Hello Guys,
I am new to here and also a new Jaguar owner, picked up my XE Friday before New Years and quickly went from loving it to being aggravated just thinking about it. This started to spiral downward when I started to notice little things being a little off. At first I thought you know maybe it's just a bit of poor manufacturing but as things progressed I started to think that the car might have been damaged and repaired. I did have some major problems with one of my previous cars where it spent more time at the dealer during the first 6 months then in my possession so I may also be a bit paranoid. First thing I noticed walking up to the car at the grocery store is that the driver door panel seemed a bit higher then then rear door. The weird part is that the door seem to align properly at the top of the window but the area where the door ends and window starts is visibly misaligned. The bump/accent point that runs the length of the car is also a tiny bit higher then the same line on the rear door. The passenger side is much better but also not perfect (probably would not notice if I didn't find the driver side). The next thing I noticed is that Jaguar signature dashboard panel that runs on top of it and then extends onto the doors. The driver side door panel is visibly lower then the dashboard while the passenger side is visibly higher. At that point I was still thinking maybe the Brits build the cars as poorly as we Americans but I was still upset and emailed the dealer. The next thing I am now noticing is that the passenger side light is visibly higher when lighting the road then the driver side..... now I don't know if this is possibly designed this way for a reason? but it still very annoying. It is not a whole lot but it is clearly visible. I tried driving up to a wall to see if I could tell one was shining higher but at this close distance it's not really easy to tell and looks fairly even. There are so many edges to the light from up close that its even harder to tell how even they are. I am posting to see if anyone could verify with their cars or if anyone else noticed similar things? I am almost ready to drive this car back to the dealer to drop off the keys and get my down payment back. I can submit some pics of what I talking about but from what I can see there is a period for a newbie where you are not allowed to?

 

Hello

You should definitely be able to upload some photos. It would be very helpful to see what misalignment looks like with the driver door and driver's side rear doors.

I would ask a dealer about it and let him fix the door hinges. I doubt that they would sell you a crashed car unless you bought it second hand. XE is relatively new model so some QC issues will exist.

As for the Jaguar's so-called "Stepped Fascia" being misaligned. I have read several people's comments mentioning the same thing. I believe even dealers consider that to be normal. With my car, they are just slightly misaligned but honestly I never pay attention to them. I think 1/4 inch or even 1/3 inch misalignment should be normal.

If you have the regular headlights, they are garbage. I am sorry to disappoint but that is what they are. The worst thing about Premium XE should be those cheapo halogen headlights on a $45K car. Even Toyota's have Xenon's standard. I believe my headlights are in a similar way as yours. One illuminates the road differently compared to the other one.


However, I am willing to forgive those minor annoyances for the actual design, feel and dynamic characteristics of the car. Those are just some quirks that while I think should not exist on a luxury car, I am ready to close my eye on in spite of the car's other, more positive aspects.

 

Yes I think if it was one thing I would probably let it go too but now that there is a number of them it is really bothering me.... I will have to think on it, yes I do have the regular headlights. My biggest worry is the door, its just not right and I don't think hinges can fix this but we shall see. I will try to post them in a few minutes.

 

Ok here is the try at pictures, to be honest the pictures do not show at all how misaligned any of these parts are, they are far more visible to naked eye. I think the only one truly showing the gap is the door but still not the extent you see it live.

 

Stepped Fascia looks like it is similar to mine and other XE's I've seen.

The door looks misaligned. Have your dealer check it. It might need some adjustment.

 

Wow this forums is very active but I guess there aren't many Jag owners compared to some other vehicles. I have one more question for anyone out there. Is your power button for the audio (also the volume knob I guess) on the center panel light up in any way? Mine does not and I believe is the only completely unlit button on there. It makes it very awkward to use at night, kind of have to feel it out to use it making it a really bad solution. First I thought that it's just a really bad design but now I am thinking it maybe defective like all the other things.

 

I meant to say isn't very active.

 

The panel alignment issues seem to be hit and miss. Some cars are lined up great, others are not. There are some owners who suspect that panels shift during transport. Other brands have this issue also. Teslas are famous for crooked panels all over the place! I just saw one $100,000 plus Tesla where the doors were really off big time . The good news is that you can have them adjusted and tightened up to your satisfaction. Some forum members here also check with XE owners over here for XE questions: Jaguar XE Forums - Jaguar XE Owners Club and Forums

Cheers
CRS

 

Thanks ! any help with the power button?

 

Unfortunately, there is no light on the radio volume knob. I mainly use the steering wheel control.
Also the other forum I mentioned is much more active for the XE

 

I have crooked interior panels on the front passenger door, and the dealer said it was normal... it used to bother me a lot more than it does now that I've come to appreciate how great the car is overall. Your dealer may be more willing to fix it for you, especially since the outside seems misaligned as well, that's quite a bit more serious.

Good luck

 

With regards to this query:

In the UK our headlamps are required to adopt a tightly defined 'kick up pattern' which is designed to shine higher on the passenger side of the vehicle so signs, kerbs, etc., are well lit, without having the lamps blind oncoming drivers.

This Google image search link shows the normal patterns. There are a couple of variations around whether the 'kick' is clipped which can be seen in those photos.

I do not know the US regulatory requirements for headlamps but from your description it sounds like you have a similar thing. The cut side of the beam pattern (the left side on your LHD car) can be very slightly angled up towards to the kick which can make it look like both headlamps are slightly wonky when shining onto a flat surface. With some headlamps it can be very noticeable. Halogens less-so as they have a softer edge, but with xenon and LED lamps the effect is a lot more noticeable. As halogens are softer then sometimes the two headlamp beams can collide and make it look like one is higher than the other.

After looking at those photos, is that what you were describing?

 

It is hard to say from all the pictures in your link but after looking at them and reading your explanation it seems that this may very well be the case and it maybe normal. It's strange though and annoys the crap out of me when driving on a dark rode. I hope I can get used to it in time. No other car I owned was designed this way.

 

Do you guys know if putting in the fancy upgraded headlamps is an easy project on XE ?

 

I've not worked on the XE myself, but from scanning through the schematics and system overviews the cars with factory fitted halogens will not have the levelling capabilities used by the xenon lamps (which also appears to be different in US markets). You may also be missing the headlamp washers which are needed for regulatory reasons with high-intensity lamps.

It will almost certainly be possible to fit, but would require wiring changes (or replacement harnesses), the levelling hardware (sensors + module), potentially the washer installation and then reflashing the CCF data to the car to indicate the change in lamp functionality. Not an easy task and certainly not cheap.

As halogen bulbs are replaceable you may see some improvement by switching to aftermarket bulbs, but be aware that the OEM bulbs may well be the brightest allowed in your market so you may need to be careful if you have annual state vehicle inspections or similar.

 

Raffi, which dealer did you buys yours from? I got mine fromMadison Jaguar aka Paul Miller.

I think all US cars have the driver headlight aimed down a tad compared to the passenger headlight for oncoming traffic.

 

I got mine from Prestige Jaguar in Paramus.... I actually test drove and made first offer attempt at Madison - Paul Miller Jag but they were not reasonable with their prices at all and didn't care to negotiate. I found some major rebates/discounts at Jag in Pennsylvania and Prestige was willing to price match them. Almost made my way to Jag of New Rochelle as they had some decent deals. I originally wanted gray color which they had in New Rochelle but the deal in Paramus was just too good to pass up and I got a white instead as its all they had.