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TD5 Discovery


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Hi Guy's im starting to look for a TD5 discovery around the year 99/2000 era, Now i have never even gbeen in one of these and not even looked at one. So my question is what should i be looking out for and is it worth going for one of these over a 300Tdi?? :blink: look forward to your reply's thank you.

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Hi Guy's im starting to look for a TD5 discovery around the year 99/2000 era, Now i have never even gbeen in one of these and not even looked at one. So my question is what should i be looking out for and is it worth going for one of these over a 300Tdi?? :blink: look forward to your reply's thank you.

Personally I feel the TD5 is a better engine than the tdi unit. Yes I know it has an ECU but it's proven to be reliable and produce good power. If you plan to buy a a few performance upgrades then the TD5 is easily the best route.

Down sides, the electronic throttle on the TD5 is not to everyone's taste. BMW own the rights to the engine so one may ponder what parts availability in years to come will be like.

Other things to note, the Discovery 2 has a Watts linkage at the rear and no centre diff lock. You can fit a centre diff lock but I believe only on some model years. The traction control is good but there is a reason the Defender had traction control and a centre diff lock.

A late model 300tdi Discovery 1 is more of an old school Land Rover and very easy to do anything on at home. Discovery 2 is similar but more of a modern electronics box.

I'd say D2 :D

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Are you looking at repairing it yourself or not?

If you get a 300tdi they are a bit easier to repair as everything on the td5 is computerised. However you can get the Nanocom for about £200 which will let you do a lot now on the TD5.

Personally I'd probably go and have a look at a few and get the best condition one I can afford whether it's a late 300tdi or an early TD5

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Again all depends on how keen you are to jump in to the new electric series.

I've got a couple of 200's and a 99 DII. There is a lot of difference in the ride of a TD5. I'd go for a 5 seater as springs on the rear instead of airbags.

You can pickup a DII for 3500 on ebay.

Same price as a low milage DI 300.

There is more that can go wrong on this series.

I've done ;

Fuel regulator

Radiator

coroded water pipes

Propshaft damper

Nothing out of the ordinary and nothing really too hard on wallet if your prepared to do the work yourself.

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Down sides, the electronic throttle on the TD5 is not to everyone's taste. BMW own the rights to the engine so one may ponder what parts availability in years to come will be like.

Other things to note, the Discovery 2 has a Watts linkage at the rear and no centre diff lock. You can fit a centre diff lock but I believe only on some model years. The traction control is good but there is a reason the Defender had traction control and a centre diff lock.

Are you sure about that? BMW do not use the engine in anything of theirs so I would be surprised if they retained the rights to what was a Land Rover engine built in UK?

You can fit a centre difflock to any D2 it is just a question of how much work you need to do - on some models you need to get into the transfer box, others is purely a case of fitting the lever. Ashcroft Transmissions' website has details I think.

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Having seen many older D1's that are a bag of holes from rust (boot floor, inside of the back doors etc) what are D2's like for rust?

I always think mechanicals are easier to deal with than rust (I am not a bodywork man!)

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I love it when people say TD5 to complicatd buy a TDI forgetting since 96 all TDI auto were full edc system and some manuals so just as complicatd as TD5 but no easy diagnostic kit available like the Nanocom for the TD5.

Nanocom is excellent by the way £200 from Bearmach

Td5 dont rot bidywise well not like the 300 the chassis are susceptible though so a waxoyl is a must.

Even a std TD5 is a much nicer drive than a TDI, chip it and you are really going and if you have ACE you dont have to slow down for the corners!

Main thing would be coolant loss but this could be the head gasket, cooling system very complicated compared to TDI set up

Had mine 3.5 years been a good car.

Lynall

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wow interesting reply's I forgot to say I have had two 300tdi discovery's in the past!! I think what is putting me off from getting another 300Tdi is what was stated before that they are just rust bucket's as my old man has just spent a weekend welding his up and that is a well looked after 98 model!! As for Td5 what attracts me is the look of it the fact it does not rust as bad as a 300 and you can chip the engine plus from what I hear the Td5 is not bad off road either. I have been look towards getting a GS spec Discovery, Thanks for the advice so far anymore is appreciated.

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Are you sure about that? BMW do not use the engine in anything of theirs so I would be surprised if they retained the rights to what was a Land Rover engine built in UK?

I believe this is the case. Where the engine was built had no bearing on the fact.

BMW also kept all the rights to many other great and lost British makes and models that hail back through BL and BMC. Riley, Wosley, Morris and many others.

Also what about the fact that Land Rover didn't keep the rights to the BMW 6 cylinder diesel (P38A), 4.4 BMW V8, 2.0 Rover diesel, 2.0 TD4 BMW Diesel, 2.5 Rover KV6, 1.8 Rover K-Series, 2.4 Ford Diesel.

I'll admit I don't know about the 2.7 V6 diesel in the D3. The Jag V8 is used by Ford and Lincoln so who knows exactly what arrangement has been made with Tata long term.

But if I'm wrong about the TD5 then its GOOD news! :D

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I would have thought BMW would not want the rights to the Td5 if they were going for free as it is hardly "the ultimate driving machine" but then that reflects the fact I have always hated Td5s :)

All of the other engines you mention have primarily been developed for other vehicles so it is not surprising the rights to those remain with BMW, Rover Cars or Ford - the Td5 has never been used in anything else apart from Defenders and Discoverys and is now an obsolete design so why would they want the rights to something they will never use? I still think the rights to the Td5 remain with LR though...

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wow interesting reply's I forgot to say I have had two 300tdi discovery's in the past!! I think what is putting me off from getting another 300Tdi is what was stated before that they are just rust bucket's as my old man has just spent a weekend welding his up and that is a well looked after 98 model!! As for Td5 what attracts me is the look of it the fact it does not rust as bad as a 300 and you can chip the engine plus from what I hear the Td5 is not bad off road either. I have been look towards getting a GS spec Discovery, Thanks for the advice so far anymore is appreciated.

I have just three weeks ago traded my Disco 1 S 1998 (run out model registered 1999) for a 2004 ( registered jul 2005 run out model ) td5 SX manual . Whislt my TDi was a super car ( 230k km on clock) the td 5 is a better , more power and easier to drive - go for the the td5 ...!

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I would have thought BMW would not want the rights to the Td5 if they were going for free as it is hardly "the ultimate driving machine" but then that reflects the fact I have always hated Td5s :)

All of the other engines you mention have primarily been developed for other vehicles so it is not surprising the rights to those remain with BMW, Rover Cars or Ford - the Td5 has never been used in anything else apart from Defenders and Discoverys and is now an obsolete design so why would they want the rights to something they will never use? I still think the rights to the Td5 remain with LR though...

I seriously hope I'm wrong as it would be better for LR fans.

But businesses do strange things. Ford bought the right to the Rover name fairly recently so as to protect Land Rover encase MGRover was sold and someone wanted to bring out a new Rover 4x4. Not too sure if this name has now been sold with LR or still resides with Ford.

As for MGRover, they I think owned MG but only had Rover under licence. MG is now seperate and what was the Rover 75 is going to be relaunched as the Roewe or something I can't spell. I suspect as the right was only bought to produce the car and not the name.

Roewe-550-1-lg.jpg

BTW - Sorry as this is off topic.

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BUY THE TD5

The driving experience is entirely different to the 300 - it's more powerful, more economical, smoother, quieter, the ACE lets you go round bends, and they have loads more gear such as TC and HDC as standard. I'd buy a tattier TD5 than a clean 300 all day long. And lets face it, it's always better to have a tattier newer car than a clean old one. Not to mention they don't seem to be rusting in the same way.

Go for a 1999 5 seat GS - the highest model with coil springs all round and enjoy!

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Hi,

Had mine (1999 ACE/AirCoils/AirCon/HeatedEverythings) for three and half years too...

Rear left hub - changed in year 1 (you can get JUST the hub from BM (£150+vat))

ABS/Traction lights - reset system (LR dealer) after change of hub - year 1

Rear Left Air Spring - year 2.

last three weeks...

- drivers heated seat no longer works (light does, just no heat)

- rear door opened whilst driving and bent the hinges - took door off and beat them back into shape. Considering getting new ones.

- leak in roof over drivers door/wind screen joint (caused by too much weight on roof rack and going round corners)

- Right Air Spring (bought two in year 1!)

- Coughing just started - not fixed yet - I do have oil in wiring loom - I plan on changing it ASAP

- Just noticed (thanks to a previous post) that I have no bush rubber left on the front shocks, lower mount.

But appart from that....

...Great ride, I've done 100,000Km with only the usual oil/air/fuel filter changes.

Get one, but check all these (and other) issues and have it plugged into TESTBOOK (or other) to make sure its all ok.

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Thank you all for the advice im now on a mission to look at as many as possible.

Hi, I'm a newbie on this forum but use lro.com a lot.

I have both types & simply put horses for courses!

You are very welcome to come & view/try both sorts, my Td5 is a non ACE 7 seater with replaced airbags & they give me no bother at all. The Tdi is appreciably more "rustic" but I like that anyway!

Let me know,

Ivor.

P.S. I know both Nethers & the plain v well, having spent some considerable time at Larkhill, but don't hold that against me!

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