Currently own 2 2003 discovery's but am interested in getting an older one for my hunting vehicle. I am looking at a 1996 SD, with 106K miles on it. Very clean looking, only issue is the rear bumper was damaged on the corner. They have owned it for 6 years and have not had any major issues with it. No rust Texas car. They have put in a new headliner, catalytic convertor and tires. Asking $3,600, is this a good price? I would suspect that they have the same issues of the DII, but just less electronics. I guess my one concern is the GEMS engine, I have not worked on one before. Does the 4.0 suffer from Headgasket failure like the 4.6? Any opinion on this year vehicle
Thanks[/align]

 

That sounds like a good price. I'd recommend driving out there and test driving it for at least half an hour or so. Push every button, make sure everything works. The DIs actually have very little problems since they're much more electronically simple than the DIIs as you said. Head gasket failure is still there but not nearly as prevalent as the DIIs, since DIs don't use the corrosive coolant the DIIs use. They still require premium gas. The front driveshaft doesn't need to be rebuilt as it does on the DIIs.

 

The GEMS 4.0 and the BOSCH 4.0 are the EXACT same engine.
The only differance is the BOSCH engine has a totally differant engine managment system.
The differant intake plumbing is what gives it more power.