This is common on all 2-door coupes. Nope, can't be disabled

 

Yes. Practically every car with frameless doors does this.

 

But a whole inch sounds a bit much, my windows only go down about 1/2".
Or do 'vert windows go down more than coupe windows?

 

Allows the doors to shut properly without internal pressure from a tight seal preventing the door from closing and fully engaging the latch.

Also relieves stress on the window having to close firmly against a tight rubber seal. Door closes, latches, then window extends to proper position.

I have definitely noticed that when I close one door with either the rear hatch or the other door still open, that my usual, well rehearsed closing nudge actually causes the door to slam.

 

 

 

C'mon now...I highly doubt he actually measured how far the windows index.

 

Yeah, I reckon he guessed and got it wrong by 100%.

 

Nope. As per the F Type workshop manual, the window actually drops on opening to clear the door seal and tucks up behind it on closing.

When a door glass is in the fully closed position and the related door
opens, the door glass automatically drops approximately 12 mm
(0.47 in) to clear the door seals. When the door subsequently closes
the door glass rises back to the fully closed position.

My '10 XKR does the same and if you look closely at the window when it is closed you will see that it is tucked behind a seal which would be in the way if the glass didn't drop.

My owners manual says that if the mechanism fails it is still OK to open in an emergency but shouldn't be done otherwise:

The doors must not be opened if power for
automatic window drop is not available
(e.g. with battery disconnected). However,
in an emergency the doors can be opened with
the windows fully up.

 

That's an interesting point, for those who disconnect the battery for winter storage, though you typically want to leave the windows cracked to help with humidity.

 

Side observation from the XK8 that will likely hold true with the F was that, when the battery was beginning to go bad, the window would drop but not raise. It would drop each time the door was opened, meaning that after a few open/close cycles, it could easily have dropped a few inches.

Time will tell if this proves to be yet another early warning sign on these...