They're powder coated gloss black.

I originally had them painted by a guy the dealership recommended, but the guy did a horrible job. I met him at a different car service place where he assured me he was going to lift the car to get the wheels off the car (but leave the tires on the wheels) and that he would paint them in a controlled environment (garage), etc. But when I went to pick my car up, I could tell that he clearly never took the wheels off AND he painted them outdoors, so there was tons of dust, pollen, etc. in the dried paint. The finish was also thoroughly inconsistent and he hadn't coated the insides of the spokes or lug holes, nearly as well. I easily could've done a LOT better job. I'd already painted my own brake calipers, hood louvers, Jaguar leaper emblem, engine cover, etc. and they all came out looking great (I just wasn't sure about painting the wheels myself). So, I called him out and challenged him to tell me exactly why they came out so horribly. He couldn't explain and insinuated that I was being too particular, which REALLY pissed me off, especially since I knew for sure that he'd lied about how he'd done the work.

After I told him there was no way I was paying him a dime, he even asked if he could try again by using my garage, lift, and jack stands (which was obviously not an option at that point). So, I told him we were finished with our business, didn't pay him, drove over to the dealership that had recommended him, and they agreed to have them powder coated at the same price as I was going to pay to have them painted. It took about a week, but they gave me a 2012 XF loaner because they also did some service work while they had my car.

The wheels came out looking spectacular and were coated on both the outside and inside of the rim (with no issues since). It's hard to tell from the pictures but the red gloss calipers really pop in contrast to the black gloss wheels. They really look great when the car is in motion. And, they completely stand out against the silver rotors, which look a lot bigger with the contrast to the black wheels, even when the car is parked. I've gotten a lot of compliments from people and I'm really happy I did it. But, I actually almost wish my brakes weren't included in my free service package, because I'd really like to change the rotors out for cross drilled and slotted jobs (purely for looks).

 

Thanks for the great info as I was contemplating the same options. I had heard there is some concern that powder Coating process could damage the wheels, specifically the heat required in the process. Sounds like that was not an issue. How much did they charge and what would have been the normal charge for powder coating. Also what was the exhaust mod you did - looks interesting? Again, very nice work on your XFR - looks great!

 

There is legitimate concern about powder coating forged wheels. See Why to NOT Powdercoat Wheels - 6speedonline.com Forums

Basically according to this thread the heat can reduce strength by 30%. Also, coating them black will hide cracks that may develop. Racers use silver or light colored wheels so they can detect cracks easily.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

Wheels:
I didn’t really want to spend $4,000 for new wheels, especially when the factory wheels are big enough and seem great. The President of BBS North America is a friend and he even said that selling aftermarket wheels (for non-track cars) has gotten a lot harder since manufacturers started putting better wheels on their cars from the factory. But, I wanted black wheels to contrast against the white body and red brake calipers. So, I decided to look into it…

I'd also heard that powder coating could degrade the structural integrity of the wheels. That concern, plus the fact that painting the wheels was supposed to be several hundred dollars cheaper, and could be done in a few hours (vs. 4+ days for powder coating), was why I initially went with painting. Painting was also supposed to look as good, etc. But, prior to pulling the trigger on anything, I ultimately did a lot of research on powder coating vs. painting and consistently heard varying thoughts, so I wasn’t ever 100% tied to either idea being better and ended up just going with what seemed cheapest/easiest (which came back to bite me later).

In doing my research, I did get the feeling that with powder coating, baking the wheels at too high of a temperature and degrading the structural integrity of the wheels seemed to be more of a thing of the past, as most powder coating shops are aware that customers have that fear. All of the shops I talked to said because of that fear, they bake the wheels at a lower temperature for a longer time, which keeps the wheels’ structural integrity intact. But, I’m not sure if there’s really ever a way to be totally sure unless you do a before and after X-ray (or something) and hold them accountable. That’s one of the reasons I really wanted to go through the dealership for powder coating (and even painting). I really didn’t want to have to pay approx. $250 each to replace my factory wheels and if the dealership is on the hook on some level, that at least somewhat helps set my mind at ease.

And, while I'm sure that every company and experience is different, as far as outcomes, costs, etc., in my particular experience, powder coating ended up looking a LOT better. And, when you also consider that the dealership gave me a loaner car while my wheels were being worked on (because I came up with several warranty concerns which could be addressed at the same time) and that I only had to pay what I was going to pay for the painting ($500 – I think the independent powder coating places I spoke with wanted $700+ with no loaner car, dealership backing, etc.), the powder coating turned out to be my best option on all levels. But, it did take the first painter royally screwing up to help me realize all of that, so it was probably a significant anomaly. However, if I ever had to make another decision on painting vs. powder coating, regardless of costs, dealership involvement, time without vehicle, etc., I’d still choose powder coating, as I’ve been very happy with them and haven’t had any issues after several thousand miles.

Exhaust:

I’m going to try to do a detailed write-up on my exhaust at some point soon, but here’s some high-level information… I’m not an exhaust expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I’d modified several other vehicles’ exhaust and felt like there was always a trade-off to modifying them. With the XFR, I essentially wanted to give it the option to alternate between a very quiet execu-cruiser/sleeper and a louder grand-touring bruiser (more telling of what’s underneath), whenever I wanted (with increased performance as a benefit, obviously). And, I wanted to try something unique, especially since most of the available after-market exhausts were fairly expensive (although Mina Gallery did just offer a great deal). But, creating your own exhaust is always a gamble, because you’re never really sure what you’ll end up with. However, if you get it right, you can end up with a great success at a great price.

I really loved my always-loud modified exhaust on my previous ’09 XFS, but it could be hard to talk on the phone, my wife and in-laws used to give me crap, and there were definitely times when it felt a little awkward with some of my more conservative clients/co-workers. Plus, when I traded my ’09 XFS in on my ’11 XFR, the sales manager pitched a fit when he found out I’d modified the exhaust (which should’ve been a bonus for him because it sounded incredible, especially when I also gave him the stock exhaust with it). So, I started exploring options…

My next-door neighbor and best friend has an Aston Martin that purrs along quietly until he drops the hammer and it starts to scream beautifully (at 4K RPM, I believe), and there’s actually a fuse in his car which you can pull to keep it loud at all times, if desired. And, while I didn’t just want the exhaust to just kick in at high RPMs (I like a lot more rumble out of a supercharged V8 than it came with), the idea made me think about options. I also remembered that one of my friends has a boat with an installed “Captain’s Exhaust” option, which is essentially a switch that reroutes the exhaust through the hull to make it louder/quieter, as desired. I didn’t do much research on the boat, but I did try to find out as much as I could about the XFR and what options I had.

Jaguar says the XFR has a “semi-active exhaust” in its sales literature, but I never could figure out what the hell that meant because I couldn’t find any more information about it anywhere and none of the techs at the dealerships could tell me, either. But, I had seen the exhaust dropped out of an XKR and it was clearly a different setup; besides the mufflers being different, the XKR has electronically controlled (RPM based?) switches that open/close two (of the four) of the pipes coming from the muffler.

So, because I wanted the best of both worlds (quiet and loud) and didn’t seem to have too many other options, I did a lot of research on cutouts (specifically ones with remote controls). I ended up ordering remote controlled cutouts from Race Ready Performance (their lifetime warranty helped with the decision) and had them installed between the rear resonator and stock dual mufflers, so they could dump the exhaust out before the mufflers and give me a louder sound when I wanted it, but go back to stock quiet with the push of a button. But, what I learned after installing them was that when the exhaust was opened up before the dual rear mufflers, it was WAY too loud and had EXTREME popping on deceleration. So, to improve the sound, I experimented with replacing the rear resonator with just a basic Magnaflow Xpipe. Doing so did eliminate some of the popping, but it was still WAY too loud. But, the exhaust shop was nice enough to let me play with a few options before welding anything completely on. So, I yanked the basic Magnaflow Xpipe off and ended up going with a Magnaflow Resonated XPipe (has a muffler built around the Xpipe), which gave me the growl I was looking for while eliminating almost all of the decel popping. So, now it goes from stock quiet (yawn) to throaty and mean (so much better) at the push of a button.

 

Reaxions, thanks so much for the detailed response on both. I had heard similar to you re powder coating. Re your exhaust what did the final set-up cost? Can you show a picture of the button location inside the car? And lastly would love to hear a youtube version of both exhausts. Sorry for all the questions, but you have addressed many of the upgrades that people seem very interested in and done so very nicely. Well done and thanks for all the info, much appreciated!

Greg

 

No problem. I'd be happy to post a sound clip at some point, but I'm in Chicago through Sunday, so it might have to wait a few days.

Regarding the button location inside the car; there is no button location inside the car. The exhaust is controlled by a small wireless remote control/key fob thing (similar to an old car alarm remote) that you can either put on a keychain, take with you, or just leave sitting anywhere in the car. The remote receiver sits right next to the battery, where the cutouts receive the power. The cutouts did actually come with a wired rocker switch I could mount somewhere inside the car if I wanted (which is what I know you were referring to), but I chose not to because I didn't want to deal with running all of the control wires in the car or hurting the interior by drilling mount holes, etc.

 

That would be great - BTW what did the exhaust set up cost? Have fun in Chicago, love that town. Thanks.

Greg

 

I can't remember exactly what everything cost without looking back at receipts, etc. but to the best of my recollection, the Race Ready Performance cutout hardware (2 electric cutouts, 2 Ypipes, 2 turndown swivel tips, all mounting brackets, etc.) was around $400-500. Plus, I paid another $100 for the wireless remotes (it came with 2) and receiver. So I think it was right at $600 total for all cutout hardware. The installation of the the cutouts and wireless receiver was around $250. The Magnaflow resonated XPipe was around $150-200 for everything (hardware and labor). So, that would put the grand total for my exhaust at right around $1,000, I believe.

 

Getting gas at Shell never looked so good.

 

Hi I have a Black 2.7D in France what a great car, not sure how to upload the pics tho

 

Took off the stock 18" base rims and had a set of 19" 'Tobia' XK rims chromed, for the look it SHOULD have had from the factory!

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...20XF/XF-XK.jpg

 

Those are sharp, Not to busy and look like factory.. Good luck with them.

 

Some pics of 2012 Portfolio with Sport pack and London Tan Interior. Also got the suede black headliner which I really like.

 

Hans Wolters, that is a very nice automobile. One of the nicest I've seen on the forum IMO. That's one of my favorite colors that you normally see on the XJ. The exterior/interior combo is awesome.

 

Right click a picture then Copy and just Paste it into message. Or this this FAQ

How do I add an image to a post?
If you have uploaded an image as an attachment, you can click the arrow next to the 'Attachment Icon' and select it from the list. This will be inserted into your post and can be located where you want it displayed.
To include an image that is not uploaded as an attachment and is located on another website, you can do so by copying the full URL to the image, (not the page on which the image is located), and either pressing the 'Insert Image' icon or by typing [img] before the URL and [/img] after it, ensuring that you do not have any spaces before or after the URL of the image. You can insert pictures from your albums (?) in this way too.

 

Thank you very much,
Hans

 

Not sure if somebody else already covered this, but my '11 XFR came with London Tan. I call it Pumpkin Orange, but I do get a lot of compliments. Maybe the two-tone black contrast helps (everyone loves Halloween!). Even so, it wouldn't have been my first choice. Actually, the white exterior wouldn't have been, either. But, I've come to love both, especially the white exterior because of the nice contrast with any black accents. The only thing that hasn't grown on me as much is the tan color of the beautiful suede-ette headliner; the color just doesn't match anything else in the car. It's baffling to me why they chose that combo. It looks like it was an afterthought or they just had some extra tan material laying around they needed to get rid of. Oh, well. For the price I paid, I won't complain (anymore).

 

I love the new ride hope you guys like it too

 

^ Nice!

Where are you in NY?

 

Thanks!! I am in Long Island!!