530DA E39 Self Destruct

I know a bloke who's wife has had 3 Discoveries Diesels in a row and all of them have had serious problems ranging from gearboxes going bang to head gaskets blowing. The latest one was bought brand new and has still had issues.

My sister has a landrwover freelander that is three years old and just outside of the new car warranty. Recently the window mechanism in the drivers door failed so she went back to the main dealer who told her that the window runner had rusted away due to water ingree and would need replacing. When she questioned if this should be covered by landrover they said no. For a just over 3 year old car to be suffering from such problems is, IMO, totally unacceptable.

I went on a work team building event once that included some off road driving in ladrover defenders. The guy who ran the offorad centre told me that no other 4x4 could do what a defender does, however he also told me that they break down quite lot and that unless you need to do a lot of serious off roading a japanese one was a better buy. Oh and he used to work for landrover, taking new customers out to show them what their new car could do etc.

Lots of cars have problems, my ford focus is a perfect example, however I suspect that the reason you may see more fords and vauxhalls with problems that other makes is down to how many there are. There are litterally 3 times more focuses in my work car park than any other single make of car let alone model.

bmw1066 wrote: Rhys wrote: Blimey.. hope all goes right in the end. Was thinking about a disco at one time but the turbo issues put me off - same with the 5.. Good luck    Never hard off any probloms with the Disco turbo's ? and I a avid land rover fan

I could tell you a few Discovery horror stories. I wouldn't have one given and that's not just because I hate 4x4s

Landie Turbo problems?

Well the Landie we used for site, you could drive into the site compound, switch off the engine, walk into the site huts, sit down and still hear the turbo run.

No oil to the bearings and the red hot turbo is still spinning. 

They are a time bomb waiting to go off.

Not enough people know to let the engine tick over before switching off.

Andrew

Rhys wrote: Blimey.. hope all goes right in the end. Was thinking about a disco at one time but the turbo issues put me off - same with the 5.. Good luck

Never hard off any probloms with the Disco turbo's ? and I a avid land rover fan

M3Nally wrote: Sporty1, Yes I saw it, they did have the problem but placed the blame on the methanol additive used in the fuel for wasting the seals.

Don't believe that for a moment as there grew SFA in that fields, which incidently is not far from were I live.

jabuk wrote: To clarify the failure, the high pressure fuel pump was leaking diesel in to the sump. When the sump reached a certain level (takes some time) the mixture was drawn up in to the intake via the turbo. The engine then ran on its own engine fuel mixture, at maximum rpm, and would not shut down. Within 3 minutes the engine was a write-off.

Any see Top Gear last night?

Their 330D doing the Britcar 24Hr at Silverstone had exactly the same problem after a turbo failure at 44,000 miles. Obviously not an isolated incident.

Andrew Rolland wrote: wasn't this thread locked, if so how do you get it unlocked just out of curiosity?

appeal to a moderators fair and compassionate side.... oh wait....

Last update was some considerable time ago but things have moved on, somewhat slowly.

BMW finally admitted the problem was caused by dealer diagnosis error and have proposed a monetary value which is in-line with my insurance legal inspectors estimate. They pay for a new lump and all needed extras.

So for me it is a result although it has taken a year to resolve. No compensation for depreciation. I count myself lucky I got what I did.

To clarify the failure, the high pressure fuel pump was leaking diesel in to the sump. When the sump reached a certain level (takes some time) the mixture was drawn up in to the intake via the turbo. The engine then ran on its own engine fuel mixture, at maximum rpm, and would not shut down. Within 3 minutes the engine was a write-off.

What compounded the guilt for the garage was that the week before the vehicle was in for a suspected turbo failure evident by loss of power and bucket loads of white smoke from exhaust. They changed the turbo and asked my why I had added engine oil. Of course I had not but did not think anything of it at the time. The garage failed to spot the high oil level in the sump as a major symptom. A simple examination of the pump would have shown the problem. I guess they will not make that costly mistake again.

In the meantime, you will be please to learn that I bought a nearly new 740d. Another diesel yes, but what a car.