Another V8 barge thread - Jag content
Discussion
Welcome to another V8 barge thread. I’m sure you’ve seen it all before – man buys cheap luxury car, then attempts to avoid bankrupting himself when the inevitable borkage takes hold. Hopefully this one won’t tell a similar tale 
The story goes that my brother and I were looking to take part in a charity rally across Europe next year. The idea of doing 2000 miles in a £500 banger may sound fun and games but I knew the reality would be sitting in a sweatbox on the autoroute at 4000rpm for hour after hour hoping the engine doesn’t cook itself – no thanks. We then found the ‘Benidorm or Bust’ rally, which has no limits on the car or purchase price. You basically turn up in whatever you want (but preferably something cheap, naturally) and away you go.
With that in mind, we started looking at the usual barge suspects (7 series, S Class, LS400) but we then realised that an X350 was within budget. There seem to fewer horror stories with the Jags, and aluminium body meant less rust to worry about. My dad then decided that this all sounded too good to miss out on, so he joined in, the budget was upped slightly, and we ended up with this:
It’s a 2003 4.2 SE, in ultimate OAP spec – gold with cream leather and walnut interior on the smallest wheels available. 97k, 3 owners and a previous owner who had run Jags for 40 years. Options we are aware of include xenons, touchscreen sat nav, powerfold mirrors, a compass in the rear view mirror, electric rear blind and additional electric adjustment for the seats, totalling just over £4k. It ran like a dream on the test drive and we struck gold (ahem) when it transpired that the old chap was desperate for the garage space to store his new X351. He’d already dropped the price twice, and having hardly had a sniff, we ended up doing a deal for £3k less than originally advertised! We worked out that this car would have cost £57k new in 2003, the equivalent of £88k in 2019, and it was ours for £3850 17 years later.
With the gentleman’s express now home, we set to work examining the underneath where all the steel bits live.
Up on the ramp:
The subframe will be okay with a bit of treatment, but the fuel tank straps were in a sorry state
having seen Stickleback123’s thread (https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1779008) on what happened to his, we fitted new ones straight away.
We then did some general tidying up of the brakes and suspension bits:
The interior is in remarkable condition, with hardly any wear at all. Nevertheless, it benefited from a bit of treatment, especially the seats which came up a treat.
The closest I’ve ever experienced to a car like this was being taken out in my grandad’s 1983 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit as a kid, but having not had a barge in the family since then, the novelty of wafting about without a care in the world is probably going to take a while to wear off. I read some complaints about the ride comfort not being as good as other cars of this type, but it feels like a magic carpet compared to my 130i daily with M-Sport suspension!
The only mechanical fault so far has been the driver’s door, which decided to stop opening. That was a 20-minute job to pop the pin back in place and order was restored. Of course, being a 16-year-old car it has one or two electrical gremlins – the driver’s side powerfold mirror only powerfolds when it feels like it, and it’s the same story with the driver’s side passenger window switch. But the other gizmos like the electric seats, headrests, wheel and pedals, and the heated seats are all working well.
Aside from an air con regas, it seems good to go. The only mod we’d like to make going forward is to update the infotainment system but we haven’t quite worked out how to do that as yet. I’ll try to keep this thread going with updates as we’re hoping to use it regularly and pass the 100k mark before we do the rally, which is in May.
The story goes that my brother and I were looking to take part in a charity rally across Europe next year. The idea of doing 2000 miles in a £500 banger may sound fun and games but I knew the reality would be sitting in a sweatbox on the autoroute at 4000rpm for hour after hour hoping the engine doesn’t cook itself – no thanks. We then found the ‘Benidorm or Bust’ rally, which has no limits on the car or purchase price. You basically turn up in whatever you want (but preferably something cheap, naturally) and away you go.
With that in mind, we started looking at the usual barge suspects (7 series, S Class, LS400) but we then realised that an X350 was within budget. There seem to fewer horror stories with the Jags, and aluminium body meant less rust to worry about. My dad then decided that this all sounded too good to miss out on, so he joined in, the budget was upped slightly, and we ended up with this:
It’s a 2003 4.2 SE, in ultimate OAP spec – gold with cream leather and walnut interior on the smallest wheels available. 97k, 3 owners and a previous owner who had run Jags for 40 years. Options we are aware of include xenons, touchscreen sat nav, powerfold mirrors, a compass in the rear view mirror, electric rear blind and additional electric adjustment for the seats, totalling just over £4k. It ran like a dream on the test drive and we struck gold (ahem) when it transpired that the old chap was desperate for the garage space to store his new X351. He’d already dropped the price twice, and having hardly had a sniff, we ended up doing a deal for £3k less than originally advertised! We worked out that this car would have cost £57k new in 2003, the equivalent of £88k in 2019, and it was ours for £3850 17 years later.
With the gentleman’s express now home, we set to work examining the underneath where all the steel bits live.
Up on the ramp:
The subframe will be okay with a bit of treatment, but the fuel tank straps were in a sorry state
having seen Stickleback123’s thread (https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1779008) on what happened to his, we fitted new ones straight away.We then did some general tidying up of the brakes and suspension bits:
The interior is in remarkable condition, with hardly any wear at all. Nevertheless, it benefited from a bit of treatment, especially the seats which came up a treat.
The closest I’ve ever experienced to a car like this was being taken out in my grandad’s 1983 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit as a kid, but having not had a barge in the family since then, the novelty of wafting about without a care in the world is probably going to take a while to wear off. I read some complaints about the ride comfort not being as good as other cars of this type, but it feels like a magic carpet compared to my 130i daily with M-Sport suspension!
The only mechanical fault so far has been the driver’s door, which decided to stop opening. That was a 20-minute job to pop the pin back in place and order was restored. Of course, being a 16-year-old car it has one or two electrical gremlins – the driver’s side powerfold mirror only powerfolds when it feels like it, and it’s the same story with the driver’s side passenger window switch. But the other gizmos like the electric seats, headrests, wheel and pedals, and the heated seats are all working well.
Aside from an air con regas, it seems good to go. The only mod we’d like to make going forward is to update the infotainment system but we haven’t quite worked out how to do that as yet. I’ll try to keep this thread going with updates as we’re hoping to use it regularly and pass the 100k mark before we do the rally, which is in May.
Edited by chriscoates on Thursday 10th October 21:51
I think you have a more than capable barge for that trip and a good car to boot.
This chap does X350 ICE upgrades: https://jaguar.willcoxonline.com/
This chap does X350 ICE upgrades: https://jaguar.willcoxonline.com/
You can fix the powerfold mirrors in about 5 minutes. You need to push the mirror against itself (i.e. the opposite direction to the way it would fold). Then, pull off the little plastic cover on the bottom of the mirror, where the puddle light is. I can virtually guarantee it'll be caked in grease and dirt inside.
Clean it all out with water and a toothbrush, then spray liberally with WD40, whilst moving the mirror all the way backwards, forwards and against itself for about 5 minutes. Then put it all back together and it should work fine. Press the lock button on the keyfob twice in quick succession to lock the car and fold the mirrors in.
I've had 3 X350s over the years, and my dad has one, so that's a total of 4 I've performed this repair on and it's worked every time.
With regards to the infotainment, have you checked if it has any of the audio controls inside the center armrest of the rear seats? If it does, you can buy a $4 cable which will allow you to have AUX connectivity.
Clean it all out with water and a toothbrush, then spray liberally with WD40, whilst moving the mirror all the way backwards, forwards and against itself for about 5 minutes. Then put it all back together and it should work fine. Press the lock button on the keyfob twice in quick succession to lock the car and fold the mirrors in.
I've had 3 X350s over the years, and my dad has one, so that's a total of 4 I've performed this repair on and it's worked every time.
With regards to the infotainment, have you checked if it has any of the audio controls inside the center armrest of the rear seats? If it does, you can buy a $4 cable which will allow you to have AUX connectivity.
Geekman said:
You can fix the powerfold mirrors in about 5 minutes. You need to push the mirror against itself (i.e. the opposite direction to the way it would fold). Then, pull off the little plastic cover on the bottom of the mirror, where the puddle light is. I can virtually guarantee it'll be caked in grease and dirt inside.
Clean it all out with water and a toothbrush, then spray liberally with WD40, whilst moving the mirror all the way backwards, forwards and against itself for about 5 minutes. Then put it all back together and it should work fine. Press the lock button on the keyfob twice in quick succession to lock the car and fold the mirrors in.
I've had 3 X350s over the years, and my dad has one, so that's a total of 4 I've performed this repair on and it's worked every time.
With regards to the infotainment, have you checked if it has any of the audio controls inside the center armrest of the rear seats? If it does, you can buy a $4 cable which will allow you to have AUX connectivity.
Excellent Jag bearding Clean it all out with water and a toothbrush, then spray liberally with WD40, whilst moving the mirror all the way backwards, forwards and against itself for about 5 minutes. Then put it all back together and it should work fine. Press the lock button on the keyfob twice in quick succession to lock the car and fold the mirrors in.
I've had 3 X350s over the years, and my dad has one, so that's a total of 4 I've performed this repair on and it's worked every time.
With regards to the infotainment, have you checked if it has any of the audio controls inside the center armrest of the rear seats? If it does, you can buy a $4 cable which will allow you to have AUX connectivity.
Thanks for all the kind comments folks. I will try to get some better pictures of the ramp - it was a DIY job using instructions found on a forum post I now can't find 
they've proved very useful and meant we didn't have to worry about the air suspension getting upset if we jacked the car up.
Life with the big cat continues to be trouble-free - it ticked over 98k miles over the weekend. We have now found a place to keep it over the winter to get it off the drive; I found a parking space in a secure underground car park in Sheffield city centre, so I took my tape measure down to make sure the car will fit that will keep it out of the cold, as I know these things don't take too kindly to being left outside in freezing weather.
I've done a couple of motorway runs over the last couple of days. As I expected, that's where the Jag really comes into its own - the lack of wind, engine or tyre noise makes it such a relaxing cruiser. I spent about half an hour driving without the radio on just to appreciate the peace!
The trips also revealed the V8's efficiency on longer runs. With around 70% motorway work and 30% town driving, the OBC was showing 31.7mpg. That means we might burn through a slightly less alarming amount of fuel on the trip to Spain next year.
Also completed my first tricky parking manoeuvre without incident - to be honest I didn't find it as difficult to park as the size might suggest.
they've proved very useful and meant we didn't have to worry about the air suspension getting upset if we jacked the car up.Life with the big cat continues to be trouble-free - it ticked over 98k miles over the weekend. We have now found a place to keep it over the winter to get it off the drive; I found a parking space in a secure underground car park in Sheffield city centre, so I took my tape measure down to make sure the car will fit
that will keep it out of the cold, as I know these things don't take too kindly to being left outside in freezing weather.I've done a couple of motorway runs over the last couple of days. As I expected, that's where the Jag really comes into its own - the lack of wind, engine or tyre noise makes it such a relaxing cruiser. I spent about half an hour driving without the radio on just to appreciate the peace!
The trips also revealed the V8's efficiency on longer runs. With around 70% motorway work and 30% town driving, the OBC was showing 31.7mpg. That means we might burn through a slightly less alarming amount of fuel on the trip to Spain next year.
Also completed my first tricky parking manoeuvre without incident - to be honest I didn't find it as difficult to park as the size might suggest.
Geekman said:
You can fix the powerfold mirrors in about 5 minutes. You need to push the mirror against itself (i.e. the opposite direction to the way it would fold). Then, pull off the little plastic cover on the bottom of the mirror, where the puddle light is. I can virtually guarantee it'll be caked in grease and dirt inside.
Clean it all out with water and a toothbrush, then spray liberally with WD40, whilst moving the mirror all the way backwards, forwards and against itself for about 5 minutes. Then put it all back together and it should work fine. Press the lock button on the keyfob twice in quick succession to lock the car and fold the mirrors in.
Thanks for the tip - we'll have another go at sorting it and report back Clean it all out with water and a toothbrush, then spray liberally with WD40, whilst moving the mirror all the way backwards, forwards and against itself for about 5 minutes. Then put it all back together and it should work fine. Press the lock button on the keyfob twice in quick succession to lock the car and fold the mirrors in.
That looks like a really nice example that you've got at a cracking price!
I bought the V6 version back in August and have been loving it so far:
(thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18... ).
I can vouch for the mirror fix - I added some spray grease in to the hinge as well.
I hope you continue to enjoy it!
I bought the V6 version back in August and have been loving it so far:
(thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18... ).
I can vouch for the mirror fix - I added some spray grease in to the hinge as well.
I hope you continue to enjoy it!
Edited by Welsh Pirate on Monday 14th October 19:49
One of the things on the to-do list with the Jag was to get it checked over by someone who knew what they were looking at. So it went into Sheffield Prestige for a check-over, which flagged up a few bits and pieces that need sorting, bearing in mind the distance the car will be covering to Spain next year. Fortunately our hunch that the car had been well cared for does look to be true - it's mainly general wear and tear which will need doing on any car of this age and mileage.
Depending on how much of the work we do ourselves, it looks as though the bill will go into four figures. That's the price you pay for buying a cheap barge and I'm justifying it by convincing myself that the work can be sorted over six months before the MOT is due and that the cost will be shared between three of us It's also looking more and more likely that the big cat will be sticking around beyond the completion of the rally, so we're prepared to sink a bit more cash into it than we otherwise would.
First job is a new offside wheel bearing - I'd noticed a whirring sound above 50mph (as the car cruises so quietly, you notice every little noise) so we may have a go at DIY-ing that one.
The biggest annoyance is an oil leak from the gearbox - annoying as the previous owner had the unit flushed. It looks as though the garage they used fitted a reconditioned valve body which Prestige think is the cause of the leak.
As for the air con - it looks like the condenser is knackered, but it is the original item so not a surprise. Obviously that is an essential job given the weather we'll be driving through on the rally.
A bit of play was also found in the nearside rear lower arm, which will be fine until the MOT is due. It was scanned for fault codes and came up clear which is reassuring.
Plan is to have the gearbox done ASAP, then we'll have a go at fitting the new wheel bearing and leave the condensor and lower arm until the Spring. I'll try to keep this thread updated with progress.
Depending on how much of the work we do ourselves, it looks as though the bill will go into four figures. That's the price you pay for buying a cheap barge and I'm justifying it by convincing myself that the work can be sorted over six months before the MOT is due and that the cost will be shared between three of us
It's also looking more and more likely that the big cat will be sticking around beyond the completion of the rally, so we're prepared to sink a bit more cash into it than we otherwise would.First job is a new offside wheel bearing - I'd noticed a whirring sound above 50mph (as the car cruises so quietly, you notice every little noise) so we may have a go at DIY-ing that one.
The biggest annoyance is an oil leak from the gearbox - annoying as the previous owner had the unit flushed. It looks as though the garage they used fitted a reconditioned valve body which Prestige think is the cause of the leak.
As for the air con - it looks like the condenser is knackered, but it is the original item so not a surprise. Obviously that is an essential job given the weather we'll be driving through on the rally.
A bit of play was also found in the nearside rear lower arm, which will be fine until the MOT is due. It was scanned for fault codes and came up clear which is reassuring.
Plan is to have the gearbox done ASAP, then we'll have a go at fitting the new wheel bearing and leave the condensor and lower arm until the Spring. I'll try to keep this thread updated with progress.
Edited by chriscoates on Sunday 17th November 10:47
In terms of the wheel bearing, you should be able to buy the entire hub from ebay for under $50 (don't have a pound sign on my keyboard, I mean pounds.....).
Very simple to fit (same process as on any car), and I believe it's a part which is shared between many Jag and Ford vehicles, so no need to get it from the dealer or anything. Once it's fitted, you'll notice the ABS light will come on, but just drive it for a few minutes and it'll recalibrate itself and turn off.
Very simple to fit (same process as on any car), and I believe it's a part which is shared between many Jag and Ford vehicles, so no need to get it from the dealer or anything. Once it's fitted, you'll notice the ABS light will come on, but just drive it for a few minutes and it'll recalibrate itself and turn off.
Will follow this thread with interest, all the stuff you’ve mentioned is usual X350 stuff.
Mine
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general-news/jagu...
Mine
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general-news/jagu...
That looks a good car, in a proper Gerald spec. I'm glad you have sorted the tank straps out, I'd also suggest giving the hard brake lines a very thorough check as I had an exciting experience with those too...
How is your heater? Is it hot on the drivers side face level vents?
As for the smallest wheels, there were actually 17" wheels available in the first year of production on base model XJ6s, and I'd love to see how the car rides on those as it's really not as magic carpet as I'd like on my 19" customs.
How is your heater? Is it hot on the drivers side face level vents?
As for the smallest wheels, there were actually 17" wheels available in the first year of production on base model XJ6s, and I'd love to see how the car rides on those as it's really not as magic carpet as I'd like on my 19" customs.
Stedman said:
Nice work! Were the tank straps a pain to change? I've been told they can be an arse.
I didn't do mine but the bloke said they were very easy. I think it's a pin at one end and a bolt at the other? Also, regarding the better audio, the easiest thing by far (if you can solder) would be to follow the various youtube/online instructions to solder an aux flylead to the internal PCB of your CD player. I haven't done it because I can't solder for s
t 
Geekman said:
In terms of the wheel bearing, you should be able to buy the entire hub from ebay for under $50 (don't have a pound sign on my keyboard, I mean pounds.....).
Very simple to fit (same process as on any car), and I believe it's a part which is shared between many Jag and Ford vehicles, so no need to get it from the dealer or anything. Once it's fitted, you'll notice the ABS light will come on, but just drive it for a few minutes and it'll recalibrate itself and turn off.
Thanks for the tip - the guys at Prestige did say that if you're reasonably handy with a spanner it should be an easy job. Very simple to fit (same process as on any car), and I believe it's a part which is shared between many Jag and Ford vehicles, so no need to get it from the dealer or anything. Once it's fitted, you'll notice the ABS light will come on, but just drive it for a few minutes and it'll recalibrate itself and turn off.
stickleback123 said:
How is your heater? Is it hot on the drivers side face level vents?
Heater seems fine at the minute and seems to blow warm on both sides. The heated windscreen also works well as I tried it out when we had a frost a few weeks - never had a car with that before and it makes cold mornings a doddle.Stedman said:
Nice work! Were the tank straps a pain to change? I've been told they can be an arse.
From what I've been told (was actually my dad who did the job) it was fairly easy but we made some ramps for the car (see first post) which made access much easier. The originals were shot and completely buckled without much persuasion so they were long overdue.Another update:
We've had the oil leak fixed on the gearbox - also had new oil and a reflash which has really woken the box up. It is much keener to change down now whereas before it really had to be in sport before it would do anything.
A new condenser has also been fitted so the air con blows ice cold; that will do us nicely in Spain next summer. We also had two new rear brake pipes fitted. Jobs left to do are the wheel bearing, fit a new o/s rear upper arm which came with the car from the previous owner, the n/s front lower arm which has a bit of play in it, and a new driver's side passenger window switch.
I took the Jag down to London last weekend for its first proper long distance trip, and it was an absolute walk in the park for the car as you'd expect. Only the slight drone of the tired wheel bearing detracted from the relative silence as I wafted along. it also returned 34mpg, which I'd have had to put some effort in to better from my daily 130i with two fewer cylinders - delighted with that. I'll gloss over the 10mpg I saw in Central London traffic
On the way back I noticed that the airbag light on the passenger side of the dashboard was intermittently coming on - presume this is a dodgy sensor? If it continues to misbehave we might investigate that.
Blending in at Belgrave Square
A near miss which reminded me that this car doesn't have front parking sensors like my 130i
At the rate the car is being used, it will be past 100k before the rally. We've all taken to it and I'm pretty sure it will be hanging around when we get back
We've had the oil leak fixed on the gearbox - also had new oil and a reflash which has really woken the box up. It is much keener to change down now whereas before it really had to be in sport before it would do anything.
A new condenser has also been fitted so the air con blows ice cold; that will do us nicely in Spain next summer. We also had two new rear brake pipes fitted. Jobs left to do are the wheel bearing, fit a new o/s rear upper arm which came with the car from the previous owner, the n/s front lower arm which has a bit of play in it, and a new driver's side passenger window switch.
I took the Jag down to London last weekend for its first proper long distance trip, and it was an absolute walk in the park for the car as you'd expect. Only the slight drone of the tired wheel bearing detracted from the relative silence as I wafted along. it also returned 34mpg, which I'd have had to put some effort in to better from my daily 130i with two fewer cylinders - delighted with that. I'll gloss over the 10mpg I saw in Central London traffic
On the way back I noticed that the airbag light on the passenger side of the dashboard was intermittently coming on - presume this is a dodgy sensor? If it continues to misbehave we might investigate that.
Blending in at Belgrave Square
A near miss which reminded me that this car doesn't have front parking sensors like my 130i
At the rate the car is being used, it will be past 100k before the rally. We've all taken to it and I'm pretty sure it will be hanging around when we get back
chriscoates said:
Another update:
We've had the oil leak fixed on the gearbox - also had new oil and a reflash which has really woken the box up. It is much keener to change down now whereas before it really had to be in sport before it would do anything.
A new condenser has also been fitted so the air con blows ice cold; that will do us nicely in Spain next summer. We also had two new rear brake pipes fitted. Jobs left to do are the wheel bearing, fit a new o/s rear upper arm which came with the car from the previous owner, the n/s front lower arm which has a bit of play in it, and a new driver's side passenger window switch.
I took the Jag down to London last weekend for its first proper long distance trip, and it was an absolute walk in the park for the car as you'd expect. Only the slight drone of the tired wheel bearing detracted from the relative silence as I wafted along. it also returned 34mpg, which I'd have had to put some effort in to better from my daily 130i with two fewer cylinders - delighted with that. I'll gloss over the 10mpg I saw in Central London traffic
On the way back I noticed that the airbag light on the passenger side of the dashboard was intermittently coming on - presume this is a dodgy sensor? If it continues to misbehave we might investigate that.
Blending in at Belgrave Square
A near miss which reminded me that this car doesn't have front parking sensors like my 130i
At the rate the car is being used, it will be past 100k before the rally. We've all taken to it and I'm pretty sure it will be hanging around when we get back
As far as I know, the airbag light behaviour is perfectlyWe've had the oil leak fixed on the gearbox - also had new oil and a reflash which has really woken the box up. It is much keener to change down now whereas before it really had to be in sport before it would do anything.
A new condenser has also been fitted so the air con blows ice cold; that will do us nicely in Spain next summer. We also had two new rear brake pipes fitted. Jobs left to do are the wheel bearing, fit a new o/s rear upper arm which came with the car from the previous owner, the n/s front lower arm which has a bit of play in it, and a new driver's side passenger window switch.
I took the Jag down to London last weekend for its first proper long distance trip, and it was an absolute walk in the park for the car as you'd expect. Only the slight drone of the tired wheel bearing detracted from the relative silence as I wafted along. it also returned 34mpg, which I'd have had to put some effort in to better from my daily 130i with two fewer cylinders - delighted with that. I'll gloss over the 10mpg I saw in Central London traffic
On the way back I noticed that the airbag light on the passenger side of the dashboard was intermittently coming on - presume this is a dodgy sensor? If it continues to misbehave we might investigate that.
Blending in at Belgrave Square
A near miss which reminded me that this car doesn't have front parking sensors like my 130i
At the rate the car is being used, it will be past 100k before the rally. We've all taken to it and I'm pretty sure it will be hanging around when we get back
normal. It’s not the airbag fault light (that’s on the dash near the speedo), it’s the occupancy sensor light. Apparently, the car decides whether or not to set off the airbag on that side and the light will come on or off depending on the position the passenger is sitting in. I could get my passengers to illuminate the light by moving to a certain position, and equally get them to turn it off by moving to a different position. Might be worth trying that with a passenger and seeing if there’s any correlation. The four X350s we’ve had all did that so I’m pretty sure it isn’t a fault: if I remember correctly it even mentions something about it in the owners manual.
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