Ex-Lexus owner's experience of a Jaguar XJ8 (X350).

[LandyManSam]

Bit of a thread update.

Having been out of the country for a week, the XJ8 finally got a decent run up to North Wales this weekend. A chance to get to know it better and see what it has to offer.

And in most areas, it didn't disappoint! The X350 appears to have struck the waft-to-fun ratio just right. Whereas the preceding Lexi were probably set up for 95% waft, 5% fun, the XJ8 does a pretty good job of both. From my location in the West Midlands, the Jag took the M6 and M54 in its stride. It rides extremely smoothly on a good motorway surface, and almost feels disconnected from the tarmac - but is a little harsher over imperfections than I am used to. This was to be expected with the air suspension - and I've found it the case with previous Range Rovers too. However, it can be put down in part to the 18 inch wheels and 50 profile tyres, which certainly have a comfort index a good few points lower than the 16 inch wheels and 60 profile tyres on the LS400.

Where the slight reduction in waftability pays off however, is when the road becomes twisty - as the A5 does when you get past Oswestry.

Despite a power deficit of some thiry horsepowers, The XJ is able to progress along this type of road with pace that would have the LS400 twisted in knots. An almost total lack of body roll was immediately noticeable - and even the mismatched, ageing front tyres gripped the damp tarmac much more reassuringly than I expected.

The 6 speed ZF autobox seemed to work OK for the most part - but as mentioned before in this thread, definitely isn't as smooth as the A340 5 speeder in the LS400. Downchanges are felt quite sharply, and there is the occasional lurch when coming to a stop. So as soon as I got back I ordered 10 litres of ZF Lifeguard 6 oil, a replacement sump/filter and a replacement mechatronics plug, which supposedly can be prone to leaking. Combined with the TCU reset and update which will be performed via SDD diagnostics, hopefully some of the smoothness should return.

Fuel economy seems to be about as expected - 240 miles in total on this trip, which included cruising at 0.8 - 0.9 leptons, plenty of kickdown action on the A5, and a slow journey back this evening in heavy traffic. Just over half a tank left. Rough maths shows this to be around 30mpg, which would be nice! The OBC shows 31.5mpg for the trip, but we'll find out come fill-up time.

Something that was slightly disappointing was the audio system. Having dutifully filled up the 6CD stacker in the boot with an eclectic selection ranging from Prodigy to Mozart's Jupiter symphony, I was pretty disappointed by what I assume must be the basic audio system in the X350. Whilst I didn't expect it to be as good as the LS400's Mark Levinson system, I didn't expect it to sound about the same as my old MK.3 Mondeo used to. Not good in a car that cost upwards of £50k new!

Does anyone have experience of upgrading the audio system in the X350/358? Is there the possibility of swapping all of the speakers out for the 'premium' variants? Or the ability to add a subwoofer to support the all but non-existant low end of this system? I wouldn't be averse to upgrading the head unit, and have seen some pretty good upgrades of the standard sat-nav unit (not fitted on my car) with the use of a modern Android based touch screen. Any suggestions welcome here.

But overall - I was pretty impressed by the X350. It certainly 'feels' special to schlep around in, and gets a lot more looks and approving glances than any of my previous cars, especially around Coventry where it was built. It'll be getting some money spent on it now that it has proven itself, so hopefully there will be some more updates to come on here shortly!

[craigjm]

All of the audio systems in the X350 are awful and the so called Alpine "premium sound" top spec system is the worst of them all. If you're going to keep it for a while, rip it all out. Remember the car has a rear bulkhead so the subs will need to be under seat in car units.

The ML branded systems in the Lexus are superb in comparison. Internal technology was never the X350 strong point so a double din navigation unit with decent speakers, amps, subs and wire will make a huge difference and you can add Bluetooth, reverse camera etc

[DodgeRam Van Man]

craigjm said:

All of the audio systems in the X350 are awful and the so called Alpine "premium sound" top spec system is the worst of them all. If you're going to keep it for a while, rip it all out. Remember the car has a rear bulkhead so the subs will need to be under seat in car units.

I would completely disagree with this, the Apline premium audio in my Super V8 sounds fantastic with CD or Aux-in with my Android system and Spotify etc, although I've not heard the standard audio to give an opinion on that.

If you have the touchscreen you can upgrade it to run Android to bring it into the 21st Century: https://jaguar.willcoxonline.com/

Ben

[craigjm]

DodgeRam Van Man said:

I would completely disagree with this, the Apline premium audio in my Super V8 sounds fantastic with CD or Aux-in with my Android system and Spotify etc, although I've not heard the standard audio to give an opinion on that.

If you have the touchscreen you can upgrade it to run Android to bring it into the 21st Century: https://jaguar.willcoxonline.com/

Ben

what are you comparing it to? Go and sit in a Lexus LS of the same era and listen to the Mark Levinson system in that. Everything is relative and our views will be coloured by other experiences and also how good our ears are. The standard system has fewer speakers, no DSP and a low power output.

The Alpine premium was an expensive option on anything below the sovereign and Daimler on which it was standard equipment. It's main problem is the speaker positioning because the tweeters are far too low down and the bass control. The sound sits far too low in the car compared to the Lexus system which sits at the right level and employs active noise cancellation and other trickery the Alpine system could only dream of at the time.

[DodgeRam Van Man]

craigjm said:

what are you comparing it to? Go and sit in a Lexus LS of the same era and listen to the Mark Levinson system in that. Everything is relative and our views will be coloured by other experiences and also how good our ears are. The standard system has fewer speakers, no DSP and a low power output.

The Alpine premium was an expensive option on anything below the sovereign and Daimler on which it was standard equipment. It's main problem is the speaker positioning because the tweeters are far too low down and the bass control. The sound sits far too low in the car compared to the Lexus system which sits at the right level and employs active noise cancellation and other trickery the Alpine system could only dream of at the time.

I'm not comparing it to anything other than judging it on it's own merits. I'm sure there are better systems available in other cars, in the same way that whatever stereo system you buy, there's always a better one out there.

I was commenting on your statement that 'all of the audio systems in the X350 are awful', and that the Alpine is the worst of them all. Well there are only two systems available AFAIK i.e. standard and Premium (the Alpine system with dedicated Amp, Subwoofer etc), so are you saying that the Premium Alpine system sounds worse than standard?

[craigjm]

The Alpine has power on its side but other than that, due to the position of the extra speakers that it possesses the sound quality itself is not better and when considering the option cost of the system at the time it was, to many people, the worst option from the two. Many of the management cars that were built at the time were specced without it even if they were a sovereign. There were actually three systems and two "premium sound" systems with the cars of the OPs era receiving one system and cars from 2006MY onwards that was noticeably improved but the parts are not interchangeable

[DodgeRam Van Man]

So you mean it was worse value for money when brand new rather than worse sound quality. It's obviously quite subjective as other X350 owners have reported a significant improvement in sound quality when retro-fitting the alpine amp etc. I wasn't aware that 2006 and later cars had a different system, the Amp has the same part number AFAIK so not sure what changed.

I've just had a read of the X350 electrical guide which states the following:

X350 Electrical Guide said:

There are three speaker systems available, a standard system which has 8 speakers and a
premium system which has 12 speakers. The Dolby Pro Logic 2 system, which is fitted to the
Super V8 Portfolio, has a 14 speaker configuration.

On the standard system there are:
• door speakers mounted at the base of each door.
• door tweeters mounted together with each door release handle.

On the premium sound system there are:
• high power and high quality door speakers mounted at the base of each door.
• door tweeters mounted together with each door handle.
• mid range speakers mounted to the top left and right of the instrument panel next to
the windshield.
• two subwoofers mounted onto the rear parcel shelf.

On the Pro Logic 2 surround sound system there are:
• high power and high quality door speakers mounted at the base of each door.
• door tweeters mounted together with each door release handle.
• mid range speakers mounted to the top left and right of the instrument panel next to
the windshield.
• one center fill speaker in the center of the instrument panel.
• two surround speakers mounted in the rear parcel shelf.
• one subwoofer speaker mounted centrally under the rear parcel shelf.

The Pro Logic 2 system is probably extremely rare as the Portfolios are, but I imagine the extra mid range speakers fitted on the dashboard of the Premium system make a big difference as they are around ear level.

[craigjm]

There would be no point attempting to retrofit any other factory available system unless you can source every part very cheaply on eBay IMO. For similar money you could create a much more up to date system if you are handy with tools as the OP is. His car does not, as far as I can remember, have the navigation unit so I think he would be better off sourcing a decent double din unit with all the features he wants and the sound that he wants.

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

There would be no point attempting to retrofit any other factory available system unless you can source every part very cheaply on eBay IMO. For similar money you could create a much more up to date system if you are handy with tools as the OP is. His car does not, as far as I can remember, have the navigation unit so I think he would be better off sourcing a decent double din unit with all the features he wants and the sound that he wants.

Everything I've seen/read so far has confirmed that the Alpine system isn't worth bothering with as a retrofit. So as you suggest, I'm going to look into aftermarket upgrades. I reckon that if I change the front speakers/tweeters, add a decent woofer (either a big one in the boot to compensate for the bulkhead & insulation, or a smaller one under a seat), and fit a CarPlay enabled double din headunit, I should have something that's at least worth listening to for around £500 - £600.

[craigjm]

I would go for something like this....

https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-pioneer...

Then get speakers to replace in the positions you have, under seat subs (don't bother trying to compensate for the bulkhead) and decent wire. Then if you want to add additional amps you can depending on the power you want. If you're gonna take the carpet up it might be worth getting some dynomat too

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

I would go for something like this....

https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-pioneer...

Then get speakers to replace in the positions you have, under seat subs (don't bother trying to compensate for the bulkhead) and decent wire. Then if you want to add additional amps you can depending on the power you want. If you're gonna take the carpet up it might be worth getting some dynomat too

Do you think it would be worth adding speakers in the places that seem to be free on top of the dash? Any idea what size they are?

[craigjm]

Not off the top of my head but I'm sure we can find out. Always worth doing that as part of the problem with a lot of car systems is that's it's all too low down and below the natural listening stage.

[LandyManSam]

Yep... the tweeters in the X350 are at chest height. Even my old Discovery Td5 made a better attempt with tweeters at ear level in the A-pillars.

[LandyManSam]

This arrived from eBay today, and despite not yet having my diagnostics kit for the autobox reset/update, I couldn't resist cracking on and servicing the autobox on the big Jag.



Whereas most of the 1L bottles of ZF Lifeguard are around the £20 mark, I got this 10 litre tub plus the new sump/filter for £230. It didn't however come with the new bolts/screws for the sump, so the old ones would have to be reused.

As I work for a top secret automotive testing facility (just off the A5 between Hinckley and Atherstone; if you get to Tamworth, you've gone too far), I have unfettered access to a fully equipped workshop with two and four post ramps, which is handy for someone with both a Land Rover and barge addiction.

So up she went;



The first thing I noticed was the sump definitely seemed to have been leaking. Although I hadn't noticed any drips where it's parked, the sump was pretty wet with gearbox fluid. From reading around, it seems they're quite prone to warping, so leaks aren't uncommon.



Whilst it was up, I had a good look around underneath. Everything looks pretty much as expected. Some of the rubber bits are looking a bit tired though - to be expected at this age and mileage. I'd really like to go through all of the suspension and do all of the bushes at some point.



Anyway, back to the job at hand. As with any oil change, the first job was to remove the filler cap, to save any disasters resulting in a dry gearbox with no way of filling it back up. This came out easily enough with a standard allen key.

Next I released the drain plug. I had warmed the car up to operating temperature before starting, so naturally the plug came out quicker than expected and hot ATF shot straight down my arm, up my sleeve and into my armpit. Nice.



Surprisingly, the oil coming out didn't look or smell all that bad. It was obviously well-used but not burnt or blackened.

Next, I started to remove the 21 torx headed screws securing the sump. This was far more difficult than expected. Initially, I didn't help the situation by trying to remove them using a T25 bit - before realising they were actually T27 in size.

Anyway, even once I had the correct bit on my ratchet, at least half of the screws didn't want to come out, and I was in danger of rounding out the torx heads on them. To get them out I had to supplement the torx bit with a pair of vice grips, which worked well. Phew!

Once the sump was off, I took a moment to marvel at the exposed underbelly of the 6HP26. Shiiiiiiny



After cleaning off the sealing face of the gearbox, I offered up the new sump and got it screwed on. To torque the screws, you start in the middle and work your way outwards, as below;



That done, I began to fill the box back up again with lovely fresh Lifeguard 6 oil. Instead of using my usual 'syringe' type oil pump, I decided to try out this Draper pump bottle. It came with a decent length of tube, and a nifty 180 degree bend aluminium nozzle that hooks into the filler hole. It's only 1 litre so I had to refill it 6 times in total, but it worked very nicely and reduced the amount of oil that would otherwise have ended up on the floor / on my shirt / in my armpit.



Once the oil began to run out of the filler hole (after approx. 3 litres), I started the engine, and then continued filling as the autobox took up the oil from the sump. Once the oil again began to run out, I then hopped into the car and cycled it from D to R a few times to further fill the autobox inner workings.

After checking the temperature of the sump with my handy dandy thermal imaging camera (more benefits of being a test engineer), I put the filler plug in, and let it cool to the recommended 30 degrees Celsius, before restarting the engine, re-opening the filler plug and letting the excess fluid run out until only a few drops were exiting.

Filler plug back in, under tray refitted, tools away, job done!

The most exciting part was yet to come though - the test drive!

Immediately, I noticed that reverse engaged much more quickly than before. Where there had previously been a second's delay upon putting the shifter in 'R', now it engaged quickly and smoothly. So far, so good. Pulling away from the workshop, the previously jerky 1st-2nd change was now silky and almost undetectable. I think this was where I started to grin

The drive home was a revelation. No more lurching when coming to a stop. Smooth shifts under all load conditions. Much smoother uptake of drive from a standing start. Much smoother transition from braking to acceleration, and from coasting to acceleration. It may be my imagination, but it also seems quieter at low speeds now too - less 'whirring' when pulling away.

So unless you couldn't tell, I'm bloody chuffed. And this is before I've reset or updated the box too! As I still have about four litres of Lifeguard oil left, I'm going to do another drain and refill of the box at the same time that I do the engine and filter service, so about 4000 miles time. Since I didn't do a full flush, the new oil is actually mixed about 50/50 with old oil - so another drain and refill should give about 75% or so new oil in total, and yield perhaps even smoother autobox behaviour.

Edited by LandyManSam on Friday 8th September 09:24

[craigjm]

Good stuff. Links from Photobucket don't work though unless you have paid them these days.

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

Good stuff. Links from Photobucket don't work though unless you have paid them these days.

Gah! Sorted...

[Peanut Gallery]

craigjm said:

Good stuff. Links from Photobucket don't work though unless you have paid them these days.

-From elsewhere in PH,

TooMany2cvs said:

If you use Firefox, there's a third-party add-on that unbreaks it. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pho...
There's probably one for Chrome, too.

I am running that now, and it works really well!

[LandyManSam]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Interesting - definitely a better way of doing things, but I didn't want to pay a garage to do it when I have ramp access. I'm still quids in, even taking into account the extra oil of the 'double change'.

[craigjm]

Looking good Sam

[LandyManSam]

Quick update - the Jag is still running smoothly post gearbox service, and will be getting another run up to N. Wales this weekend - so should be interesting to see the difference along some decent roads.

@Craig, as you seem to be the man in the know regarding X350... I've noticed that some X350s have a much nicer, chunkier rimmed steering wheel than mine does. I find the wheel on mine to be too thin, and quite difficult to grip with my big bear claws. Do you happen to know whether these are a straight swap?