99Discovery
Adventurer
I owned a BMW motored ride in my 540i. Great engine......for road use. In the Rover they relocated the super-expensive water-cooled alternator ABOVE the motor instead of down below where fording will kill it. It has plastic chain guides that go bad and skip a tooth (most common on the older 740il....research it..) Changing them isn't really THAT bad, but one shouldn't have to.
On the BMW, the crappy plastic Germany is forced to use causes the cooling system to explode at 80k miles. Various components, not just a single one. You are really rolling the dice. I didn't believe it, because my 540i ran so well, but sure enough at 82k miles.......BOOOM, water everywhere on the interstate. Luckily I was able to get off and we were close enough to home to get my FIL to tow us back.
One must replace the ENTIRE cooling system every 70-80k miles. No exceptions. All hoses, pumps, t-stat, radiator, expansion tank. ALL OF IT.
Good news, is that the engine is cake to work on....the easiest engine I've ever worked on. But that expensive alternator on an off-road vehicle...totally unnecessary. I'm not sure if the Rover suffers the cooling system issues, but the alternator and plastic chain guides are enough for me to walk-away from a BMW motored unit........unless the price was VERY good.
You do get more flex out of the BMW engine units. BMW made the off-road performance a priority for the L322 and wanted to exceed the P38, which is tough with IRS/IFS. When Ford took over, they redesigned the suspension slightly and supposedly removed 2" of drop/flex in the front in the name of highway ride-quality. Most users report little-if-any difference in real-world off-road performance (then again, who is really "real world" off-roading L322s anyway?)
Despite the tamer front suspension, I'd still prefer the Jag motored units over the BMW ones.
On the BMW, the crappy plastic Germany is forced to use causes the cooling system to explode at 80k miles. Various components, not just a single one. You are really rolling the dice. I didn't believe it, because my 540i ran so well, but sure enough at 82k miles.......BOOOM, water everywhere on the interstate. Luckily I was able to get off and we were close enough to home to get my FIL to tow us back.
One must replace the ENTIRE cooling system every 70-80k miles. No exceptions. All hoses, pumps, t-stat, radiator, expansion tank. ALL OF IT.
Good news, is that the engine is cake to work on....the easiest engine I've ever worked on. But that expensive alternator on an off-road vehicle...totally unnecessary. I'm not sure if the Rover suffers the cooling system issues, but the alternator and plastic chain guides are enough for me to walk-away from a BMW motored unit........unless the price was VERY good.
You do get more flex out of the BMW engine units. BMW made the off-road performance a priority for the L322 and wanted to exceed the P38, which is tough with IRS/IFS. When Ford took over, they redesigned the suspension slightly and supposedly removed 2" of drop/flex in the front in the name of highway ride-quality. Most users report little-if-any difference in real-world off-road performance (then again, who is really "real world" off-roading L322s anyway?)
Despite the tamer front suspension, I'd still prefer the Jag motored units over the BMW ones.
