I can't wait to see them mounted. How soon do you think it will be before you do that?

 

Projected end date is April 15 but its all going to depend on a certain manufacturer. I've got a secret

 

There's 4 options for lowering your x type.

Eibach and H&R are both a 1.4" drop.

KW makes a coilover kit but its only ride height adjustable in the front and its like 3" or something...

Airbag setups but there is a good amount of fabrication work that needs to be done. Cheapest route is Eibach or H&Rs and some bilstein sport struts and shocks.

 

Hi 619jag,

If you haven't yet purchased your springs I'd like to recommend your looking into the Bilstein B12 suspension kit. They're a factory matched combination of Bilsteins HD monotubes and Eibach's pro-kit performance springs. I just installed these on my '04, non sport version 3.0L XT.

Like yourself I was researching the idea of modding my suspension by changing the stock into a sport version, like what Jaguar offered as an option. Much to my disappointment I found there really aren't very many options available to us XT owners.

A fellow forum member in the UK was talking up the B12 kit, so I contacted Bilstein and Eibach technical support people. The first thing I found was that the B12 kit consists of the Eibach Pro-kit performance springs and Bilstein B8 dampers. Now I had heard that the standard XT's were equipped with Bilstein B4 dampers, just rebadged Jaguar. And I've read about people using the B6 HD dampers when installing either the HR, or Eibach springs, but Bilstein DOES NOT recommend this combination. The reason as explained to me was the the B6 piston travel is sized to fit the XT at factory height dimensions and is compromised when fitted with lowering springs. In order to fit correctly and compliment smaller springs the dampers must be sized smaller. This is Bilsteins position and I'm sure they have plenty of technical data to back up their opinion. Therefore they developed with Eibach the B12 which includes the B8 dampers.

The dampers and springs are fine-tuned for optimum fit and performance. Bilstein says the ride height difference isn't enough to warrant a camber kit. That when installed the vehicle can be aligned without exceeding the capabilities in the car's design. I went ahead and switched out the rear camber arm, as per Thermo's fabulous discovery and added an adjustable toe arm for the rear, with input and help from X-typeMentality.

The problem is the B12 is NOT available in the US! (Apparently America is just a bunch of old fogies who just want a posh ride). You can get them from the UK, or Europe. You can buy them on ebay, but will have to pay the VAT which is close to 18% I think. I got mine from an outlet in Germany and these people deal directly with you and don't add the VAT to your order. Here's their information if you wish to pursue the idea.

NH Tuning
Jens Krause
Maulbeerweg 10a
14772 Brandenburg
Tel.: 0 33 81 / 79 96 58
Fax: 0 33 81 / 73 00 480

E-mail : info@nh-tuning.de
Internet : NH-Tuning - Tuning zum fairen Preis
Ebay : http://stores.ebay.de/NH-TUNING

There's a shop in England that will ship to the US, but after evaluating currency exchange rates, the Euro was a better deal. I don't know what they're selling for now but as I remember the whole package shipped and delivered to my front door was around $960.00. Also there's no customs duty for 1-personal use unit.

The ride... firmer than stock, but. a lot more stable. I'm into carving turns and you can with this setup comfortably and with confidence. For me, this is exactly what I wanted. I wouldn't put this in the wife's daily drive and it's not full blown track ready, though you can take it to the track and have some fun.

I hope that helps,
-M

 

Mine has the B12 Pro Kit and the Mina Gallery rear boxes, the rear boxes catch the ground on some speed humps and going onto driveways with a ramp.

Bilstein are looking at possibles for this happening and I will post their answer.

From the wheel centre to the wheel arch centre, the front height is 350mm and the rear height is 295mm.

 

I gotta give credit to Justink for being the originator of the adjustable toe arm.