2018 Jaguar XJ 3.0D, R-Sport

[jamesbilluk]

Well, sadly after quite a long ownership for me, the Panamera has just been driven away. I've recently found, it wasn't as cheap to run as I thought, with the electric milage/cost to charge. Also with the new mini arrival, we've found we need a middle seat, and the Panamera didn't have one. There's been some journeys recently that we've had to take the Astra, because we couldn't fit someone extra, it seemed sad to have such a car that we didn't use.

I still wanted something luxurious, and relatively cheap to run. I've always liked the look of the X351 generation XJ, so started to research. I would have liked the XJR, but thought I would go for the 3.0D, it's. V6, 300PS, but 700NM of torque, so it does shove you back in the seat, it even sounds good too. I'm. Hoping for about 650/700miles to a tank. One thing that I love is the aluminium construction, its only 1800kg compared to the 2300kg of the Panamera, this feels so much more alive in the corners.

The car is finished in Firenze Red (or used to be Italian Racing Red) which I really wanted. When the car arrived, it was sunny, it looked fantastic in the sun, and even in the rain afterwards. Inside its black leather with red piping. It's in R-Sport trim, which is the XJR body kit, and the boot lip, which helps brake it up a bit. Also, I wanted this alloy wheel style, in gun metal, as a lot of the R sports had black wheels, which really don't like. Spec wise it's more impressive than the Panamera, heated/cooled seats, heated steering wheel, and 360degree camera, which will come in useful as it's bloody huge, Also a digital TV. It also has alcantara head lining, which really adds to the interior.

Here are some photos...

[Fusion777]

Looks good inside and out. Great colour. Don't see too many of these on the roads, so has a bit more novelty.

[jamesbilluk]

Fusion777 said:

Looks good inside and out. Great colour. Don't see too many of these on the roads, so has a bit more novelty.

Thank you Thrilled with it, strangely less rattles than the Panamera had. Really like the Red as well. Very true, nice to have something that's rare. The owners seem a nice bunch as well.

[jwwbowe]

Very nice, one of the senior PMs at work has one always thought they looked great especially inside. Would love a XJR one day but I’m sure the oil burner is plenty quick enough. Red looks great. Was the Porsche a plug in? Enjoy

[jamesbilluk]

jwwbowe said:

Very nice, one of the senior PMs at work has one always thought they looked great especially inside. Would love a XJR one day but I’m sure the oil burner is plenty quick enough. Red looks great, any interior pics? Enjoy

Really pleased with it! The XJR would have been nice! This is as a second car I wound happily have one. This is very impressive though, gave it a good drive on the way back from getting fuel, really pushes back in the seat. It seems to be getting 40mpg at the moment which is impressive considering the size.

Really pleased with the Red. The other half has even said she likes the car, she usually doesn't mention my cars.

Ah yes, here's some

[Mr Tidy]

Love that interior with the red stitching, and red has to be a rare colour for an XJ.

But it does look large!

[jamesbilluk]

Mr Tidy said:

Love that interior with the red stitching, and red has to be a rare colour for an XJ.

But it does look large!

Certainly very comfy seats! I must admit, the red was one of the main attractions with this one, it seems to change in different lights.

Your right there, it's larger than I remember! I'm very thankful for the 360 degree camera to park it, although I do find it easier then the Panamera, and slightly easier to place on the road too.

Edited by jamesbilluk on Saturday 8th October 01:06

[Polarbert]

Cracking looking car. I considered a 5.0 supercharged one of these for a while. I wish they still made them. Bloody glorious engine.

[jamesbilluk]

Polarbert said:

Cracking looking car. I considered a 5.0 supercharged one of these for a while. I wish they still made them. Bloody glorious engine.

XJR would have been nice

I still wonder why they discontinued the XJ, big shame.

[53x11]

Morning James :-) Glad you are liking it so far

Am interested to see how you get on with the infortainment system. Mine has a complete dislike for my iPhone if I connect it via USB to play music via the USB input rather than Bluetooth. I also tried to download MP3 via USB to the internal drive and it did'nt like that either. Didn't have the same issue on my older pre-facelift 3.0D.

My old one.


The XJR

[jamesbilluk]

53x11 said:

Morning James :-) Glad you are liking it so far

Am interested to see how you get on with the infortainment system. Mine has a complete dislike for my iPhone if I connect it via USB to play music via the USB input rather than Bluetooth. I also tried to download MP3 via USB to the internal drive and it did'nt like that either. Didn't have the same issue on my older pre-facelift 3.0D.

My old one.


The XJR

Morning
Thrilled with it so far!

From my brief go with it, I don't find it too bad, I find it as smooth as the system was in the Panamera. I've not quite figured out how to pair my phone yet though, it finds the car in the Bluetooth menu, but asks for a code I don't seem to have. I need to try and get Android Auto going as well.

Very strange that, is it a later infotainment system with your XJR compared to the previous XJ?

Both great looking cars those!

Love the blue of your XJR!

[Shinyfings]

You probably won’t but be very careful if you use that dealer for any work and if you do use them, take pictures on their forecourt when you drop your car off. Their service levels went down the pan after they were taken over by a large American concern and they won’t necessarily take the same care of your car as you might.

[jamesbilluk]

Shinyfings said:

You probably won’t but be very careful if you use that dealer for any work and if you do use them, take pictures on their forecourt when you drop your car off. Their service levels went down the pan after they were taken over by a large American concern and they won’t necessarily take the same care of your car as you might.

Ah, thank you for the heads up, don't think I'll be using them, and they're 3 hours away too. I'll be taking it to Listers Jaguar in Droitwich, and when the warranty is up, I'll find a good independent I think.

[Polarbert]

jamesbilluk said:

Polarbert said:

Cracking looking car. I considered a 5.0 supercharged one of these for a while. I wish they still made them. Bloody glorious engine.

XJR would have been nice

I still wonder why they discontinued the XJ, big shame.

I know it was such a modern looking design. I definitely think it will age well. I'd always heard that they were planning an all electric replacement (yawn) so I'd imagine that was what they were still working on.

I ended up with a 6.2 E63 instead of an XJ.

[jamesbilluk]

Polarbert said:

I know it was such a modern looking design. I definitely think it will age well. I'd always heard that they were planning an all electric replacement (yawn) so I'd imagine that was what they were still working on.

I ended up with a 6.2 E63 instead of an XJ.

I've always liked the front of them, but never been sure about the back, but the more I see of this one, from lots of different angles, and the boot lip it really does look good, much more sleek than I thought. I agree there, they should age well, considering it's a 2010 design, it's impressive how fresh they look still.

Very nice! I bet that sounds fantastic.

[jamesbilluk]

Been very impressed with the XJ so far! The way they've managed to make it ride like it does, and handle as well as it does is quite amazing, this is the only car my OH has really commented on, loves the colour, and said its very comfortable, Enough steering feedback, and very quick turn in. Very impressive for something of its size, although I can really feel the weight difference between this and the Panamera. The engine whilst sounding a bit agricultural at some revs is very impressive, really has a shove in the back with that torque. Can imagine it would be even more so with a good remap. Its averaging about 34MPG at the momemt, with drop start traffic, it will be good to take it on a longer run at some point, to see what it can do.

I did have a bit of a panic, and saw the drivers side soft close door wasn't working at all. A quick bit or research said that the drivers side comes disconnected from factory. There's a grey plug by the fuse box which I connected up (should have been done on the original PDI) It now works!

I've also found out that there can be oil dilutionbib the fuel, if it doesn't finish its DPF regens... I'll have to give it a good run each week just to make sure!

Really loving this colour as well, it changes in different light. I love the front, but after not being a fan in photos, I'm really warming to the back as well. It's not traditional 'Jaguar' but still has its own look, I even quite like the black C pillars, I was thinking about painting them body coloured at some point, but I think the black brakes up the back a bit.

Edited by jamesbilluk on Tuesday 11th October 19:17

Edited by jamesbilluk on Tuesday 11th October 19:25

[alfabeat]

I love these XJ's.Congratulations! Keep the updates coming.

[jamesbilluk]

alfabeat said:

I love these XJ's.Congratulations! Keep the updates coming.

Thank you Will do!

[Carlos24]

Very nice! I had an XFR before the E63 and loved it, mine had the same headlining and drive beautifully. It always felt really well put together but was surprisingly light! It was really cheap to service as well which was a bonus

[jamesbilluk]

Carlos24 said:

Very nice! I had an XFR before the E63 and loved it, mine had the same headlining and drive beautifully. It always felt really well put together but was surprisingly light! It was really cheap to service as well which was a bonus

Nice! I do like the look of the XFR, your E63 is an awesome bit of kit though!

The headlining is a nice touch, really adds to the cabin, Although my 3 year old keeps stroking it!
The build seems very impressive, I had read about squeaky sun roofs, but this is very solid.