Swapping a Range Rover L322 for an L405. Should you do it? Is the Range Rover L322 a bit dated now and the L405 just a natural progression and the only obvious place to go?
I was conflicted when I did it, so I’ll tell you the story.
I had a perfectly nice L322 Autobiography Black special edition. I’d probably have kept it for many years had it not developed a fault nobody could fix.
The navigation and radio display started acting up now and then, flashing off and on. Then, a bunch of warning lights popped up: camera system fault, blind spot system not available, forward alert not available, and sometimes cruise control and emergency park brake warnings too. Strangely, the indicators on the display stopped working during these episodes, but the ones outside kept functioning.
After a minute or so, everything would go back to normal. But those warning lights stuck around until I turned the car off and on again. I took it to my local Land Rover independent mechanic, and when the issue happened again, he plugged it in and found over 50 faults! He cleared them and asked me to come back if it happened again. Well, it did, just a short drive later, and this time there were about ten faults.
It went downhill from there and the faults were building up thick and fast. It pretty soon became undrivable.
He couldn’t figure it out after the car languished in his garage for six weeks. They could easily reproduce the fault, but pinpointing the source proved elusive.
What we understood was that the issue stemmed from the medium-speed CAN bus circuit, which would fail, causing all the mentioned problems and more. Their approach involved unplugging modules on that circuit individually and testing to see if the fault reappeared, intending to isolate the problem. This process was described as time-consuming due to the complexity of the circuit and the fact that many components were difficult to access.
It languished in the garage looking like it was going to be one of those never-fixed jobs that many garages have tucked away in a dark corner. My Range Rover L322 was unusable, seemingly unfixable without pouring thousands of pounds and months at it, so it was essentially dead.
I sold it to a chap in Cornwall who thought he had the patience and skills to fix it. Find out if he did in >this article< here.
I was quite sorry that my Range Rover L322 had to go, but what to replace it with? As it was a 4.4 V8 late model, low mileage special edition, finding a better one of the same seemed unlikely.
I pondered lower-down things like Audis, Mercedes’, Bentleys and Porsches, and looked at lots, but nothing ticked all the boxes a Range Rover did, and I am not sure I could (or would want to) get used to being low down on the road again. I like being high up and seeing what is going on.
So that brought me to the prospect of an L405. A car I had always been somewhat ambivalent about.
I decided to go for the L405. I fancied a black 4.4 Autobiography with low mileage and a glass roof, and if I could snag one with turbines and electric steps, that would be even better.
Unfortunately, my first attempt at the local dealer didn’t pan out. So, I did some digging on my own but came up empty-handed.
But then, I stumbled upon a 2017 model with around forty thousand miles at a Sytner BMW dealer.
It ticks most of my boxes. Personally, I’m not too keen on the wheels. But since it’s just had new tyres and 4-wheel tracking as part of the sales prep, I’ll live with them until they’re worn and kerbed and put a set of our Range Rover SVR wheel centre caps on them meanwhile.
It has the standard leather steering wheel and not the half-wood one my last one had, so changing that was my first job. But on the plus side, it has electric steps and the glass roof I wanted.
Why was it at a BMW dealer? Apparently, that dealer seems to be a repository for good PX stock from around the local Sytner group. This had been PXd at their Audi dealer, and deemed good enough to put right and sell. They serviced it and did quite a few jobs including front suspension arms, new tyres and tracking.
So, what are my first impressions? Well, I have to admit, the £165 road tax was quite a shocker! The L322 was over £500.
As for the driving experience, I expected to be more impressed than I am (though I can’t complain). To be honest, it doesn’t feel drastically different from driving the L322. Maybe it handles a tad better, but that could just be down to the 22″ wheels. It does feel a bit smoother and quieter than the L322, the hands-free function works better, and the touchscreen is pretty intuitive and well-designed. It’s perfectly pleasant, and I’m sure I’ll get used to it and grow to love it, but from the driver’s seat, it just feels like a minor update inside.
Is it worth three times the price of a good L322? Well, I guess that’s a matter of personal opinion. A nice L322 offers similar comfort for a lot less money. But this one is 7 years newer and has half the miles compared to my old L322. Is that worth an extra £35k? It seems like a hefty sum to me, but as with anything, our choices come with a price tag.
The interior is a tad less exciting than the old Range Rover L322.
That’s it with the half-wooden steering wheel already fitted.
Fast forward a few months later: after six months of ownership.
And guess what? It hasn’t broken yet. I’ve been darn sarf, and even to France in it and it performed faultlessly.
It seems to use lots of Adblue, which is a magical fluid that does nothing in particular and is a new thing for me. I had to go on YouTube to find out how the cold weather warm-up thingy worked. Now it’s hot it seems to cool the car all on its own.
My old L322 knew – as if by magic – where traffic problems were. The new one doesn’t. Apparently, I should pay for that.
There is some music that appears from nowhere that belongs to the previous owner it seems. No idea where it comes from. He is still “home” in the sat nav too. I haven’t changed it in case someone steals it and wants to burgle a bloke 160 miles away.
The seats feel harder than my old L322, there is no proper instruction manual as such (it’s online only) so I haven’t really researched all it can do. It’s nice enough but feels more like an appliance than my old L322. It’s a Miele washing machine as opposed to something hewn from rock with love like the Range Rover L322.
I have no specific complaints, it’s a great car, and looks very cool, it just doesn’t have the soul my L322 seemed to have. Maybe that’s just me. My wife loves it. Given any chance, she is out of her Velar and milfing about in it in her heels and shades. I might yet give it to her and buy a Bentley. But then I’d be low down and she’d steal that too.
I guess my next Range Rover will be the L460.