A real 4x4 - to X or not

[frikkieh]

I am looking at saving up for a real 4x4.
The chaps from the 4x4 community don't think much of an X5 or ML mercs wrt off road capabilities.

What do you guys think?
Can the X5 take the punch? Or is this confined to "bakkie" like vehicles.
Fortuner? Prado? Pajero? Discovery?

Of course it has to be a diesel for extended range.
I had a Nissan Sani 4x4 3LV6 and today I am thinking that I was such a fool to have sold it, because of the fuel consumption. It had a 120L long range tank, which solved the range issue.

My heart says BMW:inlove:, but my head tells me otherwise:idea:.
Opinions please.

 

[UpNcOmiNg!]

Landy if you going to go anywhere near mud or wet grass unfortunately.

 

[James-ci]

I have a Fortuner 4x4, and have done a few 4x4 tracks and overlanding, and they are right, the X5 won't go anywhere with the real 4x4's, the ML on the other hand is a bit better. Know of a guy that put some bigger rubber on his ML, air suspension as standard, that vehicle is rather good off road, he just lost his front bumper about two times...
If you serious at doing some geniune off-roading, you will have to look at something else, replacing broken stuff on a X5/ML isn't cheap, and I think you will have to do that on a regular base.
I travel to the farm in Botswana a lot, the nice thing of for example my Toyota, if something brakes, it is no problem at all getting parts. If something on a X5 brakes in Bots, you will have a hard time fixing it, and you do not want to be stranded there.
I am a big fan of Land Rover dicso's etc, but I have seen a lot of rear air suspension failures, you don't want that.

 

[zaleonardz]

+1 on the landy

Otherwise there is tremendious value in second hand chrysler jeeps,

You can pick the thing up for R2.50 and then its fully comfy and capable of most, specially in the grand cherokee's

Just do not buy anything diesel from chrysler.

 

[OppositeLockMT]

If you're looking for a real 4x4 the X5 won't do it. My dad has an E70 X5 that is anything but comfortable when it comes to difficult roads, it's an improvement over the E53 though. I would personally go for a Range Rover.

 

[herr bmw]

land rover.

saw the defender 3 doing a course,where the toyotas,fords,mazdas and nissan 4x4 stopped,these just carried on going,even a defender 90 couldnt get up one rocky slope,discovery,with a woman driver just went up,no problem,and they had the air suspencion in extended mode

thats when i realised that i also would want one,one day

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

I went off roading in my swaer's jeep 2.8D Cherokee. its off road capabilities is awesome, yet its also a very comfortable luxury cruiser.

 

[moranor@axis]

one of the landrovers with a BMW engine :fencelook:

 

[frikkieh]

James-ci made a pretty valid point there. There is just about a Toyo dealership in every little town.
Friends of mine hit the dirt often, but I can't get there with the 323i of course.
I just want something that is practical and won't cost a fortune to maintain. By now you guys know I am the DIY man :rollsmile:

 

[andrewbuch]

+1 on the landy

Otherwise there is tremendious value in second hand chrysler jeeps,

You can pick the thing up for R2.50 and then its fully comfy and capable of most, specially in the grand cherokee's

Just do not buy anything diesel from chrysler.

I agree.

We have a 2004 Grand Cherokee 4.7 HO V8 fully specd.. cost R500k in 2004.. Got offered R120k trade in on it & its only got 58K Km's on it with full service history etc..

 

[Sankekur]

Toyota Landcruiser with the V8, that or a Defender.

 

[moranor@axis]

Fortuner makes the most sense if you want to 4x4 but it really is a closed off bakkie... the comfort and interior :yuck: also they are sought after for parts so a bit higher risk than most...

other than that its the perfect 4x4 :rollsmile:

 

[Sankekur]

Fortuner makes the most sense if you want to 4x4 but it really is a closed off bakkie... the comfort and interior :yuck: also they are sought after for parts so a bit higher risk than most...

other than that its the perfect 4x4 :rollsmile:

Well fortuners do tend to tip over..........

 

[OppositeLockMT]

one of the landrovers with a BMW engine :fencelook:

That's going to be quite an old landy.

 

[moranor@axis]

Fortuner makes the most sense if you want to 4x4 but it really is a closed off bakkie... the comfort and interior :yuck: also they are sought after for parts so a bit higher risk than most...

other than that its the perfect 4x4 :rollsmile:

Well fortuners do tend to tip over..........

I can fix that :rollsmile:

 

[moranor@axis]

one of the landrovers with a BMW engine :fencelook:

That's going to be quite an old landy.

so it should be R 2.50 then :rollsmile:

 

[Fordkoppie]

You dont want a Discovery 3/4 with no motorplan. I have seen plenty of them next to the road with collapsed air suspension. $$$$$$

---

Well fortuners do tend to tip over..........

That should explain why their tyres last for ever - they are always on their roof:biglol:

 

[Nick]

+1 on the landy

My uncle has a kitted out Ford 3.0l TDI supercab.
I have yet to see it fail offroad.
He just did a 10k trip through Nam,botz and moz, not a single issue.:thumbs:

 

[Cole]

depends on how hardcore 4x4 you want.
a proper 4x4 is not limited to bakkies alone, there are plenty of legit SUV (note not crossovers) out there like the Cherokee and even Suzuki Grand Vitara.

Personally looking at a Grand Vitara for next year.
I wrote off the Cherokee because I found it to handle like a wallowing ship on normal roads and given you drive a car maybe 50 weeks on road and 2 weeks off road thats something to take into consideration...

 

[SP33DYV]

There is only one true 4X4 - Toyota Land Cruiser.:thumbs: