my new pride and joy

[spiker3]

Hi everyone,

I have just bought my first Landrover discovery. It is a 2000 year diesel and is an E model. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. I had been looking for a while but couldn't find one in my budget that was as well looked after as this one. I think the E model was the base model as it doesn't all the bells and whistles.

Now that I have had it for a few days my mind is turning to making a few improvements. I want them to be subtle but at the same time I want to make it as individual as possible ( If that is possible). As I am new to the world of discovery any advice as to what to do and what not to do would be very welcome. Should I trawl the internet looking for higher model upgrades or just go for more after market bolt on accessories?

Thanks in advance for all your advice and suggestions.

[Nigelw]

Just be mindful of what you actually want from your new vehicle.

Don't get too excited over add'ons, the best thing to do is to bring it first upto scratch mechanically, things like replacing clutch fluid, replacing brake fluid, gearbox fluid has an overly long service schedule, as do the diffs and transferbox. The Discovery 2 has a reputation for rotten rear chassis, spending time removing the fuel tank and applying preservatives, painting and chassis internal waxing is time better spent than mooning over the must have in this months LRO.

Making your new vehicle uber reliable should be top priority

[steve b]

And by the time you have done all that you will have a clearer idea of your future together

cheers

Steveb

[Nigelw]

And by the time you have done all that you will have a clearer idea of your future together

cheers

Steveb

If it's anything like Sean's D2, he took tank off just as advised by me and ended up replacing the rear chassis rails from the rear springs back and is 6months into saving for a galvanized chassis to replace the whole thing.

Bargain D2 for £1800 turning into endless money pit rapidly.

[spiker3]

Nigelw and Steve b,

Thanks that's good advice, you cant blame me for dreaming though. I will concentrate on the important mechanical reliability issues first. But I will still keep an eye out for any bargains though.

Lets just hope I don't open an expensive can of worms!!!!

[steve b]

Lets see some pic's spiker , I completely agree , dreaming about what you want is a good thing , it's one of the satisfying things about LR ownership , it can take you in so many different directions .

Personally , I think D2's look good with decent AT's and nice subtle light guards and a nice raised air intake , but that's just my view

cheers

Steveb

[Shackleton]

Personally , I think D2's look good with ...nice subtle light guards

Evidently you're not alone Steve, the market for factory type rear upper guards is ridiculous.

Spiker heed the boys. That said; blank the EGR and buy a cruise control switch kit. The CC then only needs to be activated in the BCU with a Nanocom or similar. If you're lucky there might be someone on here local to you who'll oblige. Get them to activate anything you think you might add on later too like front fog lights.

The rust thing is a real prob in the rear. But check your front shock turrets too, and if you have ACE; the four pipes leading down along the O/S chassis rail behind the front wheel. They rust out so need protecting. Also check for interior leaks. The early D2's are known for a leak originating in the front corners of the roof gutter where it meets the top of the windscreen. There's a factory seam sealant there that cracks and lets water run down to the floor unseen.

A good port of call is www.discovery2.co.uk where lots of add ons (and maintenance) are covered.

Edit: yeah and pictures please!

[spiker3]

Steve b,

you must have read my mind. I was thinking light guards, raised air intake and a light bar and extra lights. All subtly done.

I have always put BF Goodrich AT's on my 4x4's and I was thinking of putting the one's currently on my jeep Cherokee on the discovery but they are 225/70 r16 and the tyres on the car, which are very new, are 255/65 r16. I think they might be too small.

Shackleton,

I am quite interested by what you say about the cruise control and fog lights. I thought it might be quite a job to get cruise control fitted, and was just going to try and wire up some foglights separately. What does activating them in the BCU mean? and what does it involve? Also is blanking off the EGR a simple job? I have seen kits on E bay.

It was pouring with rain today, so I will take some photos over the weekend. Let me know what you think.

Thanks guys

[Shackleton]

lol, a subtle light bar

All the wiring is already there for factory fog lights, spot lights, cruise control, headlight adjusters, electric folding mirrors, heated front screen - basically all of the possible factory options are on the wiring loom of the car afaik. You only have to fit the hardware and tell the software that it's there. If your front bumper is the very basic type it might not have the apertures for the fog lights. Otherwise you should be golden. Search ebay for the cruise control kit, it's only a matter of fitting the switches. Likewise switches for aux lights. Beware though that if your rear fog light switch is located in the top position on the left hand side of the instrument binnacle then you'll need to buy both a front fog switch and a new rear switch as the front fog switch only comes in the top position. I've seen them modified to fit but decided against messing with mine. There are factory switches for further aux lights too, so you could have your light bar on a factory switch below the fog switches. It's all covered on discovery2.co.uk. That reminds me - you can buy a later type fuel filler release switch that goes on the right hand side of the instrument binnacle and is bloody handy if you're at the pump before remembering to open the flap. You'll need a loom extension for that but I made one up so both switches still work.

BCU is Body Control Unit, a secondary ECU that handles things like the auxiliary lights, door locks, leccy windows etc. Should have said the ECU handles cruise control but plugging in a Nanocom gives you access to both (provided the Nanocom has the relevant software unlocked). If I boil it down to brass tacks, activating a function via a Nanocom on the ECU/BCU is like changing a setting on your smart phone - navigate to the relevant menu/subsection, tick a box, and you're done. A diagnostic tool (a well equipped one) will also give you access to little settings like whether the car makes an audible confirmation when you use the remote locking, how long the interior lights stay on, headlight buzzer, whether all doors open with one blip or drivers only and the rest on the second blip.

On a side note the provision is also on every Discovery for other bolt on items - things like the optional extended roof bars. Once you strip the rear interior cards the indents in the roof where you need to drill the bolt holes are there, so it's fool proof. The only thing I can think of that requires measurement before drilling, and I could be wrong, is the factory option light bar (for front bumper). If you search hard enough the original D2 brochure should be online. It shows all the options that were available, some that you just don't see like rear passenger sun blinds and tray tables.

[Snagger]

Before you start throwing money at accessories and mods, live with the car, give it a thorough service, find out what needs repairing and rectifying, and slowly determine how you're going to use it and what changes if any need doing to make it work better in that role - there is no point adding lighting to a day laner, a roof rack to a pay and play or trials vehicle, a soft suspension lift to an expedition vehicle and so on. Change what you need, seeking advice on those specific issues; don't be asking for ideas on what you can change, as you'll end up with an expensive mess.

[spiker3]

It stopped raining long enough to take a couple of photos, hopefully I can attach them properly.

[steve b]

If it's as clean and tidy underneath I reckon you have done well , nice looking D2 , Facelift the front and some BFG AT's

I bet you are grinning

cheers

Steveb

[Anderzander]

A good port of call is www.discovery2.co.uk where lots of add ons (and maintenance) are covered.

Just what I was gong to say - excellent site for the D2 / Td5 main maintenance items.

If it's as clean and tidy underneath I reckon you have done well , nice looking D2 , Facelift the front and some BFG AT's

I bet you are grinning

cheers

Steveb

Also what I was about to say - it looks lovely. I think D2's look really well with subtle upgrades. Decent tyres and a facelift grill.

[spiker3]

Thanks guys, I am glad you like my discovery.

The underneath is very good, it has obviously been well looked after. I think you guys are right, I will take my time and enjoy driving it and make a few changes as I go. I hadn't really thought about updating the grill, what benefit would that give apart from making the car look newer? I have noticed already that I might need a reversing camera of some kind, the view out the back through the dog guard and spare tyre is a bit limited

[Nigelw]

That's a clean and tidy motor

[Shackleton]

Looks lovely and very well kept. Funny to see the blanks where the headlight washers usually are, it's a rare sight! It's got the side strakes and wheel arch trims though which is usually the preserve of the high spec models

Just to balance the scales I wouldn't do a facelift conversion, I don't think it suits the car at all and to answer your question the facelift front is really just that, I don't know of any benefits otherwise. Lighting perhaps. Pre facelift D2's are getting thinner on the ground now too as the car moves towards being a classic LR. Conversely the rear facelift lights are more sensible in that the indicators are moved to the high level position. There's no metal work needed for that conversion as there is on the front so it's easily done and reversible.

[Snagger]

The facelift parts get stolen a lot, though less than when the cars were still young. I doubt it's worth the trouble.

What is certainly worth the money is getting the chassis and body shell treated. It'll cost £5-600 to be done well, which means steam cleaning inside and out and then cavity wax inside the chassis sections, door frames and the body shell voids and tubes, plus a more resilient coating of the chassis, axles and bodyshell underside (floors, wheel arches, etc). I recommend Rustmaster near Hatfield - he did a great job on my wife's 90.

[spiker3]

I will definitely look into treating the underside. I want to keep this one for a while. I was thinking of getting rid of the original radio cassette. While I am at it, is it worth upgrading the speakers to Harmon kardon ones? Do the wires run up the a pillars for the little tweeters? I know I am asking lots of questions, hope you guys don't mind too much. Thanks

[Simon_CSK]

Bargain D2 for £1800 turning into endless money pit rapidly.

I did the same thing and my D2 owed me £10k by the end. Having now used it for nearly 4 years it now owes me nothing. But be very careful with the chassis.

[Snagger]

I will definitely look into treating the underside. I want to keep this one for a while. I was thinking of getting rid of the original radio cassette. While I am at it, is it worth upgrading the speakers to Harmon kardon ones? Do the wires run up the a pillars for the little tweeters? I know I am asking lots of questions, hope you guys don't mind too much. Thanks

Definitely not. All you need is a cheap stereo from any stockist with a CD player and USB connection to connect a stick or phone. Don't waste money on a fancy stereo you won't hear properly and will likely be stolen.

Why are you so keen to waste money? Fix what is worn or broken, then see what you NEED to change.

[spiker3]

Good advice Snagger, I don't want to waste money that's why I am asking. If several people say don't bother doing that it doesn't make any difference, then I won't do it either. But if several people say it's a worthwhile upgrade, then you have to listen. I wasn't going to waste money on a new stereo, just thinking of taking the one out of my jeep.

[Shackleton]

Forgive me for saying but I think we're losing objectivity a little. Yes the sensible thing to do is insure everything's good mechanically, then look into preventative measures for future proofing. But spiker3 arrived with enthusiasm for making the car his own and injecting a bit of individuality. If you're into your tunes, or you like one front end look over the other or you've always wanted a set of pink furry dice for your rear view... then you spend your money at your own discretion.

On the speaker front I'd say if you don't have factory tweeters in the A pillars then maybe you want to get a set from a scrapper or otherwise, they'll make a difference to what you hear. The D2 is not a noisy car, good sound quality/volume is not difficult to achieve. Mine came with a speaker in each side door, factory tweeters in the A. pillars and a P/O put some cheap 6x9 component speakers in the rear bins, all running off a £80 Philips 4x50w head unit I put in with built in handsfree and bluetooth. The sound is just fine,calls are made simple and volume is more than capable of being too loud.

On the mechanical front, I put this Td5 intro together a while back and while it's not exhaustive you could use it as a jumping off point for running a check list on your car.

[Nigelw]

Stereo's are cool, Td5 fm gets old fast!

Look for a local scrap yard, there will be lots of useful stuff available cheap, speakers head units, not sure if the D2 had the rear door amp and subs but that's a worthwhile fit.

How far have you got with the mechanical checks, fluid an filter swaps?

[Shackleton]

Yep there was an option for half the rear door bin to be a sub, not sure but it might be part of the harmon kardon setup

[spiker3]

Hhmmm.....Pink furry dice.

Seriously though, great TD5 intro, very informative but I am now slightly worried that as the mileage is now 103k that the engine could fall to bits at any second.

I have had the fluids and filters done. Just looked again at the service history. For the first 3 years of its life it averaged 12k per year and was serviced by Hunters landrover in Norwich. For the next 8 years it was serviced by another landrover specialist in Norfolk and covered approx. 50k. The last 5 years it has been serviced at several garages and only done about 15k. That sounds like fairly low annual mileage, especially in recent years. ( thinking as I type, maybe low mileage means lots of short journeys rather than one or two long journeys).

I am still in the excited stage at the moment, I look forward to driving it. I drove my old jeep for the first time since I bought the discovery. Didn't realise how heavy the steering was and how bad the brakes were. Bit of a difference going from a petrol automatic to a diesel manual. One thing I did miss though was the sound of the straight six.

For the future I think, thanks to all your help and advice, I can answer my own first questions. Firstly I need to make sure that I have a mechanically and structurally sound vehicle. Secondly not to rashly buy everything and anything I can get my hands on. Thirdly, ask for advice (and receive great advice) for anything Discovery related. Most importantly though I have remembered how I felt when I was driving my 1993 range rover LSE 4 years ago in Botswana. Driving for the enjoyment of driving rather than just from getting from A to B. Something I have not had since returning to the UK.