Considering an L322....

[Bads]

.........a Petrol L322 Range Rover, based on price, around 2002 - 2005 model.

Currently got a lovely E61 530D Sport, but not doing anywhere near the miles I used to and I have a lot of cash tied up in it - also short journeys are not great for that engine...

I digress, what do I need to look for in a Rangie? There are loads of really leggy ones (150k+ miles) around which is encouraging, but i've heard that the gearboxes can give up without warning, along with differential issues.

Any shared experiences, good or bad, would be greatly received.

Cheers.

[rovermorris999]

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/land-rover/ra... for an reasonably un-biased view.

[0llie]

Weak gearboxes are a trait of the earlier (pre-2005 I think) Td6 diesel with the GM gearbox, the V8 petrol uses a ZF box which is far more reliable.

[Snowboy]

My main bit if advice would be to find a local specialist and try and buy through them.
Or from an owners club.

[xjay1337]

No personal experience but have heard of a lot of problems.

And a work colleague had a Freelander diesel and something with one of the diffs blew up!!

[Bads]

Cheers all - I'll take a read of that.

Good to know that the petrols use the ZF. I guess the ultimate would be to find one around the 90 - 100k mark, who's owner had just replaced the 'box and has had enough of it! In my experience with older, more fragile motors, if you get to that kind of mileage, the things that are going to fail, have done and the remaining bits should be good. Possibly.

Be really interested to hear from anyone who's ran one of the older L322s.

Cheers,
j

[piecost76]

Have had only diesels - 2 x Td6's & 1 TDV8

TD6's suffer with gearboxes between 80-120k miles.

The ZF gearbox as stated is much stronger & will wear out "normally" as it were.

Next thing to check is the air suspension works all the way up & down a good few times, all electrics work (heated seats, heated steering wheel, electric seats, steering column adjusts in all 4 dimensions) air con & stereo/sat nav which can suffer due to water ingress in the boot.

Open rear left panel in boot & check for water evidence.

There was an interior facelift giving the "Touchscreen" sat nav from a 54 plate & a full facelift from a 55 plate. Best to go for the latter if you can.

Also, ask on here: http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/

P.S. They are fantastic cars & I would opt for either a 4.2 or 5.0 V8 Supercharged if you're not bothered about MPG!

What is your budget?

Edited by piecost76 on Friday 27th June 08:40

[RedLeicester]

Bads said:

a Petrol L322 Range Rover

A man of taste, distinction and breeding....

Bads said:

Be really interested to hear from anyone who's ran one of the older L322s.

.... and poor grammar


I had an 06 V8, so old exterior, BMW 4.4 with ZF, facelift interior. Was entirely faultless. Actually that's lie, I had to replace a bulb or two. The better gearbox, brakes, and the V8 instead of the catastrophically pants TD6 make for a far better car. Cheaper to service and fiddle with than the TD6 and as mentioned they don't lunch their gearboxes.

All I can think of is the front diff recall which all cars *should* have had done by now - something about them smashing themselves into tiny pieces so all cars pre-07 were recalled and had new diffs fitted. Double check it's been done and if not get it done ASAP. We took ours from 50-100k and it was a marvel. Lovely car to be in, swift, sounded very good with a pleasant burble and indy servicing was surprisingly cheap too for such an expensive car.

Edited by RedLeicester on Tuesday 1st July 11:37

[OtherBusiness]

Well on Monday I picked up a 2012 L322 Westminster so I'd say go for it!

[CAPP0]

0llie said:

the V8 petrol uses a ZF box which is far more reliable.

I *think* this is only the post-2006 models with the Jag engine? (Like mine ). The ZF box is 6-speed, the 5-speed boxes behind the BMW V8 were the fragile ones I believe.

[Simes110]

No, the 5 speed 'boxes in the BMW V8 models were ZF. Only the Td6 is the GM 'chocolate' variety.

Oddly, or maybe not, it's the 5sp boxes that are hellishly expensive to replace as they're in demand. The later 6 speed units are much cheaper although no-one has, yet, figured out how to get one working in a BMW L322.