Hello all, Alan from Glasgow here.

I'm seriously considering a rather nice 55 place SC to replace my BMW 545i.

Now, I've been a BMW man for sometime and am also entertaining the possibility of an E60 M5 as well as the RR, but there's an itch I need to scratch with the RR!
I do realise these 2 cars are poles apart in what they offer, but.......

Anyway, I could do with some advice on the RR SC in terms of the ownership experience. Whenever I mention I might be buying an RR, I get the sharp intake of breath accompanied by lots of doom and gloom about their (perceived) reliability, or lack thereof.
To this end, I'm making sure that any car I buy has at least some form of warranty should the unexpected happen.
Obviously having the same V8 engine in my car as some of the early 4.4 Vogues, the lack of fuel economy shouldn't be too much of a shock, and to be honest having a fuel card lightens that burden somewhat!

One thing I could do with clarifying, is wether the TV tuner on an MY2006 is analogue/digital or hybrid? I retrofitted an OEM hybrid system to my car, and given it's MOST based, I wondered if it was compatible with the RR touch screen system s/w, or could it be flashed to be so?
Also I retrofitted the OEM DAB tuner to my car and again, I wonder if this could be made to be compatible with the RR?

Thanks in advance for any and all replied and I look forward to hopefully reporting back on my potential purchase!!

HI Alan,

Go for it. I'm a recent convert too! I came from the E38 7 series, and got a 4.4 pre facelift, which I'm now upgrading to a 2006 MY S/C, like what you are contemplating.

I would say the cost of ownership should be no more than you're used to. Certainly for me there's be no real difference, the engine and gearbox were pretty much identical to my 7 series. Reliability is similar, build quality is on a par if not better in the RR.

Of course in the S/C you're getting the Jaguar engine rather than the BMW 4.4, and by all accounts it's better (i.e. more powerful and economical, and twinned with a 6 speed gearbox which seems to be less prone to problems that the 5HP24 predecessor).

To me the best thing about the S/C is the spec. The RR is a fantastic luxury car, so why not get all of the bells and whistles! Plus the fantastic power of the S/C.

Before committing to the S/C I offered my current RR up for px, and was offered an M5, which a few months ago would have been on my dream car list. Suffice to say it's lost it's appeal after RR ownership! It's a fantastic car which you'd probably love, but if you take the RR s/c I'd be willing to bet you'd never swap it for an M5!

Somebody will inform you about the TV tuner, I don't think it is hybrid, but I'll be very interested to see the answer. From memory I think somebody has just suggested an easy non oe upgrade by using the auxiliary input jack to plug in an aftermarket digital tuner. I suspect you'll find there's no compatability between your current set up and the RR set up, since they mored completely away from the BMW kit for 2006 MY.

Finally ignore all of the doom and gloom mongers when you mention Rangies. Ask them whether their 'knowledge' is based on experience or hearsay! People love to go on about how unreliable they are, but I think it's 90% envy. Plus a lot of the 'gremlins' are ironed out in the first three years under warranty. I would say a RR is no more or less reliable than any other luxury car, but owners expectations are higher, there is more to go wrong, and repairs can be more expensive (especially warranty claims).

On a five year old car, find a good independent to service it, and the shock will be down to how reasonable the servicing costs, especially compared to a high performance BMW! Range Rover-less at the moment - Pining!

What a fantasic and positive first reply, especially from someone who's been in almost the same position I find myself in!
It always seems a rosk to jump from a brand you know well and (almost) trust, but I fell much more comfortable now!

I can only hope you're not looking at the same SC as I am!

All the best!

One thing you would notice today (in Central Scotland we have had another good dump of snow!) if you had the FFRRS/C would be that you could actually get it out of your drive, unlike an M5 which would be spinning 1000's of miles of tyre life away............. 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

Tim in Scotland wrote:

One thing you would notice today (in Central Scotland we have had another good dump of snow!) if you had the FFRRS/C would be that you could actually get it out of your drive, unlike an M5 which would be spinning 1000's of miles of tyre life away.............

alanm_3 wrote:

What a fantasic and positive first reply, especially from someone who's been in almost the same position I find myself in!
It always seems a rosk to jump from a brand you know well and (almost) trust, but I fell much more comfortable now!

I can only hope you're not looking at the same SC as I am!

All the best!

Cheers David, I've already got that page bookmarked!

Having looked at the market place for SC's, there's only a few places that sell them. Of course there is 1 major stockists of more than 1, but having read a few questionable reports about them, I'm not that keen to deal with them. I did call them and spoke to one of the sales guys, who said he would call me back - I'm still waiting for that call, so I suppose that indicates the level of interest!

Alan, if you book up for an LRE Experience then you will get a 2011 model year TDv8 4.4 FFRR..................... you will then have to reset all your search parameters and the budget! It will completely transform any prejudices you have against diesels. Even the 3.6TDv8 isn't a slouch just a little more leisurely away from the mark than an S/C, but it makes up for it with the tidal wave of torque once you are up and running. 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

Tim in Scotland wrote:

Alan, if you book up for an LRE Experience then you will get a 2011 model year TDv8 4.4 FFRR..................... you will then have to reset all your search parameters and the budget! It will completely transform any prejudices you have against diesels. Even the 3.6TDv8 isn't a slouch just a little more leisurely away from the mark than an S/C, but it makes up for it with the tidal wave of torque once you are up and running.

Hi Alan,

I've had numerous BMW's, if fact the whole range nearly including a 7 series, X5, 5's and still have a 635d, but the car I want to drive is my RR SC. It has a great engine and gearbox, lots of toys, RSE and I have upgraded the TV tuner to a hybrid Digital unit and also ungraded the Bluetooth module. I have always had an itch to own a RR and finally bought one 6 months ago, I just wish I had bought it sooner. Fantastic value for money if you look around, an £80k+ car with 30,000 on the clock can be picked up for £29k ish. I am sure I have seen a really good example on sale here.
I'm going to sell my 6 series very soon, only because it doesn't get used...it's a great car, powerful, 40mpg, looks the business, good quality but....I'd rather drive the RR. Maybe think about a little 2 seated sports car to go along side it though

Good hunting, I'm sure the guys on here will find one for you before you do!

Edit. Just checked, Rory has one for sale listed on the forum, looks very nice and a good price Current MY2020
Gone: 1 x L405 and 2 x L322's

Thanks AMD, I would be keen to know if my MOST based BMW hybrid TV tuner would work, any thoughts?

Sadly my budget is strictly limited to <£23k, so if you mean the Stornoway grey one, it's too rich for my blood I'm afraid, but thanks for looking.

Cheers

Alan

Welcome

I'm on my second supercharged and they are absolutely fabulous especially if you have a family and live up a hill like me

I sold the first one I had 2 years ago to buy an m5 then swapped that for an rs4 then another rs4 then a 997 c4s and then I finally realised they were all good but not good enough and what I really needed was another supercharged - so here I am back where I started with a cracking bonatti grey car that I will probably hang onto for a very very long time, which is very unusual for me

The 2005/2006 supercharged are bargains at the moment and are holding there values well

Both of mine have been reliable with no unforeseen bills thanks to the land rover warranty which I would recommend - don't bother with an aftermarket warranty as they are a false economy. Getting 17.5 mpg which aint bad considering

Go get one and enjoy they are great in every situation and once you learn how to drive them properly are surprising capable on twisty back roads

I also recommend 2005-2006 supercharged as fantastic value for money. Recently sold a 55 plate for 22.5 and it was like new and drove beautifully Plus being SE had been fitted with RSE - cool car and great value

I've had my SC since new coming up for 6 years old this June , still goes like off a shovel , not had any major problems with it just the usual rear wash wiper problem and the rear camera fault .....

50.000 miles on the clock , between 10 and 14 mpg depends on what mood i am in whether it be flying by Beamers ,Merc's , and (3.6 TDV8's)

Fully loaded with all the bits apart from toilet roll when you hit a bend at 90 ...........

Although mine is the 05 / 06 model the tv in mine is analogue , could count on my one hand how often i have watched that ........

Gazellio wrote:

I also recommend 2005-2006 supercharged as fantastic value for money. Recently sold a 55 plate for 22.5 and it was like new and drove beautifully Plus being SE had been fitted with RSE - cool car and great value

I'm getting more and more convinced the more replies I'm geting!

Just of out of interest what's RSE?