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Before I begin, let me get in to position and don my tin hat...
:behindsofa:
Imagine this: Driving home from work in a very comfortable 3.5 litre V8 powered BMW 7'er with the nice M62TU35 VANOS engine burbling away in front of you (the BMW is my work conveyance - the L322 with its ISOfix mounts is the baby carriage so my girlfriend now drives that mostly), and at a set of traffic lights a numb skull in a new-ish Toyota Hilux cuts across in front of you cos your in a 'smaller' car than his (the 735 is actually longer than my L322 by a few inches - just not as wide)....I sat there and thought to myself 'if I was in my L322 that wouldn't have happened, 1) cos the L322 is wide and the Hilux wouldn't have been able to get past and 2) I wouldn't care cos I would know I was in a Range Rover and life is great in one of those...'
Barrelling down the M3 doing the 'speed limit' I here a bonk thud tinkle tinkle...looking in my rear view mirror my N/S front indicator is bouncing into the hard shoulder....bugger, I knew I should have tightened that up when I noticed it was loose at the weekend.
No matter order another from euro carparts, I'll take the L322 to work tomorrow.
It is a glorious morning, the birds are singing and the sun is shining, 96.4 Eagle Radio are having a rare good day where all the songs are awesome and are just what I like to start the day with...Bon Jovi, GnR, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Bonamassa etc etc...some real fecking good tunes and I am in my Range Rover....today is going to be a good day.
'Where's he going with all this?' I hear you scream at your screens....just trying to paint a picture of how much I love my Range Rovers and the fact I am happiest when driving them...
I get to work and start the day, tea break comes round and I browse LZ forums and also Autotrader....
That's when things got a bit dicey......
I saw, I liked, I phoned the guy.....it's in Wembley....12 miles from work (36 miles from home)...I went to take a look....I phoned my girlfriend...she sighed....she agreed..I confirmed..she agreed again........
I THEN BROKE EVERY RULE IN THE BOOK
When newbies come on LZ asking for buying advice, I for one am always banging on about plenty of them around, take your time, go for as late a model as possible, check everything works and never buy a Range Rover with faults unless you fully appreciate and understand the costs and time involved in repairing it.
So what did I do.....I miss having a Range Rover as a daily drive....when we had floods in February this year, I had to borrow one of the works Disco 4's to go and reach my parents as My L322 was 47 miles in the opposite direction where my girlfriend works....Whenever I want to go shooting, I have to arrange a lift with others as my BMW ain't gonna get me to the shoot site....I don't like not being able to fold the seats down and lug stuff about when I want to do it as I have to arrange with Anna when I can use the L322.......
So I broke all the rules and bought a 1996(N) 4.0SE Bluey/Green P38A on LPG.....:screaming_bug_eye_f
So how did I break the rules??
It is an early model....
It is an impulse buy....
It was the first I had seen....
It has t'issues....
It is not in A1 condition....
But it was the only one in my limited price range....
Don't get me wrong, I went there knowing would I would accept as acceptable issues and faults...and I am proud to say the faults it does have are acceptable to me as a work hack and a load lugging workhorse (didn't really like using the L322 for trips to the dump etc).....
So did I really break the Golden Rule??
Not entirely, I bought a Range Rover with faults, yes, but I also fully understand the potential costs and time involved in repairing the faults it does have....after all this is Range Rover number 7 for me!
The only fault I don't know to much about is the biggest fault it has, It drips about a spoon full of oil from the point around the oil filter, so this could be either a leaking filter seal or a crack in the filter mounting or pump casing....investigation needed.
Yes it is a little rough around the edges, and I knocked him down a couple of hundred so I got it at what I feel is a reasonable price for what I want....
Good bits:
To be honest, it is exactly what I was after, a work horse, a daily hack and a vehicle that will return a similar MPG as the BMW...on the journey back through Wembley, Hangar Lane, North Circular, Heathrow, M25, M3 and onto home the dash reported 23.4mpg....so from what I have learned about the OBC and real world figures...I would guess that is in the region of 18mpg on LPG and the BMW would return 19.7mpg as an average....only time will tell....
Driving it feels similar to the DSE with very similar throttle travel and pattern, nothing much happens until you reach about 1/3rd travel and it all picks up about 2/3rds and then runs out of puff.
Not as urgent as the 4.6HSE's I have had, and is NOT a patch on the sheer power in the 4.4 V8 L322....
But I have to admit the seats are comfier in the P38 albeit a tad narrower than the L322 so the side supports tend to hug me a little more than they do in the L322.
Leather is softer but it lacks the wood and look of the L322, but is still a comfortable cockpit to be in.
Would I get rid of the L322 in favour of a P38? Well, as I have said before no, not on your life...is the P38 a good stable mate for the L322 - yes, I think it is....I have said a few times...I'd have a Classic as a play thing, a P38 as a daily driver and an L322 for best!
I'm 2/3rds there!
Anyone wanna buy a September 1999 BMW 735i LPG Glacier Green Facelift model???
OK - start the abuse and comments on hypocrisy :fencing:
:behindsofa:
Imagine this: Driving home from work in a very comfortable 3.5 litre V8 powered BMW 7'er with the nice M62TU35 VANOS engine burbling away in front of you (the BMW is my work conveyance - the L322 with its ISOfix mounts is the baby carriage so my girlfriend now drives that mostly), and at a set of traffic lights a numb skull in a new-ish Toyota Hilux cuts across in front of you cos your in a 'smaller' car than his (the 735 is actually longer than my L322 by a few inches - just not as wide)....I sat there and thought to myself 'if I was in my L322 that wouldn't have happened, 1) cos the L322 is wide and the Hilux wouldn't have been able to get past and 2) I wouldn't care cos I would know I was in a Range Rover and life is great in one of those...'
Barrelling down the M3 doing the 'speed limit' I here a bonk thud tinkle tinkle...looking in my rear view mirror my N/S front indicator is bouncing into the hard shoulder....bugger, I knew I should have tightened that up when I noticed it was loose at the weekend.
No matter order another from euro carparts, I'll take the L322 to work tomorrow.
It is a glorious morning, the birds are singing and the sun is shining, 96.4 Eagle Radio are having a rare good day where all the songs are awesome and are just what I like to start the day with...Bon Jovi, GnR, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Bonamassa etc etc...some real fecking good tunes and I am in my Range Rover....today is going to be a good day.
'Where's he going with all this?' I hear you scream at your screens....just trying to paint a picture of how much I love my Range Rovers and the fact I am happiest when driving them...
I get to work and start the day, tea break comes round and I browse LZ forums and also Autotrader....
That's when things got a bit dicey......
I saw, I liked, I phoned the guy.....it's in Wembley....12 miles from work (36 miles from home)...I went to take a look....I phoned my girlfriend...she sighed....she agreed..I confirmed..she agreed again........
I THEN BROKE EVERY RULE IN THE BOOK
When newbies come on LZ asking for buying advice, I for one am always banging on about plenty of them around, take your time, go for as late a model as possible, check everything works and never buy a Range Rover with faults unless you fully appreciate and understand the costs and time involved in repairing it.
So what did I do.....I miss having a Range Rover as a daily drive....when we had floods in February this year, I had to borrow one of the works Disco 4's to go and reach my parents as My L322 was 47 miles in the opposite direction where my girlfriend works....Whenever I want to go shooting, I have to arrange a lift with others as my BMW ain't gonna get me to the shoot site....I don't like not being able to fold the seats down and lug stuff about when I want to do it as I have to arrange with Anna when I can use the L322.......
So I broke all the rules and bought a 1996(N) 4.0SE Bluey/Green P38A on LPG.....:screaming_bug_eye_f
So how did I break the rules??
It is an early model....
It is an impulse buy....
It was the first I had seen....
It has t'issues....
It is not in A1 condition....
But it was the only one in my limited price range....
Don't get me wrong, I went there knowing would I would accept as acceptable issues and faults...and I am proud to say the faults it does have are acceptable to me as a work hack and a load lugging workhorse (didn't really like using the L322 for trips to the dump etc).....
So did I really break the Golden Rule??
Not entirely, I bought a Range Rover with faults, yes, but I also fully understand the potential costs and time involved in repairing the faults it does have....after all this is Range Rover number 7 for me!
The only fault I don't know to much about is the biggest fault it has, It drips about a spoon full of oil from the point around the oil filter, so this could be either a leaking filter seal or a crack in the filter mounting or pump casing....investigation needed.
Yes it is a little rough around the edges, and I knocked him down a couple of hundred so I got it at what I feel is a reasonable price for what I want....
- it has a crack in the windscreen,
- the sunroof cover is missing,
- the dash board near the windscreen vent has warped,
- the rear passenger window rubber is misshapen,
- the drivers door rattles when closing it,
- the central locking doesn't work (alarm still functions),
- the Sun Roof won't set,
- it has an aftermarket radio,
- the Parrot Bluetooth doesn't work,
- Cruise Control doesn't work,
- Passenger blend Motor is shot,
- A/C needs work,
- idle speed did keep going up them down (traced this to a sticky throttle cable),
- Headlamp wipers park in random positions,
- Headlamp washer don't squirt,
- rear centre brake light is loose,
- new-ish looking compressor runs for longer than I would think necessary when at extended ride height (bags look newer than original but most likely approaching 6/7 years old),
- got a slight ticking from the camshaft area when warm (using a mechanics stethoscope sounds like a cam follower not pumping up and is bouncing around a bit),
- Rear wiper faulty
Good bits:
- Body work is sound and looks good,
- Steering is tight and tracks true,
- New tyres,
- Brakes work,
- Lights Work,
- er...erm....
- Windows work,
- Gearbox is responsive and smooth - receipts for fluid and filters recently
- New Rad at Chrimbo
- New looking Compressor
- erm....er...um....running out of good bits....
- No wet carpets, but then again it hasn't rained for a while...still means Heater O rings are good
- Leather is in good nick
- um.....I think er...that's it....
To be honest, it is exactly what I was after, a work horse, a daily hack and a vehicle that will return a similar MPG as the BMW...on the journey back through Wembley, Hangar Lane, North Circular, Heathrow, M25, M3 and onto home the dash reported 23.4mpg....so from what I have learned about the OBC and real world figures...I would guess that is in the region of 18mpg on LPG and the BMW would return 19.7mpg as an average....only time will tell....
Driving it feels similar to the DSE with very similar throttle travel and pattern, nothing much happens until you reach about 1/3rd travel and it all picks up about 2/3rds and then runs out of puff.
Not as urgent as the 4.6HSE's I have had, and is NOT a patch on the sheer power in the 4.4 V8 L322....
But I have to admit the seats are comfier in the P38 albeit a tad narrower than the L322 so the side supports tend to hug me a little more than they do in the L322.
Leather is softer but it lacks the wood and look of the L322, but is still a comfortable cockpit to be in.
Would I get rid of the L322 in favour of a P38? Well, as I have said before no, not on your life...is the P38 a good stable mate for the L322 - yes, I think it is....I have said a few times...I'd have a Classic as a play thing, a P38 as a daily driver and an L322 for best!
I'm 2/3rds there!
Anyone wanna buy a September 1999 BMW 735i LPG Glacier Green Facelift model???
OK - start the abuse and comments on hypocrisy :fencing:
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