LR2 HSE 3.2L, wifes car, my ongoing project
#1
04-14-2015, 12:06 AM
LR2 HSE 3.2L, wifes car, my ongoing project
To kick the thread off i'm doing a cut/past from the jag forum, so it might read a little out of context at first...
---------------------------------------------------------
16th March 2014
The wife had been on my case the last few months about getting a new car. I guess it was a bit of jealously, I have the XJR and had spent quite a bit on it for the import and the then the work I did on it once it arrived.
The X-Type had become "her car" back in Switzerland once I bought the XJR, but as you know we couldn't bring it back, so she's been driving around in a 2000 model Mazda 323 which had been driven by her sister since new, and as a result it was a total bucket. So "I need a new car" became a regularly heard statement round here. I had to get rid of my Falcon ute anyway, because the ABS module had packed it in & it needed way too much money to get it roadworthy (long list of things needed doing), it would be heading to the scrappers when the registration ran out in a few months anyhow.
Only stipulations for the new car were it had to be black, with a black interior, no diesel, and enough space with the back seat down to replace the ute. She was hoping for a Mazda CX-5, but no way was I parting with my own money for a Mazda, so I was on the lookout for a 4.2L Supercharged Range Rover Sport, but all the ones in my price range had been "pimped out" with a complete lack of taste. The RRS idea was scuttled when the wife actually sat in one & said "no way, it's just too big" so I started looking for a Freelander 2.
I was looking at Feelander 2 HSE's on carsales, in black, with the 3.2L, and quite by accident changed the search to take in all models of Freelander not just HSE's, and an SE showed up in the results. SE being a lower spec it was considerably cheaper than the HSE's, but when I looked at the pictures I noticed the badge on the boot was HSE.
It was at a dealer not far from our place, so I went down there the next morning to have a look. I took a printout of the ad with the advertised price and saying SE, I figured this would come in handy.
It was the sales guys 2nd day on the job, and he got me as a customer, poor bloke!
I had a good look over the car, checking the toys and options fitted. Although it didn't have Satnav (the Aussie LR2's have a Garmin Nav fitted locally by the dealers), it was in fact an HSE. I asked him when they had put the ad up & said the day before, which explained why nobody had picked up on the mistake, so I put out a few "buying signals" to get the salesman on the hook. First of all I asked him to confirm the price, as per the ad.
"Yes that's the price" he says.
"What about trade-ins, I've got this 2002 XR6 ute, it's a bit rough, but worth $1500"
"Yeah we could do that" he says.
"OK good, so now why does the ad say this Land Rover is an SE, when in fact it's an HSE?" I asked.
"I need to speak with the sales manager" he replies.
Cutting a long story short, he goes in to see his boss and 15 minutes later they come back & confirm that it is an HSE, someone screwed up the ad big time.
I know that the price they've advertised it for is $5K - $7K cheaper than other HSE's on the market right now, so I dig in my heels "you advertised it at this price, and confirmed it just before, so that's what i'll pay, and take my ute for $1500" and the sales manager reluctantly says yes.
And then I turn into a complete a**hole.
I started pointing out all the defects in the paint (crows feet all over the tailgate), the sunfaded D pillars and the plinth on the tailgate was also faded. "all this needs to be painted" I demand. "OK yes we will do that"
But I keep going..."There's a crack in the passenger mirror, dents on the drivers door, this has to be fixed too" "OK, yes, yes, we'll fix it"
Go in to do the paperwork, and I make them write all this stuff into the contract, every little thing they have to fix. Will all be sorted out when I get back from Korea a week later to pick it up.
So i picked it up yesterday, handed over the ute, and when the sales bloke went to move it the hose from the intake manifold to the brake booster popped off & there were no brakes! I explained that "it does that sometimes" but he didn't see the funny side of it.
Paid them the balance & signed the last of the paperwork, deal was done. I've never seen a bloke so unhappy about selling a car...i'm probably their least-liked customer, but that's what you get for putting 300% markup on parts!
Pics I took at the dealer on the day, before the paintwork had been done.
You can see the plinth on the tailgate is that faded grey colour, in the pic below it's been painted body colour when they did the tailgate.
So about the car...
2009MY Freelander 2 HSE
3.2L Si6 (actually a Volvo engine) with 6-speed auto
Black on Black
Alpine Premium Sound with subwoofer, 6-stacker
Automatic Xenon headlights
Automatic rain-sensing wipers
Powerfold mirrors
Front & rear parking sensors (which override the stereo, happy about that!)
Panoramic Roof (dual sunroof)
4 brand new Kuhmo's on factory 18's
Full service history, with 113'000kms on the clock
I think the previous owner was a chain-smoking exotic dancer, because there is stripper-glitter all over the steering wheel, and the scent of Marlboro in the cabin (but being a smoker, I couldn't smell it)
But it's never been off-road, from what I can tell no accident damage, the leather is in very good condition.
Needs a bit of cosmetic work, mostly from sun damage, the door handles need replacing, the badges are faded, the vents on the front wings also need replacing from sun damage. I've ordered all the bits in the UK & they'll be turning up in the next couple of weeks.
It's quite nice to drive, very comfortable, the 3.2 makes reasonable power, but despite this being a "small SUV" it's still pretty big, it dwarfs the XJR
Easily as wide, maybe a foot or so shorter, so i hope the wife has no problems parking it, she complained about the XJR being "huge" so see how she gets on with the Land Rover! Good thing the parking sensors mute the stereo, the X-Type didn't have that & she backed it into a garbage bin because "it didn't beep" well it did, but she couldn't hear it over the music.
First job was to remove the towbar (it was a real shin-smasher) and tape up the hole left by it, you can see in the pic above. I just realised that the white cover for the plug looks awful so I'll have to paint that.
And i've been told it will have to get black Euro plates like the XJR...
I'll update this thread as the bits & pieces turn up, not a project as such, but taking care of all those little things that make the difference.
---------------------------------------------------------
16th March 2014
The wife had been on my case the last few months about getting a new car. I guess it was a bit of jealously, I have the XJR and had spent quite a bit on it for the import and the then the work I did on it once it arrived.
The X-Type had become "her car" back in Switzerland once I bought the XJR, but as you know we couldn't bring it back, so she's been driving around in a 2000 model Mazda 323 which had been driven by her sister since new, and as a result it was a total bucket. So "I need a new car" became a regularly heard statement round here. I had to get rid of my Falcon ute anyway, because the ABS module had packed it in & it needed way too much money to get it roadworthy (long list of things needed doing), it would be heading to the scrappers when the registration ran out in a few months anyhow.
Only stipulations for the new car were it had to be black, with a black interior, no diesel, and enough space with the back seat down to replace the ute. She was hoping for a Mazda CX-5, but no way was I parting with my own money for a Mazda, so I was on the lookout for a 4.2L Supercharged Range Rover Sport, but all the ones in my price range had been "pimped out" with a complete lack of taste. The RRS idea was scuttled when the wife actually sat in one & said "no way, it's just too big" so I started looking for a Freelander 2.
I was looking at Feelander 2 HSE's on carsales, in black, with the 3.2L, and quite by accident changed the search to take in all models of Freelander not just HSE's, and an SE showed up in the results. SE being a lower spec it was considerably cheaper than the HSE's, but when I looked at the pictures I noticed the badge on the boot was HSE.
It was at a dealer not far from our place, so I went down there the next morning to have a look. I took a printout of the ad with the advertised price and saying SE, I figured this would come in handy.
It was the sales guys 2nd day on the job, and he got me as a customer, poor bloke!
I had a good look over the car, checking the toys and options fitted. Although it didn't have Satnav (the Aussie LR2's have a Garmin Nav fitted locally by the dealers), it was in fact an HSE. I asked him when they had put the ad up & said the day before, which explained why nobody had picked up on the mistake, so I put out a few "buying signals" to get the salesman on the hook. First of all I asked him to confirm the price, as per the ad.
"Yes that's the price" he says.
"What about trade-ins, I've got this 2002 XR6 ute, it's a bit rough, but worth $1500"
"Yeah we could do that" he says.
"OK good, so now why does the ad say this Land Rover is an SE, when in fact it's an HSE?" I asked.
"I need to speak with the sales manager" he replies.
Cutting a long story short, he goes in to see his boss and 15 minutes later they come back & confirm that it is an HSE, someone screwed up the ad big time.
I know that the price they've advertised it for is $5K - $7K cheaper than other HSE's on the market right now, so I dig in my heels "you advertised it at this price, and confirmed it just before, so that's what i'll pay, and take my ute for $1500" and the sales manager reluctantly says yes.
And then I turn into a complete a**hole.
I started pointing out all the defects in the paint (crows feet all over the tailgate), the sunfaded D pillars and the plinth on the tailgate was also faded. "all this needs to be painted" I demand. "OK yes we will do that"
But I keep going..."There's a crack in the passenger mirror, dents on the drivers door, this has to be fixed too" "OK, yes, yes, we'll fix it"
Go in to do the paperwork, and I make them write all this stuff into the contract, every little thing they have to fix. Will all be sorted out when I get back from Korea a week later to pick it up.
So i picked it up yesterday, handed over the ute, and when the sales bloke went to move it the hose from the intake manifold to the brake booster popped off & there were no brakes! I explained that "it does that sometimes" but he didn't see the funny side of it.
Paid them the balance & signed the last of the paperwork, deal was done. I've never seen a bloke so unhappy about selling a car...i'm probably their least-liked customer, but that's what you get for putting 300% markup on parts!
Pics I took at the dealer on the day, before the paintwork had been done.
You can see the plinth on the tailgate is that faded grey colour, in the pic below it's been painted body colour when they did the tailgate.
So about the car...
2009MY Freelander 2 HSE
3.2L Si6 (actually a Volvo engine) with 6-speed auto
Black on Black
Alpine Premium Sound with subwoofer, 6-stacker
Automatic Xenon headlights
Automatic rain-sensing wipers
Powerfold mirrors
Front & rear parking sensors (which override the stereo, happy about that!)
Panoramic Roof (dual sunroof)
4 brand new Kuhmo's on factory 18's
Full service history, with 113'000kms on the clock
I think the previous owner was a chain-smoking exotic dancer, because there is stripper-glitter all over the steering wheel, and the scent of Marlboro in the cabin (but being a smoker, I couldn't smell it)
But it's never been off-road, from what I can tell no accident damage, the leather is in very good condition.
Needs a bit of cosmetic work, mostly from sun damage, the door handles need replacing, the badges are faded, the vents on the front wings also need replacing from sun damage. I've ordered all the bits in the UK & they'll be turning up in the next couple of weeks.
It's quite nice to drive, very comfortable, the 3.2 makes reasonable power, but despite this being a "small SUV" it's still pretty big, it dwarfs the XJR
Easily as wide, maybe a foot or so shorter, so i hope the wife has no problems parking it, she complained about the XJR being "huge" so see how she gets on with the Land Rover! Good thing the parking sensors mute the stereo, the X-Type didn't have that & she backed it into a garbage bin because "it didn't beep" well it did, but she couldn't hear it over the music.
First job was to remove the towbar (it was a real shin-smasher) and tape up the hole left by it, you can see in the pic above. I just realised that the white cover for the plug looks awful so I'll have to paint that.
And i've been told it will have to get black Euro plates like the XJR...
I'll update this thread as the bits & pieces turn up, not a project as such, but taking care of all those little things that make the difference.
#2
04-14-2015, 12:07 AM
22nd March 2014
Well a few packages from the UK turned up during the week, so I spent a few hours today on the Freelander.
New side vents in chrome, with clear indicator lenses, a black badge kit for the external oval badges, a black badge for the steering wheel, and some centre caps with black badges.
The Freelander 2 has some odd sized oval badges on the C pillars, which are not used on any other LR model. They are the standard green/gold colours. The Supercharged Range Rover Sport got black badges, and I think they look a lot better, especially on a black vehicle, and i'm not the only one that thinks that way, there was such a demand that a small company in the UK started making these kits to stick over the Freelander 2 badges.
Not as good as the real thing when you get up close, but since there is no other option, this is it.
The Supercharged Range Rover Sport also had the black oval badge on the steering wheel, which you can pick up on ebay cheap enough.
Before
After
The vents on the wings quite literally pop in & out, and the side indicators are also a 30 second job to change.
Before
After
Wheel centre caps actually turned out to be genuine ones, despite the super low price on ebay. Or...the green ones I took off were copies too? Either way, massive improvement.
You can see where I wiped the wheel before taking the cap off, that's from just one week of commuting, a total of 400kms. I think some low-dust ceramic pads are needed here.
So, nice new wheel caps, but then I saw just how bad the gutter rash was on the wheels....
Really, they need professional refurbishing, but i'm on the lookout for a set of original 20's from a Range Rover Evoque (direct fit) so I just sat there for an hour touching them up with a silver wheel paint kit.
Hell of a lot better than what it was.
So some pics after a wash, it's looking a bit sharper now.
Still waiting on new door handles to arrive from the UK, should be here next week.
It's getting there, but this is the easy stuff, next comes the navigation & bluetooth phone retrofit, just waiting on my wallet to recover from the last couple of weeks efforts...
Well a few packages from the UK turned up during the week, so I spent a few hours today on the Freelander.
New side vents in chrome, with clear indicator lenses, a black badge kit for the external oval badges, a black badge for the steering wheel, and some centre caps with black badges.
The Freelander 2 has some odd sized oval badges on the C pillars, which are not used on any other LR model. They are the standard green/gold colours. The Supercharged Range Rover Sport got black badges, and I think they look a lot better, especially on a black vehicle, and i'm not the only one that thinks that way, there was such a demand that a small company in the UK started making these kits to stick over the Freelander 2 badges.
Not as good as the real thing when you get up close, but since there is no other option, this is it.
The Supercharged Range Rover Sport also had the black oval badge on the steering wheel, which you can pick up on ebay cheap enough.
Before
After
The vents on the wings quite literally pop in & out, and the side indicators are also a 30 second job to change.
Before
After
Wheel centre caps actually turned out to be genuine ones, despite the super low price on ebay. Or...the green ones I took off were copies too? Either way, massive improvement.
You can see where I wiped the wheel before taking the cap off, that's from just one week of commuting, a total of 400kms. I think some low-dust ceramic pads are needed here.
So, nice new wheel caps, but then I saw just how bad the gutter rash was on the wheels....
Really, they need professional refurbishing, but i'm on the lookout for a set of original 20's from a Range Rover Evoque (direct fit) so I just sat there for an hour touching them up with a silver wheel paint kit.
Hell of a lot better than what it was.
So some pics after a wash, it's looking a bit sharper now.
Still waiting on new door handles to arrive from the UK, should be here next week.
It's getting there, but this is the easy stuff, next comes the navigation & bluetooth phone retrofit, just waiting on my wallet to recover from the last couple of weeks efforts...
#3
04-14-2015, 12:08 AM
23rd March 2014
I hooked up the SDD yesterday to have a bit of a poke around, mainly to see what "dealer options" there were to play with.
I really wanted to turn off the warning beeps if you start the car with the drivers door open, or open the drivers door before removing the key.
I found the vehicle configuration where you can change all this sort of stuff, but sadly no option to turn off the chimes. Actually there's not many options in there at all, you can select if the mirrors dip in reverse, select the drive-away locking, and select daytime running lights, and that's it...
A bit disappointed....
There isn't even an option to turn off the beltminder, although I did find out how to do it without the SDD.
1) Insert the key fob
2) Press and HOLD the start button without your foot on the clutch (manual) or brake (auto) for about 2-3 seconds
3) Insert and remove the seat belt 9 times - a chime will sound on the 9th attempt
4) Seat belt warning is disabled
Still can't shut up the key-in/door-open chimes though...
I hate cars that beep incessantly...
I hooked up the SDD yesterday to have a bit of a poke around, mainly to see what "dealer options" there were to play with.
I really wanted to turn off the warning beeps if you start the car with the drivers door open, or open the drivers door before removing the key.
I found the vehicle configuration where you can change all this sort of stuff, but sadly no option to turn off the chimes. Actually there's not many options in there at all, you can select if the mirrors dip in reverse, select the drive-away locking, and select daytime running lights, and that's it...
A bit disappointed....
There isn't even an option to turn off the beltminder, although I did find out how to do it without the SDD.
1) Insert the key fob
2) Press and HOLD the start button without your foot on the clutch (manual) or brake (auto) for about 2-3 seconds
3) Insert and remove the seat belt 9 times - a chime will sound on the 9th attempt
4) Seat belt warning is disabled
Still can't shut up the key-in/door-open chimes though...
I hate cars that beep incessantly...
#4
04-14-2015, 12:09 AM
25th March 2014
Another package arrived from the UK last night. A parcel shelf / load cover.
These things are damn expensive, the list price in the UK was £240, i didn't even ask what they would be to buy local.
Lucky I picked up a new-old-stock one off ebay, from Belfast of all places, for £100 plus shipping.
Surprised that an HSE didn't have one as standard, or it's probably sitting in the previous owners garage under a pile of junk...
Another package arrived from the UK last night. A parcel shelf / load cover.
These things are damn expensive, the list price in the UK was £240, i didn't even ask what they would be to buy local.
Lucky I picked up a new-old-stock one off ebay, from Belfast of all places, for £100 plus shipping.
Surprised that an HSE didn't have one as standard, or it's probably sitting in the previous owners garage under a pile of junk...
#5
04-14-2015, 12:10 AM
25th April 2014
I got the new handles on a week or so back, but didn't get the chance to take a pic. The easiest job I ever did on a car, literally 15mins to change all four handles. The busted door mirror finally got replaced and the dings pulled out of the drivers door. So I figured i'd put some colour-coded mirror covers on too, finish it off nicely.
Looks a million times better than those crappy faded grey handles.
Couldn't believe it, the guy that pulled the dents out of the door removed the bolts from the door lock, and forgot to put two out of three back in. I'm wondering "why doesn't this door close properly" and voila, no bolts. Muppets... fixed quick enough, but still, you expect people to do a good job, and they let you down..
eBay has been very expensive the last couple of weeks, I picked up a genuine Audio Connectivity Module, which gives you iPod, USB and AUX inputs to the factory stereo, also picked up a set of genuine HST exhaust tips. Should be here in a week or two. And I won a TomTom Start60 / Via 620, which fits perfectly in the hole in the dash, gotta find a free weekend soon, the to do list is pileing up..
In a half-hearted attempt to improve the mileage, i put a K&N panel filter in today, makes a very noticeable difference to the induction note, but i'm not holding out much hope for an improvement in economy. Seems that Viezu has an off-the-shelf tune for these things, but it's a power tune... they talk about adding ~25HP and 20Nm or so.
I'll have to see what the local agent has to say about it...
Still waiting for my new steering wheel to turn up too...
Found a guy in Hong Kong offering the Evoque 20's for around $1100 shipped here, which is very tempting...
I got the new handles on a week or so back, but didn't get the chance to take a pic. The easiest job I ever did on a car, literally 15mins to change all four handles. The busted door mirror finally got replaced and the dings pulled out of the drivers door. So I figured i'd put some colour-coded mirror covers on too, finish it off nicely.
Looks a million times better than those crappy faded grey handles.
Couldn't believe it, the guy that pulled the dents out of the door removed the bolts from the door lock, and forgot to put two out of three back in. I'm wondering "why doesn't this door close properly" and voila, no bolts. Muppets... fixed quick enough, but still, you expect people to do a good job, and they let you down..
eBay has been very expensive the last couple of weeks, I picked up a genuine Audio Connectivity Module, which gives you iPod, USB and AUX inputs to the factory stereo, also picked up a set of genuine HST exhaust tips. Should be here in a week or two. And I won a TomTom Start60 / Via 620, which fits perfectly in the hole in the dash, gotta find a free weekend soon, the to do list is pileing up..
In a half-hearted attempt to improve the mileage, i put a K&N panel filter in today, makes a very noticeable difference to the induction note, but i'm not holding out much hope for an improvement in economy. Seems that Viezu has an off-the-shelf tune for these things, but it's a power tune... they talk about adding ~25HP and 20Nm or so.
I'll have to see what the local agent has to say about it...
Still waiting for my new steering wheel to turn up too...
Found a guy in Hong Kong offering the Evoque 20's for around $1100 shipped here, which is very tempting...
#6
04-14-2015, 12:11 AM
3rd May 2014
Wheels will have to wait until tax time, if I get a reasonable return then I'll drop some coin on the wheels & do the brakes at the same time. The dust from the stock pads is ridiculous.
Picked up a pair of genuine new old stock exhaust tips from the HST kit for £50, put em on this morning, but they are pushing the taste-limit a bit...
it's a 5min job to put the old ones back on so well see how it goes.
The Audio Connectivity kit and GPS are here, but it's a good half day to put them in, no time this weekend, and next weekend is a blow out too.
The steering wheel has finally shipped so I'll put that in at the same time. The trimmer sent me a few pics, much better finish than the OEM ones.
Wheels will have to wait until tax time, if I get a reasonable return then I'll drop some coin on the wheels & do the brakes at the same time. The dust from the stock pads is ridiculous.
Picked up a pair of genuine new old stock exhaust tips from the HST kit for £50, put em on this morning, but they are pushing the taste-limit a bit...
it's a 5min job to put the old ones back on so well see how it goes.
The Audio Connectivity kit and GPS are here, but it's a good half day to put them in, no time this weekend, and next weekend is a blow out too.
The steering wheel has finally shipped so I'll put that in at the same time. The trimmer sent me a few pics, much better finish than the OEM ones.
#7
04-14-2015, 12:12 AM
27th May 2014
Euro plates are on! Looks much better now, but unfortunately the front bumper has two extra holes from the plinth that aren't covered by the new plate, I'll have to try & fill them then touch up the bog.
The new steering wheel has been sitting here for a few weeks, along with the GPS and the Audio Connectivity Module.
Since the XJR has destroyed its diff, I won't be racing in the JDCA round of the Classic Sports Car Association SuperSprint this weekend, I might get round to fitting all these toys to the Freelander....
EDIT
Worth mentioning, that since I put the K&N filter in, the consumption on the wifes daily commute has gone from 14.9L/100km to 14.3L/100km.
Still sucks, but a considerable improvement....
Euro plates are on! Looks much better now, but unfortunately the front bumper has two extra holes from the plinth that aren't covered by the new plate, I'll have to try & fill them then touch up the bog.
The new steering wheel has been sitting here for a few weeks, along with the GPS and the Audio Connectivity Module.
Since the XJR has destroyed its diff, I won't be racing in the JDCA round of the Classic Sports Car Association SuperSprint this weekend, I might get round to fitting all these toys to the Freelander....
EDIT
Worth mentioning, that since I put the K&N filter in, the consumption on the wifes daily commute has gone from 14.9L/100km to 14.3L/100km.
Still sucks, but a considerable improvement....
#8
04-14-2015, 12:13 AM
1st June 2014
Yesterdays jobs were to fit the front bumper extensions and the front mudflaps, nothing too complicated.
Today were are fitting the new steering wheel, the Audio Connectivity Module and the GPS.
First job, steering wheel. You need a special tool to release the airbag from wheel, these are £20 plus shipping from the UK.
Or you can make your own from an old wooden coathanger, for free!
Airbag is out without much fuss.
New wheel on the left, old wheel on the right
The new one has perforated leather, it's not exactly in the OEM style, better I think.
Funny thing with the colours, I was thinking "why is the new one so light???" but when I turned over the old one, there were a couple of spots where hands/fingers had not been working the leather, and it was the same lighter colour. Old steering wheel was disgusting, lots of dirt/sweat on the back of it. New wheel makes it feel like a brand new car...
Just a pity that the top of the airbag has started to curl up a little...
Nav is in & all working
BUT
Bit of a mix up with the Audio Connectivity Module, it's the one for a Discovery 3 / Range Rover Sport 2006-2010 but turns out it doesn't fit the Freelander 2.
So i'll have to flog it off & try to get my hands on the Freelander 2 kit.
Yesterdays jobs were to fit the front bumper extensions and the front mudflaps, nothing too complicated.
Today were are fitting the new steering wheel, the Audio Connectivity Module and the GPS.
First job, steering wheel. You need a special tool to release the airbag from wheel, these are £20 plus shipping from the UK.
Or you can make your own from an old wooden coathanger, for free!
Airbag is out without much fuss.
New wheel on the left, old wheel on the right
The new one has perforated leather, it's not exactly in the OEM style, better I think.
Funny thing with the colours, I was thinking "why is the new one so light???" but when I turned over the old one, there were a couple of spots where hands/fingers had not been working the leather, and it was the same lighter colour. Old steering wheel was disgusting, lots of dirt/sweat on the back of it. New wheel makes it feel like a brand new car...
Just a pity that the top of the airbag has started to curl up a little...
Nav is in & all working
BUT
Bit of a mix up with the Audio Connectivity Module, it's the one for a Discovery 3 / Range Rover Sport 2006-2010 but turns out it doesn't fit the Freelander 2.
So i'll have to flog it off & try to get my hands on the Freelander 2 kit.
#9
04-14-2015, 12:14 AM
17th July 2014
The alarm on this thing had been going off randomly, I guessed it was a door switch, the boot switch or the bonnet switch.
Confirmed as bonnet switch when the wife hit a pothole on Parramatta Road and "Bonnet Open" flashed up on the dash.
Paperclip does a pretty good job too....
That's the end of that then...
The alarm on this thing had been going off randomly, I guessed it was a door switch, the boot switch or the bonnet switch.
Confirmed as bonnet switch when the wife hit a pothole on Parramatta Road and "Bonnet Open" flashed up on the dash.
Paperclip does a pretty good job too....
That's the end of that then...
#10
04-14-2015, 12:15 AM
19th July 2014
I've since found out that it's not such a big job to get to the switch, just need to pop the headlight out (which takes all of a minute) and as I want to change the park light bulbs, I was going to do it anyway. There is a spring in the switch which loses its shape after while, so I reckon just bending the spring ought to solve it.
Rear spoiler arrived yesterday, looks a lot better with it fitted I think.
But....the bloody thing doesn't fit properly, theres a few mm gap on the inside edge where it goes onto the tailgate, and the double-sided tape isn't in contact with the surface. Not sure how this could be fixed since I bought it from a well know Land Rover tuner in the UK and it was supplied pre-painted...will have to get in touch with them...not happy....
Some interesting developments in regards to the brake upgrade....
A guy in Romania who runs a Land Rover workshop found out that the front calipers/discs from the 2008 Volvo S80 are a direct bolt-on to the Freelander 2.
The 2nd gen S80 uses 316mm discs same as the Freelander, but the calipers are much bigger.
He also tried some of the big calipers from the XC90 (that uses 336mm discs) and guess what, also a direct bolt-on.
Only problem is the hub bore of the XC90 is not the same as the FL2, even though the PCD is, he made up some spacer rings to get the 336mm XC90 discs to work on the smaller hub bore. Apparently the braking is much improved over the original setup...
But this opens up another possibility. There's a company in the states that does Wilwood 4-piston kits for Volvo's, and they have a kit for the 2008 S80.
Volvo S80 Big Brake Kit - Sport Gen II 2007-2011 but it's huge with 355mm discs. Overkill for what I need....
I wrote him an email asking if he could do the same kit for 336mm discs (so I can use the stock 336mm XC70 disc) but I got no reply yet...
Oh, and I may have won a set of genuine Evoque 20's off ebay for a few hundred $'s, came off a brand new car with delivery miles only...
I've since found out that it's not such a big job to get to the switch, just need to pop the headlight out (which takes all of a minute) and as I want to change the park light bulbs, I was going to do it anyway. There is a spring in the switch which loses its shape after while, so I reckon just bending the spring ought to solve it.
Rear spoiler arrived yesterday, looks a lot better with it fitted I think.
But....the bloody thing doesn't fit properly, theres a few mm gap on the inside edge where it goes onto the tailgate, and the double-sided tape isn't in contact with the surface. Not sure how this could be fixed since I bought it from a well know Land Rover tuner in the UK and it was supplied pre-painted...will have to get in touch with them...not happy....
Some interesting developments in regards to the brake upgrade....
A guy in Romania who runs a Land Rover workshop found out that the front calipers/discs from the 2008 Volvo S80 are a direct bolt-on to the Freelander 2.
The 2nd gen S80 uses 316mm discs same as the Freelander, but the calipers are much bigger.
He also tried some of the big calipers from the XC90 (that uses 336mm discs) and guess what, also a direct bolt-on.
Only problem is the hub bore of the XC90 is not the same as the FL2, even though the PCD is, he made up some spacer rings to get the 336mm XC90 discs to work on the smaller hub bore. Apparently the braking is much improved over the original setup...
But this opens up another possibility. There's a company in the states that does Wilwood 4-piston kits for Volvo's, and they have a kit for the 2008 S80.
Volvo S80 Big Brake Kit - Sport Gen II 2007-2011 but it's huge with 355mm discs. Overkill for what I need....
I wrote him an email asking if he could do the same kit for 336mm discs (so I can use the stock 336mm XC70 disc) but I got no reply yet...
Oh, and I may have won a set of genuine Evoque 20's off ebay for a few hundred $'s, came off a brand new car with delivery miles only...