DII specs

I am sort of considering upgrading the current 96 300tdi to a DII, so
a few questions if I might.

It seems that the facelift appeared Circa 2003. Were there any
mechanical improvements that went with the facelift?
I am not at all keen on air suspension bearing in mind the obvious
maintenance issues this entails, however I would be very keen on
cruise control.

So far my brief perusals of the autotrader seem to indicate that only
the ES models are fitted with Cruise contol. So would it be possible
to get a lower spec model (was it only the top one that was fitted
with the air suspension?) and retrofit the CC. I am sure that all the
wiring will be in place as the loom is normally the same, it should
just be a case of fitting the gubbins and at worst getting the CC
activated in software.

Any suggestions, or should I just get the auto gearbox fixed and
persevere with the DI?

Regards
Stephen

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:39:22 +0200, fanie wrote:

> So far my brief perusals of the autotrader seem to indicate that only
> the ES models are fitted with Cruise contol. So would it be possible
> to get a lower spec model (was it only the top one that was fitted
> with the air suspension?) and retrofit the CC.

Fairly sure that any 7 seat version has to have air suspension as it is
part of the type approval. Isn't the DII air suspension based on the RR
system? Well tried and tested before it got to the DII...

Adding cruise to a TD5 engined DII is easy, several places sell kits of
the two switches and bracket, the bracket is the hard bit as it is not
available as a spare. A kit takes about two hours to fit working slowly
and carefully cutting the hole in steering wheel rear cover and works
well. I suspect it is not so straight forward on a petrol jobbie...

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

You can add Cruise control to a d2 really easily, you are correct in your
assumption that the looms are all in place. www.discoparts.co.uk have a
cheap kit that can be DIY fitted, I know as I did it!! The air suspension is
only on the back end and seems to be pretty reliable.



"fanie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am sort of considering upgrading the current 96 300tdi to a DII, so
> a few questions if I might.
>
> It seems that the facelift appeared Circa 2003. Were there any
> mechanical improvements that went with the facelift?
> I am not at all keen on air suspension bearing in mind the obvious
> maintenance issues this entails, however I would be very keen on
> cruise control.
>
> So far my brief perusals of the autotrader seem to indicate that only
> the ES models are fitted with Cruise contol. So would it be possible
> to get a lower spec model (was it only the top one that was fitted
> with the air suspension?) and retrofit the CC. I am sure that all the
> wiring will be in place as the loom is normally the same, it should
> just be a case of fitting the gubbins and at worst getting the CC
> activated in software.
>
> Any suggestions, or should I just get the auto gearbox fixed and
> persevere with the DI?
>
> Regards
> Stephen

Sorry the link should be
http://www.discoparts.com/asp/d-no.asp?ProductID=101&Process=1&CatID=18&SubCatID=0

> You can add Cruise control to a d2 really easily, you are correct in your
> assumption that the looms are all in place. www.discoparts.co.uk have a
> cheap kit that can be DIY fitted, I know as I did it!! The air suspension
> is only on the back end and seems to be pretty reliable.
>
>
>
> "fanie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I am sort of considering upgrading the current 96 300tdi to a DII, so
>> a few questions if I might.
>>
>> It seems that the facelift appeared Circa 2003. Were there any
>> mechanical improvements that went with the facelift?
>> I am not at all keen on air suspension bearing in mind the obvious
>> maintenance issues this entails, however I would be very keen on
>> cruise control.
>>
>> So far my brief perusals of the autotrader seem to indicate that only
>> the ES models are fitted with Cruise contol. So would it be possible
>> to get a lower spec model (was it only the top one that was fitted
>> with the air suspension?) and retrofit the CC. I am sure that all the
>> wiring will be in place as the loom is normally the same, it should
>> just be a case of fitting the gubbins and at worst getting the CC
>> activated in software.
>>
>> Any suggestions, or should I just get the auto gearbox fixed and
>> persevere with the DI?
>>
>> Regards
>> Stephen
>
>

"fanie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am sort of considering upgrading the current 96 300tdi to a DII, so
> a few questions if I might.
>
> It seems that the facelift appeared Circa 2003. Were there any
> mechanical improvements that went with the facelift?
> I am not at all keen on air suspension bearing in mind the obvious
> maintenance issues this entails, however I would be very keen on
> cruise control.
>
> So far my brief perusals of the autotrader seem to indicate that only
> the ES models are fitted with Cruise contol. So would it be possible
> to get a lower spec model (was it only the top one that was fitted
> with the air suspension?) and retrofit the CC. I am sure that all the
> wiring will be in place as the loom is normally the same, it should
> just be a case of fitting the gubbins and at worst getting the CC
> activated in software.
>
> Any suggestions, or should I just get the auto gearbox fixed and
> persevere with the DI?

My 2000 DII is an XS (4.0 V8 Auto, 5 seater) and it has the self-levelling
rear air suspension. AFAIUI, all XS, ES and 7-seater variants have the rear
air setup, only the lowest spec 5 seaters don't have it.
Cruise can be fitted quite easily, but the climate control is very good and
worth havong also, IMO.
Badger.

Thanks all for the advice.

I will definitely look at the TD5 as even in South Africa the go go
juice for the V8 is a little on the steep side. Perhaps we also do
bigger milages than you, otherwise the V8 would be nice.

I would be quite keen on the Seven seater so i guess that one might as
well go the whole hog and get the ES.

Regards
Fanie


On Thu, 9 Mar 2006 17:39:57 +0000 (UTC), "Badger"
<[email protected]> wrote:

On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 21:14:47 +0200, fanie wrote:

> I would be quite keen on the Seven seater so i guess that one might as
> well go the whole hog and get the ES.

Be warned that the 6th and 7th seats are not really suitable for adults
and long journeys on tarmac. Very cramped. They also take a lump out of
the load bay width, particularly the left hand one. That might not be
helped in mine because it has the rear aircon as well and the blower and
chiller for that is also in that area.

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail