As you may have seen from other posts, I'm looking to gas convert a low milage 4.4 FFR so I've been trawling the ads in auto trader and ebay for something around under 70,000 miles and around the 2004 to 2006 era.

Probably found about 4 so far, not counting the heap of junk I trekked miles to see earlier this week. So as to not be caught out again, I've asked the sellers if they could send me some extra pics of the inner rear wheel arches , the unprotected bit near to the door.

Three have replied and to say I am staggered is an understatement. They have all been in a horrific state. Whilst the general pics show gleaming body work, now doubt buffed and polished and valeted to an inch of their lives, the arches are rotten and would require immediate attention.

Question is, why did previous owners let them get like this with out seeking remedial attention, either under warranty or through normal maintenance ?
At the first sign of a problem, mine where sanded down, treated and repainted. I've seen members on here describe other methods of sorting the problem out.

It's also amazing how many sellers are happy to bypass the problem with a simple... well it is ten years old !!

I hate to state the obvious Dave but... Why are you looking at different engine types to LPG sir? Surely narrowing down EXACTLY which engine’d model you want to purchase should be key to an LPG project?

Meaning if you buy a 2004 it will be a BMW power plant... And a 2006 will be a Jag unit

If your undecided??? Why not go the whole hog and buy a decent SC? They are MUCH more common! So have far more to choose from, ordinarily will be far better spec’d than a NA model! And IMHO are a much nicer thing to drive sir

I have narrowed it down ? The BMW 4.4 or the Jag 4.4 . The BMW 4.4 is my first choice due to the success I've had running one for the last 2 years. However, the Jag has come in to the equation due to the limited number of low milage, good condition BMW 4.4's now available. Hence I started to look at the Jag engined version which kicks off from 2006 but so far, not found one in the price range I am considering with the milage and condition I require.

I am not a fan of the SC as that brings different problems to the table , not just in terms of an LPG conversion but issues associated with the supercharger.

Because decent body repairs are not cheap these days and most people simply won't pay for it. I have just paid out over 2k on paint making the car mint.

Does anybody know if this rusting usually started outside the vehicles period of warranty or after the warranty ran out ? That would explain it going untouched if people had to pay for it to be corrected. Having said that, surely then you'd stick a bit of stop rust on it or a coat of hammerite if you didn't want to pay body shop prices ?

Depends how and where it was driven, it's caused by debris damaging the paint and exposing steel which rusts.. JLR forgot that they could spray it with a rubberised coating and just painted it...

I ground all the rust out of mine etch primed then used a bodyshop shultz stone chip type paint then top coated it, been fine for a year now. Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

This gives me the opportunity to share with you the comment I received from LR Customer Relations when, having had my claim under the 3-year paintwork warranty for rear wheel arch corrosion rejected on the grounds of "external influence - weather conditions", I asked what they would recommend to stop this happening again.

"Unfortunately Land Rover are not in a position to advise you of ways to prevent corrosion to your vehicle in case any suggestions that are made cause further complications to your vehicle."

So, LR make a car that can't cope with Scottish weather for 3 years, refuse to honour their warranty and can't suggest a solution. Happy days. Only Range Rovers since 1988

Yet they thought of a way to protect the other half of the wheel arch !! ( it has a strip of rubber or such like over it. )

I just looked at my car and sure enough BOTH arches in the rear inside the doors are now rusty - I would have sworn blind when I bought the car last year they were fine, could they really have got that bad in a year? I only looked as I read this thread, as the back doors hardly ever get opened as nobody ever goes in there - so - I need to fix this - are there panels available or just get stuck in old school and cut out the rot and make new bits?

Old school repair then... Buy a Freelander 2 wheel arch cover panel (which you will need to trim to the correct length) and after waxing/greasing your repaired paint... Slip the rubber cover on and it should never happen again sir

DaveK wrote:

As you may have seen from other posts, I'm looking to gas convert a low milage 4.4 FFR so I've been trawling the ads in auto trader and ebay for something around under 70,000 miles and around the 2004 to 2006 era.

Probably found about 4 so far, not counting the heap of junk I trekked miles to see earlier this week. So as to not be caught out again, I've asked the sellers if they could send me some extra pics of the inner rear wheel arches , the unprotected bit near to the door.

Three have replied and to say I am staggered is an understatement. They have all been in a horrific state. Whilst the general pics show gleaming body work, now doubt buffed and polished and valeted to an inch of their lives, the arches are rotten and would require immediate attention.

Question is, why did previous owners let them get like this with out seeking remedial attention, either under warranty or through normal maintenance ?
At the first sign of a problem, mine where sanded down, treated and repainted. I've seen members on here describe other methods of sorting the problem out.

It's also amazing how many sellers are happy to bypass the problem with a simple... well it is ten years old !!

Dave, there is also a general consensus that when Ford took over ownership and made the Jag engined cars... The rust issues got a lot worse sir... I would suspect they changed steel suppliers... Making the 06>MY cars rot far quicker

Just worth looking closer at later cars...

It really is shocking that a car of this 'quality' should rust so soon and especially at just 3 years old that really is terrible.

We have two 10 year old Bmws in our household neither of which are showing any signs of rust at all anywhere on the bodywork and rear arches etc are perfect.

So if Bmw can get it right on a 25k car why cant Land Rover on a car costing 3 times the price when new.

Last edited by JPS on 8th Oct 2015 7:38am. Edited 1 time in total

DaveK wrote:

I am not a fan of the SC as that brings different problems to the table , not just in terms of an LPG conversion but issues associated with the supercharger.

What issues Dave? We rarely encounter issues with the bullet proof SC lump sir... Im quite surprised to read your comment sir

JPS wrote:

It really is shocking that a car of this 'quality' should rust so soon and especially at just 3 years old that really is terrible.

We have two 10 year old Bmws in our household neither of which are showing any signs of rust at all anywhere on the bodywork and rear arches etc are perfect.

So if Bmw can get it right on a 25k car why cant Land Rover on a car costing 3 times the price when new.

JPS, yes BUT... Did your BMW’s live in Scotland for the first years of their lives? That seems to be the issue in these cases sir... And another point sir, if your BMW’s were 10yr old Mercs would you be typing that

My girlfriend's 325 coupe (0 which has spent all its life in Scotland has no rust. To be fair she doesn't do much offroading. A friend's wife drives a Honda CRV which is about 13 years old, with 140,000 miles and he says there's no rust on it, despite being a Scottish based car.

My 2004 322 didn't develop wheel arch rust until very much later, and it had a harder life with less cleaning than the 2012 WM. Likewise my P38 (galvanised panels plus chip resistant paint under top paint in those days of course). I have had far more corrosion problems with the 2012 car (tailgate, upper tailgate struts, lower tailgate cable, tailgate window trim, door trim (twice), wheels, wheel centres, wheel nuts all replaced under warranty, wheel arch repainted at my expense) than with those cars. My Classics certainly corroded with age, but in those days so did most cars.

LR have declined to say how their processes compare with the past, so I can only suspect that there was a change for the worse, maybe in 2006 as you say. If I still have the car when the perforation warranty expires I will look at the Freelander trim-based solution. Only Range Rovers since 1988