The passive locking on my driver's door has been operating poorly for some time; in order to unlock the car from the driver's door, I need to have the smart key in the hand that is opening the door- i.e. it needs to be very close to the lock rather than within 1 meter as per the book. Also if I exit the car and press the little button on the door handle to lock, the one on the driver's door rarely works and usually gets the error beeps. I've developed the habit of locking via the rear door as I close the front door.
I currently have the door trim off the driver's door to replace the window regulator and have inspected the door handle and lock; it seems to me very likely that the problem is due to a broken wire in the little harness that flexes every time the door handle is pulled. Obviously the driver's door handle gets the most use so it's going to be the one that fails. The workshop manual states that the antenna for the passive locking is integral to the handle. The little 4-wire harness disappears into the handle itself and presumably feeds the antenna and the lock button.
I'm not going to even ask Jaguar what a replacement door handle would cost. Also a replacement part would need to be painted to match the door.
One option would be to swap the driver's door handle with one from, say, the passenger side rear door where the problem would not be noticeable- but I don't like to spend my time robbing Peter to pay Peter.
I'm thinking perhaps I could look out for a dismantled vehicle the same colour as mine and buy all 4 door handles to have as spares.

Has anyone tried repairing one of these handles or the wiring loom of the passive locking?

 

I had the same issue w/ my '11

I'm not much help on how to repair as I had my dealer replace. If I recall it was not too expensive - like $400-600.

and that included them painting the new handle which you probably wouldn't need to do

 

Does this help any?

Door Handle

 

No. Thanks for posting it though. Getting the handle off is somewhat tricky but not what I was asking; I'm wondering if there is any way to repair or resurrect the wiring loom and antenna that is integral to the handle.

 

Sorry POD XF, I've played with it once I removed the handle but my problem was the actuator and replacing was the only feasible option.

 

Yep the lock actuators are a regular failure item. The little motors in them can be replaced easily enough.
There's a car wrecker currently advertising used door handles from a black XF, I might get in touch and buy a few.