Just bought a 1999 Disco. It’s a top spec ES and electric everything so will I be always taking it to an auto electrician? Or are they better than the previous version.
It will be used off road quite a bit too so just wondered about tyre choice. Thanks.

Recently parted with a 1997 ES. Later mk1s have some engine management electronics, especially autos, but nowhere near as much as mk2s. Under the skin they are basically a 100 inch defender, a lot of the running gear is the same. Most of the rest comes from the British Leyland parts bin – Morris Marina door handles, Maestro van back door etc.

Used mine off road quite a bit, BFG ATs or General ATs were a good compromise between on road manners and off road ability. BFGs lasted so long they perished and had to be scrapped before the tread wore out.

Its all simple enough to look after. Old discos tend to hide rot though so have a good dig around inner wheel arches and sills.
As above under the skin its pretty much a defender 110.

We’ve got a 2003 Discovery 2. Useless in the snow on the original tyres but we’ve now got General Grabber AT2’s and it’s flipping brilliant. Boot space is rubbish for bikes though, even with the rear seats folded down i have to take a wheel off. The engine does need a chance to warm up too, it’s almost impossible to get out of our drive from cold. Not much space for passengers in the back either. To sit in the boot you need to be about 5ft tall or it’s too cramped. I like it though.

Does it have the TD5 engine ?

They are good engines, but one small problem is that the loom from the injectors in the engine has a dodgy seal – engine oil migrates down the loom and ends up in the ECU where it can cause all sorts of ( generally temporary ) problems. Locate the ECU, pull the red plug off it and check for any signs of oil.

The fix is cheap and easy if you do have oil migrating down the loom.

For Tyres BFG AT are good and will take you through all sorts of things off road whilst being pretty good on road as well.

TD5 i guess? As above with the injector prob but that may have been done by now.
Join this forum, LR4x4.com. Any problems/questions they will help you out.
A TD5 is quite different to the previous versions electrically and mechanically.

if its a td5, get it remapped, i had mine done for about £250, a proper job too not a dodgy plug in thingy… totally wakes it up, not stupid power but enough for it to drive like a car an stops it feeling likes it weights ten ton lol…

also give he chassis a good steam clean off, let it dry a few days and then coat it with old oil or wax oil or something, theyr prone to rotting on the rear end..

good tip about the injector loom cranberry, if it does hav oil in the ecu plugs pull out the rubber seals and plug them back in as this stops the oil going in the ecu, it just then drips out

Check for rust in; boot floor, sills, outriggers, inner wings. Mechanically nice, old school motors, unfortunately let down by some poor materials, like a lot of cars of that era. What sort of off road do you mean? Competitions? Fundays? Greenlanes? Or hunting’ shootin’ and a fishin’?

Enjoy your landrover buddy, it’s more than just a car…

Had all of them at some point as work vehicles. The first was slow and fell apart, the series 2 had some go once the TD5 was up to 200bhp and leaked in odd places, occasionally had electrical ‘wobbles’. Was glad to see both these go, but didn’t want to leave the series 3.
That wasn’t entirely useful for you, they were just badly put together and not dependable enough for our work, we would have been better off with defenders or land cruisers.

More usefully, I do now work with a whole bunch of vehicles off-road and find that BFG mud-terrains clear pretty well and the newer ones have decent side wall protection and aren’t so bad on road. Also have Michelin XCL? on our 130 as it is a heavier weight rating and it’s narrowness helps. To further endorse the BFG muds, they even help keep the hi-lux ahead of the transit bus in the off-road stakes.

I’ve always had Defenders but now have an ’03 Discovery TD5 ES auto (facelif model) with everything on it apart from Sat Nav. I’d NEVER go back. I use it for work and it tows a 2.2ton trailer – it’s awesome. Leather, aircon, electric mirrors/heated screen etc. It does the same job as a Defender but in comfort!
Mine’s chipped (as were my last couple of Defenders) with a £450 plug in chip and it’s awesome. The self levelling air suspension keeps the car and trailer true no mattter which trailer I tow. Took it to Switzerland last year – just set the cruise control and go!

Depending on which rims you get will depend upon your tyre choice, but BFG AT are awesome. If you’ve got 18″ rims, you’ll be limited to Greneral Grabber AT2’s but they’re great alternative. It’s not that expensive to get a spare set of rims and tyres on eBay as people buy Vogues and RR Sports with 18″ rims as standard and pimp them up to 20″s or 22″s and with spigot rings they will fit a Discovery II. I recently bought a set of RR Sport rims with 2 brand new tyres (Goodyear Wranglers) and two at 6mm for £265!!! Why would you buy new?! If you go for proper off road tyres then you’ll suffer on the road with bad handling, noise and worse fuel economy so having two sets is a good idea.
Bad points –
Not cheap to run so find a reputable Land Rover specialist near you.
£130 to fill up – ouch! 25mpg means it’s not good for commuting!
2nd hand value plummets in the first 5 years but levels out later. Mine’s actually worth the same now as when I bought it 2 1/2 years ago due to two winters with decent snow!

See http://forum.landrovernet.com/forumdisplay.php/338-Discovery-Series-I-and-II for some useful advice.

Edit: The 130 is on XZL’s