AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

welcome

i think it would be better to buy a landrover in GB
and bring him to berlin..
RHD should not realy be a problem for you?!?

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Welcome
As said before, U`d be better off buying a UK vehicle if the steering wheel will not bother U. There are a few mods U need to carry out if U do import a vehicle.
As Solihulls finest didn`t bother too much with corrosive protection, U WILL find rust on any Discovery. As they share many components with the Range Rover Classic, U could look through those aswell for tips & hints.
As a Disco1 is U`r choice, U will in the UK find them with the smaller 2l petrol engine. I don`t know if that suits U, but it will certainly be a much cheaper vehicle to own in Germany. Happy hunting :-)

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Wow, pretty quick answers (in English too)
I thought about buying one in the uk, but I haven't lived there for years, and getting it over here would be a lot of hassle too... plus most of the world is LHD, so thats no huge disadvantage :-)
Plan to mainly use it for holidays, and adding a bunch of camping stuff to it...

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Prices are pretty low over here as well, I guess having to pay the ferry would add a significant percentage to the sticker price for the car, set aside the additional time wasted. And as you say, you end up sitting on the wrong side again :)

The early Discos had the 3.5 L V8, later they inherited the slightly more powerful 3.9 L from the Range. Be prepared that both will be quite worn out by now unless they had a mayor rebuild done already.

In general, most Discos sold in Germany are TDIs, therfor the market for Petrol versions is much thinner. If you are ready to extend your search beyond Germany, look into Italy. For Tax reasons, the above mentioned 2.0 MPI sold in larger numbers there as well, though personally I believe this engine is slightly underpowered for a Disco.

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Jenzz is correct there Buddy, there is quite a choice in the southern part of Mainland Europe. Than again U would need to travel. Climate down south is then again way more forgiving :-)
Even wtih a early Disco, U would be a few years away from the craved H-plates.

May I ask what U are looking at spending anyway?

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

I just looked at one today, really very nice, with big tires, snorken & long range tanks, for about €4000, but with quite a lot of rust underneath (unsuprisingly)...
Has anyone any ideas roughly how much it might cost to get the rust cleaned up and coated in Berlin, or reccomend any workshops? It's got a brand new TUV and the rust 'seems' to be just on the surface...

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Sorry Mate, rust on the surface is NEVER only this... there will be LOTS more.
Take a look at some of the RRC threads.
I don`t know Berlin-prices, however there is a separate thread running currently where someone wants his rear X-member replaced. There are talks about 100Eu/Hour prizes for weld work. I am shocked & happy at the same time as I do stuff like this myself.
Anyways, I are close to both Poland & the Chech Rep. IMHO U will find prices there alot more to U`r liking....
I`d seriously hope someone on here could possibly help U take a peak if need be & walk U trhough a few of the pitfalls.
As U may know, all fancy mods in Germany should be accepted by TüV & paperworks to tag along. PLEASE make sure this is the case for the object of U`r desire.
Any chance U could throw up the spec of the vehicle joust out of general Interest?
Hope this is remotely helpfull to U :-)

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

The car I'm looking at is a 1992 3.5L v8 petrol, Grün plakate, 125000km... €3900
The bullbar, snorkel, tanks and secondary battery circuit have papers, the rust underneath is quite extensive, but it's a 20 year old car built in Birmingham, this is probably normal...
Transmission leaks a bit, engine leaks a bit (according to Tüv)... the sellers offered to have the underbody cleaned, derusted, and treated in the price. It also has a big roofrack.
Of course it has lots of scratches, rusty spots, and the interior has a few bits hanging off, but the steering, engine and gearbox look, sound and feel ok (for the age).
The Pillars on which the suspension is mounted are quite rusted too.
I plan to spend a lot of time scraping rust off, spraying it, letting it dry and coating it...
Pros: It has everything I need to get in it and go on holiday... and it seems to drive good, and has all the extras I want...
It's black and looks quite cool.
It's (just) in my (not very big) price range

Cons: It has quite a lot of rust, a couple of leaks and the airblower inside needs looking at, as it doesn't blow air...
It's rusty... and drinks fuel (but I can't imagine solving either of those on my budget)

I'd be happy if I got another 3-4 years out of it (obviously more would be better), learn a bit about fixing stuff, have some fun camping and do some 4-5000 km trips around eastern europe while I'm in Berlin...

Any thoughts or tips would be most welcome!

On a seperate, purely hypothetical note, is it possible (with a bit of work of course) to run E85 on it, or is it just too agressive?

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Is it a injected or carburated engine? Haven`t seen nayone doing the E85-conversion yet, look to Sweden for more info perhaps?
Will get back on the corrosion issue

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Hi James,

I assume that you're aware of the cracking engine blocks in V8 Disco1? :)

A friend of mine scrapped his old D1 because of that reason(...after which he switched to D2 Td5 :) )

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Hi!

Sorry for my delayed reply!
Let me start by saying I have no idea what pamejudd is on about
The car U have looked at (I looked it up) is a matter of taste IMHO.
U should look about in the variouse UK stores such as Paddocks, Craddocks, M&M etc for replacement steel parts. Ranging from sills, fenders, footwells & floorpans. I don`t want to scare U bot with the latest posting on german welding prices I am in shock, I am clearly out of touch with workshop costs as I maintain my own fleet of vehicles.
My point is IF there is corrosion & U need it attended to by a workshop U will be paying through the nose. Fair enough, a rotten sill could go through a german MOT a time or 2. So please be warned if U can`t weld U`rself as these cars corrode badly.
I make my own parts as I am a tight. U need to look about for a friendly affordable place to care for U`r Disco if U should go ahead & purchase one.
Furthermore with the V8; U looked at a carbed model. Carbs are notall easy & knowledge is faiding today... regretfully. Also, the V8 likes to chew on the rocker shaft. Have all this in mind when U look for a car. Often replacing the whole engine could be a more affordable operation that replacing parts!

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Thanks very much for the replies,
I guess it is a matter of taste... but I like it!... we want to use it mainly for holidays, and not for every day use (as the previous three owners did)... and one day for a nice long expedition if I ever get the time & money and if it survives that long...
Are you sure it's carberated? In the title it's v8i and I saw no carburators in the engine when i looked...
welding is expensive... hopefully it won't need any too soon, but when it does need work doing, I'm hoping to take it to a self-service garage and do what I an myself...

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!

Ahh, Memory serving me wrong possibly... Sorry!
The Efi is way better, when it works
Didn`t want to badmouth U`r choosend vehicle, just make sure U go ahead with an informed mind Mate

AW: Ich will meine erste Disco kaufen... und hallo sagen!



Uhmm... The famous Rover V8 problem? No ring a bell?