Hi everyone!
I'm usually terrible when it comes to joining forums and actually remain active, but since I finally took the leap and bought a Jaguar, I owe it to my car to give it a proper go.

Short about myself
I'm a 21 year old guy from northern Norway, who recently bought my first (!) car. It's an '03 Jaguar X-TYPE 2.1 V6 Executive with FWD and barely 82.000KM (50.900 miles) on the road. The car started of in Germany, where it was used as a show room car for a premium Jaguar dealer, until it was imported by a norwegian specialist dealer in '06. It only has one previous owner in Norway, a 92 year old pedantic gentleman who used it as his secondary car. When he renewed his license this year, he celebrated it by selling both cars and buying a 2014 Audi A7 3.0 (crazy fellow).

All the papers were in order, and every service had been followed. Almost obsessively. I bought it from a small dealership in southern Norway, and flew down with my grandfather to buy it. I can't lie, the thought of my first car being a Jaguar, still has me grinning from ear to ear. And what an amazing ride it was driving home! 1000 miles with curly turns, and wide open straights. I bought the car with a little bit of skepticism, but after owning it for two months, I don't have a single bad thing to say about it.

I do, however have tons of ideas for it. Although it's fairly well equipped;

• Sat-Nav
• GSM Phone
• Heated seats
• Heated front windshield
• Electric passenger seat
• Cream leather interior
• Parking assist camera with LCD display in rear view mirror
• DSC

The list goes on, but I do miss the following

• AUX-In
• Proper speakers, mine only has 4 speakers
• HID-lighting (with proper auto adjustment, which is required in Norway)
• Facelift grill
• Heated power folding mirrors
• OEM parking assist
• Dual exhaust
• Fresh set of rims, the factory 16" are scratched and faded
• Lowering the ride height a few mm

I haven't been able to do anything to the car just yet, although I did order the Mina facelift grill with black frame and stainless mesh today!

Looking forward to it, as I think it makes the car stand out even more, and distance itself from the BMW-like grill that's on it now. Before anyone shoots me for saying so: I love the old XJ with the same grill, but as the X-TYPE is more compact, it is sometimes mistaken for a 5-series BMW. Especially by people who don't know anything about cars. Also, I dislike the plastic feel of the vertical black bars. I did consider just replacing the bars with stainless steel mesh, but there's way too many Audi's and BMW's here with that kind of mod, and it tends to look after-marked.

That's the big issue I've had looking for rims as well. 9 out 10 decent looking rims (that aren't OEM) makes it look like a 5-series BMW from the side. Especially BBS-looking rims!

(Terribly small picture, I know, best I could find) So far, I've "landed" on the 10 spoked 18" Arden Sportline rims. I find anything above 18" to be too big for the X-TYPE, unless you put in some additional work to the suspension. I'm considering painting these dark, but haven't decided yet. I'd love some input on the matter! I also like that these aren't too pricey, unlike everything else Arden makes. (£1,678.80 for a bodykit?!) The ones in the picture is 19" FYI.

When it comes to the parking assist, I only decided to go for it, as it gives me an excuse to replace the rear valance to accommodate dual exhaust, which isn't standard on the 2.1V6. I don't want to replace the entire rear bumper, as my paint is slighty worn, and a brand new would stand out color wise. Haven't decided on what kind of exhaust I'm looking for yet, so if anyone has tips, please help!

Interior-wise there's little I feel like doing. It has one of the best interiors I've seen to date, and nothing comes close if you compare it to 2003-2007! I'm not too crazy about the fake wooden trim, so I might paint them, or replace them so I'm not out of luck if I change my mind. I am, oddly enough interested in finding the OEM sun screen for the rear window, which, to my knowledge is incredibly rare. It's not something I'd use too much, but I do have a dream of "fully" equipping it some day. The few things that are missing are mostly mirrors, garage opener, HID's, parking sensors and a decent stereo to make it "factory complete."

When it comes to the stereo, I've been consulting with a professional that has inspected the car, and put together a suggestion for me to consider. The components are:

• Rockford Fosgate Slim Singel 12 Punch Stage 3 Sub with aluminum grill
• Rockford Fosgate 5 channel amplifier, 4x125 + 1x500 Watt RMS
• Polk Audio DXi650 front doors (with tweeters)
• Polk Audio DXi6500 rear doors
• Zealum line driver
• Kram Iso2Car adapter

The necessary wiring and links are also included. All I have to do, before he can get around to installing it, is finding the front door handle surrounds with tweeter holes. Anyone know of a good place to find these in cream color? I did originally want the OEM Alpine system, partially because it's OEM, and because of the DTS feature on the touch unit. That would also include subwoofers in the parcel shelf, but I decided to go for the slim case subwoofer mounted to the back of the 2-piece rear seat.

As you all can see, I haven't made this project easy for myself, being as picky as I am. But I do hope it'll be worth it, when I get to see (and share) the end result. I could go on, and I most likely will in the days to come. But for now, this is hello, and a few pictures that was taken yesterday

^Slighty dramatic.

^Photoshopped lights, but something along those lines wouldn't be too bad.

^A bit more subtle, really looking forward to the new grill!

^Simply love the slightly curved line over the boot.

^Simple, clean and classy dashboard, apart from the warning "Low temperature!" which is permanently on around 6 months a year, due to the temperature in northern Norway...

^Grainy picture, but the interior still stands out!

I hope this introduction haven't been too long, or boring for that matter. Let me know, Skinny out.

 

Welcome to the forums. Very beautiful car you have and tastefully upgrades. I lived in Southern Norway for a few years--Hillevag and Stavanger to be exact.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to the forum Skinny,

Good to have you here with us at Jaguar Forums. Thanks for an excellent Intro.

Follow this link X-Type - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X-Type forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

You can also visit the Europe Region forum by following this link Europe - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to find other members in mainland Europe.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Then you might get the idea of how hard it is to maintain and keep the Jag clean Zorasmiles. I've been carefully treating the rubber padding on the doors with silicone to keep them from freezing.

 

You'd better check the AirCon works.

I see from the Weather Channel it's going to be a boiling hot 7 deg tomorrow.



Graham

 

The A/C is in perfect condition! It's silent, doesn't have any smell to it (thank god the previous owner kept it wonderbaum-free), and heats up in maximum 3 minutes, even in cold weather. I keep it on auto, as it warms the car perfectly. And that temperature is about as warms as it gets around here this time of year. It was far worse a few weeks ago when it went from 8°C to -9°C over night...

 

welcome to the forum - you will find plenty of info and support here simply follow the links Graham has provided - enjoy!

 

Hi Skinny,

Congratulations on your 1st car and your first Jag!!!

I like your input and you have bags of class, style and charisma, keep it up and you will be very welcome on the forum for a long long time!!

SKOL! Regards, Stu

 

Great Looking Car. Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Skinny,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums
Superb intro thanks for sharing.........

If you need any further help with the site moving forward, please just ask any moderator, veteran member and we'll be glad to assist.

In the meantime, any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information

There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

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Please Jump on in and enjoy the site........

 

Skinny,

Yes, I do recall how hard it was to keep our car, the wife's Maxima, and my motorcycle clean while living there. Between the snow, rain, water gushing on the road from the rocks etc, it was definitely a challenge. I'd do it all again in a heart beat. Definitely beats riding in the taxis lol

 

Best introduction I have seen...Seeing you're not a forum person. Really nice car and sounds like a good find.

Welcome from Australia where Low Temp. warning would be rare to see.