Range Rover Recovery

Range Rover Recovery

The Range Rover Vogue or L322 as it’s known. A British classic with world beating all terrain capability that will take you anywhere in leather trimmed luxury.

 

 

Now anyone who has owned one of these will know that there are a few niggles with this vehicle and one of the common problems is the audio. One day the stereo will not make a sound or the screen will just show the Land Rover logo while the red light just flashes on the volume control. This usually means the main amplifier has failed in the rear of the car. It could also be a failure of one of the other components in the audio chain but the amplifier is most common.

 

The cost of a replacement from Land Rover will leave you shocked, an eBay one will set you back a few hundred pounds with no guarantee and you may be no further forward if that is not the problem. Even if it is you will only have the same performance as before. Wouldn’t it be nice to properly improve the system while you have the chance?

 

This was the situation our customer recently had and after a short discussion and a budget decided upon we set to work overhauling the whole system.

 

 

The vehicle owner had specified the Pioneer Avic F88DAB head unit.

 

 

The rest was up to us.

 

The first job was to strip out all the unnecessary kit in the rear of the vehicle and from the dash.

 

Not for the feint hearted but reasonably straight forward when you know where all the hidden screws are! We will, of course, be rewiring the system so there will inevitably be many unused plugs on the original looms. These cannot be left to rattle around the back of the dash so we make sure that each unused end is padded and secured. There is also a reasonable amount of modification required behind the dash to allow the double din unit to fit. We have done quite a few of these and are used to it but again great care is needed.

 

Once the car was stripped it was time to install the new cabling. We had already decided on the system components and so we produced a custom loom for this. The Range Rover is a big vehicle and it still surprises me how long these looms need to be. All the service accessories need to be installed for the head unit; such as the Bluetooth microphone, dual USB ports, DAB and GPS aerials. We usually fit one USB to the centre arm rest bin and one to the glove box while the other items are discreetly fitted for optimum performance. I also replaced the original rear view camera that had failed. Car & Home Stereo can install a new camera into the original housing keeping the OE look.

 

Now the head unit can be installed and the dash rebuilt.

 

I think you will agree that this now looks far better!

 

The next task was to upgrade all the speakers and we decided on Audison all round. These Italian speakers are superb and so much better than the fitted Harmon Kardon units. A component set was installed in each door.

 

Now for the fun part!

 

Knowing the tastes of the customer we knew that he would want plenty of power. Space is a little limited so we needed an amplifier with high performance but compact size and the perfect candidate was the fabulous JL Audio RD 400/4.

 

This compact power house is a gem of an amplifier boasting 100W per channel. The sound quality from these is amazing. It shares a lot of the design features of the award winning JL Audio XD amplifiers but at a lower price.

This amplifier will fit perfectly in the metal rack assembly in the boot cavity. It is hidden but easily available for any adjustments required.

 

The results are astonishing. The improvement over the factory system is huge; the detail at the front is crisp and the bass performance feels solid with no distortion. I would recommend this system to anyone with a failing factory audio.

 

If you would like to know more about how we can improve the system in your Range Rover (or any vehicle) please give me a call; on 01625 432707 or better still call into the shop on Sunderland Street in Macclesfield.

16 comments

  1. what would it cost and how much time to replace existing audio gear in a 2009 Vogue. Want DAB, stand apple stuff etc.

  2. hi im after a price on a complete sound system and amp rewire of a range rover l322 looking at upgrading to vibe amps and speakers if possible and also a head unit that does apple play and rear view camera if you have any available its the 2002-2005 model im just after a quote for this please

  3. hi
    could you give me a price for 06-7 l322 system as mentioned in this post maybe without the speakers

  4. I need to address the stereo on my L322 too…..without upgrading the speakers a rough cost to change amps please ?

    1. Hi David, so sorry for the slow reply.
      There are so many variations in the 322 and I would like to know what sort of performance you would like so please feel free to call me on 07971 928881 or 01625 432707 for a chat about options.
      Thank you
      Tim

  5. Many thanks for your assistance over the phone just now, it was very helpful in deciding a way forward with my L322 fibre optic/amp issue.
    Cheers
    Bob

  6. I have the 2003 L322 with amp but no sub.

    I’m looking to get an android head unit and possibly stock sub enclosure.

    What would it take and to get the sub and amp working?

    1. Hi,
      adding the sub would be straightforward. Any new head unit will have a sub out, all you would need would be an appropriate amplifier, I would recommend something like the XFire e600.1 (£299.00). If the stock sub has its own amp then it may be possible to integrate that with a line level converter.
      Please call me on 01625 432707 if you have any questions.
      Thank you
      Tim

  7. Hi
    I have L322 on 06. The stereo, sat nav and reversing camera don’t work. Could you contact me to discuss my options please.
    Kind regards
    Jon

    1. Hi Jonathan,
      There is a lot to discuss starting with what is currently installed and what you would like the new system to support. Please give me a call on 01625 432707.
      Thanks
      Tim

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