Thirsty Discovery and Z4 thread

[C70R]

bakerstreet said:

BlackStang5point0 said:

Just to chip in here personally I'd try and join some L322 forums / fb groups and see whats for sale as chances are you will be buying off an enthusiast that may have addressed all the usual issues and / or will be able to demonstrate a load of preventative maint has been carried out. Buying one off some random private punter / used car dealer is asking for trouble IMHO.

Buying from someone on a FB group/forum and badging them as an enthusiast means absolutely nothing. I've been on the D3/4 FB group for years and advice of 'chuck some anti judder' in the gearbox is basically bodge, but its ok, because they are an 'enthusiast'

Treat the forums as an outlet for purchase prospecting, but no way would I expect the car to be significantly better.

However the part about evidence of crucial repairs is right though. For L322s it would be.

Gearbox
Turbos
Suspension (Air bags, compressors and sensors are common failure points)

The rust and fuel prices will continue to make L322 prices tumble. The rust on the arches isn't exactly a quick or an easy fix. Finger in the air could be £500 a side depending on how bad it is. Also, people just wont spend that on cars that are now costing £150+ to fill up and even the TD6s only do about 25mpg average. 4.4 BMW V8 is probably about 15!

Every dealer I've spoken to who had a car with rusty arches tried to convince me it was "just a bit of paint". Bloody charlatans.

My experience of owners groups mirrors yours. While there are some enthusiasts out there, 90% of the posts seem to be looking for the cheapest way to fix problems.

[C70R]

Well, I might have answered my own thread title. I just called up a Land Rover specialist close to the dealer, and they've agreed to inspect the car at their workshop for less than the king's ransom the RAC were quoting.

I'm much happier giving my money to a small, indie specialist than the RAC.

[C70R]

bolidemichael said:

I must've been really forunate with my FFRR given the experiences that you've had to date.

If yours has zero rust and no issues with the air suspension, you've done better than I've managed so far.

I'm optimistic about the one I've found. Deposit paid and inspection happening on Thursday.

[C70R]

bolidemichael said:

No rust and only self-induced issues with air suspension!

I think I was unnecessarily hamstringing myself by looking for cars with lower mileage, mainly because the higher mile cars tended to show it quite obviously on the interior.

[C70R]

bolidemichael said:

C70R said:

bolidemichael said:

No rust and only self-induced issues with air suspension!

I think I was unnecessarily hamstringing myself by looking for cars with lower mileage, mainly because the higher mile cars tended to show it quite obviously on the interior.

Once again... not in my case

If you've managed to avoid the saggy driver's bolster and worn steering wheel, then you've found a unicorn based on my experience of the past month or so.

[C70R]

andy_ran said:

C70R said:

If you've managed to avoid the saggy driver's bolster and worn steering wheel, then you've found a unicorn based on my experience of the past month or so.

I had the same battle!! They are out there mind you. But you have to look and look and look

I'm hoping that the one I've found is going to do the job. It's bloody miles away, so I'm relying on a local LR specialist to do a good job of the inspection at their workshop. Plan is to factor any major works into the price. Dealer seems amenable, more so since I paid the deposit of course.

Spoken to a local mobile 'detailer' (it pains me to use that word), who's going to do a proper deep clean of the car (wet vac carpets, ceramic coating outside, blah blah) before I collect, which should be a treat.

Everything rests on Thursday's inspection...

[C70R]

It's inspection day. How exciting.

Waiting for the phone call from the specialist has me feeling oddly like an expectant father. That said, given some of the utter toss that I've seen recently, I'm trying hard not to get ahead of myself here. Then, on the other hand, I remember it's a one-owner car from new, and has been maintained to within an inch of its life.

If there's anything major wrong with it, I'll probably leave it and chalk it down to experience. If there's anything in the middle ground, I'm going to ask the specialist for a quote, and see if the dealer is amenable to negotiation. I'm hopeful that he'll be pragmatic in the current climate, and be happy to move the car on.

If the result is a list of odds and sods that need addressing, I'll probably do a bit of gentle haggling and get the garage to sort the most pressing bits alongside a good service (coolant, brake fluid, gearbox and diff oils etc.).

[C70R]

Well, the scores are on the doors.

But before I spill the beans, I should probably make a little confession. The thread title is now inaccurate. The discussions about Cayennes and Sports are now completely off the mark.

I'm actually buying a Discovery 3. More importantly, I'm buying a pretty rare petrol V8 Discovery 3.

It's the car I had really wanted from the start, and it's a car I've admired for years. It feels like the modern version of the 110 Defender, and marries utility and comfort perfectly. I'd largely discounted them on account of their rarity and the associated ridiculous prices that people were asking for them (in some cases twice that of the equivalent L322), so I'd initially decided to 'settle' for an L322 petrol.

Then I spotted the ad for the Discovery that I'm buying, and almost couldn't believe my luck. So I found a local specialist and jumped in with both feet!

The specialist collected the car from the dealer this morning and spent 4 hours on it today. In summary:
- Aircon isn't blowing cold
- Front wishbone bushes have play
- Potentially sticky rear caliper
- Rear parking sensors aren't working

It has a couple of other minor niggles (warping airbag cover, slightly sad tyres) that I can sort at later date.

How exciting!

[C70R]

A.J.M said:

I was actually thinking a D3 would potentially be a better idea. But v8s are rare, they were sold 2004-2006 before lack of sales ended the U.K. run.
I did try and buy one on 2012 but it sold before I could get it. Was 6 months before a similar spec car came up for sale at way out my budget, I had bought a tdv6 HSE by then.

Air con will be condenser. Mine needed one, pretty common.
Meyle HD arms for the front lowers. 4 year warranty. Don’t fit anything else.
Get good callipers and hope for the best. Mine loves rear callipers, I average 2 years to a pair. No idea why and I’ve tried genuine and cheapo eBay specials.
Parking sensors can be chafed wires, duff sensor.
Code reader can tell exactly which one is gubbed.

Get the underside cleaned up and dinitrol coated, service the autobox and enjoy.

You've pretty much mirrored what the specialist said to me. None of the rear parking sensors are currently working, so the culprit seems to be the wiring and it looks like the bumper is coming off.

[C70R]

As if to corroborate my view that dealers are being far too optimistic, this pops up on my Autotrader alert this morning.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022062370...

6 owners, no service history, 122k miles. And about the same as I'll pay for the Discovery.

Feels wildly optimistic in the current climate.

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A.J.M said:

Discos are fantastic cars.
I’ve had mine nearly a decade now and will be getting it restored later this year back to its full glory.

Do. Not. Ever. Fit. Cheap. Suspension. Parts. Ever!
Ok?

The brakes on the V8 are 1” larger discs front and back than the tdv6. But same pads and callipers.
A nice upgrade and one I’ve done myself is the 4 pot brembos from a L320 RRS. They bolt straight on and with good discs and pads. It will stop happily on its nose.

Get a code reader. The iid tool is the best, about £300ish second hand, £25 for a vin change and it runs off an app on your phone and gives main dealer level diagnostics at your disposal. Worth its weight in gold.

Otherwise, find a good recommended specialist.
There’s some bad ones about, hence needing to restore my own car after falling foul of one.

But enjoy and take care of it.
It’s definitely a future classic car so valued for clean ones will hold and eventually rise.

Luckily it appears that this one has been well looked after. Owned by the same old boy from new until he passed away earlier this year, serviced on the button (time, not miles) and anything that broke seems to have been fixed promptly by a specialist. It's got 105k on the clock and it's no garage queen, but that was never the brief for this car. It's going to get used properly in the countryside.

I've found a good specialist not far from where I'm buying a house in Norfolk, so I'm hoping to continue a similar (albeit less anally retentive) maintenance schedule.

I'm not sure about the potential rise in future values, mainly due to the huge numbers made. I suspect it will be a very long time before the Disco 3 is rare enough to start appreciating, and fuel prices aren't going down any time soon.

But I do agree that it has potential to be viewed as a bit of a design classic in the future. A huge leap on from the awkward Disco 2, and much more striking and utilitarian than a Range. Having said that, I think the Disco 4 facelift makes for an ultimately better resolved overall design. But it's horses for courses.

I don't think I can be bothered with starting and maintaining a thread in Readers Cars, so I might dip back into this thread occasionally to update anyone who cares.

The ad is no longer on Autotrader, so there's only the one screenshot photo I've got until I collect it.

[C70R]

bakerstreet said:

C70R said:

Well, the scores are on the doors.

But before I spill the beans, I should probably make a little confession. The thread title is now inaccurate. The discussions about Cayennes and Sports are now completely off the mark.

I'm actually buying a Discovery 3. More importantly, I'm buying a pretty rare petrol V8 Discovery 3.

It's the car I had really wanted from the start, and it's a car I've admired for years. It feels like the modern version of the 110 Defender, and marries utility and comfort perfectly. I'd largely discounted them on account of their rarity and the associated ridiculous prices that people were asking for them (in some cases twice that of the equivalent L322), so I'd initially decided to 'settle' for an L322 petrol.

Then I spotted the ad for the Discovery that I'm buying, and almost couldn't believe my luck. So I found a local specialist and jumped in with both feet!

The specialist collected the car from the dealer this morning and spent 4 hours on it today. In summary:
- Aircon isn't blowing cold
- Front wishbone bushes have play
- Potentially sticky rear caliper
- Rear parking sensors aren't working

It has a couple of other minor niggles (warping airbag cover, slightly sad tyres) that I can sort at later date.

How exciting!

The D3 V8 is a rare beast. Think they used the 4.4 BMW V8, so keep an eye on the temp gauge and any oil leaks from the valve covers can be a costly job, but a nice engine and about 100bhp up than the lethargic 2.7 TDV6

However:
- Aircon isn't blowing cold, Seller will probably blag 'just needs a re-gas'. The Condensor goes and the pipes fail, so several people will just crimp the pies or the rear AC at least.
- Front wishbone bushes have play - very common. About £500 for a pair
- Potentially sticky rear caliper - Cheap as chips. About £30 for a replacement caliper if memory serves.
- Aircon isn't blowing cold
- Front wishbone bushes have play
- Potentially sticky rear caliper
- Rear parking sensors aren't working

Garage will plug it in and claim its a sensor, because its quick and easy. Reality is, its probably the wiring which the Code Readers won't pick up and you will be back at the garage the week after as the sensors still don't work as a new sensor doesn't fix wiring faults.

The wiring gets crushed if it isn't located properly when the bumper is refitted or it just gets frail and degrades with age.

At least with the V8 you don't have to wrry about cold start issues, cross over pipes, Turbos ect.

Enjoy it


- Rear parking sensors aren't working

Edited by bakerstreet on Friday 24th June 16:13

They used the same Jaguar engine and 6spd box as the facelift L322. Otherwise, your advice mirrors the specialist.

[C70R]

While I bide my time waiting for the specialist to finish the work, I'm amusing myself by trying to learn everything about the D3. Standard practice.

A couple of things interest me. Firstly, I ran the VIN through a decoder and being an HSE (as I think all V8 models are) the car looks to be incredibly well-specified. Frustratingly it's missing the iPod input which would have allowed me to control my phone from the stereo, but that's pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Once the remedial work is completed, I can start making it 'my' car. I'm eyeing up some AT tyres and a few bits to make the interior more country-durable (boot liner, rubber mats etc.). The temptation to throw a roof rack/basket thing and a big LED strip is significant, but I'm going to hold off for a little while.

I thought I'd take a quick look at howmanyleft, just to see how lucky I'd actually been. Allowing for the usual level of accuracy, there appear to be around 300 petrol V8 cars still taxed and registered. Fewer than I'd expected.

[C70R]

The Prospeed stuff seems to have a good reputation, so that's the direction I'll probably go in the end. Lower priority now.

Sadly the mechanic who was supposed to be working on my car has come down with COVID, leaving the garage short-handed. Looks like my chances of a collection next week are getting slimmer by the day, which is a shame.

[C70R]

Is it ok to have bought tyres for a car you don't technically own? Asking for a friend...

Avon AX7 seem to get good reviews as a compromise all-terrain tyre, and I got a very good deal. Could probably use a car to put them on...

[C70R]

A.J.M said:

The compressor guard is a good first buy:
Protects it from rocks, and tyre fitters mistaking the compressor as a jacking point and destroying it.
Seen it done a few times.

My picture shows the Prospeed sliders with step inserts.
The best sliders on the market, and a fantastic step to get in.
Need to rebuy a set after selling mine… roll on the black Monday sales from them for a few items to be bought again.

To be honest, I suspect that while the car might spend some time off-road, I'm not going to be throwing it through any super challenging stuff. The occasional muddy track or field will be the worst it sees for the foreseeable.

[C70R]

bakerstreet said:

C70R said:

While I bide my time waiting for the specialist to finish the work, I'm amusing myself by trying to learn everything about the D3. Standard practice.

A couple of things interest me. Firstly, I ran the VIN through a decoder and being an HSE (as I think all V8 models are) the car looks to be incredibly well-specified. Frustratingly it's missing the iPod input which would have allowed me to control my phone from the stereo, but that's pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Once the remedial work is completed, I can start making it 'my' car. I'm eyeing up some AT tyres and a few bits to make the interior more country-durable (boot liner, rubber mats etc.). The temptation to throw a roof rack/basket thing and a big LED strip is significant, but I'm going to hold off for a little while.

I thought I'd take a quick look at howmanyleft, just to see how lucky I'd actually been. Allowing for the usual level of accuracy, there appear to be around 300 petrol V8 cars still taxed and registered. Fewer than I'd expected.

You won't be able to stream music using Bluetooth on the D3 stereo and phone won't even connect for voice automatically very time unless you carry out a mod with a d4 Bluetooth unit. If memory serves there was a rarely optioned Bluetooth streaming module for the range rover sport, but its very rare and last one i saw went for over £200 on ebay.

Best advice for the stereo is throw the head unit away and replace with a double din head unit with Android Auto and Apply Car Play. If you want to retain the Amp, its about £800 all in, but worth it IMO as the actual sound is one of best of any car I've owned.

Cheaper option is Parrot MKi9200 with KAM cable which allows you to retain the HK Amp.

So my reading has yielded two simpler options:
1. Plugging a Bluetooth streaming dongle into the iPod socket, if one is fitted
2. If it doesn't have an iPod socket, then plugging a Bluetooth streaming dongle into the rear aux socket works

Both should give fine quality for little outlay.

[C70R]

If anyone is still interested (my interest is waning already, tbf), tyres were delivered today and they look suitably serious and chunky. Garage are progressing slowly with the work, and I'm hoping to collect this weekend at the earliest.

I should be getting an update tomorrow morning.

[C70R]

bolidemichael said:

I just can't get over the fact that over so many threads you've been extolling the virtues of avoiding bork-fest vehicles and then plunged straight into the risky category for yourself.

That's an unfair characterisation.

I've been fairly consistent in telling people to avoid throwing good money after bad, and to avoid letting their heart rule their head. Cars are excellent servants, and terrible masters. If this car suddenly turns into a moneypit that I resent, I won't hesitate to move it on.

[C70R]

A.J.M said:

Wheres the fun in not getting drawn into a heart vs head battle over a car.

My heart has won out over my disco hence lining up a restoration that will be a few times it’s economical value.
Only live once.

You do indeed live once. And I intend to spend that life buying houses and taking holidays. Not throwing money at an inanimate object.