@Ennoch

You obviously know your motors.

Yep the inlet manifold is plastic and was inferior quality at manufacture. They couldn't stand the flex of 2 turbos apparently. Now upgraded to a 'better' part.

Ref mileage, I wouldn't worry. there is a 2012 on 235,000 on this forum. I certainly see me keeping mine for at least another 30k miles.

AFAIK the last year of the L322 got the improved manifolds, improved manifold to plenum hoses as well as the valve that controls the sequential turbo operation. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Dolphinboy wrote:

@Ennoch

You obviously know your motors.

Yep the inlet manifold is plastic and was inferior quality at manufacture. They couldn't stand the flex of 2 turbos apparently. Now upgraded to a 'better' part.

Ref mileage, I wouldn't worry. there is a 2012 on 235,000 on this forum. I certainly see me keeping mine for at least another 30k miles.

A Land Rover production with inferior manufacturing quality? I'll not hear of it...

Yeah, it's telling that so many for sale are at intergalactic mileages. They may not be the most reliable but they are also pretty solid in the main if they're doing these mileages. Then again I bought the BMW with a view to keeping it for ten years...that ain't happening and I suspect won't happen with its replacement either, no matter what it is.

JayGee wrote:

AFAIK the last year of the L322 got the improved manifolds, improved manifold to plenum hoses as well as the valve that controls the sequential turbo operation.

Alternators, starter motors , AC compressors are the same as when the 4.4 was introduced AFAIK but they are no less reliable than other cars with the AC compressor being the most likley to fail due to a sticking valve. There are peripheral items and shouldn't influence your buying decision IMO but I'd want £5k spare to cover everything that commonly needs fixing but I don't think that's any different to any car of similar age and complexity and you could get away with less if you DIY everything. Examples of major engine or gearbox failure are very, very rare so it's as safe as it gets with an L322 as far as lack of major wallet destroying issues are concerned. Choose wisely and you can get one where all the major bits that fail have been replaced. There's a couple of good un's in the for sale section - I'd be planning a trip to East Yorkshire if I was in your shoes..... 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Apologies, I missed your reply at the time. I'm still looking at changing, but like most things in life it's all about timing. Winter's a pretty busy time for me so I'm going to wait until the weather warms and I have more time to hunt about, and of course get my BMW sold. Thanks for the pointers and advice, there's certainly the evidence anecdotally from forum post volume to suggest that the late models are more reliable, even taking into account the lower build numbers and fact they're still a bit newer. Then again the 3.6 issues were still more prevalent even at the age the 4.4's are at now.

One thing I'm noticing from looking at the specs is that there are a few glaring omissions on the 4.4 TDV8 Vogue that seem surprising given the price of the car. I'd certainly be willing to pay a premium for adaptive cruise as it's the one thing missing on my current car, although things like cooled seats I can quite happily live without. However, the bit that gets me is that the Vogue doesn't have the dimming rear mirrors as standard, and nor does it have high beam assist from what I can tell. Is there any easy way to ascertain which cars have had these spec'd as extras (given neither seemed to be an expensive upgrade at the time), or even add them on?

Given so much of my time is spent driving at night and on rural roads I'm not willing to compromise on the dimming mirrors, and even with some planned LED spots up front I don't want to ditch HBA and adaptive cornering lights if I can help it given I've got them on the current car. I know they won't be as good as the shuttering type of HBA I've got on the BMW which cut out around car outlines but they're better than nothing. Do I basically need to narrow my search down to VSE or Autobiog's? It seems mad that the dimming mirrors aren't on the Vogue considering my old TD6 HSE had them as standard back in 2003! Is there anything else I should also be looking out for that can differentiate cars in this way?

ETA: were the FBH's standard on any particular specs, or was it always an additional cost option? It's by no means essential but given how many times I come back to the car in very minus temperatures after a day in the mountains it's certainly something that would be a nice to have.

Thanks again for the ideas and advice!