The Range Rover (L322) is the third-generation Range Rover from British carmaker Land Rover, produced from 2001 through 2012. Contrary to its forebears, it is the first Range Rover with a unitary body structure (more commonly known as a monocoque even though the common motor cars never truly utilize the aforementioned structure) and it switched to all around independent suspension instead of front and rear rigid, live axles. Just like its predecessor, it grew in size, and styling became more butch.
The L322 was originally planned and developed as the 'L30', under BMW ownership. The vehicle was intended to share components and systems (electronics, core power units etc.) with the BMW 7 Series (E38). However, BMW sold Land Rover to Ford, two years before the L322 went into production.
In the UK and many other territories, ascending trim levels were initially marketed as "SE", "HSE" and "Vogue". Various other trims such as "Vogue SE", "Westminster", "Autobiography" and special editions were subsequently produced.
In his Sunday Times column, Jeremy Clarkson once went on record to state that he owned a Range Rover TDV8 Vogue and it was "the best car in the world and best 4x4." As of 2025, he still owns and operates a car matching this description, and it primarily serves on his farm in Chipping Norton.Harry's garage (17 June 2023).
The L322's successor, the L405, was announced in August 2012 and unveiled the same year at the Paris Motor Show.
Overview The previous generation P38 Range Rover (or "Pegasus") had been developed whilst the Rover Group was owned by British Aerospace, and budgetary constraints during the development had been extremely tight. There was also press criticism of the P38A that its styling lacked the "presence" of the original 1970 Range Rover. When the Rover Group was taken over by BMW shortly after the P38A's launch in 1994, the newly installed BMW management at Land Rover quickly concluded that the car would not have a long shelf life compared to its predecessor, due to its fundamentally dated underpinnings, and cancelled the planned '99 Model Year' updates. A proposed replacement for the Discovery was postponed and development of an all-new Range Rover, codenamed L322, took priority.
The initial codename for the project was L30, in line with the then system of Lxx for Land Rover projects, such as Freelander (L20) and Discovery Series 2 (L25).
The L30 project was a joint one involving engineers from both Rover Group and BMW and was initially based at BMW's FIZ Engineering Centre in Munich before transferring to Land Rover's Solihull plant for the final stages prior to volume production. Munich was chosen to house the team as Rover's Gaydon engineering facility was already working on the new Mini (R50) project as well as other MG, Rover and Land Rover projects and did not have enough space for another large engineering team to be based there.
The sale of Land Rover by BMW to Ford occurred just before the move to Solihull and the contract included a clause which continued BMW's involvement until after the car had entered volume production.
The switch to Lxxx codenames occurred after the sale to Ford with L30 being renamed L322 at the top of a model line-up of Range Rover Sport (L320) Land Rover Discovery (Discovery 3 L319), Land Rover Defender (L316) and Freelander (L314).
The third-generation Range Rover was designed to accommodate BMW's M62 V8 engines for future models. The manual transmission was dropped entirely, leaving only the automatic transmission. The BMW 7 Series E38 electronics system were being phased out during the development of the third-generation Range Rover, and being replaced with the electronics from the BMW E39 5 Series. The entertainment system (Radio Function, Navigation System, Television and Telecommunications systems, as well as the automotive computer bus system) on pre-facelift models were almost identical to those in the BMW E39 5 Series. Early models of the third-generation model Range Rover could be upgraded with some newer BMW technologies, although from 2005 onwards the electronics were based on Ford/Jaguar systems.
Initial release
The design has a monocoque (unibody) construction with four-wheel independent air suspension. Air suspension allowed variable ride height and achieved similar axle articulation to the previous live axle design. This retained off-road abilities while improving on-road performance. The new Range Rover's introduction in early 2002 as a 2003 model for the North American market resulted in the Range Rover, Mitsubishi Montero and Ford Expedition (also new for 2003) being the only three SUVs in the full-size sport utility class with four-wheel independent suspension systems at that time.
Early US-specification Range Rover included air conditioning with tri-zone climate controls with interior air filter, power tilt/telescopic leather-wrapped steering wheel with radio controls, cruise control, memory system, leather upholstered twelve-way power driver seats, ten-way power passenger seat, power sunroof, a premium sound system with six-disc CD changer, navigation system with voice activation, rearview camera, wireless mobile phone link, universal garage door opener, and outside-temperature indicator. Options included 14-way power heated/cooled front seats, DVD entertainment system, and upgraded leather upholstery.
2006
The Range Rover's exterior was updated in 2005 for the model year 2006 along with the BMW V8 being replaced with a Jaguar unit (some cars registered in 2005 have the new Jaguar engines). The new engine choices were Jaguar's AJ-V8, with 4.4-litre or 4.2-litre supercharged variants. The engines are aluminium alloy units, with advanced torque-based engine management system, drive-by-wire throttle control, and variable camshaft phasing (on the 4.4-litre version). This new Range Rover was officially presented at the 2005 North American International Auto Show and released in summer 2005.
From the diesel engine of the 2006 model (at this time still the BMW six-cylinder unit) to the supercharged V8, the car could reach from 14.8 seconds or as little as 6.5 seconds and has a top speed from to approximately (governed), respectively.
In addition to the engine change, the 2006 Range Rover is equipped with an updated "infotainment" system. This includes a touch screen with on and off-road navigation, radio, CD, Satellite Radio (US), telephone, rear view camera, a wireless video camera system and other additional features all accessed via the same user interface. The audio system is Harman Kardon Logic 7 surround sound. Also available is a DVD rear seat entertainment which is fully integrated.
This system is linked by an industry-standard fibre optic network known as Media Oriented Systems Transport or MOST and an electronic network system known as CAN bus. A similar system is also used on Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Sport.
Suppliers for the 2006 Range Rover's components include Continental Automotive for the complete cockpit module which incorporates the Denso touch screen navigation unit. Continental also supply the centre console unit. Other suppliers include Alpine car audio for integrated head unit rear seat entertainment. Connaught Electronics Limited (CEL) provides the Rear View Camera (RVC) and Wireless Camera (VentureCam) systems and PTI telephone capabilities are provided by Nokia.
Most importantly the audio system was co-developed with Harman Kardon. The premium offering gives a 720 Watt, 14-speaker system and was the first OEM vehicle to use the discrete Logic 7 surround algorithm.
2007 For 2007, many of the Range Rover's changes were mechanical or interior. However, the external C-pillar was given a glass facelift akin to that of the Range Rover Sport, marking a subtle and yet clear departure from the original BMW influenced design.
On the inside, the hidden folding cup holder that popped out of the end of the dashboard in previous models was replaced by a simpler and more durable in-console design with sliding covers (similar in concept, but higher quality, to those in the Range Rover Sport). The ignition switch was moved from the lower part of the centre console up to the dashboard, next to the steering wheel and the Range Rover received the Range Rover Sport / LR3's Terrain Response system as well as a redesigned four-wheel drive control panel.
The handbrake is now electronic. Additionally, the seats differ from the old style, resembling the new Range Rover Sports seat design. Heated seats are standard across the board, with newly available climate controlled front seats standard on all supercharged trims and HSE Luxury/Vogue, with three settings for cool air and hot air activated by round dials on either side of the analog clock on the lower part of the center control stack, and the premium leather seats from the BMW era are no longer available, with new more premium quality leather in different grains for HSE/Vogue, SE/Vogue, HSE Luxury/ Vogue and all supercharged trims. The HVAC system was also updated with more vents (in particular, one placed in the centre of the top dash roll, to improve high-level cold air ventilation, positioned behind the centre speaker) and quieter operation. That, along with the acoustic laminated/heated windscreen lowers noise. An increase in interior storage is mainly attributed to the new split-dual glovebox, although the small upper glovebox is almost entirely occupied by the CD multi-changer and the Venture-cam, if fitted. In a return to original Range Rover styling, more wood inserts have been added to the doors and centre console. Midway through production of the 2007 model (around production date of January 2007) the style of the key was changed from the BMW design to Land Rover's "switchblade" type. This was a sealed unit and contained a rechargeable battery, charged from an exciting coil in the ignition switch, the idea being to avoid the need to replace key batteries for the life of the vehicle. The key contained three buttons: the standard “lock”, “unlock”, and a third “Land Rover” oval button which could be re-programmed to activate a number of functions. This button normally came pre-programmed to operate the tailgate release function.
The BMW M57 diesel engine was replaced for 2007 with the TDV8 engine developed by Ford and Land Rover at Dagenham and Gaydon. The 3.6-litre AJD-V8 32-valve twin turbo V8 engine develops , far more than the of the previous engine and so is better capable to deal with the weighty vehicle. The maximum speed is 124 mph, whilst 0-60 mph was reduced to 8.6 seconds, which was good for a car with a kerb weight of 2.75 tons. Torque is a substantial 472 lb/ft (640 Nm) at 2,000 rpm.
Other changes for 2007 include better brakes supplied by Brembo, revised suspension, a slightly altered rear carpet shape around the front seat rear mountings, and Land Rover's Terrain Response system. Supercharged Range Rovers have an electronic rear differential (optional on other models).
2010
For the 2010 model year refresh, the Range Rover received an updated exterior grille, a multicamera vision system, front bumper with newly repositioned fog lights lower in the bumper, LED accented bi-xenon headlights/LED tail/brake lights with front and rear amber LED turn signals with a three bar design, optional blind spot assist and adaptive auto high beam headlights which are now part of the new for 2010 vision assist package optional on the HSE and HSE with the luxury package, standard on all supercharged trims. Two new petrol engines (5.0 naturally aspirated V8 and 5.0 supercharged V8),Engines & Transmission Land Rover. Retrieved on 2009-01-12. and new features. It was unveiled at the 2009 New York Auto Show.