Scottish guy has no idea what he wants to buy

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Reliability & Land Rover don't really mix that well.

+1 on a top hat block, or even better, a coscast with top hats. I personally wouldn't touch a standard Rover V8 block anymore.
 
High Lander said:
Feck - beginning to think about an X5 now, can't be doing with engines which blow up :(
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X5's have their own issues, rear tyre wear is often awful due to a mixture of bad tracking, agressive driving and worn bushes. But rarely expect more than 5k from a set before its rubbed the edges of.
Gearboxes can be weak unless had a service, usual electrical issues like battery drain from water ingress calling electrical faults. Hedgehog/final stage resister causes HVAC fans to stay on. Pixels can fail in the display ribbons on the dash. Not a huge problem but can look a mess.
Engines generally good, oil leaks on M54 3.0 petrol, its no more economical than the V8 and the same speed as the diesel so best avoided, V8 generally very good but worn timing chain guides can cause problems and noise reasonably thirsty but not bad compared to an RV8. Also potential vanos issues but fairly rare. M57 diesel reasonable performance, can be fairly frugal but as usual with modern diesels high pressure fuel pumps and turbo chargers are vulnerable once they get older.

Electric steering column adjustment can fail, navigation also susceptible to battery being disconnected. Also looking very dated now IMHO, best to avoid very early ones (99,00 etc, 01 onwards better, 04 better again as new four wheel drive system Xdrive)

Personally Id rather have a range rover, because you know at some point in your old X5 someone in a far classier old range rover will arrive beside you at a set of lights and you'll think... damn I made the wrong choice. Look at how cool the P38 is with its floating roof and low range gearbox ;). I get classic envy in the P38!
 
quavey said:
because you know at some point in your old X5 someone in a far classier old range rover will arrive beside you at a set of lights and you'll think... damn I made the wrong choice.
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It'll sharp disappear in the rear view mirror though.
If you don't need to go off road and you don't have a steep driveway it may be worth a look
 
My best mate got an x5. Worst decision ever. In the year he had it, it was 'on the road' maybe 3 months. The rest was spent at specialists with mainly gearbox problems.
 
tomcat59alan said:
What a load of old cock. IMHO:D
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Had a drive of a workmate's 3.0 diesel and it was about as quick as a fit 3.9 range rover, maybe thanks to gearing. When he had it chipped, supposedly to 250bhp, we had a drag race off site on the a66 dual, it had the edge on my 4.6 I'm sad to say.
As for the steep driveway, he had one. Wouldn't get up it one night when icy. So he tried to park his wife's freelander on it instead. Drove straight on, and slid back off into a lamp post when he got out :)
 
I'm getting cold feet on this whole Rangie thing - read some LR tech guy on here saying that the P38A always has more problems then the other models. I consider myself pretty handy and fix lots of things on my cars which tend to be end of the line junkers which I keep on the road for an extra year or two. Having said that, I don't want to throw £1-2k at something which has a high likelihood of random catastrophic failure through normal use.

Thanks for your feedback on the X5, was a bit of a throw away comment - but good to be kept straight on that.

Now thinking of Disco 2. I remember when they first came out and I thought they were the best looking thing on the road. Do they drive like a mattress? What's the best one to go for?

Apologies for all my jumping around, will change thread title
 
It gets a bit one sided on forums, you only read of the troubles, and not the thousands of miles of trouble free motoring that many people enjoy over the years. all cars have faults,and the P38 is getting a little long in the tooth, but it is a superb car with all the refinement that could be fitted into it. There is no such thing as trouble free motoring.If you want the best that landrover could do in the nineties,get a P38 fix it and look after it!
 
High Lander said:
I'm getting cold feet on this whole Rangie thing - read some LR tech guy on here saying that the P38A always has more problems then the other models. I consider myself pretty handy and fix lots of things on my cars which tend to be end of the line junkers which I keep on the road for an extra year or two. Having said that, I don't want to throw £1-2k at something which has a high likelihood of random catastrophic failure through normal use.

Thanks for your feedback on the X5, was a bit of a throw away comment - but good to be kept straight on that.

Now thinking of Disco 2. I remember when they first came out and I thought they were the best looking thing on the road. Do they drive like a mattress? What's the best one to go for?

Apologies for all my jumping around, will change thread title
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D2... well youve either a wheezy TD5 or a similar V8 to the P38 (obviously the one to go for!!). It will be a mixture of paint and rust, very little steel left in it. I think they drive OK if they have ACE fitted but it can cause its own problems. No diff lock just traction control on some of them although often the linkage can be refitted. Diesel auto is similar to walking, just noisier. Diesel manual similar to jogging and as hard work, they have a habit of just stopping when you take your foot on the accelerator or we my parents found when they borrowed one. Unless its lowest of the low spec it will have rear air suspension (its a start I suppose) but often bodge it and scarper and have been involved and superglued some springs in there instead. Theyve got a big rear overhang as well and are pretty basic when it comes to equipment inside.

Just buy a P38 and have a go, they arn't so bad! You'll get hooked and then you won't mind it causing you grief!
 
quavey said:
Diesel auto is similar to walking, just noisier.
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Class. Having owned a d2 td5 auto with ace I can also advise the torque converter thinks the engine likes to run at 3000rpm most of the time and when the trick suspension fails, you find it really would prefer to sledge along on its roof
 
Scottish guy here, just purchased a 300tdi range rover classic with r380 manual box.
Cheap spare parts, no engine managenent problem codes and on coils but maybe change that back to air.
Classic is pretty rare in Scotland, you just rarely if ever see one.
P38, Disco or x5, put a classic in the mix.
 
Had a D2 TD5. Had been fitted with coils. looked ok but it was all paint. Rusted a lot, didn't have as much power as expected ended up with 3 pages of faults for MOT. Gave up on it and got an older P38
 
Saint.V8 said:
If you are thinking of an X5....then get an L322 Range Rover......Same car different clothes.
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Seriously? X5 is nothing like L322. Just don't buy pre MY2007 L322 as early ones are sh1t

Back to topic..... Had both V8 and Diesel P38, both had their problems, but nothing major. Having had the 4.6 V8 I would never go for any other P38. As already stated you only hear of problems on the forums.
The Thor V8 is not that weak. I drove mine 10 miles with no coolant in the engine, filled it up, bled the system and had no problems until I dropped a bolt into a cylinder. Still ran pretty well on 7 cylinders, I did about 500 miles before I realised what the rattle and misfire was. Fitted a new piston and head and ran fine for a couple of year after that until I sold it. Engines are dead easy to work on as well, plenty of space and simple design.
 
Andy_J said:
Seriously? X5 is nothing like L322. Just don't buy pre MY2007 L322 as early ones are sh1t

Back to topic..... Had both V8 and Diesel P38, both had their problems, but nothing major. Having had the 4.6 V8 I would never go for any other P38. As already stated you only hear of problems on the forums.
The Thor V8 is not that weak. I drove mine 10 miles with no coolant in the engine, filled it up, bled the system and had no problems until I dropped a bolt into a cylinder. Still ran pretty well on 7 cylinders, I did about 500 miles before I realised what the rattle and misfire was. Fitted a new piston and head and ran fine for a couple of year after that until I sold it. Engines are dead easy to work on as well, plenty of space and simple design.
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2002-2005 L322's are the BMW X5 in different clothes....

Pre 2007 are a little hit and miss agreed....but the early L322's are a BMW vehicle,
 
Saint.V8 said:
2002-2005 L322's are the BMW X5 in different clothes....

Pre 2007 are a little hit and miss agreed....but the early L322's are a BMW vehicle,
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Well they might be from an electronics and engine/gearbox point of view but vehicle archiecture and design, suspension, air suspension, brakes and most of the interior is all Land Rover. I admit the dash cluster and seat controls, steering column movement is straight from the BMW parts bin but I think its a bit far fetched to say they are the same car in different clothes. You could however argue a D1 is a Classic in different clothes ;)
 
I decided that a reliable V8 with 280hp and great handling trumped the ability to drive over bumpy stuff - so got an old BMW 540i Touring instead :p

Thanks for all your input guys, it's appreciated - hope I haven't committed some kind of blasphemy

$_57 (1).JPG
 
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