Essential Options?

Had Pano Roof on my 1st car. I am sure my 6 year old son enjoyed it, but IMHO sat in the front seats you get zero benefit as you can't really look up through it. In our car the blind was shut in April and not opened again till Sep due to the heat. I genuinely have not noticed it not being in my 2nd car (and we have an Ebony headliner aswell).

The big stereo is awesome but can't comment about the standard since I have never heard it. I have a video in motion box and when playing a DVD movie it does sound like a cinema!

Xenon lights are good, but if you only drive occasionally in the dark then upgrade the bulbs (I did this in my Pure).

Think about whether you want built in Nav? My Navman is so much better, 3 x as fast and has a lot more functionality than the standard unit (and free lifetime updates). There is much debate on this forum about the Nav, but having driven a lot of BMW products recently for work I can whole-heartedly say it is not a patch on these systems (it can't read out your e-mails and sms's for example) and the graphics are shockingly poor in comparison.

I have found keyless entry to be really useful and would recommend.

Memory seats are good if you constantly swap drivers but sadly is not linked to the steering wheel (unlike BMW and Merc), so could be worth considering.

Finally, I have 20" wheels on my Pure and felt very little difference when putting on my 17" winters (also drove in UK before you ask not just "smooth" German roads), so don't be put off by pimping your wheels.

Hope this helps?

BFG

I've got the standard set up. I'm not an audiophile but almost never drive without music. I usually have the iphone plugged in or playing via bluetooth. I think it's a really good system for a standard setup and agree that having heard the big system, it is amazing, but the standard one is so good that I wouldn't pay for the upgrade.
I also know what BFGEM says about the pano roof. I don't think you would notice the difference from the driver's seat, apart from maybe more light in the car.
I've driven cars on 18s and 19s and couldn't tell any difference between the two, but both were noticeably less comfortable than my 20s with adaptive dynamics. (on Glasgow's crumbly roads anyway).

thanks for all the replies. I will listen to the standard system and see what its like. I know my localdealer has a couple with upgraded systems too so will see if i can listen back to back...

Re the nav - is it that bad? I'm coming from a BMW and i find that OK although a bit dated. Is the RR version much worse? Can anyone point me to threads with the discussion as I cant seem to find them.I could always mount my iphone somewhere - are there good places (not windscreen) to mount an iphone?

The only other in car nav systems I have used are the Navman (which uses the same Navteq mapping as the LR) and an old thing called an IQ which had speedcam warnings (they were often wrong for the area I live in too) and they were in a Full Fat Range rover and an RRS , both of which were models that didn't get them as standard. The LR stanav isn't the greatest system in the world but it is better than many once you get used to it. Having said that I also wouldn't pay for it if it weren't a standard feature a car and would prefer a "portable" system. They are much easier to update (LR built in system updates cost the earth from most dealers but the good ones do the update for free), often offer more options such as speed cam locations and of course you can take them from car to car when you change cars. I have no issues with the LR system although many here say it is crap

(10-11-2013 10:34pm)m_101 Wrote:  I've got the standard set up. I'm not an audiophile but almost never drive without music. I usually have the iphone plugged in or playing via bluetooth. I think it's a really good system for a standard setup and agree that having heard the big system, it is amazing, but the standard one is so good that I wouldn't pay for the upgrade.
I also know what BFGEM says about the pano roof. I don't think you would notice the difference from the driver's seat, apart from maybe more light in the car.
I've driven cars on 18s and 19s and couldn't tell any difference between the two, but both were noticeably less comfortable than my 20s with adaptive dynamics. (on Glasgow's crumbly roads anyway).

I have also noticed that unless on Comfort the ride is worse than a standard car, but then at high speed on the autobahn, the AD comes into its own.

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(10-11-2013 11:33pm)barneyrubble Wrote:  thanks for all the replies. I will listen to the standard system and see what its like. I know my localdealer has a couple with upgraded systems too so will see if i can listen back to back...

Re the nav - is it that bad? I'm coming from a BMW and i find that OK although a bit dated. Is the RR version much worse? Can anyone point me to threads with the discussion as I cant seem to find them.I could always mount my iphone somewhere - are there good places (not windscreen) to mount an iphone?

If you are coming from a BMW that is less than three years old, then you will feel as thought you are coming back in time. As Tim says the system will get you from A to B and is fine, but.....the graphics on the LR system are very basic and haven't really moved on my very early Freelander 2. Even the basic BMW Business System is more advanced than the RRE system, and the Professional system shames it. The real key is the use-ability; the RRE system is all push button and a bit clunky and no where near as instinctive. Again this is all personal opinion so have a good play at the stealers. Not really too sure how no Nav would affect resale, but if you are keeping it say more than 5 years I doubt you would ever get your money back (although I think you need Nav to be able to have the 825W system?).

On a Pure Tech I doubt it would make any difference to the value come selling it time - it's one of those options that people expect a Range Rover to have but aren't prepared to pay extra for on a used car. I've just driven from Scotland to North London and the SatNav and TMC did a fine job - I just ignored the TMC! Good job I did as the incidents it was warning me about cleared after the rush hour and I would have been sent on an up-hill, down-dale route around the backstreets of Stoke and Knutsford if I hadn't, OK i had to slow down to 50mph but I was never stopped until the Highways Agency came screaming up the outside lane in a Nissan Pathfinder all flashing lights and started a rolling road block - turned out a nylon strop and ratchet had fallen off a trailer and was laying across the middle and fast lanes but even then we were only stopped 4-5 minutes and were soon on our way. I took a wrong exit from a roundabout at South Mimms services and it didn't take long to get re-routed and headed in the right direction toward Elstree/ Borehamwood

Does anyone think it's possible the MY14 cars will come with upgraded sat nav?

There is no mention of it in the list of changes for 2014MY.

Maybe it would be something they thought it was no worth shouting about. Though I guess in that. Aesir. Would be a purely evolutionary upgrade rather than anything big.