Range Rover L322 (with E38/99 electrical, M62TUB44 and ZF5HP-24 transmission)

[1215]

Looking for feedback on this vehicle? Some of the reviews I read are great however many are horrible. My son and I are looking at a project car. We have an excellent condition, 2004 that is for sale locally (for the right price --with blown head gasket). We have a bunch of BMW special tools, laptop with various software (INPA, etc.) and are very familiar with BMWs. How much of the RR L322 is BMW and how much of it is going to be a hodge-podge of non-BMW Frankenstein parts that we will regret? I understand that after 2006 (when BMW sold RR to Ford) the vehicles had many common Ford parts. Is it a similar case with the 2004 models? If I get 50/50 feedback or better we will probably do it. Just do not want to hear people saying "RUN... as fast as you can".

Thanks in advance for any comments. One other thing: He wants to use it mostly as a tow vehicle for a track e46. It would not be his daily driver but it would tow several times a year. Thanks.

[MauiM3Mania]

Moved from the General BMW Discussion sub-forum.

[bmwdirtracer]

Hi 1215. Welcome to the forum.

I happen to really like the M62TU, and, I'm reasonably familiar with that engine in Range Rovers of this spec. I've swapped a few engines between BMW's and RR's ...and in fact, there's one awaiting me now.

All this said: The M62TU is not a head-gasket-blowing engine. When this engine overheats, you tend to need a replacement engine.

Here's a link to a thread I started years ago, with this engine:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...from-home-quot

It's a great engine, in many ways, but I have to warn you away from expecting that a head gasket job is going to fix it. Personally, I'd bet on replacing the engine with a used one from a salvage yard....with a warranty.

My 2 cents.

[ross1]

Well, if it is a project you want a Range Rover ought to make you giddy with delight. You and your son will be able to spend countless hours together repairing it again and again, learning the hard lesson about futile endeavors.
The cost for such an education will likely be somewhat less than an ivy league school.
Find a different junkyard refugee.
M62 a great engine? Eh. Regardless this one's broken and lives in a miserable automobile.

[1215]

Moved from the General BMW Discussion sub-forum.

Sorry. Didn't know exactly where to put the thread. Thanks for moving it.

[1215]

Hi 1215. Welcome to the forum.

I happen to really like the M62TU, and, I'm reasonably familiar with that engine in Range Rovers of this spec. I've swapped a few engines between BMW's and RR's ...and in fact, there's one awaiting me now.

All this said: The M62TU is not a head-gasket-blowing engine. When this engine overheats, you tend to need a replacement engine.

Here's a link to a thread I started years ago, with this engine:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...from-home-quot

It's a great engine, in many ways, but I have to warn you away from expecting that a head gasket job is going to fix it. Personally, I'd bet on replacing the engine with a used one from a salvage yard....with a warranty.

My 2 cents.

Thanks. What goes on the engines? We are very comfortable with M10, S14, M20, M52 and S52. Also the Rover 4.0 V8 but haven't worked with a "new" BMW engine or any BMW V8's.

With this particular vehicle, it was owned by an older gentleman. Vehicle has about 80k miles on the odo and was always garaged. It is my understanding that over the last 5-ish years, the vehicle was barely driven. The owner was put on hospice and passed. Shortly after that, his grandson came up with his parents to clean out the house... Took the car "out for a drive" and now I'm told it has a hg leak.

No idea what exactly that means but the cost of the car is less than the scrap value of the vehicle. Yes it has been sitting and yes it will need a lot of work refreshing many parts from sitting however the RR is in amazing condition. Curious about the failure points in the engines. What goes on them? Was this one of the engines that had bad cylinder wall linings? Is it like older engines that crack (usually heads) if they overheat?

There are a couple places locally where I could find a used motor but I have a feeling they will all have higher miles on them. Warranty or not --why swap the motor? Can't it be rebuilt? Thanks again.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, if it is a project you want a Range Rover ought to make you giddy with delight. You and your son will be able to spend countless hours together repairing it again and again, learning the hard lesson about futile endeavors.
The cost for such an education will likely be somewhat less than an ivy league school.
Find a different junkyard refugee.
M62 a great engine? Eh. Regardless this one's broken and lives in a miserable automobile.

What is the problem with a RR? I've had many over the years and quite like them.

[bmwdirtracer]

Did you have a look at the thread I linked? I'm not saying that a head-gasket isn't the problem, but when this engine overheats, It usually melts stuff, and burns holes in pistons and walls. . It also leaks everything, everywhere.

As for what's wrong with a Range Rover? Um, the British make beautiful cars, but they really aren't very good with electricity. You'll probably want to have a spare body module on hand. It has to be brand new, by the way. It lives behind the glove box, which doesn't open when the body module is toast. (Sorry, that's just the one I fought with yesterday; we have 3 of this generation on the lot right now; my boss bought an X5 just to steal the engine to fix one of the RR's.)

[ross1]

Did you have a look at the thread I linked? I'm not saying that a head-gasket isn't the problem, but when this engine overheats, It usually melts stuff, and burns holes in pistons and walls. . It also leaks everything, everywhere.

As for what's wrong with a Range Rover? Um, the British make beautiful cars, but they really aren't very good with electricity. You'll probably want to have a spare body module on hand. It has to be brand new, by the way. It lives behind the glove box, which doesn't open when the body module is toast. (Sorry, that's just the one I fought with yesterday; we have 3 of this generation on the lot right now; my boss bought an X5 just to steal the engine to fix one of the RR's.)

Seemingly having been dropped on my head when an infant I've fallen victim to two lovely Jaguars, the later one having much Denso electrics which in that environment were unreliable.
The first one was a distant memory when the second was purchased with confidence that modern medicine had cured these supermodels of their venereal diseases.
I'm still a sucker for a pretty face so the occasional Jag still turns my head. I need to remind myself that they are like that gorgeous woman that takes you home and screws your brains out then you find your pet in a boiling pot on the stove.
R Rovers offer all of the latter but look like Earnest Borgnine
Rover once even managed to make a Honda into an unreliable piece of crap

[shadowpuck]

Seemingly having been dropped on my head when an infant I've fallen victim to two lovely Jaguars, the later one having much Denso electrics which in that environment were unreliable.
The first one was a distant memory when the second was purchased with confidence that modern medicine had cured these supermodels of there venereal diseases.
I'm still a sucker for a pretty face so the occasional Jag still turns my head. I need to remind myself that they are like that gorgeous woman that takes you home and screws your brains out then you find your pet in a boiling pot on the stove.
R Rovers offer all of the latter but look like Earnest Borgnine
Rover once even managed to make a Honda into an unreliable piece of crap

ok....now i need a fresh cup of coffee and need to clean the coffee off my screen.....that was hilarious....

[1215]

Thanks Chris and ross1. I've had old IIa's and I know about Lucas but not much about the newer stuff. I assumed that the e38/e39 electronics would be a little more reliable than Lucas (or maybe Denso).

Chris, is it crazy to consider an s62b50 as a motor swap for the RR? As I said, this would be our first foray into a BMW V8 however if it is best to assume it'll need a new motor regardless, the s62 seems like a nice option. Is it foolish to try and rebuild an M/S62 motor? Everything I read seems to suggest finding a used motor (with warranty) and swapping vs. attempting a rebuild.

Anything else to look out for? Why does a spare module need to be brand new? Can we find one and flash it identical to the car we have? Is there a better generation RR to consider? This one fell on our lap and being in such excellent condition it seems like a great score (but you know... get what you pay for and if it seems too good to be true...) We liked the idea of this generation (year 2004) RR because it's got the BMW motor and e39 electrics. Perhaps we should look at a slightly older (or newer) RR that tends not to blow up/melt down like the L322 does?

Thanks again!

[bmwdirtracer]

An S62 is a BRILLIANT motor. Don't insult it.

Rover body modules can't be recoded. They are permanently married to the car, and as hard as all the computer experts have tried, the universal wisdom says it can't be done.

You seem very committed. I think you should be....committed. Sorry, Range Rovers are rolling disasters, in my (never humble) opinion. All of them. Oldsmobile engines, BMW engines, Ford engines....doesn't matter. Wait till you see where they mounted the failing air suspension compressor.

Buy an E53 V8 X5, convert THAT to an S62, and enjoy!


Ross, that was a work of art ! Yes, Jaguar has made some magnificently beautiful cars. You can't fool me though; I live in England for 7 years, so I have no use for British cars. I am absolutely still subject to supermodels.

[shadowpuck]

An S62 is a BRILLIANT motor. Don't insult it.

Rover body modules can't be recoded. They are permanently married to the car, and as hard as all the computer experts have tried, the universal wisdom says it can't be done.

You seem very committed. I think you should be....committed. Sorry, Range Rovers are rolling disasters, in my (never humble) opinion. All of them. Oldsmobile engines, BMW engines, Ford engines....doesn't matter. Wait till you see where they mounted the failing air suspension compressor.

Buy an E53 V8 X5, convert THAT to an S62, and enjoy!


Ross, that was a work of art ! Yes, Jaguar has made some magnificently beautiful cars. You can't fool me though; I live in England for 7 years, so I have no use for British cars. I am absolutely still subject to supermodels.

hmmm. e53 with an s62? I’m listening.

[bmwdirtracer]

Did you know that BMW built Hans Stuck an E53 with the McLaren BMW V-12 ?

[shadowpuck]

I do remember that. I seem to recall seeing a Nurburgring lap video at some point.

[bmwdirtracer]

I have a friend, incredible student, just became instructor. He built an S62, six speed E38 7 series....gorgeous. Daily drives it, too. The oil pan would be an issue for putting it in an X5, but the rest wouldn't be difficult....

[1215]

Buy an E53 V8 X5, convert THAT to an S62, and enjoy!

I thought the E35 (and all X-5's) weren't really built for towing. My son is trying to replace an old Tahoe he uses as a tow vehicle. We thought the RR would be a good Tahoe replacement... and also something that his wife would ride in when weather is bad or taking dogs on a muddy adventure/to the beach, etc. The primary focus of this vehicle is towing much more than the fun of driving an S powered vehicle.

[shadowpuck]

x5 can tow no problem - i know several folks that use them for towing.....

[MauiM3Mania]

hmmm. e53 with an s62? I’m listening.

I really like my E53 X5, M54 5spd... but it really needs an S54. As I understand, unlike the V8s, the S54 doesn't leak everything.

[bmwdirtracer]

Couldn't find sources for pre-2009 X5's, but I'd expect the same 6000 pound capacity:

https://axleadvisor.com/bmw-x5-towing-capacity/

Of course, I spent many years towing my race car with a 70's Camaro, which was likely never approved for towing anything. But it easily meandered down British motorways at 90 mph with a Vauxhall Magnum, and later a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, on a 2 axle trailer.

[shadowpuck]

Yeah, Most us x5 are rated around 6600 for towing.
X5 for European market is rated higher - there’s been much discussion of this fact in the past.

as you can imagine - towing capacity has been much discussed and debated.

[1215]

as you can imagine - towing capacity has been much discussed and debated.

Yes. We are well versed in towing. I didn't want this thread/topic to segway into a towing discussion. I taught my son to be concerned with the ratio of tow vehicle wheelbase to the trailer's tongue-to-wheel length first, braking second and then if you use good judgment the rest will usually sort itself out. My concern (albeit an ignorant concern) with the X5 is tongue weight. Also I believe the X5 is 111" wheelbase, RR is 113" and Tahoe is 116". I don't remember his trailer lengths but in my opinion he would be better off going to a Yukon XL/Suburban over a smaller SUV. Not sure how much "seat of the pants" difference there would be between 113" and 111" --until you are sideways or on your side and then there would be only one thing in the seat of your pants.


I wasn't really worried about tow weight ratings. He only makes two short trips a year that are really dangerous. (tows boat himself, he should hire that job out) The rest is well under 3500# however his race trailer is pretty long.

Perhaps we bite the bullet and live to regret this down the road...

[shadowpuck]

totally understood - my point was the x5 can tow without a problem, even being aware of the criteria you've outlined....

[bmwdirtracer]

By all means, have at it, 1215. We all pays our money and takes our chances. My British ex-teammate and fellow instructor swears by his Range Rovers...I just swear at them, when they show up on my lift.