Hey just saw this and thought others might like to see it before its New York unveiling. No shots of the rear but apparently there was a slight rehaul as well. Thoughts on the new design?

2012 Jaguar XF facelift sneak peak before New York | Car Advice | Reviews

 

Much much much much much better. Gone are those frog eyed headlamps

 

I had no problem with the old headlights, but it does make the car look a hell of a lot better!

 

now they give it the headlamps of the C-XF!

 

I think the new head lights gives it a more aggressive and mean look..
If people see that in there rear view, They may want to say.. Goooood Kitty!
Don't eat me.... LOL....

 

It looks like a foster brother to new XJ lol .

 

I knew I should have waited for it! Just picked up my 2011 yesterday. Looks sweet!

 

My biggest problem with the looks of the current XF is the overly large gap between the hood and the front fascia. It looks like the hood isn't closed properly. The 2012 looks a little better in that regard, plus the headlamps are a huge improvement.

 

If you compared the XF to the X Type (and to some degree the old S Type) you would see clearly that the XF headlights were "evolutionary" in that they incorporated the "quad" round headlight shape partially faired into the hood from those earlier models.

If the new design pictured is actually the new design then clearly Ian Callum's team is finally dropping that four lamp look and moving on to a cleaner hood line.

The negative is that a vestige of the original old XJ6 hood shape (dropped for a short period between the old XJ6 and the X300 and subsequent XJs) will finally be gone from all current Jaguars. In turn, that XJ6 hood drew design inspiration from the Jaguars of the 50's and early 60's such as the Mark II and the Mark X.

Callum served notice that he intended to take Jaguar forward and away from the old stuffy "heritage" image, his XK being the first in that direction. I can't wait to see how the new baby sedan and F Type shape up if this is the direction for Jaguar.

The new sleeker design also does risk being compared perhaps unfavourably with other streamlined front ends from Germany and Japan.....

 

Must agree that the gap looks unsightly and although designed, probably, as a design feature (the bonnet/hood closure mechanism probable demands some clearance between the two surfaces) it looks more as if they could not get bonnets/hoods and front fascias to line up well enough in manufacturing. I did a Photoshop exercise on a picture of my own car to eliminate the gap, and the improvement in my opinion was substantial, giving the car a better quality look from the front. It is difficult to tell from the leaked picture whether this gap has changed but it would be an improvement if it is reduced.

With regard to the headlights, they are cleaner looking and make the front end less "pinched" looking although, as mentioned by Jagular, it might start to look a little generic read "generic German"!!

 

I actually like the double bump in the hood of the current XF. After thinking about it, I opened the hood and screwed down the two rubber capped hood stops by a few turns and reduced the gap a little. It's better than it was, but the gap is still too large. If I dropped it more, it wouldn't line up with the fenders.

 

I had always liked the looks of XF. Even 2012 XF has a good appealing exterior, but is there any other significant changes for the current model?