Looking at P38 DSE's

Hi I'm looking at buying a DSE Range Rover and was wondering what to look out for? Have owned 4.6s and 4.0s and have had a couple of costly experiences with cracked blocks, and was wondering if there's anything to look out for on the diesel versions? and also what mileage they're capable of doing.
Cheers, Duncan

My 2.5DSE has done 196k miles, and still going strong with no engine problems. I'm currently doing around 1000 miles a week! Although it has been serviced every 6k since new.

I also had a BMW 525TDS with the same engine in, and it had 186k on the clock when I sold it.

Has a timing chain like the petrol so no need to worry about belts.

I believe this engine is prone to over heating, but as I understand it, that usually happens when the engine has been neglected.

On hard acceleration these engines do give out what I would consider to be quite a bit of smoke by modern diesel standards, so I wouldn't worry too much about that unless it looks excessive. On tickover and normal driving you shouldn't really notice much smoke from the exhaust.

Like everything I think, if you look after it, it will run well, but if it hasn't been serviced regularly it will have problems. Just look out for one with a FULL history.

Matt.

The Beemer sourced diesel unit is a very good one indeed and as mmaddock says it does need to be looked after however. As long as it is serviced etc then it should quite easily do 250k + my dads one had 286k on the clock before we sold (quite cheaply!)

The only other stuff is the usual computer glitches and stuff as with all P38's
If you wish to spend little money then you will have an early model which is more prone to these computer glitches but a late dse will be very reliable

And one more thing, if you wish to spend a bit o money see if you can source a TD6 P38 which i have seen about (Was one at my local dealer a few months back) but obviously quite expensive.

Cheers
Matt

Thanks for all the advice guys. All the ones I've seen have been at around the 100,000 mile mark, so i guess if I find a looked after one I shouldn't have to worry about it (on the 4.6s i normally see most have a new engine by this mark!)
Also was thinking - Auto or manual? I'm pretty lazy so an auto would be best for me but I understand on the diesels that manuals give you that bit more ooomph when you need it....
Duncan

Mine is for sale with warrenty left on it aswell

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/for-sale-v-reg-range-rover-dse-25056.html

Erm i would say manual to be honest - does make it quicker slight better on fuel etc and they are often slightly cheaper over the auto model

Cheers
Matt

Very nice car Tiff - unfortunately I'm a farmer who's just parted with some cash for a new tractor so a bit out of my league. Need a bit more comfort than my TD5 90 (though a long time lover of Defenders) and only looking to spend tops of 8K, seen a few on eBay (keen ebayer) around the 7k mark though all too far away. Will keep on looking!
Duncan