2003 Jaguar XJ 4.2 V8 SE
Discussion
stickleback123 said:
craigjm said:
I would be more worried about it doing it 10 minutes before they arrive 
What is it being replaced with?
A 2007 Mercedes S600. Started a thread earlier that will doubtless end up containing images of leaking hydraulic fluid, broken coil packs, and the odd recovery truck.What is it being replaced with?
I’ll find the thread 
So it's gone on to a fellow PHer who may update this thread. After 2 years-ish and 10k-ish I've got a few final thoughts on the car.
Firstly that V8 is a superb engine; torquey low down, keen to rev, refined enough, wicked induction noise, plenty of power for the 1600KG weight of the car, and capable of great economy. It also has absolutely no real weaknesses, so if you service it and change the hoses as it gets older it's very unlikely to need much attention. The ZF6 is also a decent box, it shows it's age compared to the ZF8 but compared to the 722.6 5G Tronic in my S600 it's clearly the product of another decade.
It was fantastic to drive for such a large car, it always felt light and chuckable, and you could be a real hooligan without it getting out of shape. Jaguar nailed the "sports saloon" dynamic very well. Air suspension kept it under control well, although I was never truly satisfied with the ride on 19" wheels.
Where it fell down was in the smaller details. First thing that always irritated, as it did in my S-Type, was that the HVAC system was too noisy, not cold enough in winter even when fully recharged, and never kept the cabin at an even temperature in the way that other cars I've had manage. The heated seats took forever to warm up and were never quite hot enough, the auto wipers were rubbish, the headlights were disappointing, it had more wind noise than you'd expect, the audio system (and mine had the premium system) wasn't very good, all things that clearly just hadn't received as much development or budget as they really needed.
I hadn't realised how "not really quite good enough" a lot of these things were until I bought this W221 and everything is clearly refined to the Nth degree.
I don't mean any of that criticism to take away from what Jaguar achieved with not a vast amount of (Ford's) money, I would bet a substantial sum that the development budget for the W221 was quite literally an order of magnitude more than for the X350 but I can see why once Jaguar left the low slung sporty saloon niche they had with the X300/X308, where the only other player was Maserati, and went toe to toe with the S-Class and great big barge the 7 Series had become they didn't really have the development budget to stand a chance.
It was a good example of a great car though, and I hope it treats it's new owner as well as it treated me.
Firstly that V8 is a superb engine; torquey low down, keen to rev, refined enough, wicked induction noise, plenty of power for the 1600KG weight of the car, and capable of great economy. It also has absolutely no real weaknesses, so if you service it and change the hoses as it gets older it's very unlikely to need much attention. The ZF6 is also a decent box, it shows it's age compared to the ZF8 but compared to the 722.6 5G Tronic in my S600 it's clearly the product of another decade.
It was fantastic to drive for such a large car, it always felt light and chuckable, and you could be a real hooligan without it getting out of shape. Jaguar nailed the "sports saloon" dynamic very well. Air suspension kept it under control well, although I was never truly satisfied with the ride on 19" wheels.
Where it fell down was in the smaller details. First thing that always irritated, as it did in my S-Type, was that the HVAC system was too noisy, not cold enough in winter even when fully recharged, and never kept the cabin at an even temperature in the way that other cars I've had manage. The heated seats took forever to warm up and were never quite hot enough, the auto wipers were rubbish, the headlights were disappointing, it had more wind noise than you'd expect, the audio system (and mine had the premium system) wasn't very good, all things that clearly just hadn't received as much development or budget as they really needed.
I hadn't realised how "not really quite good enough" a lot of these things were until I bought this W221 and everything is clearly refined to the Nth degree.
I don't mean any of that criticism to take away from what Jaguar achieved with not a vast amount of (Ford's) money, I would bet a substantial sum that the development budget for the W221 was quite literally an order of magnitude more than for the X350 but I can see why once Jaguar left the low slung sporty saloon niche they had with the X300/X308, where the only other player was Maserati, and went toe to toe with the S-Class and great big barge the 7 Series had become they didn't really have the development budget to stand a chance.
It was a good example of a great car though, and I hope it treats it's new owner as well as it treated me.
stickleback123 said:
So it's gone on to a fellow PHer who may update this thread. After 2 years-ish and 10k-ish I've got a few final thoughts on the car.
Firstly that V8 is a superb engine; torquey low down, keen to rev, refined enough, wicked induction noise, plenty of power for the 1600KG weight of the car, and capable of great economy. It also has absolutely no real weaknesses, so if you service it and change the hoses as it gets older it's very unlikely to need much attention. The ZF6 is also a decent box, it shows it's age compared to the ZF8 but compared to the 722.6 5G Tronic in my S600 it's clearly the product of another decade.
It was fantastic to drive for such a large car, it always felt light and chuckable, and you could be a real hooligan without it getting out of shape. Jaguar nailed the "sports saloon" dynamic very well. Air suspension kept it under control well, although I was never truly satisfied with the ride on 19" wheels.
Where it fell down was in the smaller details. First thing that always irritated, as it did in my S-Type, was that the HVAC system was too noisy, not cold enough in winter even when fully recharged, and never kept the cabin at an even temperature in the way that other cars I've had manage. The heated seats took forever to warm up and were never quite hot enough, the auto wipers were rubbish, the headlights were disappointing, it had more wind noise than you'd expect, the audio system (and mine had the premium system) wasn't very good, all things that clearly just hadn't received as much development or budget as they really needed.
I hadn't realised how "not really quite good enough" a lot of these things were until I bought this W221 and everything is clearly refined to the Nth degree.
I don't mean any of that criticism to take away from what Jaguar achieved with not a vast amount of (Ford's) money, I would bet a substantial sum that the development budget for the W221 was quite literally an order of magnitude more than for the X350 but I can see why once Jaguar left the low slung sporty saloon niche they had with the X300/X308, where the only other player was Maserati, and went toe to toe with the S-Class and great big barge the 7 Series had become they didn't really have the development budget to stand a chance.
It was a good example of a great car though, and I hope it treats it's new owner as well as it treated me.
Agree with nearly all of that.Firstly that V8 is a superb engine; torquey low down, keen to rev, refined enough, wicked induction noise, plenty of power for the 1600KG weight of the car, and capable of great economy. It also has absolutely no real weaknesses, so if you service it and change the hoses as it gets older it's very unlikely to need much attention. The ZF6 is also a decent box, it shows it's age compared to the ZF8 but compared to the 722.6 5G Tronic in my S600 it's clearly the product of another decade.
It was fantastic to drive for such a large car, it always felt light and chuckable, and you could be a real hooligan without it getting out of shape. Jaguar nailed the "sports saloon" dynamic very well. Air suspension kept it under control well, although I was never truly satisfied with the ride on 19" wheels.
Where it fell down was in the smaller details. First thing that always irritated, as it did in my S-Type, was that the HVAC system was too noisy, not cold enough in winter even when fully recharged, and never kept the cabin at an even temperature in the way that other cars I've had manage. The heated seats took forever to warm up and were never quite hot enough, the auto wipers were rubbish, the headlights were disappointing, it had more wind noise than you'd expect, the audio system (and mine had the premium system) wasn't very good, all things that clearly just hadn't received as much development or budget as they really needed.
I hadn't realised how "not really quite good enough" a lot of these things were until I bought this W221 and everything is clearly refined to the Nth degree.
I don't mean any of that criticism to take away from what Jaguar achieved with not a vast amount of (Ford's) money, I would bet a substantial sum that the development budget for the W221 was quite literally an order of magnitude more than for the X350 but I can see why once Jaguar left the low slung sporty saloon niche they had with the X300/X308, where the only other player was Maserati, and went toe to toe with the S-Class and great big barge the 7 Series had become they didn't really have the development budget to stand a chance.
It was a good example of a great car though, and I hope it treats it's new owner as well as it treated me.
Mine certainly gets cold enough, but there's an odd bit between 22-24 degrees when I'm constantly adjusting.The fan is indeed a bit noisy even on it's lowest setting ( I haven't looked at the what the " mute" button does on the climate screen!).The heated seats aren't great as you say,I have the wind noise form the A pillar at the drivers door, and the ride ( I'm on 20's) is great most of the time but expansion joints seem to knock the car sideways out of the blue. I'll also add the parking sensors are a pain in the arse.
As you say, all the basics make it a great virtually loveable car, and I can pretty much forgive mine anything.. which you need to sometimes!
sjc said:
Agree with nearly all of that.
Mine certainly gets cold enough, but there's an odd bit between 22-24 degrees when I'm constantly adjusting.The fan is indeed a bit noisy even on it's lowest setting ( I haven't looked at the what the " mute" button does on the climate screen!).The heated seats aren't great as you say,I have the wind noise form the A pillar at the drivers door, and the ride ( I'm on 20's) is great most of the time but expansion joints seem to knock the car sideways out of the blue. I'll also add the parking sensors are a pain in the arse.
As you say, all the basics make it a great virtually loveable car, and I can pretty much forgive mine anything.. which you need to sometimes!
Oh yes I forgot about the parking sensors, and the autofold mirrors filling up with corrosion!Mine certainly gets cold enough, but there's an odd bit between 22-24 degrees when I'm constantly adjusting.The fan is indeed a bit noisy even on it's lowest setting ( I haven't looked at the what the " mute" button does on the climate screen!).The heated seats aren't great as you say,I have the wind noise form the A pillar at the drivers door, and the ride ( I'm on 20's) is great most of the time but expansion joints seem to knock the car sideways out of the blue. I'll also add the parking sensors are a pain in the arse.
As you say, all the basics make it a great virtually loveable car, and I can pretty much forgive mine anything.. which you need to sometimes!
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