends say no, my head says no, but it is one of the few cars that I would love to own

Unreliable is quite difficult to define. They are unlikely to leave you stranded at the side of the road, especially when you compare them to Land Rovers of old.

Touch Wood, mine has never left us stranded and believe it or not, it has been the one that has come to rescue when my wifes car has broken (our old 2008 C-Max) and the new 2015 Citroen Grand Picasso.

Can't argue with the slow part. Throttle response is pretty poor and probably the worst in any car that I have owned. People will tell you the EGR blanking makes a big difference. IMO, it really doesn't.

[bakerstreet]

Well £29 has been invested in a refurbed key fobe. The 'lock button eventually perishes to expose the circuit board underneath. Its a common issue and you have to remember my car is 13 years old.

Several companies offer the key refurb service on Ebay and I just went for pot luck and took advantage of the Ebay 10% off deal, so the key was a bargain at £29. Used a company based in Lancashire and I posted if off on Saturday and they posted it back on Monday so was on my desk on Tuesday morning. Pretty good service really

Key worked fine straight out of box. I have had issues with batteries replaced in keys in the past, so I was pleased that this is woorking fine. ordered a new Land Rover key ring to go with it