L322 Range Rover - Cheapest ever?

[MJ85]

Hello,

Yes, that is the colour!

Also, good info on the wheels. Interesting to know that and does make me think more and more that this is a decent, unmolested car.

[MJ85]

UPDATE


What can I say, it has been a bit of ride with the ol' L322.

Hit a pheasant in January, wiping out the nearside wing mirror. Unfortunately, these mirrors are electric, electric folding, auto dimming with puddle light. A pattern part if £550! It isn't even body coloured. £250 later, an eBay second hand unit had been sourced.

I also set about fixing the rear wiper. These are a weak spot and fail regularly. £50 for a new blade and arm was required as the previous one was seized. As mentioned, the washer jet goes through the motor and that was leaking. I tried a known cheap repair on it, but after "fixing it" the motor failed completely! Not sure what I did, but a new, genuine motor was sourced at £150.

On heavy cornering on right hand bends, the ABS/DSC lights were coming on and speedo was dropping out. Anyone who has had a BMW might know what this is (N/S/R ABS sensor). I booked in and had it diagnosed. Booked in again to get her fixed. On the way to the garage, BIG PROBLEM!

Total loss of steering control, with the wheels pointing in different directions, a failure somewhere! Very dangerous, and good job it happened around town and not on a country lane. I haven't got any pictures right now as my phone has failed, but I'm sure I can recover them soon.

After having the car recovered at great hassle by a company that recovers lorries (due to its weight), we could assess what had failed. The front subframe had rusted through, with the mount to the control arm completely coming away. OH DEAR!

Excuse the horrible work phone pictures.







I've sourced a decent second hand subframe for £285, but removing it has turned into a real problem, plus other issues picked up by the damage and removal (xenon headlight level arm, track rod, driveshaft ABS ring etc. etc.). Total cost of this issue is probably going to be approaching £1,500 - bad news.

I will update when the car is finished, but she'd better drive like new!! ;-)

[Jimmy Recard]

Bloody hell!

I'd been thinking about looking for a cheap L322, I'm glad to be aware of that subframe rust! I will definitely be looking out for that

[MJ85]

Jimmy Recard said:

Bloody hell!

I'd been thinking about looking for a cheap L322, I'm glad to be aware of that subframe rust! I will definitely be looking out for that

It is less than ideal! In my case, I believe it was a combination of it being a Scottish car (as in, salted roads) and a high miler. I don't believe this is common at all, but worth a look!

[Jonmx]

Blimey! Like you say, good thing that was around town and not elsewhere! A sneaky peek at the mot history (hope you don't mind) doesn't show any advisories for the last two tests which is surprising looking at how bad that is in the pics.
My brother's been thinking about getting an L322 so I'll give him a heads up to really look thoroughly.

[MJ85]

The car had just come back from the school run, which is a 60 MPH rutted road with ditches either side. Lucky, really.

It is a big shame, because other than a bunch of electrical niggles, she felt strong. I've got a full service kit ready as a treat for when she returns (oil, filter, fuel filter, air filter, pollen filter, revised crankcase vent filter), so hoping for some easy mileage.

I work the older cars against a theoretical £300 a month for a newer car. For me to be happy, average cars need to easily beat this, and cars like the RR need to match it. This figure won't be equalised for a while!!

[helix402]

Re the updated breather filter, I take it you're replacing the "loo roll" one? I replaced the loo roll one on my 330d M57 (same engine) with a non BMW Vortex filter. This made the car smoke on heavy throttle. I replaced it with a genuine BMW loo roll type, no smoke.

[MJ85]

helix402 said:

Re the updated breather filter, I take it you're replacing the "loo roll" one? I replaced the loo roll one on my 330d M57 (same engine) with a non BMW Vortex filter. This made the car smoke on heavy throttle. I replaced it with a genuine BMW loo roll type, no smoke.

Cheers, will try it and check it out! If not, loo roll it is!

[MJ85]

It is time to get this up to date.

Here is a picture of the true extent of the subframe issue. Quite shocking.



The car originally went in for an ABS sensor. The final bill was somewhat more involved!







The garage finished with the car, but the suspension wasn't working. This isn't ideal!

I knew the compressor piston would be knackered, so I replaced that.







After this, it required the fault codes clearing. I used a BMW piece of kit I had that allowed the air suspension DTCs to be cleared. A normal code reader won't do anything with these; read or clear. The car was now usable!

Spare wheel was removed for this, so good idea to clean her up. Like new!



Showing the 18 inch wheel against my Clio track car


Seeing as she was finally ready to be used again, time for some servicing! Oil...


Fuel filter


Air filter


Needed a change


Crankcase vent (old). Replaced with vortex type (seems fine, no smoke as mentioned previously may be an issue!)



And here she is, sitting proud!


What's next?

LCD fixes, amplifier refurb, cosmetic stuff... the list goes on!

[Grant20V]

Ouch that subframe had crumbled.

Hope the car feels great after a bill like that. Sure it's a cracker!

[MJ85]

Tell me about it. Yeah, she's feeling good now. Another problem is there is a leak on one of the front airbags, but only deflates when it is in high level mode or suspended on a lift! Keep it in standard mode and it is fine!

[Jimmy Recard]

I think I'll be doing a compressor rebuild in the next week or two - is it as easy as the forums say?

[Blueprint]

MJ85 said:

Tell me about it. Yeah, she's feeling good now. Another problem is there is a leak on one of the front airbags, but only deflates when it is in high level mode or suspended on a lift! Keep it in standard mode and it is fine!

Wow, I didn't know the subframe could get so bad on these!

I'd change that bag sooner rather than later just to avoid being let down in a really inconvenient place.
I had to pick the in-laws up from the airport a couple of weeks ago; I've had an intermittent front right height sensor issue for a few months and then it finally gave up just as I joined the freeway and dropped the car to the bump-stops and refused to re-raise whilst moving.
It finally went up in to off-road mode whilst in the service station which 'cleared' the fault just long enough to allow me to crawl back from the airport slowly.

Multiple pumps by the compressor also canes the battery so that needed a charge too as it refused to start the next day.

New height sensor on and problem has gone away - these really are magic carpets when everything works together as intended but I'd say the best tool I bought was a diagnostics reader/clearer, and if I was keeping it I'd probably get one capable of re-programming control units too.

[MJ85]

Jimmy Recard said:

I think I'll be doing a compressor rebuild in the next week or two - is it as easy as the forums say?

Yeah, it is just a few bolts and a little bit of fiddling. I left it connected and did it whilst sat in the boot. 2 x 10 mm socket/spanner, torx bit and not a lot else.

[MJ85]

Blueprint said:

MJ85 said:

Tell me about it. Yeah, she's feeling good now. Another problem is there is a leak on one of the front airbags, but only deflates when it is in high level mode or suspended on a lift! Keep it in standard mode and it is fine!

Wow, I didn't know the subframe could get so bad on these!

I'd change that bag sooner rather than later just to avoid being let down in a really inconvenient place.
I had to pick the in-laws up from the airport a couple of weeks ago; I've had an intermittent front right height sensor issue for a few months and then it finally gave up just as I joined the freeway and dropped the car to the bump-stops and refused to re-raise whilst moving.
It finally went up in to off-road mode whilst in the service station which 'cleared' the fault just long enough to allow me to crawl back from the airport slowly.

Multiple pumps by the compressor also canes the battery so that needed a charge too as it refused to start the next day.

New height sensor on and problem has gone away - these really are magic carpets when everything works together as intended but I'd say the best tool I bought was a diagnostics reader/clearer, and if I was keeping it I'd probably get one capable of re-programming control units too.

Good point, no doubt won't last forever. She was left overnight and hadn't gone down when at standard ride height, which is good for now.

I'm using the BMW PA soft doodad... didn't realise it would work but someone mentioned it on a forum when I was researching. Plugged her in and then access to everything. Great news, as the other scanners are expensive.

[MJ85]

Cleaned the interior today. Didn't have a proper picture on here, so here she is (excuse the thumb in the corner!).






Not too bad for nearly 210,000 miles.

[Sterillium]

Lovely old bus.

I'm seriously considering one of these but I really need to find a good one!

[samoht]

Is there an equivalent rear subframe which could be similarly rusty? Hope all is ok.

With the airbag, I guess it could be a leak in the bag, but at a point which is only exposed when the wheel is fully extended, hence not leaking at normal ride height.

[bakerstreet]

Sterillium said:

Lovely old bus.

I'm seriously considering one of these but I really need to find a good one!

Errr...what do you consider good?? This is a Land Rover remember . I didn't know the sub frames rot out on these, but the rest is all normal (suspension and dash display issues)

Also the gearboxes are known to be pretty weak. They were victim of the 'sealed for life'. By the time everyone realised they needed the oil changing on a regular basis, it was too late.

If the sub frame has rotted out, I bet the body is rotting too. The are know to rot where there are water traps (behind the plastic arch trims and the sills)

[bakerstreet]

24valve said:

Nice Car OP. Is that Giverney Green?

We have an 03 L322 Vogue TD6 and it is an excellent car - not without its faults though!

I've had ours remapped by Alive Tuning, and it has made a great deal of difference and returns 27.1Mpg on the computer every day (short runs mainly too)

I'm currently trying to figure out how to get auxillary video input into the headunit for a wireless reversing camera. Alternatively trying (and failing) to find a suitable replacement head unit that matches the L322 (as opposed to a bmw one that doesn't match the dash).

There is a company up north who put in aftermarket android units, but it all depends on what spec your car is. HSE is easier than Vogue due to the amp. Think the all in price is a grand fitted.

Several people in the full fat rr forums have fitted a BMW X5 android unit with some success. The dash has to be modified slightly, but the stereo is much better than the standard equipment.