British Barge Content-my Rover 75 V6
Discussion
cheap as well. Not too far away they will start to appreciate like the V8 75 & ZT are doing.
Clivey said:
These are seriously underrated cars. I bought a 2003 ZT-T+ 2.0CDTi with 82k miles, for £500 from a neighbour. The thermostat needed replacing but since then it's done not far off 20k in 18 months. Unfortunately there was a reason we only paid £500; the previous owner was a bodge artist (apparently Araldite makes a good light bulb holder substitute! 
) and adding-up all the things it'll need, plus the fact that the bodywork is covered in golf ball-sized dents means that it's got to go before I end-up spending a silly amount of money on it!
OP, are you still looking for the Cruise Control bits? I have them...
Ooh yes please! Have you got the lot? From memory it needs the steering wheel switches, wood trim surround & dash switch, throttle body & actuator, brake light & clutch pedal switches and something else? ) and adding-up all the things it'll need, plus the fact that the bodywork is covered in golf ball-sized dents means that it's got to go before I end-up spending a silly amount of money on it!OP, are you still looking for the Cruise Control bits? I have them...
Just about to read the thread. Looks like a nice purchase. One tip, your leather needs a good clean. Shiny leather is dirty leather, and dirt kills your finish over time. If you look at the picture showing the rear of the drivers headrest it shows you what your leather should look like. Soft and matt.
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Just about to read the thread. Looks like a nice purchase. One tip, your leather needs a good clean. Shiny leather is dirty leather, and dirt kills your finish over time. If you look at the picture showing the rear of the drivers headrest it shows you what your leather should look like. Soft and matt.
I did clean it-Autoglym Leather Balm makes it look shiny. The cleaner (which looks like man muck!) takes the shine away but the balm makes it go a bit glossy again. Smells lovely, though.itcaptainslow said:
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Just about to read the thread. Looks like a nice purchase. One tip, your leather needs a good clean. Shiny leather is dirty leather, and dirt kills your finish over time. If you look at the picture showing the rear of the drivers headrest it shows you what your leather should look like. Soft and matt.
I did clean it-Autoglym Leather Balm makes it look shiny. The cleaner (which looks like man muck!) takes the shine away but the balm makes it go a bit glossy again. Smells lovely, though.I promise I'm not attempting to piss on your strawberries, it is a lovely car. Just some pointers from a leather restorer of 6 years.
Fun Bus said:
Interesting. How should that type of leather be cleaned?
With a decent PH neutral cleaner, no perfumes, no alcohol or strong chemicals. Nothing with wax, oils or silicone, as per the above which shall just shine it up. Never never use babywipes, they're designed to break down acid!Also put a protector on the leather at least a few times a year.
I personally swear by LTT's products.
I always liked these 75s...I remember attending the Motor Show at the NEC when they were launched in whatever year. Despite some more exotic cars that came out at the same time, I left the show with the thought that the Rover 75 was the best looking new car there: a timeless design with just the right amount of retro touches ( proper external door handles/chrome etc, and a very nice interior with those lovely cream dials.)
Much later a taxi that we used every week for a year or so was a 75 diesel ( BMW engine IIRC) and that was so comfortable...far too good really for the job !
Much later a taxi that we used every week for a year or so was a 75 diesel ( BMW engine IIRC) and that was so comfortable...far too good really for the job !
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Fun Bus said:
Interesting. How should that type of leather be cleaned?
With a decent PH neutral cleaner, no perfumes, no alcohol or strong chemicals. Nothing with wax, oils or silicone, as per the above which shall just shine it up. Never never use babywipes, they're designed to break down acid!Also put a protector on the leather at least a few times a year.
I personally swear by LTT's products.
Edit-can’t seem to find their products? Got a link please?
itcaptainslow said:
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Fun Bus said:
Interesting. How should that type of leather be cleaned?
With a decent PH neutral cleaner, no perfumes, no alcohol or strong chemicals. Nothing with wax, oils or silicone, as per the above which shall just shine it up. Never never use babywipes, they're designed to break down acid!Also put a protector on the leather at least a few times a year.
I personally swear by LTT's products.
Edit-can’t seem to find their products? Got a link please?
If the price varies for auto and home products don't worry, get the cheapest. It's the same stuff, different packaging.
And I do practice what I preach, I've given our Ekornes Stressless Cinema suite a good going over with their stuff today.
Spinakerr said:
Seems to be familiar on Pistonheads:
"I saved this shed from the crusher, will use it this winter while my other project is off the road"
Winter passes...
"It's now in a heated garage, and I have tracked down an original engineer to his retirement home and forced him to help me restore it to factory spec."
Love it, so true how people most unexpectedly fall in love with these cars. For me it was ago up between an S type or a 75 as a daily driver and I got the 75 (low miles Connoisseur SE V6 auto - top spec baby Bentley without the bills) on an eBay punt for a grand. At least not a lot to lose if it's a lemon I thought."I saved this shed from the crusher, will use it this winter while my other project is off the road"
Winter passes...
"It's now in a heated garage, and I have tracked down an original engineer to his retirement home and forced him to help me restore it to factory spec."
Nearly seven years later I can't bear the thought of selling for anything else, and now that my son (aged 5) has made me promise to leave it to him after my death I need to ensure I keep it in top condition for many more years. Plus it's the envy of my colleagues in the carpark at work - we're talking NHS consultants who are driving newish Beamers and Mercs whilst I'm chuffed to be driving something so much better that cost me to buy what some of them spent on their last service.
The various owners' clubs are genuinely brilliant as they are focussed on doing everything possible to keep these cars on the road forever. They even have regular mechanic meets to do technical jobs like taking your car back to factory spec. The biggest problem seems to finding a garage who truly knows how to fix things when something breaks as most seem to think the answer to anything is to chuck K-seal into the engine and hope it lets you get as far as the scrapyard.
I've always really rather fancied a 75, especially the V6, and if I knew in 2002 what I know now, there's no way in hell I'd have bought my E46 318i Touring over one (the E46 handled really well, but in most other respects was pretty woeful). I keep looking wistfully (or even lustfully) at 75s, but whenever I've needed a new car, I've never been able to find the right one at the right price... so I've ended up learning what it is Alfa Romeo owners bang on about re charm vs challenge with a string of E39 5-series... one day, one day, I shall have that 75 I've always wanted. It is still SUCH a pretty car! As much as I loved my 3500S, it couldn't exactly be called classically beautiful in the way the 75 is...
Not Invented Here senior (in his early 80s now) bought a 75 2.5 v6 pre-facelift light green conn estate 17 years ago. Mostly trips to the shops but it's been as far as eastern Europe at least twice. It's on about 80k now.
He's kept all the bills in a briefcase over the years and told me the other day that not including tax and insurance, but including MoTs and servicing and what ever parts and work it's needed, it's cost him £3.5k in total.
£3.5k in 17 years... pretty much Lexus-a-like reliability?
In those 17 years I've gone from seeing it as a weird retro-pastiche to something vaguely desirable...
He's kept all the bills in a briefcase over the years and told me the other day that not including tax and insurance, but including MoTs and servicing and what ever parts and work it's needed, it's cost him £3.5k in total.
£3.5k in 17 years... pretty much Lexus-a-like reliability?
In those 17 years I've gone from seeing it as a weird retro-pastiche to something vaguely desirable...
Not Invented Here said:
Not Invented Here senior (in his early 80s now) bought a 75 2.5 v6 pre-facelift light green conn estate 17 years ago. Mostly trips to the shops but it's been as far as eastern Europe at least twice. It's on about 80k now.
He's kept all the bills in a briefcase over the years and told me the other day that not including tax and insurance, but including MoTs and servicing and what ever parts and work it's needed, it's cost him £3.5k in total.
£3.5k in 17 years... pretty much Lexus-a-like reliability?
In those 17 years I've gone from seeing it as a weird retro-pastiche to something vaguely desirable...
Averages out at just over £200 per year-considering the cambelt change (all three of them!) on a V6 is due every six years and a garage will usually charge £500 plus to do the job including parts; I’d say that’s bloody impressive!He's kept all the bills in a briefcase over the years and told me the other day that not including tax and insurance, but including MoTs and servicing and what ever parts and work it's needed, it's cost him £3.5k in total.
£3.5k in 17 years... pretty much Lexus-a-like reliability?
In those 17 years I've gone from seeing it as a weird retro-pastiche to something vaguely desirable...
Looks like you have an excellent 75 there itcaptainslow. I had a gold 75 saloon 2.5 V6 Conny SE auto with a lovely sandy coloured interior. Bought for 1k with 50k miles on the clock and took me all over the UK for over three years. Everyone derided it including Mrs Tek who hated it with a passion but i adored it. It had real chatacter and the best build quality I've known in a car. I also had an MG ZS saloon with the same V6 engine and that had superb handling and pace, a really fun, grab it by the scruff of the neck type car. The build quality on the ZS was a different story, it felt very flimsy and rattled a fair bit but again, it had character. I must admit, I love an under dog and I love to see that some of the Rover and MG stuff is starting to get some real love. Long may it continue!
Just remembered I hadn't updated this thread with a few additions I've made. So, um, here are the additions.
Firstly-I alluded to upgrading the ICE to something more modern but sympathetic in my first post. An Android head unit is the easiest way to do this-you can retro fit the OEM nav/TV, but this gives a somewhat outdated navigation functionality and the TV as standard is analogue terrestrial only (now defunct). A BMW digital TV tuner can be fitted, but still won't give the features of an Android unit.
So, said Android unit was purchased and fitted, together with a dash cam (hidden neatly behind the rear view mirror), digital TV tuner (more on that in a minute) and DAB radio dongle.
Installation was a pain in the utter tits. It's sold as plug and play-far from it. Lots of soldering is required if you want a neat installation (I did) together with functioning steering wheel controls (I did) without loads of scotch locks everywhere (I didn't, as they're utterly
). I nearly gave up on the thing, until the guy who runs the company who sold it to me came down to finish the fitting, and agreed it was a pain. At least it wasn't just me...
In typical Android style, the user interface is as far from intuitive as could be. I've just about worked out how to connect it to wi-fi and download some apps (stupid me for thinking there'd be a dash cam app preinstalled to support the, er, supplied dashcam). The interface for connecting an iPhone is useless, and the sound quality for streamed music is dire. I would have ripped it out and returned it if you couldn't download Spotify directly to the unit, which is a saving grace. Having BBC iPlayer and SkyGo on there is nice, though.
Remember that TV tuner I ominously mentioned earlier? Yup, it doesn't work properly. I've returned it to the supplier and am awaiting replacement-fortunately it can be fitted by removing the climate control panel (four screws and a facia panel that pops off-careful, watch the 19 year old plastics...), which takes five minutes. The first replacement was a completely different tuner, and no way was I re-soldering everything in and tearing the interior apart to fit the different aerials.
So then. Android head unit. If you're a computer geek, by all means go for it. If you're a simple Luddite who appreciates the functionality of a Nokia 3310 and gets excited by semaphore railway signals at work (and, lets be honest, this is me all over, and presumably why I'm all foamy about an old Rover in the first place), then just don't. Stick with the standard cassette player and pop down your local car boot sale for Wham! The Greatest (s)Hits, or something. Or try Classic FM. I hate classical music (sorry Mum) but it actually suits the ambience of the 75 rather well.
The auto gearbox selector indicator was missing several LED's-it buggered with my OCD a tad. £50 later (ouch) and a new one was delivered from Rimmer Bros (great bunch and seriously ill people**).
I couldn't resist a new, old stock book pack sleeve (unfortunately the early 75's came with a lovely leather wallet which I cannot find in good condition anywhere-if anyone knows of one, please let me know).
Equally as irresistible was a new handbook. Unfortunately the previous owner who I assume is no longer with us has not responded to my letter asking about the history of the car, and it came with pretty much nothing.
Even the pages smell like Rover.
Childhood memories continue to be indulged as I found a launch edition brochure on eBay in marvellous condition, complete with colour and "Build your own 75" pamphlets detailing the Personal Line options. Flicking through the brochure and seeing the tracing paper second page takes me straight back to sitting in Diamond Rover with my Dad as an eleven year old as he ordered his new 75, one of the first on the road. I wonder where that car is now?
I've barely driven the car over the past couple of months, it's been covered in the garage and coming out on occasions only. I'm going to a cottage in Wales with a hot tub with friends for a long weekend in a couple of weeks and planning to take it on a cross country waft. Can't wait. For the drive over, not the hot tub.
Firstly-I alluded to upgrading the ICE to something more modern but sympathetic in my first post. An Android head unit is the easiest way to do this-you can retro fit the OEM nav/TV, but this gives a somewhat outdated navigation functionality and the TV as standard is analogue terrestrial only (now defunct). A BMW digital TV tuner can be fitted, but still won't give the features of an Android unit.
So, said Android unit was purchased and fitted, together with a dash cam (hidden neatly behind the rear view mirror), digital TV tuner (more on that in a minute) and DAB radio dongle.
Installation was a pain in the utter tits. It's sold as plug and play-far from it. Lots of soldering is required if you want a neat installation (I did) together with functioning steering wheel controls (I did) without loads of scotch locks everywhere (I didn't, as they're utterly
). I nearly gave up on the thing, until the guy who runs the company who sold it to me came down to finish the fitting, and agreed it was a pain. At least it wasn't just me...In typical Android style, the user interface is as far from intuitive as could be. I've just about worked out how to connect it to wi-fi and download some apps (stupid me for thinking there'd be a dash cam app preinstalled to support the, er, supplied dashcam). The interface for connecting an iPhone is useless, and the sound quality for streamed music is dire. I would have ripped it out and returned it if you couldn't download Spotify directly to the unit, which is a saving grace. Having BBC iPlayer and SkyGo on there is nice, though.
Remember that TV tuner I ominously mentioned earlier? Yup, it doesn't work properly. I've returned it to the supplier and am awaiting replacement-fortunately it can be fitted by removing the climate control panel (four screws and a facia panel that pops off-careful, watch the 19 year old plastics...), which takes five minutes. The first replacement was a completely different tuner, and no way was I re-soldering everything in and tearing the interior apart to fit the different aerials.
So then. Android head unit. If you're a computer geek, by all means go for it. If you're a simple Luddite who appreciates the functionality of a Nokia 3310 and gets excited by semaphore railway signals at work (and, lets be honest, this is me all over, and presumably why I'm all foamy about an old Rover in the first place), then just don't. Stick with the standard cassette player and pop down your local car boot sale for Wham! The Greatest (s)Hits, or something. Or try Classic FM. I hate classical music (sorry Mum) but it actually suits the ambience of the 75 rather well.
The auto gearbox selector indicator was missing several LED's-it buggered with my OCD a tad. £50 later (ouch) and a new one was delivered from Rimmer Bros (great bunch and seriously ill people**).
I couldn't resist a new, old stock book pack sleeve (unfortunately the early 75's came with a lovely leather wallet which I cannot find in good condition anywhere-if anyone knows of one, please let me know).
Equally as irresistible was a new handbook. Unfortunately the previous owner who I assume is no longer with us has not responded to my letter asking about the history of the car, and it came with pretty much nothing.
Even the pages smell like Rover.
Childhood memories continue to be indulged as I found a launch edition brochure on eBay in marvellous condition, complete with colour and "Build your own 75" pamphlets detailing the Personal Line options. Flicking through the brochure and seeing the tracing paper second page takes me straight back to sitting in Diamond Rover with my Dad as an eleven year old as he ordered his new 75, one of the first on the road. I wonder where that car is now?
I've barely driven the car over the past couple of months, it's been covered in the garage and coming out on occasions only. I'm going to a cottage in Wales with a hot tub with friends for a long weekend in a couple of weeks and planning to take it on a cross country waft. Can't wait. For the drive over, not the hot tub.
- Translation-Proper British car enthusiasts
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