I am new to Land Rovers, but not new to working on vehicles. You all seem very knowledgeable as I read through the forum. I am hoping you can help me. I am looking at purchasing a 1999 Discovery II. The previous owner says he took it to the dealer and it needs a new ECU. My question, what am I getting myself into? I am thinking I can buy a matching pair ECU/BCM and swap them in. I am assuming I will need to purchase a programmer or take the vehicle to someplace that can sync them. If I get the vehicle for the right price I am thinking the swap and programming would be around $500.


Am I close to the ballpark?


What else should I be looking at when I inspect the vehicle? Anything that is a RUN AWAY thing?
Thank you in advance!

 

If you swap the ECU, BCU, and instrument cluster together then you'll have no problems. You can buy complete sets from Abran (one of the forum members). That way you wont need a programmer. If you only swap the ECU, you will need a programmer. I believe the iCarsoft is the cheapest option that will do ECU/BCU/Instrument Cluster syncing, but I could be wrong. Check with Abran, he'll hook you up.

 

Thank you, do you think my budget is reasonable? I cant look up Abran yet, I don't have permission yet, but thank you for the reference.

 

aaabeyta@mac.com

 

"Run away" would be any serious frame rust, typically at the back end. Depending on mileage and what service records are available, you might also want to consider changing any or all of:
front prop shaft
air shock bags
various sunroof parts if they're leaking
rocker cover gaskets
head gaskets
various cooling system parts including hoses, thermostat, and water pump
plugs, wires, and coils
timing chain
Figure at least $1200 for just the parts for all that, if you're planning on doing the work yourself.

 

I appreciate the other members suggesting me for a parts source. Unfortunately I don't have a set right now, only for an 03/04.

A big question is price on this 99'. It should be less than $600 in my opinion.

 

Thank you all. I am not afraid to buy a programmer. I am sure it will come in handy down the road. Abran, if you do not have a full set, am I looking for trouble if I find a junkyard matching set and use the programer to sync? What programmer do you recommend ?

Also Abran, you are in the ballpark. I figure if I can get it for 600 to 800 I should be ok.

 

you could also check with paul grant he has a bunch of discos he is parting in the for sale section

 

If you're concerned about the budget for the ECU swap, you should be careful with regard to the budget for the whole vehicle. DII's sell for a very depreciated price for a reason. They consistently have massive costs that far exceed the used purchase price.

It would be unfair for me to suggest a particular budget figure, but I can tell you that long term ownership of these vehicles (more than a couple years) involves far more cost than you will ever resell them for. In addition to the initial purchase, plan on losing several thousand dollars per year. If you're thinking you're going to spend about a thousand bucks on top of the initial purchase and be good to go for a couple years, you're mistaken and this isn't the right vehicle for you.

Some people might think I'm going too far, but I would say that a Land Rover (any year) is a good match for someone who is willing to pay thirty to forty thousand dollars over 10 years or more of ownership. It is a bad choice if you want to spend less than ten thousand. It is not that kind of vehicle. It's the kind of vehicle where you will be twenty thousand into it and could sell it for five thousand. People who have those low budgets either hardly ever drive them, or they flip them within the first couple years. It has to be worth to you personally far more than it will resell for. And to be fair, it can compare favorably to newer vehicles of other makes that do sell for big prices. The D2 compares favorably to the Defender in many ways and there's many people that will pay fifty grand for a Defender. So yes, the value can be had in a sense, but the used vehicle market won't pay you for it. You have to realize the value for yourself. If you don't see it, don't buy it.

 

Binvanna is correct, maintaining these vehicles is expensive. I believe I've spent somewhere in the ballpark of 3-4k dollars on mine in repairs and general maintenance, that's doing almost all of the work myself. That's also not including the 1k parts vehicle I bought and the parts I've used off of it which probably amounts to another $500 dollars or so. I've had the truck approaching 3 years and a lot of that cost is because I've upgraded to higher quality parts than came on the vehicle. It should also be noted that since I've done so much work, I've been issue free (other than a crank position sensor issue) for around 13k miles. Once you get completely caught up on maintenance and repairs, as long as you maintain them to a tee then they will treat you well. It just takes a lot of work to get them to that point.