My Green Machine Got A Big Brother. Autobot V. Decepticon

love that model Range, nice pick up!

Thanks so much guys

Originally Posted by slo323ci

Bet you the Range will be in the shop more than your 3. Range looks nice though.

Nah... It might be in my driveway with a tool box next to it more often but they are actually not to bad to work on and the reputation, while certainly somewhat deserved, is a little over the top. Reason being, many owners of these cars (especially given the price tag of them when new) have zero interest in doing anything themselves. Also, with the massive amount of online vendors reselling old parts for them, it's not too hard to get your hands on stuff nor will you pay all that much for them.

Originally Posted by kaput

Someone is in the Green...

very true. For this car, I felt I had to. Just such a classy color combo

Originally Posted by jmcdolej

Looks like big bro and little bro. Your 3 is so clean. You should make the Range a little meaner. Add some tough 20s with good rubber, a tint.

Yeah I'm trying to decide on where to go with wheels and tint. It's something that won't be done for a while anyway but I'm considering buying range rover sport wheels for it. There are tons of RRS owners who throw on aftermarket rims and sell their oem wheels/tires... I'd rather go with an OEM style on this car... not a fan of the typical suv aftermarket rims.

Great points 04yfz. The air suspension rides unbelieably well, especially considering it's a pretty massive truck. It's incredibly nice for both city, highway, and off roading as there are unique settings for each of these. It also has an "access mode" so that, when in park, you hit a button and the car lowers itself down to the lowest setting so chicks can get in .. all controlled right from the dash

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

ride is unreal when it actually works... but when it breaks... prepared to sell your kidney.
from reading mbforums and such, to get 1 air shock is like $5000-8000...
you can have half of las vegas hookers plus a bag of blow for that money!

Ahhh. A perfect exaggeration and the precise language that gives these cars the price point (which I'll touch upon later) that they are in.

The EAS (electronic air suspension) was dubbed by Jeremy Clarkson to be "ingenious engineering". It provides incredibly comfortable, capable rides and allows the car to act as rugged or luxuriously as requested by the owner at a given point in time. The system consists of three basic components:

- Compressor (pulls in air, compresses it, and passes it along)
- Valve block (responsible for taking compressed air and distributing it to the springs)
- Air springs (act like a shock and spring entirely using air compression)

The valve block and compressor have average life spans of roughly 75-125k miles. The springs will last roughly that long though they should be checked more routinely.

Now, what normally happens is somewhere towards the end of the lifespan of the springs (shown below), the rubber starts to get slight cracks or splinters and air will start slowly leaking out. As there is a ton of pressure, even a very small slit will lose air somewhat quickly. This will be obvious to an individual paying even a little bit of attention but to those who just get in and drive, they don't notice. As they drive more and more, the hole gets larger and larger to the point the car can no longer inflate the car up on the spring and it goes into limp mode. Then they take it in.

Now, depending on how long the leak has been building, they also run the problem of damaging the compressor. After all, the compressor is working it's ass off to continually inflate the spring as it loses air. Now, around this point, all four springs are probably close to their end anyway so the dealer will suggest replacing the springs (cost around 125 online but will run 200-300 at the dealer) and will suggest a new compressor 500) and valve block (1000). Then you have installation and this, while rather easy, is time consuming. So now you have a several thousand dollar repair.



That said, if you pay attention, replace the springs when they are going, and don't kill your compressor/valve block, it's not a big deal. The rear springs and compressor were replaced within the last 3 weeks and I'm going to put new springs on the front as they are maybe 80% through the life span... I'd rather take care of it now to not strain the other components.

But this is a perfect microcosm of why even the educated auto world hates these cars... they hear a horror story from someone who was told by a rich mom that a suspension cost 5 grand and they shy away for life..

Now, that doesn't mean that it won't have issues.. it will. But, as long as you tend to the major components (EAS being one of them) it's not bad.

Originally Posted by autothug

You are really a tru...

Originally Posted by DylloS

calling your cars transformers must do wonders for you love life.

I'm dating Megan Fox and she finds it hot ... She loves it when I pull out Megatron

Originally Posted by trizzuth

nice pick up man!! i could use one of those myself! if you don't mind asking, what did you pay for it?

Well, this is a tricky question. If you look at P38s (1995-2002) rovers, the pricing will vary from 4-14 (maybe even higher). The KBB on my car is actually up around 17 but the sellers can never get even close to those numbers because of the reputation (as displayed above).

But, there is the cost of purchasing and then the expected cost of ownership. For me, I was looking at the first 12 months. During that time, the car will need between 1500-3000 in repairs to ensure that it's nice and happy... Could use up to maybe 5k if I want to truly take care of every component. I paid 6500 for the car. In short, it's about a 10k vehicle. The trouble with them is that anyone who knows what they are doing will have invested good money keeping it in great shape and will want to sell it for that... those who took crap care of them want nothing but you have zero idea what you're getting into financially.

I was lucky enough to buy from a RR fanatic and also to find another RR fanatic in the local area who went with me and fully examined the truck. If you're serious about them, go to Rangerovers.net and try and get a local guy to give the car you're interested in a once over. There are major check list items you want to investigate.

For me though, it came down to... do I want a luxurious car that will require tinkering or do I want a trouble free 4Runner... the charm, character, and fun involved with caring for it had this leaps and bounds over the toyota.

It's a cult car and I'm already hooked.

Originally Posted by yousharenow

nice pickup, but I just can't get past those older body styles

I LOVE the P38 body style. I'm not a huge fan of the country (the prior body style) as it's far too minimalistic... but I find the newer rovers 2003+ to be too soccer mom for my tastes. The P38 works for a soccer mom but still has that manly rugged look to it (or at least that's my two cents on it).

I might have the front and rear bumper painted body color though

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

I'm dating Megan Fox and she finds it hot ... She loves it when I pull out Megatron

hahah megatron

Looks great.

Nice purchase Chase!

I'm trying to decide, for the brakes, if I should get drilled rotors. They are priced the same and I suppose they look a little cool.. or is it uncool to have drilled rotors on an SUV?

Congrats man!

Not saying this to be a dick...but am I the only person on earth that thinks these cars are ugly as sh!t?

don't you live in Minnesota? how the heck did you get a local RR fanatic to go all the way to Indiana with you to check it out?? also, cross drilled rotors on an SUV are overkill and uncool, unless it's a Cayenne Turbo S or a RRS

Nice pick up Chase.

I've thought about them but my best mate has had two (of that shape) which both had engines that went bang in a big way - I'm talking £17K for one and a write off for the other. He's into Defenders in a big way now, does a lot of work himself and they appear to be a more stable animal that the Range Rovers. LR's are way too slow for my liking though.

It's certainly a clean ride though and I wish you well with it! As for the drilled rotors, I never did see the point on SUV's - surely they're all about functionality rather than looks? I do concede that drilled are more efficient than undrilled but on an SUV? Not for me personally.

You intend to do any off-roading with it?

Originally Posted by trizzuth

don't you live in Minnesota? how the heck did you get a local RR fanatic to go all the way to Indiana with you to check it out?? also, cross drilled rotors on an SUV are overkill and uncool, unless it's a Cayenne Turbo S or a RRS

Car had dealer tags. The guy was a private seller and the auto group he works with is headquartered there.

Originally Posted by Goughie

Nice pick up Chase.

I've thought about them but my best mate has had two (of that shape) which both had engines that went bang in a big way - I'm talking £17K for one and a write off for the other. He's into Defenders in a big way now, does a lot of work himself and they appear to be a more stable animal that the Range Rovers. LR's are way too slow for my liking though.

It's certainly a clean ride though and I wish you well with it! As for the drilled rotors, I never did see the point on SUV's - surely they're all about functionality rather than looks? I do concede that drilled are more efficient than undrilled but on an SUV? Not for me personally.

You intend to do any off-roading with it?

Thanks for the words and I've heard similar issues with engines here and there. Definitely have to maintain hoses and the sepentine belt.

As for the speed, it is slow as all hell. 0-60 in like 10 seconds and that was a 10% improvement over the 98s (the 99s have a BMW Bosch intake setup).

Regarding the brakes, I would buy drilled solely for looks... the question is are the drilled rotors on a suv so ghey that they no longer look cool

As for off roading, I"m trying to get this bad boy into tip top shape so I imagine I won't do anything other than snow driving.


And wrighterjr, I suppose to each their own. I've always thought these were super sexy trucks. Very macho with an extremely refined interior.

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

ride is unreal when it actually works... but when it breaks... prepared to sell your kidney.
from reading mbforums and such, to get 1 air shock is like $5000-8000...
you can have half of las vegas hookers plus a bag of blow for that money!

A compressor is about $300, one air shock is $800. And usually the only problem is the compressor or the relay, a $50 part. It's not as bad as people who have no mechanical knowledge make it out to be. Big rigs have been using air shocks for a long time, if they didn't last they wouldn't be used, many of those trucks you see on the road have over 400-500k miles.

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

Car had dealer tags. The guy was a private seller and the auto group he works with is headquartered there.

Thanks for the words and I've heard similar issues with engines here and there. Definitely have to maintain hoses and the sepentine belt.

As for the speed, it is slow as all hell. 0-60 in like 10 seconds and that was a 10% improvement over the 98s (the 99s have a BMW Bosch intake setup).

Regarding the brakes, I would buy drilled solely for looks... the question is are the drilled rotors on a suv so ghey that they no longer look cool

As for off roading, I"m trying to get this bad boy into tip top shape so I imagine I won't do anything other than snow driving.


And wrighterjr, I suppose to each their own. I've always thought these were super sexy trucks. Very macho with an extremely refined interior.

I would go with solid disks on a large SUV. Drilling rotors causes stress and can make them crack, plus a heavy truck will eat brake pads like crazy with drilled rotors.

Originally Posted by 04yfz

A compressor is about $300, one air shock is $800. And usually the only problem is the compressor or the relay, a $50 part. It's not as bad as people who have no mechanical knowledge make it out to be. Big rigs have been using air shocks for a long time, if they didn't last they wouldn't be used, many of those trucks you see on the road have over 400-500k miles.

Better yet, you can buy new air shocks for 100-150 on ebay and other sites... Like I've been saying, you just have to be savvy and avoid the stealerships

Originally Posted by 04yfz

I would go with solid disks on a large SUV. Drilling rotors causes stress and can make them crack, plus a heavy truck will eat brake pads like crazy with drilled rotors.

Thanks for this insight

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

Ahhh. A perfect exaggeration and the precise language that gives these cars the price point (which I'll touch upon later) that they are in.

The EAS (electronic air suspension) was dubbed by Jeremy Clarkson to be "ingenious engineering". It provides incredibly comfortable, capable rides and allows the car to act as rugged or luxuriously as requested by the owner at a given point in time. The system consists of three basic components:

- Compressor (pulls in air, compresses it, and passes it along)
- Valve block (responsible for taking compressed air and distributing it to the springs)
- Air springs (act like a shock and spring entirely using air compression)

The valve block and compressor have average life spans of roughly 75-125k miles. The springs will last roughly that long though they should be checked more routinely.

Now, what normally happens is somewhere towards the end of the lifespan of the springs (shown below), the rubber starts to get slight cracks or splinters and air will start slowly leaking out. As there is a ton of pressure, even a very small slit will lose air somewhat quickly. This will be obvious to an individual paying even a little bit of attention but to those who just get in and drive, they don't notice. As they drive more and more, the hole gets larger and larger to the point the car can no longer inflate the car up on the spring and it goes into limp mode. Then they take it in.

Now, depending on how long the leak has been building, they also run the problem of damaging the compressor. After all, the compressor is working it's ass off to continually inflate the spring as it loses air. Now, around this point, all four springs are probably close to their end anyway so the dealer will suggest replacing the springs (cost around 125 online but will run 200-300 at the dealer) and will suggest a new compressor 500) and valve block (1000). Then you have installation and this, while rather easy, is time consuming. So now you have a several thousand dollar repair.



That said, if you pay attention, replace the springs when they are going, and don't kill your compressor/valve block, it's not a big deal. The rear springs and compressor were replaced within the last 3 weeks and I'm going to put new springs on the front as they are maybe 80% through the life span... I'd rather take care of it now to not strain the other components.

But this is a perfect microcosm of why even the educated auto world hates these cars... they hear a horror story from someone who was told by a rich mom that a suspension cost 5 grand and they shy away for life..

Now, that doesn't mean that it won't have issues.. it will. But, as long as you tend to the major components (EAS being one of them) it's not bad.

i like how you take jabs at me without knowing my true story.
but back on topic...
it is a risk, and not everyone is well educated in terms of air suspensions and not everyone chooses to educate themselves in air suspension technologies.

and look at the replacement cost of normal spring and shock suspension. you can get a set of OEM spring and shocks for $1000 brand new + the standard $200-$300 labor. now, if you calculate - the risk you are taking ($5000+) and you are trying to hedge it by being completely overattentive and over doing preventative maintenance.

now, as i understand - it is a daily driver. there is no way, that 99% of the individuals would give it overattentive attention. the point of a daily driver/bad weather driver is, when you walk out, turn the key and it goes.
you dont walk around the truck to see oh which corner's air suspension is leaking air and not holding up everytime you want to drive the car, and you shouldnt. there shouldnt be even a minute thought in the back of your mind about "oh maybe i should check my suspension to see if its leaking". like my X3 for example - i dont give a f*ck if the suspension goes kaput, because i know if it really does go kaput, i get some Koni shocks and h&r spring for like $900 and it wont cost my kidney.

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

i like how you take jabs at me without knowing my true story.

Whoa whoa whoa.... No jabs were intended. I was just using what you said as a perfect example. Wasn't meant to attack any knowledge base or anything along those lines

I actually had the same train of thought when I started looking at them. I called myself crazy for even considering it (as did everyone else). It was only till I really did my homework that I started to see the truth from the common mis perceptions

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

it is a risk, and not everyone is well educated in terms of air suspensions and not everyone chooses to educate themselves in air suspension technologies.

and look at the replacement cost of normal spring and shock suspension. you can get a set of OEM spring and shocks for $1000 brand new + the standard $200-$300 labor. now, if you calculate - the risk you are taking ($5000+) and you are trying to hedge it by being completely overattentive and over doing preventative maintenance.

Confused. Why is there a 5k risk? The rear springs were already replaced as was the compressor. This weekend, I am installing front springs (at 150 a spring) and rebuilding the compressor which will run about 400 all said and done. So 700 out of pocket and I will have an essentially brand new suspension system that will be perfectly fine for 75-125k miles.

Just look on ebay or other vendors... anyone who pays 800 a spring is a moron : http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

now, as i understand - it is a daily driver. there is no way, that 99% of the individuals would give it overattentive attention. the point of a daily driver/bad weather driver is, when you walk out, turn the key and it goes.

It's not a daily. I also have an 99 C-Class. But I will be driving this a lot as it's awesome fun

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

you dont walk around the truck to see oh which corner's air suspension is leaking air and not holding up everytime you want to drive the car, and you shouldnt.

It's pretty easy to tell if the car is sagging 6 inches lower than it should normally sit

Originally Posted by VillanovaGrad

there shouldnt be even a minute thought in the back of your mind about "oh maybe i should check my suspension to see if its leaking". like my X3 for example - i dont give a f*ck if the suspension goes kaput, because i know if it really does go kaput, i get some Koni shocks and h&r spring for like $900 and it wont cost my kidney.

Yes, there is a slight premium for the air suspension and, as a result, some guys swap over to coilover kits which aren't priced any higher than that set of konis you would put on the x3. The only difference is you would need mounting brackets for the coils which run around 40 bucks a corner. It's also more labor to install them of course but if you do it yourself, no biggie.

As for "not needing to care about your car before driving"... I drove what most would call a "very heavily modified vehicle" for years and am used to the notion of carefully driving, taking precautions, etc. Preventative maintenance is something everyone should do... we as a society have simply become so spoiled by the awesomeness of modern vehicles.. as a result, it doesn't even creep into our head to check tire pressure, fluids, etc... And that's totally fine.

It's like the guy said, the question isn't is this a good car for you... it's are you a good owner for this car. If you want something that you simply can get in and go, buy a honda or toyota. Why you have an X3 is beyond me if reliability is your #1 priority.

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

Whoa whoa whoa.... No jabs were intended. I was just using what you said as a perfect example. Wasn't meant to attack any knowledge base or anything along those lines

I actually had the same train of thought when I started looking at them. I called myself crazy for even considering it (as did everyone else). It was only till I really did my homework that I started to see the truth from the common mis perceptions

Confused. Why is there a 5k risk? The rear springs were already replaced as was the compressor. This weekend, I am installing front springs (at 150 a spring) and rebuilding the compressor which will run about 400 all said and done. So 700 out of pocket and I will have an essentially brand new suspension system that will be perfectly fine for 75-125k miles.

Just look on ebay or other vendors... anyone who pays 800 a spring is a moron : http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories


It's not a daily. I also have an 99 C-Class. But I will be driving this a lot as it's awesome fun

It's pretty easy to tell if the car is sagging 6 inches lower than it should normally sit

Yes, there is a slight premium for the air suspension and, as a result, some guys swap over to coilover kits which aren't priced any higher than that set of konis you would put on the x3. The only difference is you would need mounting brackets for the coils which run around 40 bucks a corner. It's also more labor to install them of course but if you do it yourself, no biggie.

As for "not needing to care about your car before driving"... I drove what most would call a "very heavily modified vehicle" for years and am used to the notion of carefully driving, taking precautions, etc. Preventative maintenance is something everyone should do... we as a society have simply become so spoiled by the awesomeness of modern vehicles.. as a result, it doesn't even creep into our head to check tire pressure, fluids, etc... And that's totally fine.

It's like the guy said, the question isn't is this a good car for you... it's are you a good owner for this car. If you want something that you simply can get in and go, buy a honda or toyota. Why you have an X3 is beyond me if reliability is your #1 priority.

yes obviously, there are misconceptions and misinformation.
no doubt about that and same probably applies to the preowned 996 market with IMS and RMS issues. but the thing is, is it worth the risk. it is true, that for example 99% of 996s wont have a blown motor. but what if you hit the 'anti-lottery'? then its 1 shot, $10000-15000 out of pocket.
imo, the same applies with air suspension... yeah the concept is really cool, but good things also come with negatives. you claim that you can hedge out the negatives by being attentive and do preventative maintenance to increase the reliability and the durability of the air suspension sysetm. so then whats up with all these people on mbforum with e55amgs having 1 blown shock and end up with a multi-thousand dollar bill from the dealer for a single shock? are they the kind of goons that accepts reliability by default/standard and were never aware that their air suspension is on the out way?

yeah it is true that i picked an x3 and its not honda reliable, but i test drove the lexus RX and acura MDX, driving them makes me want to kill myself. and since i've owned e46s and i have a z4 which is basically an e90. i have experience in those cars so i know what to expect from an x3 (its basically an e46)

How many miles on it?

Originally Posted by farmdog

How many miles on it?

94k

Villanova kid, the air suspension goes when one f those components goes bad as a result of age. Its not as if the parts I replacing them with are just going to die out of nowhere. I would be far more concerned with a car that has exploding engines than one with air suspension that can leave you on the side of the road.

As for the AMG guys, are you under the impression that they are looking to do work themselves? I have to think MBs are the ultimate in "I take it to the dealer" vehicles..

If I were to take my car to the dealer and have them fix the front springs and put in a new valve block it would probably be thousands... Instead, I bought parts online and will have a brand new 75-125k mile suspension for 1k (would have likely been 2 if the previous owner had not done the compressor and rear springs). But this was all premeditated and calculated into the real cost of the vehicle...

It's certainly NOT for those looking for a hassle free car.. But for a winter third car and toy, can you think of a cooler truck (if you like the styling anyway.. Which I love!)

It will be a fun project car

Nice looking range....ughh good luck man! I hope it wont break down.

Looks good man. Let me know if you can meet up Tuesday for some grub or something.

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