Well here in Berkshire (UK) we've a spot of rain today. Well given some of the forum comments about heatshields bending when wading , I was somewhat careful when travelling today , some depths were close or beyond the 12" wading recommendation.

Anyway I followed an x5 through a particularly interesting section of submerged road , on exiting the other side , the x5 was trailing what seemed to be a sump guard .... The FL2 passed him by as he parked up and was on his hands and knees trying to free this rather large item hanging underneath

X5 not renowned for its off road - and probably wading abilities.

I think FL2 can go deeper than 12" thought it was 500mm = 20"

Mark Freelander 2
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I've been wading at +500mm (ooops) no problem, other than a rather high tide line that had to be cleaned off !!!! .... it was clay riddled water in a quarry which leaves rather more tell tale signs than fresh water. However, because speed was low there were no further problems with the heat shield ...

My boss's boss has an X5 (he is a somewhat higher grade therefore is not limited to Ford only product), he took a diversion in the floods a couple of weeks ago and he too lost his sump guard. I've had to remove the sump guard on my car to retrieve a plastic cap from an oil top up bottle. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the sump guard on our FL2's is going no where without significant help from a set of wrenches (sorry ... spanners .... slipped into the old US vocab there !!!)

You're right I was off on the depth , but turns out my estimation of 12" was pesimistic ... who said size was important? ... I gave up when I was in danger of testing the quality of the door seals , which turns out to be about 45mm.
I have memories of the last time I got caught in a flash flood in the middle of nowhere in a wadi , the water flowed quite nicely in one door and out the other ... another LR another time. ...

I can tell you that Land rover have tested and signed off the Freelander to 500mm , although it will do 600mm if you keep, going ! great un here in the middle of warwickshire today

insider wrote:

I can tell you that Land rover have tested and signed off the Freelander to 500mm , although it will do 600mm if you keep, going ! great un here in the middle of warwickshire today

markconnor33 wrote:

X5 not renowned for its off road - and probably wading abilities.

The X5 was designed as a sporting road car, and its off-road capabilities are significantly less or none at all compared to that of a Land Rover.

BMW put a lot of advertising/marketing propaganda to ensure it was referred to as a Sports "Activity" Vehicle - S"A"V and not a Sports "Utility" Vehicle - S"U"V

I remember watching a Top Gear episode when the X5 lost traction during an off-road test and was winched by a vintage Landy!  Do Not Follow Me...You Can't Go Where I Go!!!

.....up in the tree!!!

I can confirm by bitter experience that the FL2 can't cope with 900mm of water...

When the Freelander was tested first in Iceland with journalists, the water flooded over the bonnet when crossing some rivers without problems.

NightFox wrote:

I can confirm by bitter experience that the FL2 can't cope with 900mm of water...

sorry to hear about your LR2 mate

"900mm" that's almost double the allowed wading. LR engineers tested it at 19.7 inches = 500.38 millimeters so I guess their calculations are based on their honest experience and not just estimates.

Avtur already tested it above 500mm but I guess not all the way to 900mm  Do Not Follow Me...You Can't Go Where I Go!!!

.....up in the tree!!!