Seeking X308 XJR...
Discussion
Suddenly notice that these are something of a performance bargain, and since I've always liked them seems now might be a good time to try and get hold of one. I've read all the excitement about nikasil and tensioners, and even water impellers, which are all things I'm bearing in mind though none are the be all and end all!
Thought I'd found a nice blue one up by Biggin Hill, but some lucky punter got there before me... So anyone know of any good examples looking for a new home apart from those already in the classifieds? Ideally 2000/1, or with new engine or recent good compression testing...
And is there anything else I should be looking at specifically before I buy one? I had a look at Broadbean747's guide, which seems pretty comprehensive!
Thanks
Andrew
Thought I'd found a nice blue one up by Biggin Hill, but some lucky punter got there before me... So anyone know of any good examples looking for a new home apart from those already in the classifieds? Ideally 2000/1, or with new engine or recent good compression testing...
And is there anything else I should be looking at specifically before I buy one? I had a look at Broadbean747's guide, which seems pretty comprehensive!
Thanks
Andrew
'Tis true the X308s are real bargains at the moment - used values have plummeted over the last year or so.
There's a couple of really nice looking XJR 100s on the Jaguar Approved used site at the moment and usually several in the classifieds. Pristine condition and FSH is a essential minimum and obviously the more evidence of care the better. As with any used car - especially a performance one which will have been driven hard - go and have a look at several before you decide, and be prepared to spend some beer tokens on a full fluid change and possibly timing chains too.
One thing Broardbean didn't mention is there have been some cases of corrosion on the X308. The front subframe V mount reinforcing plates welded to the body have started to corrode. Some cars are affected and some not - if it's bad then it's an MOT failure and could be a tricky repair depending on just where it's gone. The area affected is between the front shockabsorber top mounting and the V mount under the front wheel arch.
There's a couple of really nice looking XJR 100s on the Jaguar Approved used site at the moment and usually several in the classifieds. Pristine condition and FSH is a essential minimum and obviously the more evidence of care the better. As with any used car - especially a performance one which will have been driven hard - go and have a look at several before you decide, and be prepared to spend some beer tokens on a full fluid change and possibly timing chains too.
One thing Broardbean didn't mention is there have been some cases of corrosion on the X308. The front subframe V mount reinforcing plates welded to the body have started to corrode. Some cars are affected and some not - if it's bad then it's an MOT failure and could be a tricky repair depending on just where it's gone. The area affected is between the front shockabsorber top mounting and the V mount under the front wheel arch.
The rust issue mainly affects the NS inner wing/chassis leg behind the middle of the shock. This is because of the position of the brake flexi to rigid pipe bracket that holds mud behind the pipe.
I have pictures of the area (& the rust) on mine in the X308 section of the Jaguar world monthly forum.
The inner wing arrangement consists of the chassis leg, above which is the inner wing panel, in the centre of the inner wing is the shock/turret mounting panel. There does seem to be an issue with the seam sealer/rust proofing between them & this sealer is now failing, causing rust to form in the joins between the panels, promerily the turret panel to inner wing seam.
Ideally buy one thats been garaged & owned by someone who had the foresight to wash under the arches in the winter (almost impossible!).
I`m told by my MOT inspector that 1 in 3 early X308s are now failing their MOT on this area rusting through.
Also, the water based paints that manufacturers have been forced to use on modern cars may be initally better for the environment but the fact it doesnt protect metal like traditional paints means the ammount of welding/repairs/repainting & cars scarapped earlier than in the past means that long term its actually worse!
I have pictures of the area (& the rust) on mine in the X308 section of the Jaguar world monthly forum.
The inner wing arrangement consists of the chassis leg, above which is the inner wing panel, in the centre of the inner wing is the shock/turret mounting panel. There does seem to be an issue with the seam sealer/rust proofing between them & this sealer is now failing, causing rust to form in the joins between the panels, promerily the turret panel to inner wing seam.
Ideally buy one thats been garaged & owned by someone who had the foresight to wash under the arches in the winter (almost impossible!).
I`m told by my MOT inspector that 1 in 3 early X308s are now failing their MOT on this area rusting through.
Also, the water based paints that manufacturers have been forced to use on modern cars may be initally better for the environment but the fact it doesnt protect metal like traditional paints means the ammount of welding/repairs/repainting & cars scarapped earlier than in the past means that long term its actually worse!
Thanks for that - I've ended up with a 2002 XJR which is very nice indeed! Currently has no signs of corrosion around the front suspension mounts, but then I am no professional when it comes to car inspection. It's not quite as old as I was initially looking at either, but this is all good!
Glad to have joined the fray :-)
Glad to have joined the fray :-)
Congratulations WooHoo! I`m sure your loving it! What colour is it? I`m looking forward to some pics!
The post March 2001 ones are a huge baragain at the moment because of the increased road tax (all XJ V8`s will be £455 a year compared to £185 for pre March 01 ones)
You also have the benefit of a non-nikasil engine, the metal timing chain tensioners & waterpump, so you wont have those problems!
I`d get the thermostat changed once a year (its only £20 or so for the part) & bear in mind they are heavy cars, so wheel bearings, suspension bushes & brakes take a hammering.
Batteries also have big loads put on them & a dying battery will cause all sorts of problems like fault codes on the dash & difficulty starting, so any sign of tiredness, get a new one.
Another thing is they overfuel during start up, so if you start it, move it 10 yards & turn it off, the chances are you`ll flood it. If you start it when cold, leave it running for at least 5 minutes.
I wouldnt expect rust on a late one, but if you want to keep it that way, make sure you give the arches a jetwash once a week or so in this weather!
Its likely you`ll have Asteroid alloys on that one which I prefer visually to mine (they are like big minilites!) but it makes it harder to do the jetwashing in the affected area, so do it with the wheels off now & then & do it with the steering on full lock (each way) the rest of the time.
It might be worth getting some Waxoil stonechip aerosol when the weather gets better to give it a good going over (only after its properly clean & dry though! you dont want to trap the damp behind it!)
Also the wheel arch lips tend to get stonechipped easily (water based paint isnt as tough as the oldschool 2k paints), so I`d carefully applying stonechip there too.
Look at joining the JEC who offer Jaguar tool rental & check out Jaguar World monthly magazine (& online forum).
If you want to see where they rust, heres a link to my post on the forum:
http://www.kelsey-forums.co.uk/cgi-bin/jwm/YaBB.pl...
Hopefully that link works!
Get the fluids changed if its done over 50,000 miles (gearbox, diff & supercharger oil), they arent part of Jaguars service schedule & despite Jaguar saying these are `sealed for life`, they arent! No oil lasts forever as you know, so changing these will extend the life of the car greatly. An independant specialist will happily change these with the correct types for a reasonable price (should be easily below £500). Changing the engine oil every 5000 miles will also extend its life enormously. Diffs tend to weep oil, so get the level checked now & then.
Want more power? Acceleration wise they are exceptional for the size & refinment levels of the car combined with the excellent (merk) autobox, but they can be caught out mid range, so you may want a tad more...
An additional 40 or so bhp can be added relitively easily but it is costly as its a low volume specialist car. I`d recomend a K&N panel filter £50 or so) followed by a full stainless exhaust to start with. Jaguar exhausts are tuned for low db, not free flowing. They are restrictive. Budget £7-800 for one. Upgraded supercharger pullys are also available, both upper & & lower, they arent cheap for what they are & some people dont recon they add anything to the drivability but others are impressed! you decide!
A sprintex type supercharger can also be fitted for HUGE power gains (up to 600bhp at the wheels), but this is very expensive (£6-7000 -yes, thousands, not hundreds! - inc fitting & matching)!
There are also limits to the traction, I get the traction control flashing even in the dry on quick getaways!
Anyway! I`ve waffled on enough! Once again, congratulations on your beautiful purchase! I`m sure you`ll be very happy, especially when you look at the speedo & see your doing 80 instead of the 40 you were expecting!
Happy new year! :-]
The post March 2001 ones are a huge baragain at the moment because of the increased road tax (all XJ V8`s will be £455 a year compared to £185 for pre March 01 ones)
You also have the benefit of a non-nikasil engine, the metal timing chain tensioners & waterpump, so you wont have those problems!
I`d get the thermostat changed once a year (its only £20 or so for the part) & bear in mind they are heavy cars, so wheel bearings, suspension bushes & brakes take a hammering.
Batteries also have big loads put on them & a dying battery will cause all sorts of problems like fault codes on the dash & difficulty starting, so any sign of tiredness, get a new one.
Another thing is they overfuel during start up, so if you start it, move it 10 yards & turn it off, the chances are you`ll flood it. If you start it when cold, leave it running for at least 5 minutes.
I wouldnt expect rust on a late one, but if you want to keep it that way, make sure you give the arches a jetwash once a week or so in this weather!
Its likely you`ll have Asteroid alloys on that one which I prefer visually to mine (they are like big minilites!) but it makes it harder to do the jetwashing in the affected area, so do it with the wheels off now & then & do it with the steering on full lock (each way) the rest of the time.
It might be worth getting some Waxoil stonechip aerosol when the weather gets better to give it a good going over (only after its properly clean & dry though! you dont want to trap the damp behind it!)
Also the wheel arch lips tend to get stonechipped easily (water based paint isnt as tough as the oldschool 2k paints), so I`d carefully applying stonechip there too.
Look at joining the JEC who offer Jaguar tool rental & check out Jaguar World monthly magazine (& online forum).
If you want to see where they rust, heres a link to my post on the forum:
http://www.kelsey-forums.co.uk/cgi-bin/jwm/YaBB.pl...
Hopefully that link works!
Get the fluids changed if its done over 50,000 miles (gearbox, diff & supercharger oil), they arent part of Jaguars service schedule & despite Jaguar saying these are `sealed for life`, they arent! No oil lasts forever as you know, so changing these will extend the life of the car greatly. An independant specialist will happily change these with the correct types for a reasonable price (should be easily below £500). Changing the engine oil every 5000 miles will also extend its life enormously. Diffs tend to weep oil, so get the level checked now & then.
Want more power? Acceleration wise they are exceptional for the size & refinment levels of the car combined with the excellent (merk) autobox, but they can be caught out mid range, so you may want a tad more...
An additional 40 or so bhp can be added relitively easily but it is costly as its a low volume specialist car. I`d recomend a K&N panel filter £50 or so) followed by a full stainless exhaust to start with. Jaguar exhausts are tuned for low db, not free flowing. They are restrictive. Budget £7-800 for one. Upgraded supercharger pullys are also available, both upper & & lower, they arent cheap for what they are & some people dont recon they add anything to the drivability but others are impressed! you decide!
A sprintex type supercharger can also be fitted for HUGE power gains (up to 600bhp at the wheels), but this is very expensive (£6-7000 -yes, thousands, not hundreds! - inc fitting & matching)!
There are also limits to the traction, I get the traction control flashing even in the dry on quick getaways!
Anyway! I`ve waffled on enough! Once again, congratulations on your beautiful purchase! I`m sure you`ll be very happy, especially when you look at the speedo & see your doing 80 instead of the 40 you were expecting!
Happy new year! :-]
Congrats 
Had my 2000 XJR for about 4 months now and it's superb.
Plenty of grunt (I haven't been embarrassed by anything yet...) and very nimble for such a large car. I really can't fault it aside from a totally gash sound system. Who the hell was still listening to tapes in 2000? I mean, especially the sort of chap that had £50k in loose change to blow on a supercharged jag
If you buy a tape converter for your ipod it seems to bypass the head units tiny amp and sounds ok, but I'm definitely looking into an upgrade in the near future.
I came across some friends the other night on the motorway, and one of them (a girl, admittedly!) described my car as a 'pop-bang' car... apparently it overfuelled on the over-run and let out a little flame-fart. bless
To be fair, they f
king rip for such a big car. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! 
Any pictures?
Had my 2000 XJR for about 4 months now and it's superb.
Plenty of grunt (I haven't been embarrassed by anything yet...) and very nimble for such a large car. I really can't fault it aside from a totally gash sound system. Who the hell was still listening to tapes in 2000? I mean, especially the sort of chap that had £50k in loose change to blow on a supercharged jag
If you buy a tape converter for your ipod it seems to bypass the head units tiny amp and sounds ok, but I'm definitely looking into an upgrade in the near future.
I came across some friends the other night on the motorway, and one of them (a girl, admittedly!) described my car as a 'pop-bang' car... apparently it overfuelled on the over-run and let out a little flame-fart. bless
To be fair, they f
king rip for such a big car. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Any pictures?
LondonItalian said:
Congratulations WooHoo! I`m sure your loving it! What colour is it? I`m looking forward to some pics!
The post March 2001 ones are a huge baragain at the moment because of the increased road tax (all XJ V8`s will be £455 a year compared to £185 for pre March 01 ones)
You also have the benefit of a non-nikasil engine, the metal timing chain tensioners & waterpump, so you wont have those problems!
I`d get the thermostat changed once a year (its only £20 or so for the part) & bear in mind they are heavy cars, so wheel bearings, suspension bushes & brakes take a hammering.
Batteries also have big loads put on them & a dying battery will cause all sorts of problems like fault codes on the dash & difficulty starting, so any sign of tiredness, get a new one.
Another thing is they overfuel during start up, so if you start it, move it 10 yards & turn it off, the chances are you`ll flood it. If you start it when cold, leave it running for at least 5 minutes.
I wouldnt expect rust on a late one, but if you want to keep it that way, make sure you give the arches a jetwash once a week or so in this weather!
Its likely you`ll have Asteroid alloys on that one which I prefer visually to mine (they are like big minilites!) but it makes it harder to do the jetwashing in the affected area, so do it with the wheels off now & then & do it with the steering on full lock (each way) the rest of the time.
It might be worth getting some Waxoil stonechip aerosol when the weather gets better to give it a good going over (only after its properly clean & dry though! you dont want to trap the damp behind it!)
Also the wheel arch lips tend to get stonechipped easily (water based paint isnt as tough as the oldschool 2k paints), so I`d carefully applying stonechip there too.
Look at joining the JEC who offer Jaguar tool rental & check out Jaguar World monthly magazine (& online forum).
If you want to see where they rust, heres a link to my post on the forum:
http://www.kelsey-forums.co.uk/cgi-bin/jwm/YaBB.pl...
Hopefully that link works!
Get the fluids changed if its done over 50,000 miles (gearbox, diff & supercharger oil), they arent part of Jaguars service schedule & despite Jaguar saying these are `sealed for life`, they arent! No oil lasts forever as you know, so changing these will extend the life of the car greatly. An independant specialist will happily change these with the correct types for a reasonable price (should be easily below £500). Changing the engine oil every 5000 miles will also extend its life enormously. Diffs tend to weep oil, so get the level checked now & then.
Want more power? Acceleration wise they are exceptional for the size & refinment levels of the car combined with the excellent (merk) autobox, but they can be caught out mid range, so you may want a tad more...
An additional 40 or so bhp can be added relitively easily but it is costly as its a low volume specialist car. I`d recomend a K&N panel filter £50 or so) followed by a full stainless exhaust to start with. Jaguar exhausts are tuned for low db, not free flowing. They are restrictive. Budget £7-800 for one. Upgraded supercharger pullys are also available, both upper & & lower, they arent cheap for what they are & some people dont recon they add anything to the drivability but others are impressed! you decide!
A sprintex type supercharger can also be fitted for HUGE power gains (up to 600bhp at the wheels), but this is very expensive (£6-7000 -yes, thousands, not hundreds! - inc fitting & matching)!
There are also limits to the traction, I get the traction control flashing even in the dry on quick getaways!
Anyway! I`ve waffled on enough! Once again, congratulations on your beautiful purchase! I`m sure you`ll be very happy, especially when you look at the speedo & see your doing 80 instead of the 40 you were expecting!
Happy new year! :-]
IIRC Metal bodied secondary tensioners were not available as a retro fit to earlier engines until at least the introduction of the 4.2 V8 engine and possibly even later than that - 2005 comes to mind. If that's the case all 3.2 and 4.0 X308 engines would have been fitted with either first or second generation plastic bodied tensioners which should be changed as soon as possible.The post March 2001 ones are a huge baragain at the moment because of the increased road tax (all XJ V8`s will be £455 a year compared to £185 for pre March 01 ones)
You also have the benefit of a non-nikasil engine, the metal timing chain tensioners & waterpump, so you wont have those problems!
I`d get the thermostat changed once a year (its only £20 or so for the part) & bear in mind they are heavy cars, so wheel bearings, suspension bushes & brakes take a hammering.
Batteries also have big loads put on them & a dying battery will cause all sorts of problems like fault codes on the dash & difficulty starting, so any sign of tiredness, get a new one.
Another thing is they overfuel during start up, so if you start it, move it 10 yards & turn it off, the chances are you`ll flood it. If you start it when cold, leave it running for at least 5 minutes.
I wouldnt expect rust on a late one, but if you want to keep it that way, make sure you give the arches a jetwash once a week or so in this weather!
Its likely you`ll have Asteroid alloys on that one which I prefer visually to mine (they are like big minilites!) but it makes it harder to do the jetwashing in the affected area, so do it with the wheels off now & then & do it with the steering on full lock (each way) the rest of the time.
It might be worth getting some Waxoil stonechip aerosol when the weather gets better to give it a good going over (only after its properly clean & dry though! you dont want to trap the damp behind it!)
Also the wheel arch lips tend to get stonechipped easily (water based paint isnt as tough as the oldschool 2k paints), so I`d carefully applying stonechip there too.
Look at joining the JEC who offer Jaguar tool rental & check out Jaguar World monthly magazine (& online forum).
If you want to see where they rust, heres a link to my post on the forum:
http://www.kelsey-forums.co.uk/cgi-bin/jwm/YaBB.pl...
Hopefully that link works!
Get the fluids changed if its done over 50,000 miles (gearbox, diff & supercharger oil), they arent part of Jaguars service schedule & despite Jaguar saying these are `sealed for life`, they arent! No oil lasts forever as you know, so changing these will extend the life of the car greatly. An independant specialist will happily change these with the correct types for a reasonable price (should be easily below £500). Changing the engine oil every 5000 miles will also extend its life enormously. Diffs tend to weep oil, so get the level checked now & then.
Want more power? Acceleration wise they are exceptional for the size & refinment levels of the car combined with the excellent (merk) autobox, but they can be caught out mid range, so you may want a tad more...
An additional 40 or so bhp can be added relitively easily but it is costly as its a low volume specialist car. I`d recomend a K&N panel filter £50 or so) followed by a full stainless exhaust to start with. Jaguar exhausts are tuned for low db, not free flowing. They are restrictive. Budget £7-800 for one. Upgraded supercharger pullys are also available, both upper & & lower, they arent cheap for what they are & some people dont recon they add anything to the drivability but others are impressed! you decide!
A sprintex type supercharger can also be fitted for HUGE power gains (up to 600bhp at the wheels), but this is very expensive (£6-7000 -yes, thousands, not hundreds! - inc fitting & matching)!
There are also limits to the traction, I get the traction control flashing even in the dry on quick getaways!
Anyway! I`ve waffled on enough! Once again, congratulations on your beautiful purchase! I`m sure you`ll be very happy, especially when you look at the speedo & see your doing 80 instead of the 40 you were expecting!
Happy new year! :-]
Edited by Jaguar steve on Friday 2nd January 17:44
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