Hi,
I am thinking of spending around £10K on a Range Rover 2.5 (the BMW diesel one), for this money you can get a 2000 HSE with quite a few miles on it. Has anyone any experience of this car at this age?
Cheers,
Miles
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The CBCB on this site mentions "Apalling catalogue of build problems. Water ingress into ECU will stop the car. BMW-powered diesel version is ridiculously slow on the road - especially in automatic form". Doesn't sound good...
Autotrader throws up quite a few 1999 Merc ML's in your budget. No diesels, admittedly, but the 320 V6 isn't the thirstiest engine of its size, and the car itself might be nicer - I've no personal experience. X5's are still very pricey, and you'd almost certainly be disappointed with a Jeep, I would have thought.
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My neighbour runs one and gets on ok with it,not much in the way of problems but the best place to ask is
www.lro.com on the forum boards
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For my money I would look at the earlier Discovery TD5s.
These do come up in Land Rover Monthly within your budjet. I haven't had a keen look yet but I suspect you can get better than that.
The TD5 engine is great compared to that in the RR. It is the only diesel of that era developed by Rover before and after BMW bought it. Apparently 4 and 6 cylider diesels that were in development at that time were axed on the basis that BMW already had such engines to plug into new vehicles.
In addition to the good engine, the specifications on some of these vehicles is great. They certainly have more buttons than I would learn to use in the first week.
I don't know whether the RR you're thinking of has this but the TD5 has traction control as opposed to the option of diff lock on the TDIs. I sorely missed this the other day in the 200Tdi Disco when trying to pull the trailer up a slope in a field.
The diff lock works well if there is only a problem on one or both wheels on the same axle. When slippery ground is found under both axles then the problems start. I had the indignity of needing to be helped up by a tractor!
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Noooooo... don't even think about it. It will return 25 mpg at best, it drives like a slug on wheels, and it'll fall apart around you.
The engine is appallingly underpowered, and is very good at making at lot of noise but not really going anywhere. If you consider the car, you need to budget for having the engine chipped and a bigger intercooler fitted.
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You could get a nice X Trail diesel 136bhp for that kind of money, obviously not the same 'prestige' as the RR but a much more sensible buy IMHO. Good luck whatever you do.
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Thanks for all your help - you have however successfully scared me off! However a friend is selling a 2000 4.6HSE with LPG conversation, claiming 35mpg, is this a safer bet?
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Is that down a steep hill with a strong tail wind?
I had a Passat 1.8 which only did 35! and IIRC LPG conversions have lower MPG figures on gas relying on the fuel being cheaper.
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>>However a friend is selling a 2000 4.6HSE with
>>LPG conversation, claiming 35mpg, is this a safer bet?
Is "35mpg" the equivalent petrol cost/mileage or whatever - i.e. He normally gets 20mpg on Petrol , 17mpg on LPG but as LPG is roughly half the price, it's the same as getting 35miles for (the cost) of every gallon of "petrol".
Surely that makes sense, doesn't it? ;-)
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Makes perfect sense and what doesn;t make sense is why Milanoli wants a Range Rover. This is typical example of a car that you buy new or almost new if you can afford to run it and totally avoid if you can't.
If you want a big, reliable 4x4 as a workhorse get any number of Japanese or Korean models either new or 2nd hand. If you want a status symbol, look elsewhere - anywhere - except a five year old RR. Buy a Jag!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Ok, ok, i'll go back to my original plan and buy a 635csi highline for half the price. (this purchase is just a bit of fun for a short commute).
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Phew - another 4x4 off the roads!
Did you seriously expect to get the same driving pleasure from a 4x4 than from a BMW 635CSi? I'll take the BM every time.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Nope, just two of the cars I have always fancied off a long not particulalrly practical list!
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IMO the 635i is a lovely car but I think some parts may be getting hard to source, especially bodywork if needed.
Due to that, I'm not sure how practical it would be as a daily driver, would certainly make a very nice "Sunday" car.
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Blimey, I'd much rather have the BMW! Why not buy one, and book yourself an off road driving day with the change? Both itches successfully scratched!
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