Hello everyone. Little intro to my first Land Rover , the 2002 4.4 Vogue finished in Bonatti grey.

So a bit of background into why I've sold a reliable and small daily cheap driver BMW E46 325ti, and jumped into a RR, much to the delight of the petrol station at the top of the road.
Well, ever since it came out, I thought the L322 was a stunning design. I loved the way it echoed the original RR, and while never really one for solely wanting a larger thirsty car over my usual purchase of a more sporty BMW product, I always hand a hankering for one.

Now with prices about as low as they can go for 2.5 ton of metal, the late night temptation of eBay and bidding on one took a hold. After several bids of different cars, this one popped up and was interesting for several reasons. First it was free of loads of chrome tat and gangster black windows ( no offence to anyone with such stuff fitted ! ) , no tow bar fitted , which seems a plus if not needed and the idea that lots of towing may affect the weak point of the gearbox. Colour was an interesting one and being a Vogue it comes with a few toys and included on this car was a digital TV upgrade already fitted.

Mileage was a bit higher than I was looking at , it being on 155k , but was worth a bid. I missed out first time around after a low bid, but the car reappeared again a few days later. I contacted the seller and asked why it was back on eBay and to say some more about the car. He said he'd been messed about and wanted the car sold as he is moving to the Isle of Wight within a couple of weeks and needs a van for work now. He wanted someone to come and view the car, rather than blind bidding on eBay, so arranged a day and went and had a look.
So after a viewing and test drive, I agreed to buy the car for well under my £3k budget and had kinda accidentally got into my first RR.

So what's wrong with it. Not too much. The rear arches are starting to rust which needs doing asap. The aircon probably needs a re-gas as it's a bit weak, but seemingly not oo much else, other than some basic cosmetic improvements.
The drivers seat is a bit worn on the base and the chrome effect trim with flaking on the seat base. The car does actually have tinted window, but a light tint that I didn't even notice in the eBay ad. These have a few marks now.

The cars MOT history is near perfect, never having failed an MOT and with only a few advisories ever. Seems like previous owners haven't been shy to spend money, as documents show plenty of work done.
I'll be doing a engine service and trans oil/filter change soon and improving some of the interior.

Excuse the single poor camera phone pic, I'll add more as I document the work done and ownership experience.

Cheers

Good on hear n welcome, I did pretty much the same thing but mine was meant to have a blown engine.....it didn't don't you just luv mechanics enjoy your new beast

looks fantastic!
welcome to the madhouse!
 Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

I really would not worry about mileage, these are built to do the miles, i was being ferried around South Africa in one that had done 570,000 KM and it purred like a kitten, maintenance is far more important, would rather have one that is high mileage and maintained than a low mileage school run type that has not been maintained

Interesting.. looking forward to your updates,

That gamble looks to have paid off. Well done and welcome. Look forward to your updadtes. Cheers
Richard

(there are no such things as an ordinary FullFat, an ordinary cat or too many tools)
2011 TDV8 Vogue Santorini Black
Gap IIDBT

Nice car!

I hope you get on better than me. 5 days I owned before selling at a 1000 loss.

Thanks all. Been nearly a week now and still runs and drives with no dashboard warning lights or messages , so all good !

Been out today doing a few things. When I picked the car up it was a little dirty and the local hand car wash gave it a quick clean. One thing that stuck out as really letting the car down was the tailgate high level brake light.
Time and the sun has got to it, and it's actually slightly bowed up in the middle as well as being almost totally opaque





PowerfulUK has these at around £80 for a repro item or £120 for an LR part. This being a budget DIY project means having to use what I've got. So following PowerfulUK's video's on how to remove both, I thought I'd have a crack at sanding back to sun damage .

Vids on how to remove.




It took 340 grit paper to get the worst out and ton of rubbing. It didn't remove all of it, but got it down to this after various grit changes up to 1200.




Using a bit of Meguiars Plastx polished it up to an acceptable, if not perfect, standard. Certainly a big improvement, but a new part is needed if chasing perfection. Some sealant will provide some UV protection, but a regular polish will be needed to maintain this . At the moment it has a ceramic coating on it to see how well it lasts.




The spoiler was kinda grotty with lots of tree sap and deposits. Quick going over with a clay bar sorted that. Some polish on a buffer brought the paint back to life, and a couple of coats of wax for protection.

Fitted back up and adjusted to fit.



Not too bad for about an hours work.

The tradition of fixing one job, which then creates another , doesn't stop with this. To remove the spoiler/brake light means removing the trim panel on the top inside of the tailgate.
When attempting to do this, I could feel this wasn't clipped in securely at one end and that ' someone has been here before me' feeling. Sure enough there looks to be a story to tell from looking at the underside of the panel. Plenty of rusty looking water stains says there's been a leak from the rear wiper motor at some point, along with broken/missing locating tabs on the trim panel.
The upside is the motor looks to have been replaced as it's free from any water staining and operating perfectly and leak-free. The wiper arm looks to have been replaced to, it being like new and rot-free. With a bit of plastic welding to create some new tabs, the trim panel should all clip back in to complete the job.




The rear seat area is pretty clean and tidy. The leather is all good and unmarked and just needs a good clean up.
The one let down is the peeling paint on the center consol.




PowerfulUK again has a video on how to remove this.



Sure enough, one of the plastic bushings collapsed as soon as it was touched.

With part removed, most of the paint flaked off pretty easily with a plastic scraper. Rubbed down to 400grit to provide a key for the plastic primer.




The rear cig lighter was missing on mine, not that I'd ever use it. Rather than buying another so it doesn't look out of place, some rear USB ports would be more useful. So on to eBay and found this which replaces the light and uses the spade connectors. Looks like it will require the hole opening a little, so when it gets here I'll check it out.
The previous owner gave me a can of paint which looks a close match to the original foundry colour, so just need some primer and a bushing to complete another day.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Charger-Dou...2749.l2649

Speaking of the consol, the chrome effect is lifting from the button, which is rather annoying. Would be nice to do something with this and touch in the paint.



Does anyone know the trim code for this car ? I tried email LR customer servicesasking just for the trim code and prividing the VIN ,and they did get back to me, but told me it Bonatti Grey... Since mailing them back to explain the difference between trim and paint, no reply.
I'd like to be able to find some paint to recover some of the plastics around the seat and in the boot which have taken a battering. The colour looks a lot lighter in the pics, it's more of a darker sand colour.






The key was looking particularly grotty.





New eBay key pad ordered. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323725431968?Vi...3725431968




Flip the key over, pop the cover off and there are two screws to remove that separeatly the two parts of the key body. Thankfully LR didn't follow current BMW keys of that time that are glued together, soldered in recharging batteries.







Pry the board out. Note transponder in the bottom right of the key. Don't let this go missing or you won't be starting your car !



Working from inside, pry off the old rubber pad.




Removed.








Fit new pad, tuck transponder back in postion, clip in the board and screw down the cover. One much better looking and feeling key.









That's it for today. Waiting for the US port and bush to arrive before I can paint the consol silver. Might also paint the bonnet vent in the same paint , as that looks tragic with its peeling paint. The headlight wiper arms need a paint with some Bonatti grey to clean them up.

Loving your work!
. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

 Current: 2011 FFRR Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8
Previous: -
2004 FFRR Vogue 4.4 V8 with LPG
1997 P38 4.0 SE with LPG
1997 P38 4.6 Vogue with LPG

Foundry paint on the bay https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=ht...1485427138 4.4 AdBlu Tractor
4.2 SC - sold

I'm loving your work on the car so far and of course the pictures you shared earlier to help with my own recent purchase.

I've never bothered with a 'my car' type of thread on forums before, but this might just spur me on as I work through my recent purchase...

Keep up the excellent start - they really are great vehicles (we did have one 8 years ago, so I'm a returning early L322 owner). 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8

Nice Bargain. It'll keep you busy as you've obviously got the fix it bug, but it's well worth the effort
Enjoy

No problem, Ian. The forum has been a great help to me so far, so glad I can do the same for others in a small way.

Finished up the spoiler/brake light job with a repair on the inside trim panel covering the wiper motor. Some of the tabs were missing and wasn't securing the panel properly.
The cover is an ABS plastic part . Parts like these are usually marked with what they are made from, so in this case it's ABS, bumpers and the like are usually marked PP or another so you can tell what it is and weld repair if needed.

I searched around for something ABS and found an old drill bit case of suitable thickness. This was sacrificed in the repair and some new locating tabs were cut out.
Using a soldering iron, I was able to weld in some new tabs and was surprised how strong they felt. Anyway, not especially pretty , but they are strong and work. I put a little smear of grease on each tab, the theory being it might help unclip easier next time. I think a new part is £150, and you be really annoyed if you broke of those tabs fitting it. Plus it's good to know it works for any other parts. The D pillars are all marked and the lower tailgate trim panel too, so might be coming of and painted, if I can find a suitable paint.





The headlight wiper arms are looking a little tatty.




Flip the cover open and a 10mm nut secures them on a spline.

The pivot pin is just a push fit.





Unclip the cover.





Unclip the plastic clip that the pivot pin passed through.




Rub down the parts ready for paint, cleaned with a degreaser .




The main arm is steel and done in an etch primer. The end part and nut cover are plastic and prepped in a plastic primer.
These are primered now and hanging in the garage . Tomorrow a quick scuff of the primer and then colour base coat and a clear lacquer top coat.

I like the tab fix - I’ve taken all my rear trims off for cleaning and to sort the gps aerial; I’m also looking for paint albeit the finish inside is lighter than yours appears. From memory, there are definitely two colours for those trims.

Talking of drill bits, I sacrificed a 7mm drill to make a new post for my rear parcel shelf where it had snapped off at one side; I literally used it to carefully drill out the remnants of the broken plastic post, then used some plastic filler to secure the drill bit in the hole I’d created, leaving the shank as the new post. It certainly won’t snap off again! 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8