hi everyone.
i have been reading a lot of posts and threads on this forum , after seeing how nice and friendly you guys are i decided to join ..
honestly just to ask one question...well.. maybe 2 ..
based on your experience which should i go for..
a 2003 2.5 X type sport.. or a 2005 3.0 x type ?
they both have good price/to/ mileage ...
i checked them both and both have DSC.. [yeah i read some threads about that on here and decided to go with it ]
but my main concern is.. the X type in general .. i am what you can refer to as a wannabe a racer.. i like to drive fast.. [knock on wood] no accidents nor speeding tickets so far..
so the big question is , can you drive the x type hard ?
thank you so much in advance for any/all input...
FM...

 

Mr. Mousa, Welcome to the Forums. As you have found out, lots of good info here.

As for what car to choose. Based on what you are desiring from the car, the 2005 with the 3.0L motor is going to be your better choice. The Sport model did nothing for the engine. That car has the same motor as every other 2.5L X-Type. The only difference was the suspension. But that can be easily upgraded with a set of springs and then you can improve on the handling by upgrading the sway bars.

While a lot of people will comment about how the 2.5L and 3.0L motors are very similar in performance, I see a big difference between the two in 1 key area: Low End TORQUE!!!!!. Once you get the 2 up above about 4,000 RPM, the performance is going to be very similar. But, you get down around 2,000 RPM and I think you are going to find the 3.0L superior. THe mileage between the two is very minimal.

With all this being said, be ready for potential transfer case issues. While most of the questionable transfer cases seem to have gotten themselves off of the road through breakage, I have not seen anything to indicate that we can now go hog wild with the power. The only indication I have seen is essentially the relative lack of comments about having a transfer case fail other than the ocassional comment which I would expect for a vehicle of this age.

With all this being said, the supposed weak point seems to be a bearing that was pre-loaded too much from the factory which lead to problems inside the transfer case. So, if you do have problems, a local tranny shop would be able to rebuild the case for you and fix that issue.

The only advantage that I can give the 2003 is the fact that it has the viscous coupling which you may find to be advantageous in the winter conditions as it is going to help the car get through the snow better without having the car step in and limit things.

 

thermo is right the 2003 has a big advantage in snow,its like a tank

 

thank you Thermo & dennis black..
to be honest the snow and winter conditions is what made me want the x type sooner than later...
i have always loved this car since it's launch in 2001 when i saw it in a car show, but it never been in my price range.. now its different since its much cheaper than BMWs and MERCs from same age and even higher mileage..
i checked the carfax of both of them, and both have been serviced well and been taken care of by the previous owners..
most of the maintenance was done by the jag dealer specially the 2003 2.5 one....
it has been snowing some what bad the past 2 years here in indiana ,last winter i drove in snow [in couple weeks] more than i did my whole life.. had to tho..
so even with the DSC, the 2003 is still better in snow than 2005?
my impression was that DSC [in later models ] does compromise and compensate for the VC the older models had...
thanks again guys...

 

Mr. Mousa, if you are comparing a non DSC 2003 to a DSC 2005, then they are fairly comparable. But, adding the DSC to the 2003 in my opinion would put it ahead of anything that you could get for the X-Type.

 

thank you so much Thermo ... i really appreciate the advice/knowledge and help..
oh by the way.. if i got the VIN for the car, could you tell whats the color of it or that has to be thru the sticker on the door latch ?
thanks again

 

VIN does not specify the color of the car. If you give the VIN to a dealership and have them give you a build sheet for the car, then that will tell you the color the car came from the factory in.

Yes, the sticker in the driver's door jam will give you a 2, 3, or 4 character code for the interior and exterior colors from the factory. Are you questioning the color the car is painted? If so, probably the easiest way to tell is to simply open the trunk/boot of the car and peel back the carpeting over the rear wheel wells. You should see the factory color there. If you have a match, then no one has done a repaint to change the color. if they don't match, well, touch ups might get interesting.

 

first of all.. thanks a lot once again for the info..
about the color. no i dont think it has been repainted. in the description it says green, on the carfax it says noted as dark green..and in the pics it looks almost black.. i know lighting in pictures can be different from the naked eye..
i just wanted to make sure thats all... thank you again..
oh , nice work on your car by the way. i saw some of the pictures you have.. very nice...

 

Mr. Mousa, thanks, I like putting a slight twist to things to give the car a slightly different look than what others have. Not enough that it makes you go "what the @#$% did they do", but more something that makes people look at the car and while they know something is different, they are not quite sure what it is.

If you want some step by steps on how to do what I did, just ask. They are all fairly easy and if you have some basic ability with working with paint, you can do these. I used some elmer's white glue and an air brush for most of what I did.

 

thats exactly how i like to customize what ever i have, some little touches to make it one of a kind but not too much to be a freakshow stuff..
i have been a painter for over 17 years, i know my way around paints, mostly residential and commercial , but i was nosy enough to learn some tricks of painting cars.. i have been teaching myself airbrushing as well.. still learning tho.. and of course always open to learn new things..
thank you again.. will make sure to ask if i needed any kinda help..

 

Mr. Mousa, when doing the lettering on the piece above the license plate, here is my trick. Pull the piece off of the car and place it lettering up. Prime the chrome piece using adhesion promoter after roughing up the chrome a little bit. Now, fill the lettering with elmer's glue. Make sure to apply enough that the glue is bulging above the surface (that way, as it dries and shrinks, you will still have enough to dig in later and remove the dried glue). From here, you can paint it like any other piece. The big thing to remember is while the paint is still wet, remove the glue with a knife or other suitable object. From there you can clear it and call it good.

You could use this same idea for doing just about any design you want to do.

 

thats a nice trick .. thanks chris..
i saw your advice to another member [do research , read , and ask ] ..
and as i was doing some search, i found some guys on youtube dipping their cars with plasti dip.. never used this stuff before, but it seems darn awesome for remove-able paint job on a car.. for couple hundred dollars one can get a different color car [customized] as often as changing oil maybe ..
once again.. the glue move is very nice trick.. will make sure to try it on something [even if it was not the car] just for the heck of it ..