Hello all, first post so apologies if it's in the wrong area.

As a lifelong fan and owner of green ovals, and having recently reduced my commute from an 80 mile round trip to under 10, I feel the time is right to scratch the FFRR itch and to chop in my good (but dull) 5 Series.

I'm looking at the 3.6 TDV8 models, approx 2006-2008 within my budget of around £6.5k. I understand this is the lower end of the market, but am I crazy to expect something decent for this? I'm a confident mechanic, so any repairs and tinkering I'm quite happy to do myself.

- Should I only be looking for cars that have had the turbochargers replaced? Or is that not really as much of an issue as is made out?!
- Is there much difference between the first 3.6s (56 reg?) and the last?

Thanks all and hope to be joining your ranks soon!

Hi , the 3.6 is a fantastic machine , obviously the 4.4 is better in ways but i would be happy to be back in a 3.6 from my l405 4.4 if circumstances changed. Condition and service history is everything. I'm unware of prices but hopefully other will be along with more info.  2015 4.4 AB
GSXR 1000 K5
R1 1998

With that short daily commute distance would you not be safer looking at a petrol?

Should have mentioned, in addition to my commute I will still be doing regular (bi-monthly) trips of around 300-400 miles. So probably still over 1000 a month, but considerably less than the 2000 I did up until recently.

Working on an average of 26mpg for the TDV8, and 18mpg for the petrol, it's probably going to be a difference of about £100 a month. Also, whilst I'm sure the petrols are more than up to the task of towing a car transporter, the TDV8 probably makes more sense for this I think?

For that kind of budget I’d seriously take a look at this 2010 4.4 TDV8 that’s been discussed for a while

More miles than the Starship Enterprise, but it’s very tidy, one owner and with FSH. The price has been creeping down from £9,995 and am sure he’d be open to offers...

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Wow... really encouraging to see that they're capable of that sort of mileage... but a RR with nearly 330k miles is still a terrifying prospect!

I've got a 2006 3.6 TDV8 and for the 10 mile journies I'm lucky if I break 20mpg. Longer journies, >20 miles it appears to vary between 22 & occasionally 25 mpg.
I'd also like to know whether there are any differences (engine / gearbox software tuning) that might generate these reported high 20s mpg. Paul,
2001 Discovery 2 TD5, 211,000 miles & climbing
2006 FFRR TDV8 Vogue 145,000 miles & climbing
Member of Midland (Land) Rover Owners Club, www.mroc.co.uk

In my experience with diesels, especially in bigger cars (Merc S320 CDI, Jag XJ TDVi), it takes quite a long journey to get the average into what would be considered the 'extra urban' figures. For the Merc, it would take a good 50-100 mile run before the average came up to what I'd consider decent. So even on my 40 mile commute which was 90% motorway/dual carriageway, I would get 10mpg less than on a pure 200 mile cruise.

I'm guessing the TDV8 is similar or even worse, as at more than 2.5 tonnes the impact of traffic, town driving and accelerating up to speed will be even greater. So I'd hope for 20mpg on my short commute (with gentle driving) and would hope to nudge 30 on a long gentle cruise.

By contrast, the petrols never seem to get any higher than about 18mpg, which on a long drive would really start to get expensive!

The one on pistonheads posted by Red Merle looks a bargain for a 4.4TDV8 in AB spec

Yes, it has high mileage but if its been serviced and looks straight then even at 330k miles it should be absolutely fine. Needs a good clean inside I think but you'd be hard pressed to find something at that price which wasn't at least a few years older.

It's not that far from you, down the M40 so it's got to be worth a look. If it's as good as it looks in the pics then you'll be driving it home

Take a look in the wiki on what to check for when buying a FFRR before you go.

Good luck  2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster - Gone, but not forgotten

I do a lot of short journeys with my 4.4 V8, by careful driving and good anticipation I always exceed 30 mpg, on a run keeping at 60 mph or less its above 40 mpg. Actual figures NOT from the dashboard. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Rob99 wrote:

The one on pistonheads posted by Red Merle looks a bargain for a 4.4TDV8 in AB spec

Yes, it has high mileage but if its been serviced and looks straight then even at 330k miles it should be absolutely fine. Needs a good clean inside I think but you'd be hard pressed to find something at that price which wasn't at least a few years older.

It's not that far from you, down the M40 so it's got to be worth a look. If it's as good as it looks in the pics then you'll be driving it home

Take a look in the wiki on what to check for when buying a FFRR before you go.

Good luck

The autotrader valuation for it is quite a long way below what he's asking... but who knows what a 330k Range Rover is really worth?!

Don't know how on earth Autotrader got those values, it bears no relation to what is currently for sale on their site. I can only assume they knock off '000's for high mileage examples.

As an example a quick search reveals that the cheapest 4.4 TDV8 AB listed (apart from the one you're looking at) is around £15k. People do tend to be put off by high mileages but on a FFRR i dont see it as an issue, especially if it's motorway mileage and there's a good service history.

As has often been said, you should buy on condition and how its been looked after, rather than mileage. 2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster - Gone, but not forgotten

If you’re interested in that high miler, but you’re sitting in the fence, you might already be too late - there’s a 5 page article about it in the latest issue of Land Rover Monthly.

Any chance you could post a pic or two of the article Red?

. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway