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

[LandyManSam]

Just as a comparison;

Chunky wheel (pinched from an ad from a 2007 car)



My wheel with the thinner rim:



eBay listing for a 'late' type wheel - also noticed the badge is a bit different;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-X350-LATE-S-TYPE-...

Edited by LandyManSam on Thursday 14th September 09:35

[craigjm]

There are a number of different steering wheels depending on the spec level of the car and it's year of production. As long as they are originally from a 350 they are interchangeable. The difference in the centre badge occurred with the facelift to create the 358 in 2007 and that car onwards featured the current style of growler introduced on the 2006 XK.

If you are looking for a thicker more sporty wheel then what you really want to find is an XJR wheel. I'm sure there will be some floating around on eBay.

[LandyManSam]

Ticked a few more little jobs off the list this evening, including the steering wheel upgrade:



This was £30 on eBay and money really well spent. Feels so much nicer in the hands than the original, plus adds a slightly sportier look to the cockpit. Really happy with this.

Secondly, the N/S/F fog lamp unit had been smashed to bits by a previous owner, so from the same seller as the steering wheel, I got a replacement for £25. Really easy to fit and smartens the front end up a bit:





I've also put the new genuine Jaguar rubber floor mats in (front and rear) to replace the tatty carpet mats, and added a cupholder insert into the centre armrest. All of this was from RimmerBros, at a cost of about £60 in total. Quite happy with how the interior is looking now.





Later this week I'm going to give the paintwork a good going over... clay bar, machine polish and wax, plus a deep clean of the interior carpets and a bit of leather conditioning... Can't. Stop. Titivating!

[craigjm]

Rubber mats in a Jag?

Other than that totally on board but.... find a way of getting rid of that horrid nose piercing please!

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

Rubber mats in a Jag?

Other than that totally on board but.... find a way of getting rid of that horrid nose piercing please!

Rubber, yeah! I often get into it in my work boots, and since they're yet to build an actual car park at my office (long story...) they're rarely clean. Carpet mats would get wrecked in no time.

I'm working on the nose piercing. The longer I have the car, the more I dislike it - so it'll definitely be going.

[craigjm]

OK you can have a reprieve from execution... for now

So what's next? If it was me I would be thinking about the audio you mentioned earlier in the post. I think I would also get the "wood" out and hydrodip it piano black or any other finish you fancy to look more sporty and modern. I would also be upgrading the steering wheel centre badge and all the external badges to the modern growler.

A lot of the optional equipment is available cheap to retrofit these days from breakers on eBay etc. Have a look through a brochure from the time and see what options you have missing that you would like and start the hunt for them.

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

OK you can have a reprieve from execution... for now

So what's next? If it was me I would be thinking about the audio you mentioned earlier in the post. I think I would also get the "wood" out and hydrodip it piano black or any other finish you fancy to look more sporty and modern. I would also be upgrading the steering wheel centre badge and all the external badges to the modern growler.

A lot of the optional equipment is available cheap to retrofit these days from breakers on eBay etc. Have a look through a brochure from the time and see what options you have missing that you would like and start the hunt for them.

I'm quite fond of the 'wood', can't say I'm tempted to change it really. Got to keep it feeling 'Jaguary' inside!

Audio is definitely on the cards. Need to put together a parts list and plan of attack for this, as I want to do it properly.

Mine is definitely short of a few options... heated seats would be nice, but surely that's not as simple as just adding a button?
Which other options would be an easy retrofit?

[craigjm]

I didn't mean move it away from being a Jag inside. My coupe is getting new "wood" and it's piano black with a silver pinstripe in it and it looks great but fair enough if you want to keep it I was just thinking sporty options.

The easiest upgrade spec wise is to get hold of the facelift external parts to create the 358 look if you like those bumpers etc.

You will get plenty of equipment you had missing with the audio upgrade you plan. Here is the 2007 brochure to give you a clue as to what was on the higher spec cars that you may like to source

http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/Jaguar/XJ/Jagu...

[LandyManSam]

A few hours with the clay bar, machine polisher and a tub of wax gave some good results yesterday;







I then got carried away, removed the exhaust trims and cleaned/polished them (came up amazingly well, must be good quality stainless!).

After all of this, the cloudy headlight lenses were letting it down - so they got the wet and dry / machine polish treatment to bring them up to scratch.





Decided the next thing will be new tyres. It's currently sitting on four different, (albeit good quality) brands, but they're definitely a few years old and are showing their age. Any suggestions here for a quiet, comfortable mid-range tyre?

[craigjm]

The factory standards are usually Pirelli. What’s on it at the moment and what size?

Great results with the clay bar but I’m gonna hunt you down and attack that leaper with a crow bar if it’s not removed soon

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

The factory standards are usually Pirelli. What’s on it at the moment and what size?

Great results with the clay bar but I’m gonna hunt you down and attack that leaper with a crow bar if it’s not removed soon

235/50 R18 is the size. Off the top of my head, one Continental, one Dunlop, one Bridgestone and one Pirelli... all way past their best. Makes you wonder... why go to the expense of buying top brand tyres if you're not going to even try and match them??

Reviews seem to suggest that Michelin and Continental are at the top of the pile currently, with the Sport Pilot 4 and PremiumContact 6 respectively. I can get the Contis for £116 each, which seems good value for money, from here: https://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s306p145705/Contin...

I'm half tempted to save a few quid and get something like this Falken ZE914 (also well reviewed) for £86 https://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s306p130783/Falken...

Or even this Nexen N8000 for £76... https://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s306p130783/Falken...

Not sure if I'll notice the difference between them all on a 125,000 mile barge - money that could be better spent elsewhere, such as the bling headunit and speakers that are coming next, or indeed, a leaper-free bonnet?

Edited by LandyManSam on Monday 25th September 15:04

[craigjm]

The Falkens seem to get good reviews and that’s a good price for them. You can spend the £120 you save over the continentals getting the leaper banished

[TheAngryDog]

craigjm said:

The Falkens seem to get good reviews and that’s a good price for them. You can spend the £120 you save over the continentals getting the leaper banished

What's wrong with the leaper?

Car is looking good OP.

[craigjm]

TheAngryDog said:

What's wrong with the leaper?

Car is looking good OP.

Whilst I have nothing against anyone fitting a leaper to a car that they were not designed for (no production Jaguar after the 420G has one fitted from the factory) whoever fitted this one had obviously never seen a Jaguar before and fitted it in a random place far too far back behind the leading edge of the bonnet. Hideous.

[LandyManSam]

craigjm said:

Whilst I have nothing against anyone fitting a leaper to a car that they were not designed for (no production Jaguar after the 420G has one fitted from the factory) whoever fitted this one had obviously never seen a Jaguar before and fitted it in a random place far too far back behind the leading edge of the bonnet. Hideous.

It's definitely in the wrong place, but I think their reason for putting it there was one of laziness rather than ignorance. The front section of the bonnet is constructed in double skin with a pressed form underneath to provide rigidity for the catch - whereas further back it's thinner, so would have been easier for them to wrangle their Black and Decker through it and overtighten the nut on the bottom, denting the skin.

[TheAngryDog]

craigjm said:

TheAngryDog said:

What's wrong with the leaper?

Car is looking good OP.

Whilst I have nothing against anyone fitting a leaper to a car that they were not designed for (no production Jaguar after the 420G has one fitted from the factory) whoever fitted this one had obviously never seen a Jaguar before and fitted it in a random place far too far back behind the leading edge of the bonnet. Hideous.

Ah, I didn't know it wasn't standard fit. I don't know all that much about Jaguars. Thanks.

[craigjm]

TheAngryDog said:

Ah, I didn't know it wasn't standard fit. I don't know all that much about Jaguars. Thanks.

Yeah the last car to have one as standard was the 420G that went out info production in 1970. The first XJ of 1968 lead the way in not having them. People have fitted them themselves over the years to all the more modern cars apart from a strange situation where US dealers retrofitted them before sale if requested right up until 2009.

[alec.e]

Great job on the headlights! Well worth doing. This was my old XJ:

I chrome wrapped the orange repeaters, maybe something to consider?

[craigjm]

Yeah do that with the repeaters Sam looks good

[LandyManSam]

alec.e said:

Great job on the headlights! Well worth doing. This was my old XJ:

I chrome wrapped the orange repeaters, maybe something to consider?

Mmmmmm, noice! I see the chrome wrap on the bumper reflectors - great idea. Would this stuff do the trick? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stretchable-Mirror-Chrom...

Is the side repeater also wrapped? If so, can you still see it flashing? Looks almost black in the picture.

Also - those 19" Supercharged wheels look superb. Sort of tempted to fit a set of these "Toba" wheels from the X351, but am loathe to worsen the ride, which I already find firm in comparison to previous barges.

@Craig, shield your eyes! Leaper!!!