Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
My D3 Spec Upgrade (very long)
This is the story of my Discovery 3 and it’s retro fit specification upgrade from almost the lowest to close to the highest possible. It’s quite long and detailed and there are a lot of photos, which I appreciate is not normally a good thing in any thread / post, however considering that the pics all started out at 4/5/6 MB each and I managed to reduce and compress them all to less than 5 MB total, hopefully, it won’t be too bad as a download and might appeal to anyone looking for something of a longer read. For convenience I have broken the story down into 4 consecutive parts.
Part 1
I start with the purchase of an ex lease, and so well maintained, Discovery 3 TDV6 Automatic in Bonnati Grey (Good paint condition & nice color) from the UK.
Here are a couple of the original sales pictures for it.
The plus points are that as you can see it is clean, it was cheap, has a full service history, seven seats and Terrain Response. It did have a slightly high mileage for the time but I don’t do many miles myself so I figure that this will balance out after a couple of years or so.
Minus points (some personal preference) is that the car is base spec, (not even S or SE). It has a Black trim which I don’t like with manual unheated seats in Dark cloth. It is of course base spec (Low Line) audio with no Sat Nav or Touch screen, also there is of course no PTI Phone / Bluetooth, no PDC, no front Fogs or steering wheel controls. The steering wheel is also very tacky and horrible. The headlamps are standard Halogen, the Mirrors are electric, but not memory. In fact there are no extras at all and a cubby fridge would be a welcome option here in Cyprus. I had the car test driven for me and then shipped to Cyprus, where I live and paid almost its purchase cost again in tax and duties. No surprise they are really rare although Sports seem to flood in all the time.
I used to do quite a lot with Cars physically as I started out as a humble mechanic in my teens and then progressed to owning and running my own body shop when I was in my early 20’s. I actually specialized in re shelling cars and total color changes.
Although modern vehicles are obviously a far cry from those days, I am of course very confident in knowing my way around modern vehicular technology, especially the Disco 3. Many will know that these days I am responsible for the introduction of the CCF edit software, capable of reprogramming the entire vehicles configuration to enable all manner of things, and I really do believe that very little is truly impossible if one is willing to try hard enough.
I therefore decided to engage myself in a bit of a side mission to my normal BBS business and up spec my own Disco 3’s equipment level to as high an OEM spec as possible and as economically as possible, preferably also replacing the trim with a lighter color leather, eg alpaca. I started with a little read of the forums and via some threads, chatted with others to learn what I could about what has been done already etc.
It seems that while some parts of my desired up speccing is commonly done, other more technologically detailed aspects are commonly regarded as impossible or beyond economical viability. I personally like any such challenge and besides the fun, and learning experience having a more equipped D3 at the end will also benefit our diagnostic equipment development possibilities.
Obviously I was going to need to buy and collect some bits. So I studied the Vehicles technical detail in all available technical documentation and closely compared between what I had already in my D3 and what I wanted. I made up a short list of the major bits and started keeping an eye out and scrounging stuff, as you do. Interestingly I did already have some bits that I could have used on my bench test rig, which is simply a collection of ECU’s & wiring loom we use for testing and developing our diagnostic equipment, but I need to keep that complete and functional so ideally I needed secondary items.
Last edited by BBS SPY on 12th Jul 2009 6:59 pm. Edited 1 time in total
12th Jul 2009 6:58 pm
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Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Here is a fairly detailed list of all my purchases / acquisitions.
My first and major purchase was from Ebay, it was a full alpaca leather interior including seven seats, all colored lids, covers, trim bits, door panels and center console.
Door panels are premium audio with mid range speakers and tweeters still fitted, seats are electric heated (front and rear) with ECU’s & cut off connectors still attached. Cubby box has fridge, PTI cradle, aux socket & wiring and rear heated seat controls. Also buy pair adaptive bi xenon headlights from same guy. Total cost GBP 1200, Goods are all excellent condition except for a small mark well down on the drivers door panel & a small scuff on pass side of cubby side panel. I actually fitted the seats and lights straight away although the vehicle did not support the memory and seat heating at that point, but it quickly looked a whole lot better and did me while I hunted for the other bits.
Next from Ebay I manage to buy a Hevac unit for RRS (same PN as D3) with heated seat buttons for 25 quid, This actually went on my bench rig and was later swapped with my D3’s one so technically could be excluded from the total cost.
I then buy from D3 member a touch screen display unit for 75 GBP.
I acquire in return for a favor of help given with another problem, an unwanted PDC ECU from 06 FFRR (same part as D3)
Then following the D3 forum thread I buy off Ebay a new, smooth leather steering wheel costing GBP 100, which I am most glad to fit straight away as the sticky one is annoying me.
I then got acquainted with the infamously helpful TLO, and wished I had got the wheel from him but nevertheless I do buy from him new wheel switches and an enhanced GPS receiver module for just 58.16
I obviously fit these straight away.
I buy from a D3 member a Hi line 6CD changer radio head unit for just 35 quid which needs slight attention (25 mins work to fix) did I mention that in my early teens I was a CB rig doctor and progressed to be an audio visual repair engineer, specializing in car audio before I went into car mechanics.
I also buy from another D3 member (Matt actually), a premium audio front door wiring loom pair for a very reasonable 25 quid
In my finest scrounge / deal mode, I next managed to acquire one of the Nokia Phone/Voice/Bluetooth units. Initially the unit was non functional due to slight water ingress and it bought down the whole MOST bus in its original vehicle which got a new replacement. However after later dis assembly, careful cleaning of affected area near the main connector with a tooth brush and solvents and a further drying, the unit was then fully functional again. That unit was then actually fitted into another car for a guy who was desperate to get a quick fix and who paid me to replace it with a brand new one that arrived about a week later.
Acquired a TMC unit, some MOST bus optical cable and connectors and TMC antennae unit, due to removal of all TMC hardware and re working of MOST bus to re close the loop on a friends imported RRS.
If you want to know why it was being removed, you can read my post on the subject on this thread http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic36995.html
Next and definitely the most significant item, one that I obtain with help of Wiggs, it is the main cabin, navigation & Facia wiring from an SE spec Disco 3, being broken due to a engine bay fire. The wiring was slightly damaged due to emergency services cutting all the front seat & Airbag connections etc, but I also got the Sub Woofer and both rear door main speakers, NAV DVD unit & Hi Line Amp along with both their mounting Brackets and the antenna diversity amplifier. The cost was just 100, but I think that is because the guy must have felt sorry for Wiggs having to take it all out. In an act of return generosity, Wiggs donated an extra Tenner to the charity box.
In another order to TLO, I buy 2 front main Bass (premium) front door speakers, 3 rear D pillar upper trims with Speaker grilles & mountings, a PTI fin antennae, a microphone and a pair of memory mirror motors, Cost 181.11. That 3, is not a Typo BTW, the “D†cover comes complete with speaker, screws and clips. And it is much cheaper than the sum of its parts. I wanted the third speaker for the dash centre and it’s the same part number.
From Farnell I then get some coaxial cable & connectors and a local store about 40 Meters of decent speaker cable or about 35 quid.
With the help of Matt tdv6 (cheers chap), I have hopefully now also got a Logic 7 (premium) amp from Ebay for 75.
Having now acquired just about everything I need / want on my wish list, I finally got to set about doing the actual job itself
Firstly I spent about 9 man hours working on the loom, replacing cut wires pin to pin, especially the Airbag ones, repairing refurbishing & cleaning main loom, replaced all broken fitting clips, also added additional speaker wiring to support extra premium speakers & wiring for PTI & mic. Re wrapped almost the entire loom with as per OEM cloth loom tape. I have posted a review of this work with pictures here where there is also a picture of the bench rig I mentioned.
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic35050-15.html
Next I prepared the area I was to do the job in because I knew I would not be able to do the job all in one go. In fact my workload meant it might end up being spread over 2 or 3 weeks.
Naturally I took a few before photos for the record.
The first shows the front cabin still with its retro fit Nokia phone holder and the low line radio etc, note no heated seat controls.
The second shows the rear of the cubby box, about as basic as it gets.
The third the black low line door panels
And the last the standard rear D trim.
I spent the first weekend carefully stripping out all the vehicles trim. I used the workshop manual for guidance and carefully labeled and stored all of the removed items, being sure to keep all the right screws with all the right bits. I also made a list of the removal sequence and noted down any broken or missing clips which fortunately I was able to replace with ones from the unused bits (old black door panels and upper D trims) although I got some extras in from TLO just in case.
During the week I swapped out the separate facia loom, then I disconnected the main loom at every point forward of the seats on both sides of the vehicle, taking lots of pictures as i went, and rolled it back to behind the front seat area where it crosses from side to side of the vehicle.
I put the new loom in, leaving it bundled by the seats and reconnected all the forward parts of both sides. Here is a picture of the forward parts of the new wiring installation being closely inspected by my two assistants. Cindi nearest the front and Jerry Lee closest.
If you note on the wheel arch in the left foreground you can see the original wiring bundle to the left, still attached to the body and not very well wrapped and just to its right the new bundle with the PDC connectors.
Here is another shot from another angle, in the foreground you can see the 2 sets of flat black bits that cross the floor from side to side behind the front seats, the closest old one being flipped backwards. On the opposite B pillar you can also see the old loom to the rear door still attached and the new one laid up the pillar ready to replace it.
And of course all the wiring had to also go up into the roof
Over the second weekend I pretty much then rolled the old loom ever further backwards, replacing it with the new as I went.
Then I disconnected the entire rear right hand leg and put in the replacement followed by the left. Both of these do actually go into the tailgates.
Finally the old loom was completely free and so was lifted out which got rid of the mess and left only the new loom tidily in place.
Here is a picture of that all important Amp area in which you can see the ends of the extra speaker wires i had put in with their pins on.
I then loosely laid the front to rear Nav loom in place which runs beside the right hand rear leg. I did this because I had to add some more wiring to this for the TMC and PTI fin antennas which I would want to test before looming up and fitting proper.
Last edited by BBS SPY on 12th Jul 2009 8:55 pm. Edited 2 times in total
12th Jul 2009 6:58 pm
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Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Having reached this Mid point stage in the job, before re assembly commenced I had a small list of jobs I needed to do that due to a lack of detailed info I was not too sure how I would tackle until I actually reached this point and had access to the respective areas.
The first of these was the alteration of my dash top to curt out the bits bin to accept the screen unit.
Finding this confirmed to me that the item is actually the same base molding.
Click image to enlarge
The next two pictures simply highlight that you simply cut where you can’t see from the front, the overlapping effect of the front lip over the screen allows ample space. Note I had refitted my dash top in these pictures.
Next thing I had to sort out was the microphone. The wiring diagram shows it wired all the way to the front overhead console, I had traced the wires to the Main to Roof loom connector while the wiring was on the bench but I had not found any such connector present when I had previously pulled out my roof console to look.
It did not take long for me to find out why I had not been able to see the elusive missing connector, there is was hiding away glued on the upper side of the roof lining, seemingly right over my nose the whole time.
Actually once I had discovered its location it forgot to pull it out until after I had re fitted the roof lining so here is a picture of me pulling it out while the roof lining is in place.
And the fitting of the mic to the overhead console inner.
Click image to enlarge
I also needed to do a bit of messing about with the antennas at the rear.
The wiring was already there for the GPS antennae unit. It has to go under the high level brake light but in this picture it is sat on the rubber for testing. It was also there for the 2 diversity Amps. In a low line set up the single black FM antenna Amp goes near to the side window where it clips onto the glass. In a high line set up that position is replaced entirely by the mustard colored unit you see at the bottom of my photo that also clips onto the glass element, However another secondary amp that looks identical to the Black low line one but is whitish grey goes in the tail gate and is required to clip on to an element on the tailgate glass. I don’t have a whitish grey one so I reused my low line black one which seems to work just fine !!!
After trying various methods I eventually used conductive epoxy to attach suitable studs robbed of PP9 batteries to allow me to attach the class element connector.
I actually re used the old Low line FM antennae wiring for linking the TMC unit which I plan to locate up front in the centre console / lower dash area where I more easily able to tap into the MOST bus, to the amplifier module and as my unit did not come with the glass connector I have recently had to knock something up.
I used some connectors and pins from my spare LHD loom to make a short 1.5 Metre long harness to go from the Nokia MT unit to the Cradle connector. I did not have the connector for the Nokia unit so I used pin headers.
This loom is this length because I intend to mount the Nokia MT unit near the front of the centre console as per retro fit Bluetooth, this means I am much closer to tap into the Most Bus than in the rear quarter panel where it is normally mounted
I also made up a antennae extension cable to go from centre console cradle to PTI fin and these were all then loomed up together with the original front to rear Nav wiring before that was finally fitted proper.
Next I needed to modify my Fibre optic MOST bus to add connectors for the Phone and TMC units.
I took the one I had and laid it out, sketching behind it a positional template so I did not loose genera positioning requirements, as can be seen from the picture it is mainly in the form of an L shape with a connector to the top for the radio and touch screen and one at the bottom that goes to the extension to the amp. Notice that just behind every connector there is a colored band Red, Blue and Green,
It was a bit of trial and error which is why I have no similar picture of the finished loom laid out but in essence I removed one of the long lengths that went from the red to the blue connectors and replaced it with 2 shorter bits that each pop out of the taped up bit by the bottom left corner of the L and go each to a separate new connector, then there is a very short link between the 2 new connectors to re form the loop.
On this picture you can clearly see the upright to the L of the most loom with one clip attaching it to the aluminium frame, The corner of the L is hidden from view by the Most wiring, you will note the one coming from the top going into the phone unit which is pushed flat on top of the carpet and under the Heater box and the bit going from the phone to the TMC is whiteish and the one returning to the Amp extension is the orange one coming from the TMC unit. After the L the loom joins my new phone unit one to run rearward behind the vent duct. I cut the ears off the TMC unit to get it to sit recessed between the lugs on the side moulding of the heater box and was going to Velcro it but that handy wiring loop holds it nicely anyway.
Having now fitted all the new wiring and modified the Most bus etc, I connected up all new & old hardware items / ECU’s including the front seats where the connectors and wiring was long enough to allow them to remain outside the vehicle. I appreciate that connecting things like airbags like this is not for the faint hearted.
I naturally tested all functionality & connectivity and used my Faultmate Extreme to edit CCF & enable all the extras, I cleared all the faults and tested all systems. I then poked, prodded and rattled all connectors and wiring, re checked all systems and conducted extensive series of diagnostic tests. The only faults logged were expected and explainable by the still unconnected items.
I also swapping the last few additional things like the door panels and up rated speakers.
Left are the original speakers, right are the premium ones, in some cases such as the rear doors these are the same as the hi line ones.
Here is a close up as the overall picture does not do the comparison of the actual magnet sizes justice
I then spent the last few days and week end carefully re building the interior bit by bit replacing clips and trims etc.
It was really nice to have connectors in the car for the heated seats at long last.
And so many areas and aspects looked instantly much more impressive than before
Especially the rear D panel speakers
The final result is a vehicle that has the specification of any other original luxuriously finished, high spec D3 using entirely OEM parts.
Last edited by BBS SPY on 12th Jul 2009 7:01 pm. Edited 1 time in total
12th Jul 2009 6:58 pm
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Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Sadly at present I only have a standard Hi line amp fitted, as the Logic 7 one from Matt has not arrived yet. Because of this I have not yet swapped the 2 front door wiring looms, when I do, it will not only connect up the additional speaker channels I have wired in the main loom, but also link up the memory bits of the mirrors in which I have replaced the standard electric motors for the memory ones. But it is something to look forward to and all the speakers and such are ready and waiting
I also swapped the Nav disc unit I got with the loom from Wiggs with one I previously had on our bench test rig because it’s a much later one (07 on) which is enhanced and matches my GPS antenna to give me a full enhanced navigation set up. And of course I had to give it the full Wiggs style software upgrade treatment. Notice the heated seat buttons now present on the Hevac.
My total outlay to date has added up to about 1800, with the most, near 1200 going on the lights & trim. I would guess I have also paid about 500 in shipping charges to get the items to me in Cyprus, but that would be substantially less if I were in the UK.
The capability that I have added for that money is however obviously quite extensive.
Full premium level Logic 7 Audio with 14 speakers & rear headphone control panels.
Enhanced Sat Nav & touch screen to premium navigation specification
Original factory fit PTI phone with full Bluetooth capability
Bi Xenon Headlamps
New smooth leather steering wheel with all controls
Voice control / recognition
TMC
Cruise control
Leather seats (7 in alpaca, my preferred colour)
Heated seats front & rear
Electric memory seats
Alpaca colored interior
Rear Aux in jack & DC ciggy socket
PDC, although no sensors yet
Cubby Fridge / Cool box
Memory mirrors.
I also have an expected additional future outlay expectation of a another 300 ish for front & rear bumpers with the PDC sensors & while I am at it, I will be adding front Fogs as well. And I also need the 5 or 6 button switch strip for the PDC, although as ever I will always be keeping my eye out for a bargain.
I have also started looking at adding future items and I am just short of the control unit in order to get my adaptive lights all working as they should be, and the mirror bodies with Power fold built in to get them on as well.
So that is my story, hope you enjoyed reading as much as I writing and sharing with you, and here is my final picture, It’s one that if you saw on its own in a gallery, you would think was just any regular Discovery 3, and in a way, yes it is, however to me at least this is one car that is something rather more than just the sum of it’s parts.
Later this month is my birthday and someone let slip that they have bought me the HSE (High Specification Equipment) letters for the tailgate, adding letters to indicate something about a car it is not is not something I have not done before, but suddenly, now I am in two minds as to if I should put them on or not.
12th Jul 2009 6:58 pm
CFB
Member Since: 02 Dec 2005
Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posts: 6100
Incredilble piece of work there
Just shows what's possible with the right skills and determination.
I'd ditch the skinny 17" rims and fit some nice 19" HSE ones to finish the job though 2020 BMW X1 18d XDrive X-Line Auto
12th Jul 2009 7:16 pm
garyr
Member Since: 29 Oct 2007
Location: Bucks
Posts: 182
Bloody hell! That is simply amazing!
There is me complaining about my squeak behind the knee panel - I break that just trying to move it!!!
What incredible patience and focus to do this - I would have bought the HSE personally (and did)
Great job 56 Tonga Green HSE.
12th Jul 2009 7:24 pm
MacLeod 313
Member Since: 18 Apr 2008
Location: away
Posts: 10723
simply
12th Jul 2009 7:52 pm
ayrshiredisco
Member Since: 16 Aug 2008
Location: Ayr
Posts: 619
glad to play a part in what can only be described as If in doubt............flat out.
Buck blue with mantec, abar, roolights and some of uncle rays finest
club blanked egr's
dark silver mini cooper s
12th Jul 2009 8:01 pm
Renton
Member Since: 13 Jan 2009
Location: Somewhere in the middle
Posts: 1718
May I ad my
Impressive!
12th Jul 2009 8:08 pm
SKP
Member Since: 07 Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 219
Brilliant
Thank you for sharing all your hard work with us
I really enjoyed the read and all the photos
I especially liked the shots of your hard working assistants
12th Jul 2009 8:23 pm
Verydisco
Member Since: 02 Jan 2005
Location: A bit there, a bit over there and sometime at home, France
Posts: 1006
I will double all this x4 and X10l=Oo\________/oO=l l:Ool======loO:l
Current
RANGE ROVER Vogue 4.4L TDV8 - 2012 - Orkney Grey, on Black, on Piano Black.
RANGE ROVER Vogue 4.4L V8 - 2002 - ex-2003 G4 Challenge Event Vehicle, Stage 3: Australia
FREELANDER 2 Td4 HSE "000" - Santorinin Black on Black
Gap Diagnostics' Classic and BT IID Tools!
Previous:
RANGE ROVER TDV8 x3
RANGE ROVER Td6 x1
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DISCOVERY III x3
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DISCOVERY I x4
12th Jul 2009 8:27 pm
GLYNNE
Member Since: 06 Oct 2006
Location: KENT
Posts: 4695
So now you know what you are doing with this can you do mine
Top job
12th Jul 2009 8:29 pm
BBS SPY Site Sponsor
Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Aww Thanks Guys
I figured some of the members might recall a few of the bits i bought of them
Guess i should paint it green and put a recycled logo on the back
I was actually a bit worried that my posting such a long post cum story might have been deemed inappropriate or boring, but after i did the bit about repairing the loom, it seemed that many were very interested to read and learn of the sort of stuff i have been up to and i figured that people don't have to read it if they don't want to.
So i really appreciate all your feed back.
I am so amazed by the stats, only a hour after posting late on a Sunday night, 111 people have read this
But you know, Ayrshire reminds me of the fact that although i did get a few bits of ebay and the infamously helpful TLO on my own, a lot did come via D3 members and in nearly every case i would not have know what i needed or what to do if it were not for the information freely shared with me on this board by so many, so thanks to everyone who has helped in one way or another and once again thanks for your many comments of praise.
to echo all everyone above...The next American ex-pat that calls it a "truck" is going to find out what 2.7 tons feels like on their foot...
Club "yes, I too have had the EGR's replaced..."
Club "yes, I too have had the compressor replaced..."
Club "yes, I too once had the car at the dealer for a couple of weeksnearly 4 weeksover 4 weeks...5 weeks"
Club "yes, I too have had EPB failure..."
Club "yes, I too get mysterious bings and bongs..."
12th Jul 2009 9:20 pm
grzesiul
Member Since: 11 May 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 6403
look as there is as much cabling in D3 as on nuclear sub lol
top job!!!!!!!!!!! keep stuff like that coming it is most entertaining to read it and very tempting
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can you do mine 
