2005 Range Rover sport 4.4 petrol HSE - new daily
Discussion
I've wanted a petrol V8 Range Rover since I was a kid when my late dad used to borrow his friend's classic with the 3.9 Rover V8 - but I've not been brave enough to take the plunge until now.
I have 2022 Mustang GT that has been my daily for the last 3 years - I only do about 8k miles a year so the 24mpg average isn't too painful. But I've been keen to ease up on the mileage a bit and to have something else I can use when the weather is crap - as it tends to be for 3/4s of the year in this country. I've got an old 2004 Honda Accord Tourer (with the K24 and 6-speed manual) which I've had for 11 years. It's been great, but it's not really suited to sitting in traffic and it's getting a bit leggy - so the man maths was firmly in place to justify another purchase.
I was mainly looking at early L320s and also the 1st gen Porsche Cayenne. I eventually bottled the latter as really wanted another V8, and the 1st gen Cayenne V8s are too much of a lottery with bore-scoring. Happily with the L320 Range Rover, the petrol V8s seem to be the more reliable engine compared to the diesels and their unfortunate reputation for snapping crankshafts. As I am only likely to be doing 4-5k a year in it, mostly short journeys, a diesel made no sense anyway.
I also wanted something I could tow with, as we have a TVR Tuscan that is going to need a body-off soon, along with an SS100 replica my father-in-law and I are building.
I dismissed the larger 'full fat' L322 range rover as I'm pretty sure they are too tall to fit through the garage doors of our workshop where we have a lift.
So I began looking at the available L320 Sports and quickly realised that, a) 90% of the examples for sale are diesels, and b), they all have chassis' with enough corrosion to make you think they were built under peak British Leyland.
The one exception I found was a 4.4 HSE that had done a lot less miles than average (under 75k), and had a remarkably clean MOT history. The 4.4 (a jag unit, rather than the 4.4 BMW unit that was in the early L322 'full fat' RRs) appealed vs the 4.2 supercharged as I wasn't too bothered by the performance, and I figured the supercharger was just another thing to go wrong.
We went to view it and it was pretty much as described - the underside looked pretty clean (surface corrosion but MUCH better than any others I had seen), and a pretty clean interior that stacked up with the mileage. It also appeared to NOT have the Dynamic Response / 'ACE' anti-roll bars, that I'd heard numerous horror stories about regarding the cost of repair / replacement. Looked well-spec'd, with the Harmon-Kardon stereo, rear heated seats, rear audio package (so rear passengers have their own audio output), and adaptive cruise control. Being a 2005 car it was also in the cheaper tax bracket (important on a car that is unlikely to average more than 19mpg - every little bit of money saved helps!)
The main downsides were:
-minimal paperwork (a stamped service book up to 2021, and two service invoices since).
-aircon not working
-no tow bar
-previous owner had fitted 22 inch 'stormer' wheels on low profile tyres (albeit the wheels have been refurbished and look extremely clean, so likely worth a bit).
-'bonnet open' message permanently on (which also appeared to disable the cruise control).
-driver's door handle (external) looks to be falling apart
-only a single key
-embossed numberplates pointing to an earlier part of its life lived in Essex
Needless to say I did the only sensible thing and bought it!
Drove it home on Friday- possibly the warmest day of the year so far, in a car with more glass than a greenhouse, black leather seats, and no working aircon. The motorway journey was littered with average speed check zones and multiple tailbacks, so no chance to get any decent airflow in the cabin and the aforementioned 'bonnet open' message meaning the cruise control was also disabled. On the way back my lift (following behind) pointed out a failed brake light bulb too - which immediately raised questions regarding the validity of the recently passed MOT...
Finally home (the cones are there as recently had that bit of the driveway put to resin):
First jobs this weekend have been:
1) replace the brake light - a 5 minute job once I worked out how to prize the light cluster out of the rubber grommets without damaging the paint. An interior trim removal set has now been ordered as this would have been ideal.
2) sort out the 'bonnet open' message. This was doubly annoying as each time you lock the car the horn would loudly sound (to notify you that something was not closed properly) - a great idea in practice, but when you live in a quiet cul-de-sac of mainly pensioner-occupied bungalows and bring home a car that has all the hallmarks of a non-legal pharmaceutical distribution wagon, the added attention this feature brings was not exactly ideal.
After a bit of internet searching, it was quickly diagnosed as either a faulty catch or dirty / failed microswitch. I removed the switch from the bottom of the bonnet catch and gave it a clean up. With someone sat in the driver's seat and the ignition on, I manually triggered the switch and fortunately the dash messaged disappeared. I reassembled, closed the bonnet, but the message came back. This could only mean that the latch mechanism wasn't going down far enough to trigger the microswitch. So I removed the switch again and 're-shaped' the metal contact strip using a pair of pliers - reassembled and the message has gone!
A quick test drive confirmed, and also allowed me to test the adaptive cruise - which also now worked! So the first two problems fixed and total cost to date was the 71p for the tail-light bulb. I suspect this spend may increase as time goes on...
The air suspension appears to work, but I've noticed at 'normal' height (the mid-position) the nearside rear is sitting 20mm higher than the other 3 corners. I'm hopeful this might be a faulty / misaligned height sensor, but it's the next thing to investigate, along with a set of replacement door handles.
I have got it booked into a specialist next month for an inspection (I've been told most people have this done before purchasing - who knew), and find out the extent of my financial folly and an indication of any pressing issues to resolve - oh and to diagnose/fix the aircon. I want to find out if the chassis has reasonable long-term potential before throwing too much time/money at it.
If the inspection is half-way successful, the longer term plan is to get it on the lift and clean the chassis and get a decent rust-treatment applied before the autumn, then see how long I can keep it going before it it breaks me, either financially or emotionally!
I will endeavour to keep this up to date as a warning to others.
Interior:
Rear audio system controls (never seen this before!)
Testing the height settings:
The Mustang has an appetite for electricity as well as petrol
I have 2022 Mustang GT that has been my daily for the last 3 years - I only do about 8k miles a year so the 24mpg average isn't too painful. But I've been keen to ease up on the mileage a bit and to have something else I can use when the weather is crap - as it tends to be for 3/4s of the year in this country. I've got an old 2004 Honda Accord Tourer (with the K24 and 6-speed manual) which I've had for 11 years. It's been great, but it's not really suited to sitting in traffic and it's getting a bit leggy - so the man maths was firmly in place to justify another purchase.
I was mainly looking at early L320s and also the 1st gen Porsche Cayenne. I eventually bottled the latter as really wanted another V8, and the 1st gen Cayenne V8s are too much of a lottery with bore-scoring. Happily with the L320 Range Rover, the petrol V8s seem to be the more reliable engine compared to the diesels and their unfortunate reputation for snapping crankshafts. As I am only likely to be doing 4-5k a year in it, mostly short journeys, a diesel made no sense anyway.
I also wanted something I could tow with, as we have a TVR Tuscan that is going to need a body-off soon, along with an SS100 replica my father-in-law and I are building.
I dismissed the larger 'full fat' L322 range rover as I'm pretty sure they are too tall to fit through the garage doors of our workshop where we have a lift.
So I began looking at the available L320 Sports and quickly realised that, a) 90% of the examples for sale are diesels, and b), they all have chassis' with enough corrosion to make you think they were built under peak British Leyland.
The one exception I found was a 4.4 HSE that had done a lot less miles than average (under 75k), and had a remarkably clean MOT history. The 4.4 (a jag unit, rather than the 4.4 BMW unit that was in the early L322 'full fat' RRs) appealed vs the 4.2 supercharged as I wasn't too bothered by the performance, and I figured the supercharger was just another thing to go wrong.
We went to view it and it was pretty much as described - the underside looked pretty clean (surface corrosion but MUCH better than any others I had seen), and a pretty clean interior that stacked up with the mileage. It also appeared to NOT have the Dynamic Response / 'ACE' anti-roll bars, that I'd heard numerous horror stories about regarding the cost of repair / replacement. Looked well-spec'd, with the Harmon-Kardon stereo, rear heated seats, rear audio package (so rear passengers have their own audio output), and adaptive cruise control. Being a 2005 car it was also in the cheaper tax bracket (important on a car that is unlikely to average more than 19mpg - every little bit of money saved helps!)
The main downsides were:
-minimal paperwork (a stamped service book up to 2021, and two service invoices since).
-aircon not working
-no tow bar
-previous owner had fitted 22 inch 'stormer' wheels on low profile tyres (albeit the wheels have been refurbished and look extremely clean, so likely worth a bit).
-'bonnet open' message permanently on (which also appeared to disable the cruise control).
-driver's door handle (external) looks to be falling apart
-only a single key
-embossed numberplates pointing to an earlier part of its life lived in Essex
Needless to say I did the only sensible thing and bought it!
Drove it home on Friday- possibly the warmest day of the year so far, in a car with more glass than a greenhouse, black leather seats, and no working aircon. The motorway journey was littered with average speed check zones and multiple tailbacks, so no chance to get any decent airflow in the cabin and the aforementioned 'bonnet open' message meaning the cruise control was also disabled. On the way back my lift (following behind) pointed out a failed brake light bulb too - which immediately raised questions regarding the validity of the recently passed MOT...
Finally home (the cones are there as recently had that bit of the driveway put to resin):
First jobs this weekend have been:
1) replace the brake light - a 5 minute job once I worked out how to prize the light cluster out of the rubber grommets without damaging the paint. An interior trim removal set has now been ordered as this would have been ideal.
2) sort out the 'bonnet open' message. This was doubly annoying as each time you lock the car the horn would loudly sound (to notify you that something was not closed properly) - a great idea in practice, but when you live in a quiet cul-de-sac of mainly pensioner-occupied bungalows and bring home a car that has all the hallmarks of a non-legal pharmaceutical distribution wagon, the added attention this feature brings was not exactly ideal.
After a bit of internet searching, it was quickly diagnosed as either a faulty catch or dirty / failed microswitch. I removed the switch from the bottom of the bonnet catch and gave it a clean up. With someone sat in the driver's seat and the ignition on, I manually triggered the switch and fortunately the dash messaged disappeared. I reassembled, closed the bonnet, but the message came back. This could only mean that the latch mechanism wasn't going down far enough to trigger the microswitch. So I removed the switch again and 're-shaped' the metal contact strip using a pair of pliers - reassembled and the message has gone!
A quick test drive confirmed, and also allowed me to test the adaptive cruise - which also now worked! So the first two problems fixed and total cost to date was the 71p for the tail-light bulb. I suspect this spend may increase as time goes on...
The air suspension appears to work, but I've noticed at 'normal' height (the mid-position) the nearside rear is sitting 20mm higher than the other 3 corners. I'm hopeful this might be a faulty / misaligned height sensor, but it's the next thing to investigate, along with a set of replacement door handles.
I have got it booked into a specialist next month for an inspection (I've been told most people have this done before purchasing - who knew), and find out the extent of my financial folly and an indication of any pressing issues to resolve - oh and to diagnose/fix the aircon. I want to find out if the chassis has reasonable long-term potential before throwing too much time/money at it.
If the inspection is half-way successful, the longer term plan is to get it on the lift and clean the chassis and get a decent rust-treatment applied before the autumn, then see how long I can keep it going before it it breaks me, either financially or emotionally!
I will endeavour to keep this up to date as a warning to others.
Interior:
Rear audio system controls (never seen this before!)
Testing the height settings:
The Mustang has an appetite for electricity as well as petrol
Stick Legs said:
Love a good Range Rover thread.
As you may know these are a Discovery 3 base, and share more in common with Disco's of the period than Range Rovers, this is a good thing as parts are cheap and available.
Good luck.
Cheers!As you may know these are a Discovery 3 base, and share more in common with Disco's of the period than Range Rovers, this is a good thing as parts are cheap and available.
Good luck.
Yep the Disco 3 underpinnings was another reason for going for the Sport over the 'full-fat' L322 - research suggests its a bit less complex and as you say parts availability seems very good.
Good find for the low milage and it being relatively free from the bad body kits etc that many gained.
If there’s no record, get the autobox, transfer and diff oils changed.
The T5 chassis is solid, it’s not a feeble classic defender effort.
It’s thick and is the strongest chassis Land Rover made.
Surface rust is common, my 2016 D4 has surface rust on the back sections, but it’s solid.
Air con is likely the condenser at fault. Pretty common. My D3 had the same, new part and it worked perfectly.
Ride heights may need recalibration to correct that issue.
If you buy a Gap IID tool, used for about £300, then pay £25 for a vin number change. You can do it yourself. The IID tool is the best diagnostic tool for them. It will save you a small fortune for fault finding etc.
Otherwise, it’s basically a Discovery 3 with 5.9 inches cut out.
So usual checks apply, wish bones, wheel bearings etc.
I’d get it dinitrol treated underneath to keep the rust at bay.
The back arches and sills go on them, there are replacement pieces available but it’s not cheap to sort so prevention is better than repair.
If there’s no record, get the autobox, transfer and diff oils changed.
The T5 chassis is solid, it’s not a feeble classic defender effort.
It’s thick and is the strongest chassis Land Rover made.
Surface rust is common, my 2016 D4 has surface rust on the back sections, but it’s solid.
Air con is likely the condenser at fault. Pretty common. My D3 had the same, new part and it worked perfectly.
Ride heights may need recalibration to correct that issue.
If you buy a Gap IID tool, used for about £300, then pay £25 for a vin number change. You can do it yourself. The IID tool is the best diagnostic tool for them. It will save you a small fortune for fault finding etc.
Otherwise, it’s basically a Discovery 3 with 5.9 inches cut out.
So usual checks apply, wish bones, wheel bearings etc.
I’d get it dinitrol treated underneath to keep the rust at bay.
The back arches and sills go on them, there are replacement pieces available but it’s not cheap to sort so prevention is better than repair.
A.J.M said:
Good find for the low milage and it being relatively free from the bad body kits etc that many gained.
If there s no record, get the autobox, transfer and diff oils changed.
The T5 chassis is solid, it s not a feeble classic defender effort.
It s thick and is the strongest chassis Land Rover made.
Surface rust is common, my 2016 D4 has surface rust on the back sections, but it s solid.
Air con is likely the condenser at fault. Pretty common. My D3 had the same, new part and it worked perfectly.
Ride heights may need recalibration to correct that issue.
If you buy a Gap IID tool, used for about £300, then pay £25 for a vin number change. You can do it yourself. The IID tool is the best diagnostic tool for them. It will save you a small fortune for fault finding etc.
Otherwise, it s basically a Discovery 3 with 5.9 inches cut out.
So usual checks apply, wish bones, wheel bearings etc.
I d get it dinitrol treated underneath to keep the rust at bay.
The back arches and sills go on them, there are replacement pieces available but it s not cheap to sort so prevention is better than repair.
Cheers for the info- really useful.If there s no record, get the autobox, transfer and diff oils changed.
The T5 chassis is solid, it s not a feeble classic defender effort.
It s thick and is the strongest chassis Land Rover made.
Surface rust is common, my 2016 D4 has surface rust on the back sections, but it s solid.
Air con is likely the condenser at fault. Pretty common. My D3 had the same, new part and it worked perfectly.
Ride heights may need recalibration to correct that issue.
If you buy a Gap IID tool, used for about £300, then pay £25 for a vin number change. You can do it yourself. The IID tool is the best diagnostic tool for them. It will save you a small fortune for fault finding etc.
Otherwise, it s basically a Discovery 3 with 5.9 inches cut out.
So usual checks apply, wish bones, wheel bearings etc.
I d get it dinitrol treated underneath to keep the rust at bay.
The back arches and sills go on them, there are replacement pieces available but it s not cheap to sort so prevention is better than repair.
Will definitely be getting the autobox and diff etc oils changed shortly. Will do another engine oil service too- the last one was only 3k miles ago but coming up to 2 years.
Thats interesting regarding the code reader- i was going to look into this before long as im sure will be invaluable going forward.
Also going to look into the tow bar and find out whether this one has the electrics already in place or not.
Ive ordered a build sheet to find out exactly what it came with so that should shed some light.
Found a couple more issues this morning:
- the rear part of the drivera door handle appears to have lost its retaining clip, so will take the door card off to have a look.
- pretty sure the microswitch for the rear glass part of the hatch needs replacement. The main boot works fine, but can't get any response from the switch for the top part. Seems like a straightforward job to replace though.
Switch will be corrosion, pretty common for them and the discovery models.
Take the tow bar cover off in the back bumper, that will show if you have the electrics or not.
I’ll you are towing regularly, get a fixed tow bar of some sort.
Not the detachable one unless you get the retaining plate for it.
Code reader is invaluable, the IID does everything.
Keep it in the car and it works off an app on your phone.
Mine lives in the glove box of my D4. Just in case.
Take the tow bar cover off in the back bumper, that will show if you have the electrics or not.
I’ll you are towing regularly, get a fixed tow bar of some sort.
Not the detachable one unless you get the retaining plate for it.
Code reader is invaluable, the IID does everything.
Keep it in the car and it works off an app on your phone.
Mine lives in the glove box of my D4. Just in case.
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