Brilliant vehicle. I bought a Connoisseur SE CDTI ( BMW M47R diesel engined ) new in 2005. It’s proved to be the finest new car I’ve ever bought. I still have it & it goes as nicely as the day it emerged from the Showroom. PRB.
A very decent review. I love my 2.0d saloon, I love the looks, I love the interior for having a bucket load of character, and not a silly touchscreen in sight. I also thinks it goes as well as my old Audi A6 1.9 (better in the feels dept) and its definitely built better (you may jest, but all my German cars have had some pretty shocking issues) As a motorway cruiser or A road wafter, it has no peers this side of an S class or a Flying spur. Get one now while prices are on the rise, the support network and community is excellent. Personally I think it's aged far better than the S type, and there's nothing wrong with those either!
Fair enough! There's a nice champers estate near me that still looks quite solid and attractive. I get the distinct impression that Rover could of produced anything by that stage and it would of failed. Such was the brand's reputation by that time, deserved or not. In essence I think that there was nothing wrong with the retro look but its general failure to inspire was indicative of the hopelessness of UK volume car manufacturers.
Much nicer car than the S Type and I am a Jag lover. I would have bought the 75 over the Jaguar regardless of the jags popularity. "Top Gear" helped doom this car. I always saw this car as mini Bentley Arnage. The cream instrument dials, the timber and the piped leather seat models with the same rear window blind. Years later a survey that was done in England, asking people what was the best riding car they had experienced in that time, the Rover 75 came up at the top of the list. Bur it was all over for Rover by then. This was a lesson in foolish popularity which many people will never learn. If something is not popular regardless of value for money most people will always go popular. Especially if speed is offered in the choice, even though in most cased the driver can't even use, and never will use the speed.
@@richardautenzio8117 many people drive at a speed which is excess of their skills set, they're just focused in getting where they need to be. Furthermore, brand image of certain marques has been burned into their consciousness too, it's a very powerful tool, I believe many trade on reputations earned in the past. Even when companies are found to have broken the law, Apple sabotaging phones and VAG with falsifying emissions come to mind, yet the customers still come back for more! As far as the overgrown schoolboys that were Top Gear trio are concerned they become deluded by their own self importance.
Great Review, it’s a lovely car, and such a shame what happened to it and MG/Rover, I think the 75 is what you think of when you think ROVER, wood, leather, and a bit of chrome. But it seems that’s not what people wanted, they wanted something with square shoulder and a snarling front end, so it appealed to the Minority rather than the majority. You still see quite a few 75’s on the road today as daily drivers, less so the MG variant strangely. The estate version is great with all that Rovery Wood effect and leather that’s also a practical carry all.
I think they’re gorgeous - especially the MG ZT-T. The interior is still, for my money anyway, one of the best designed of any relatively recent car. I’d still be tempted if I could be sure that I could get parts to keep one running as a daily driver!
Sweetly styled, like a miniature Bentley with an interior to match. Unfairly criticized for being retro while being a much more elegant alternative to the dull Vauxhall and Ford repmobiles. If BMW had the funds to replace the 200 and 400 Rover would have had a credible range and might have survived.
They also did a 75 Limousine saloon / estate version with a longer wheelbase, to counter the criticisms levelled at the car, from reviewers that the rear legroom was only ample for moderate journeys, which it was.
My brother had the 75 Connoisseur 2.5 V6. He also had the X350 XJ6 V6 of the same era and the Jag was the better car... but it wasn't night and day better. I'd use the Rover a fair bit and what I remember most now, 15yrs on, was how solid it felt. Doors shut with a reassuring clunk, the engine was a distant thrum, the interior - unashamedly retro but it worked beautifully. The slushbox was exactly that but you could encourage the old girl to pick up its skirts. And the rear three quarter having more than a touch of Rover P4 about it. The R75 was a success - any shortfallings were not the car's fault imho. If I was after a cheap, appreciable modern (or soon to be) classic then I'd be eyeing up an MG ZT Touring. That is a lot of car for not very much at all...
I've had an XJ6 too, and while it was a beautiful wafter, it was very unreliable with electrical gremlins and it rotted as soon as it spotted a rain cloud. Otherwise lovely, but there's far more front legroom in the Rover, and the seatbelt is a sensible length.
I have had two 75s and now daily drive an X350 XJ6. There isn't much to choose between them in terms of interior quality, but the X350 is much more spacious, the engine is less of a hassle to work on and service and it is actually better on fuel than my last 2.5 75 Connoisseur SE.
My Rover 75 V6 from 2001 has never let me down Its great on the motorway with its 172bhp The sumptuous leather seats are comfy & I get about 35mpg It needed new sills for its last MOT otherwise it a joy to own Id never swop it for a dull EV...
Dare I say that they spent way too long on the picket lines years before, combined with an inept management. That's when the damage was done. The following gives me no pleasure to say either, having no British volume manufacturer is a national disgrace.
Having had 5 previous BMC/BL cars (& my parents had 7), I had a 75 for a 48 hour test drive when it was new but, unfortunately, it didn't feel as well screwed together as my Passat & I went on to buy another Passat (both of which my brother-in-law ran for a few years after I sold them to him),
Boils my p/$$ today when i see the MG badge on a Chinese rip off. I bet if you went into an "MG" show room today and asked a salesman "what dose MG stand for ?" the probably would not know. Still typical of what our country has become these days, second rate and nothing works!
It was a very reliable diesel car and you could easily put 100k on it within 3 years with no problems. I still think the phoenix consortium should of been brought to court to answer their criminal behaviour.
Good review. Great car. But the speed and entertainment "Top Gear" TV show helped kill this great car. They described it as old fashion, and the market at that time was not really into the classic retro styling, but more into, more of more modern Ikea new styling taste with speed, performance and as much BHP etc. not to get the car from A to B faster, but more to boast about what the car could do. I saw this car as a mini Bentley and so did other classic designers. But nobody wants to buy a car that is not considered popular at the time. Most buyers will buy what others buy and or want. And if it has a bad review by their biggest idols who so many people listen to then it is doomed. And yet very few knew how good a new car is was when it is was first released, as it has not proven itself, and would not for some time. Sadly for the rover 75, by the time people recognised what a good car it was, it was all over Rover. Rover had a bigger car ready to go, but they canned it because the powers to be, said it was too big and no one wanter a big car. Not long after that the big Chrysler 300C was realised and it became an enormous success even though it did not have the classic, plush limousine style interior of the Rover.
The 75 although an excellent car was like the mc callum jaguars that followed just to British just to traditional and conservative it aped an bygone era that the British don't seem to be able to put down the past!!
Get a diesel estate. Make sure it's been chipped (BMW downspecced the power to avoid competition). Do 100mph cameras permitting. Listen to the body and wind noise. Now listen closer. OK turn the radio down a bit. Still not there? Correct. Absolute cutting edge mechanical and aero design, these days let down by brittle plastic and failing lock mechanisms.
Utter nonsense. The car kept rover alive. It was a fantastic car and bmw where TERRIFIED of what had been built. Dealership staff like yourself where half the problem. Clocking in and taking the wage? And then shooting the brand down? Classy.
The car industry is probably the best indicator of socioeconomic trends. The British establishment fell on its sword after Thatcher. There was a brief cool Britannia thing with Blair but it quickly disappeared with the death of the princess of Wales and his bromance with W. Brexit gave a shimmer of hope for British pride but the country is lost to foreign conquest in the form of illegitimate immigration that went completely unchallenged by the establishment. The fall of the car industry indicates at which point all was lost, so circa 2000. The rest was inevitable. I only comment because I'm a huge British cars enthusiast but I'm not interested in anything after 2000 and coincidentally I think your leadership since Maggie is disgraceful. So yeah we have two very old Range Rovers and our new cars are both astonishingly excellent Chinese vehicles. Still find myself clicking on anything with a Rolls-Royce/Jaguar/Rover photo from the old days though.
I wish they'd made the headlights fully round, hate the sliced off top! Project drive as well, it's not wood veneer any more it's bloody PLASTIC! They are nice looking though, especially pre-facelift, more elegant classic style than 'retro'.
Had 3 as company cars 2 ok 1 an absolute POS which must have had every common fault ending in the auto box destroying itself, Very poorly packaged and underpowered in almost every variant.
Full I've owned over 100 of them and never had an auto box fail. Several 300k mile plus Autos on original box with fluid change every 100k. I guess if you found them slow then driving them so hard they blow the box might have been the issue.
It was a great car utterly ruined when they put a bloody diesel engine in it. A rover should never have a diesel. It needs a proper V6 under the bonnet. Can’t stand clattery diesel’s in a luxury car.
@@-DC- it may have been reliable, but coming from Australia we don’t do that many diesel luxury saloons. Rover was marketed as a higher end brand down under.
I've never heard such nonsense. A diesel rover 75 was absolutely the right engine for the time and era. It's a fantastic engine good for 500k miles easily with basics and a few timing chains. I've had 300k plus examples now and body failed before the engine did
GOOD LOOKING CAR AND THE INTERIOR WITH THE WOOD AND LEATHER SPOT ON BUT THE ENGINE WAS MADE OF CHEESE BLOWN HEAD GASKET EVERY 25000 MILES AND BURN OIL FOR FUN
More nonsense. Head gasket didn't blow every 25k. If it was done right the first time it went it would never let go again. Problem was people drive them when it failed for months requiring all the head and mls gaskets. And all that was full of wrong information from self styled experts at the time.
What's remarkable is how the 75 doesn't fall to bits with rust like the 3 Series of that era.
Brilliant vehicle. I bought a Connoisseur SE CDTI ( BMW M47R diesel engined ) new in 2005.
It’s proved to be the finest new car I’ve ever bought. I still have it & it goes as nicely as the
day it emerged from the Showroom. PRB.
A very decent review. I love my 2.0d saloon, I love the looks, I love the interior for having a bucket load of character, and not a silly touchscreen in sight. I also thinks it goes as well as my old Audi A6 1.9 (better in the feels dept) and its definitely built better (you may jest, but all my German cars have had some pretty shocking issues) As a motorway cruiser or A road wafter, it has no peers this side of an S class or a Flying spur. Get one now while prices are on the rise, the support network and community is excellent. Personally I think it's aged far better than the S type, and there's nothing wrong with those either!
Fair enough! There's a nice champers estate near me that still looks quite solid and attractive. I get the distinct impression that Rover could of produced anything by that stage and it would of failed. Such was the brand's reputation by that time, deserved or not. In essence I think that there was nothing wrong with the retro look but its general failure to inspire was indicative of the hopelessness of UK volume car manufacturers.
Much nicer car than the S Type and I am a Jag lover. I would have bought the 75 over the Jaguar regardless of the jags popularity. "Top Gear" helped doom this car. I always saw this car as mini Bentley Arnage. The cream instrument dials, the timber and the piped leather seat models with the same rear window blind. Years later a survey that was done in England, asking people what was the best riding car they had experienced in that time, the Rover 75 came up at the top of the list. Bur it was all over for Rover by then. This was a lesson in foolish popularity which many people will never learn. If something is not popular regardless of value for money most people will always go popular. Especially if speed is offered in the choice, even though in most cased the driver can't even use, and never will use the speed.
@@richardautenzio8117 many people drive at a speed which is excess of their skills set, they're just focused in getting where they need to be. Furthermore, brand image of certain marques has been burned into their consciousness too, it's a very powerful tool, I believe many trade on reputations earned in the past. Even when companies are found to have broken the law, Apple sabotaging phones and VAG with falsifying emissions come to mind, yet the customers still come back for more! As far as the overgrown schoolboys that were Top Gear trio are concerned they become deluded by their own self importance.
@iamthefatstig - is it the CDT or CDTI? 114hp or 131hp? Any tuning (remap or Ronbox?) or standard?
@@itchyscratch3829 It's the bog stock CDT. 114hp. At some point I'll let Mr Tom Force tune the ecu.
i love my rover 75 diesel, well made, a long drive down the motorway a walk in the park, and cheap to run,
I enjoyed this review so much! Rover 75 is designed in a true British style, as well as the majority of that era Jaguars. Thumb up!
Yes, a successful blend of the traditional and modern, pity that it didn't turn things around. Just not meant to be I guess.
Great Review, it’s a lovely car, and such a shame what happened to it and MG/Rover, I think the 75 is what you think of when you think ROVER, wood, leather, and a bit of chrome.
But it seems that’s not what people wanted, they wanted something with square shoulder and a snarling front end, so it appealed to the Minority rather than the majority.
You still see quite a few 75’s on the road today as daily drivers, less so the MG variant strangely.
The estate version is great with all that Rovery Wood effect and leather that’s also a practical carry all.
I have an 18000 mile from new 1.8t, and love everything about it it, I’m very pleased I decided to buy a 75
I think they’re gorgeous - especially the MG ZT-T. The interior is still, for my money anyway, one of the best designed of any relatively recent car. I’d still be tempted if I could be sure that I could get parts to keep one running as a daily driver!
You can. The MG Owners Club is an Xpart dealer and Service Centre.
I think it would be be easy to run as a daily car today, as long as you start with a good one.
Sweetly styled, like a miniature Bentley with an interior to match. Unfairly criticized for being retro while being a much more elegant alternative to the dull Vauxhall and Ford repmobiles. If BMW had the funds to replace the 200 and 400 Rover would have had a credible range and might have survived.
Great car , even now they still look 👀 good..
I still run a 2.5 75 2000 model and absolutely love it to bits
They also did a 75 Limousine saloon / estate version with a longer wheelbase, to counter the criticisms levelled at the car, from reviewers that the rear legroom was only ample for moderate journeys, which it was.
My brother had the 75 Connoisseur 2.5 V6. He also had the X350 XJ6 V6 of the same era and the Jag was the better car... but it wasn't night and day better. I'd use the Rover a fair bit and what I remember most now, 15yrs on, was how solid it felt. Doors shut with a reassuring clunk, the engine was a distant thrum, the interior - unashamedly retro but it worked beautifully. The slushbox was exactly that but you could encourage the old girl to pick up its skirts. And the rear three quarter having more than a touch of Rover P4 about it. The R75 was a success - any shortfallings were not the car's fault imho.
If I was after a cheap, appreciable modern (or soon to be) classic then I'd be eyeing up an MG ZT Touring. That is a lot of car for not very much at all...
I've had an XJ6 too, and while it was a beautiful wafter, it was very unreliable with electrical gremlins and it rotted as soon as it spotted a rain cloud. Otherwise lovely, but there's far more front legroom in the Rover, and the seatbelt is a sensible length.
I have had two 75s and now daily drive an X350 XJ6. There isn't much to choose between them in terms of interior quality, but the X350 is much more spacious, the engine is less of a hassle to work on and service and it is actually better on fuel than my last 2.5 75 Connoisseur SE.
My Rover 75 V6 from 2001 has never let me down Its great on the motorway with its 172bhp The sumptuous leather seats are comfy & I get about 35mpg It needed new sills for its last MOT otherwise it a joy to own Id never swop it for a dull EV...
Fantastic video..
Such a shame what happened with the rover group..
Hopefully this will become a classic and prices go up🤞
Dare I say that they spent way too long on the picket lines years before, combined with an inept management. That's when the damage was done. The following gives me no pleasure to say either, having no British volume manufacturer is a national disgrace.
I’m hoping they will reach Classic status at some point
Very underestimated car 👍🏾
Agreed!
Having had 5 previous BMC/BL cars (& my parents had 7), I had a 75 for a 48 hour test drive when it was new but, unfortunately, it didn't feel as well screwed together as my Passat & I went on to buy another Passat (both of which my brother-in-law ran for a few years after I sold them to him),
Still plenty on the road,they were a well built car.Shame how it panned out....
Such a great looking car. Basically a Bentley for 1/5 of the price
Another good video 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Boils my p/$$ today when i see the MG badge on a Chinese rip off. I bet if you went into an "MG" show room today and asked a salesman "what dose MG stand for ?" the probably would not know. Still typical of what our country has become these days, second rate and nothing works!
You won't regret buying one until the head gasket goes and the interior starts to fall apart a true British car to be proud of 😂😂😂
It was a very reliable diesel car and you could easily put 100k on it within 3 years with no problems. I still think the phoenix consortium should of been brought to court to answer their criminal behaviour.
Another problem for the Rover 75 was James May giving the 75 a terrible review on Top Gear
Had 2 (2.0 Cdti and 2.5 V6 )and they were great cars, absolutely good and nice .
Couldn't agree more!
Good review. Great car. But the speed and entertainment "Top Gear" TV show helped kill this great car. They described it as old fashion, and the market at that time was not really into the classic retro styling, but more into, more of more modern Ikea new styling taste with speed, performance and as much BHP etc. not to get the car from A to B faster, but more to boast about what the car could do. I saw this car as a mini Bentley and so did other classic designers. But nobody wants to buy a car that is not considered popular at the time. Most buyers will buy what others buy and or want. And if it has a bad review by their biggest idols who so many people listen to then it is doomed. And yet very few knew how good a new car is was when it is was first released, as it has not proven itself, and would not for some time. Sadly for the rover 75, by the time people recognised what a good car it was, it was all over Rover. Rover had a bigger car ready to go, but they canned it because the powers to be, said it was too big and no one wanter a big car. Not long after that the big Chrysler 300C was realised and it became an enormous success even though it did not have the classic, plush limousine style interior of the Rover.
The 75 although an excellent car was like the mc callum jaguars that followed just to British just to traditional and conservative it aped an bygone era that the British don't seem to be able to put down the past!!
Nice to look back on though I suppose.
Get a diesel estate. Make sure it's been chipped (BMW downspecced the power to avoid competition). Do 100mph cameras permitting. Listen to the body and wind noise. Now listen closer. OK turn the radio down a bit. Still not there? Correct. Absolute cutting edge mechanical and aero design, these days let down by brittle plastic and failing lock mechanisms.
It wasn't a good car. I worked at rover dealership at time
So what was going wrong exactly?
Utter nonsense. The car kept rover alive. It was a fantastic car and bmw where TERRIFIED of what had been built. Dealership staff like yourself where half the problem. Clocking in and taking the wage? And then shooting the brand down? Classy.
I had one between 2003-2018 in brg and cream leather. A little choked over women who wanted to ride with me. A prom car twice.
The car industry is probably the best indicator of socioeconomic trends. The British establishment fell on its sword after Thatcher. There was a brief cool Britannia thing with Blair but it quickly disappeared with the death of the princess of Wales and his bromance with W. Brexit gave a shimmer of hope for British pride but the country is lost to foreign conquest in the form of illegitimate immigration that went completely unchallenged by the establishment. The fall of the car industry indicates at which point all was lost, so circa 2000. The rest was inevitable. I only comment because I'm a huge British cars enthusiast but I'm not interested in anything after 2000 and coincidentally I think your leadership since Maggie is disgraceful. So yeah we have two very old Range Rovers and our new cars are both astonishingly excellent Chinese vehicles. Still find myself clicking on anything with a Rolls-Royce/Jaguar/Rover photo from the old days though.
I wish they'd made the headlights fully round, hate the sliced off top! Project drive as well, it's not wood veneer any more it's bloody PLASTIC! They are nice looking though, especially pre-facelift, more elegant classic style than 'retro'.
Had 3 as company cars 2 ok 1 an absolute POS which must have had every common fault ending in the auto box destroying itself, Very poorly packaged and underpowered in almost every variant.
Full I've owned over 100 of them and never had an auto box fail. Several 300k mile plus Autos on original box with fluid change every 100k. I guess if you found them slow then driving them so hard they blow the box might have been the issue.
It was a great car utterly ruined when they put a bloody diesel engine in it. A rover should never have a diesel. It needs a proper V6 under the bonnet. Can’t stand clattery diesel’s in a luxury car.
Could one not get it with a V6? Was diesel the only option?
I loved my old 75 diesel. Smooth and quiet. 185k and still going strong
The BMW diesel was the only reliable engine available which reflected in the sales figures.
@@-DC- it may have been reliable, but coming from Australia we don’t do that many diesel luxury saloons. Rover was marketed as a higher end brand down under.
I've never heard such nonsense. A diesel rover 75 was absolutely the right engine for the time and era. It's a fantastic engine good for 500k miles easily with basics and a few timing chains. I've had 300k plus examples now and body failed before the engine did
GOOD LOOKING CAR AND THE INTERIOR WITH THE WOOD AND LEATHER SPOT ON BUT THE ENGINE WAS MADE OF CHEESE BLOWN HEAD GASKET EVERY 25000 MILES AND BURN OIL FOR FUN
More nonsense. Head gasket didn't blow every 25k. If it was done right the first time it went it would never let go again. Problem was people drive them when it failed for months requiring all the head and mls gaskets. And all that was full of wrong information from self styled experts at the time.