New lady member.... be nice 😃

[ksmi]

Originally Posted by kenny

Yeah some of them are very unfriendly but anyone daft enough to buy a mk1 freelander deserves a bit of abuse for being so bloody stupid!

Where's your sense of adventure? go on live dangerously!or claim it's the wife's

I prefer a Churchillian slant to any received insults.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

They’re alright.... or they were until they shoehorned a BMW Diesel engine in that wasn’t really compatible with rover wiring.

Keep in mind they were the first accessible small 4x4, came out around 1998 and built on a shoestring a la rover style....
(I’ve had two....)

I had one.... Solid body shell, a very capable soft roader and the HDC was nothing short of brilliant. I had the BMW Diesel in mine and it was a very solid unit and gave no issues but.... and here’s the but.... I had the VCU pack it in and it damaged the transfer box so that had to be done. I had a new clutch fitted too while it was in and the garage could not bleed it up properly and a few other garages turned it away. Leaking rear door seal and the sun roof was ****e. I did buy a 6yo motor but I still had 50k out of it in three years before I hacked it in for a Honda.
In principal, the Freelander was a game changer of its time but **** poor quality and LR’s is what it is attitude ruined a potentially good motor.

TT

[StatusRed]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

They’re alright.... or they were until they shoehorned a BMW Diesel engine in that wasn’t really compatible with rover wiring.

Keep in mind they were the first accessible small 4x4, came out around 1998 and built on a shoestring a la rover style....
(I’ve had two....)

So petrol ones were alright? I once was interested in a 1.8 petrol.

[kenny]

Originally Posted by StatusRed

So petrol ones were alright? I once was interested in a 1.8 petrol.

Nooooo the petrol ones had the Rover K series engine and were a disaster! Just google K series engine problems and sit down for a long read.

As said the design was ahead of its time but the quality was appalling.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by StatusRed

So petrol ones were alright? I once was interested in a 1.8 petrol.

I missed one of those by 15 mins once, it’d had the uprated head gasket kit fitted and a great MOT. I test drove it, got back to the dealer and the new owners turned up to collect it The salesman hadn’t been told it had been sold over the phone.... Dang it!!

TT

[StatusRed]

Originally Posted by kenny

Nooooo the petrol ones had the Rover K series engine and were a disaster! Just google K series engine problems and sit down for a long read.

As said the design was ahead of its time but the quality was appalling.

Interesting stuff, good to know. Glad I went for the Saab 9-5 Aero Estate instead

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by kenny

Nooooo the petrol ones had the Rover K series engine and were a disaster! Just google K series engine problems and sit down for a long read.

As said the design was ahead of its time but the quality was appalling.

Sort of.... the K-series was a brilliant engine, way ahead of it's time when it was launched, but it 1.4 litre form. When they bored it out to 1.8 L - as you say head gasket failures were inevitable, often every 30k. They were a bit like the gearbox in the XC90 T6 - just not up to that power.

I also had a 1.8L K-series VVC MGF which was a brilliant engine, a proper screamer.

This engine also powered a lot of Lotus cars for years, it was very light.

There was also a V6 version which was very good but thirsty...

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by StatusRed

So petrol ones were alright? I once was interested in a 1.8 petrol.

As has been said - no. The pick of the bunch were the earlier 2.0 diesels which had a Rover L-series engine in. Very agricultural but simple, reliable and remarkably economical. These cars were badged ....DI

The post 2001 cars had BMW's M47 engine in which wasn't bad but didn't mate well to the Freelander platform which was never designed for it - most BMW installations were longitudinal and in the Freelander is was transverse so doing certain jobs that should have been simple was an absolute tw*t (such as thermostat, which invariably jammed open by 120k). They also had a stupidly complex fuel delivery system with 3 fuel pumps. These cars were badged TD4. Linking Rover's wiring to BMW meant that the diagnostics weren't always that great either....

But.... as TT said a roomy, strong, capable, comfortable cruiser and surprisingly good off road. Also the first ever car with a Hill Descent Control system. On a muddy field they could bury many a Defender and Discovery as they had full traction control so were not susceptible to cross axle-ing.

The BIG problem with the Mk 1 Freelanders was the thermo-viscous centre AWD coupling which was simple and generally worked very well but if you had to keep the tyres all the same size - mixing makes and tread depths that lead to significant differences in circumference could cause the coupling to cook and lock up - subsequently destroying the transfer box and/or rear diff... Vauxhall Cavalier and Calibra 4WD models used the same coupling and had a the same vulnerability.

Rover had designed the Freelander some time before it was launched but could never find the money to put it into production. When BMW bought them in the mid 1990's they found the plans and funded the transition into production, causing Honda to sell their stake as they had previously tried to block it as it would compete with their own models.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

As has been said - no. The pick of the bunch were the earlier 2.0 diesels which had a Rover L-series engine in. Very agricultural but simple, reliable and remarkably economical. These cars were badged ....DI

The post 2001 cars had BMW's M47 engine in which wasn't bad but didn't mate well to the Freelander platform which was never designed for it - most BMW installations were longitudinal and in the Freelander is was transverse so doing certain jobs that should have been simple was an absolute tw*t (such as thermostat, which invariably jammed open by 120k). They also had a stupidly complex fuel delivery system with 3 fuel pumps. These cars were badged TD4. Linking Rover's wiring to BMW meant that the diagnostics weren't always that great either....

But.... as TT said a roomy, strong, capable, comfortable cruiser and surprisingly good off road. Also the first ever car with a Hill Descent Control system. On a muddy field they could bury many a Defender and Discovery as they had full traction control so were not susceptible to cross axle-ing.

The BIG problem with the Mk 1 Freelanders was the thermo-viscous centre AWD coupling which was simple and generally worked very well but if you had to keep the tyres all the same size - mixing makes and tread depths that lead to significant differences in circumference could cause the coupling to cook and lock up - subsequently destroying the transfer box and/or rear diff... Vauxhall Cavalier and Calibra 4WD models used the same coupling and had a the same vulnerability.

Rover had designed the Freelander some time before it was launched but could never find the money to put it into production. When BMW bought them in the mid 1990's they found the plans and funded the transition into production, causing Honda to sell their stake as they had previously tried to block it as it would compete with their own models.

Wow.... I’ve learned something today. The one thing the Freelander had that I miss, it was a wonderful but flawed feature... The Electic rear window, wonderful in the summer, no need for AC, it kept the car lovely and cool. The window seal was rubbish and it leaked but I loved it none the less.

TT

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by The Thong

Wow.... I’ve learned something today. The one thing the Freelander had that I miss, it was a wonderful but flawed feature... The Electic rear window, wonderful in the summer, no need for AC, it kept the car lovely and cool. The window seal was rubbish and it leaked but I loved it none the less.

TT

That was a great feature, cooled the car really quickly and no throbbing vibration at speed. Also made them popular with dog owners....