I just bought a 2020 model XE (July 2019) sight unseen from a well known dealer in France. I’m familiar with the XE model so had no need to see it really. Car delivered as expected, no problems, in perfect condition. Signed off, washed and vacuumed the car. Very pleased with my purchase. Took a drive playing with all the options for set up, navigation, dashboard display in etc. Went to shift gears and, lo and behold, there are no paddle shifters and no option to shift with the gear shift either!

Have I just bought the only XE in Europe without paddle shifters? I thought they were standard equipment as on my previous XE and current 2018 XF.

BIG question. Can paddle shifters be retro fitted?

 

Print out a window sticker from your VIN and post.

 

Vin SAJAB4BX4LCP57293

 

Off of the jaguar France website (translated into english for me), paddle shifters are an option on the base car. It looks like they are standard on the r dynamic variant. You can also see on the photo that they are not there. It seems odd you cannot manually shift with the shifter however.

 

I cant answer whether they can be retro fitted, but what I would say is this:

1. the 2020 shifters are a great shape and nice metallic texture;
2. that said, they dont function anywhere near as well as the plastic ones did on our 2015 model, or my 2016 F type;
3. the changes are a bit laggy through the shifters, and sometimes it doesnt register a shift at all then you overrev or go into a corner in too high a gear;
4. this is a huge contrast to the earlier models which had brilliantly responsive shifters - click click click;
5. as a result, I actually dont really use the shifters at all in the 2020 XE, instead I pop the car in dynamic and let it do its thing - that auto is a beautiful box mated to the p300 engine.

Which is my long way of saying that if you cant get the paddle shifters on, you really arent missing much. It is my only disappointment with the 2020MY.

 

I like the updated dash from my XE.

 

Oh, it's (2020) beautiful inside for sure. Reminds me of my first Jag in quality and feel - an 08 XF premium lux. It's as special as the F Type in a decent spec, maybe it could use the leather over the dash but that would be it.

 

On my MY2020 XE, you can shift gears manually using the center selector lever, but only if it is pushed over into Sport mode. Then pushing the lever forwards changes down and backwards changes up. The steering wheel paddle shifters are an extra cost option only, even on the HSE trim version.

 

Thanks Chris. I can do the same with my setup but I did like the paddle shifters for a quick downshift. Usually to stop the car overunning the cruise control on downslopes. Thanks to vmarrons for the pictures and prices for various options. I have the cold pack with the heated steering wheel but would willingly pay €206 for the paddle shifters although I suspect it would cost a lot more than that to retrofit. I'm checking in to the Jaguar dealer in Limoges on Wednesday - right front headlight failure, very annoying as some kind of starter mechanism front center engine bay keeps going "bonk - bonk - bonk" quite loudly even if I just touch the door handle in the garage etc.... - so I will check if there is a way of retrofitting the paddle shifters. Otherwise love this very quick 250hp petrol job.

 

I think the issue has been with the JLR XE online configurator.
Up to model year 2019, plastic paddles came as standard with all but the lowest trim option. The configurator offered satin metal paddles as an extra cost option.
However, from MY 2020 the plastic paddles have been deleted but the configurator still offers satin metal paddles as an extra cost option. So it is easy to erroneously assume that, if you don't go for this option, you'll still get the plastic paddles.
You have to look very carefully at the interior illustration on the configurator to notice that there are no paddles unless you select the option.
I did notice this when ordering my MY2020 XE and I must say the satin metal paddles that I ordered are good to look at and work very well (better I think than the paddles in earlier model year XEs).
Sadly, I think that adding them to an already built XE might be quite complicated (and no doubt expensive)

 

I checked, it's not possible to retrofit paddles. Can change in Sport mode, of course, but liked to tap the shifter to drop a gear, for example, when controlling the cruise control as it increases speed downhill.

Anyway, really like the car. P250 is very quick and handles amazingly well. Fun to drive.