Getting the brake replacement message. I’ve read that its not something that has to be done at Jag directly (as it’s plenty more expensive), what do I need to know and any advice?

I have 23k miles and this is my fourth XJ and have never gotten this error before. Original car had 54k miles on it and never got an error.

Car was in an accident and axles were def messed up but that was over a year ago... any potential sensor is faulty?

Whats suggested Ted for this to get it checked.

 

New2Jag, I would start with figuring out if you need front or rear pads. The rears are pretty easy as they are similar to most other cars. The big tricks that I will tell you is to not push the fluid back into the reservoir, but to open the vent and push the fluid out there when compressing the piston back in. makes things much easier. Then you have to deal with resetting the e-brake system. This can be done 3 ways:

1) using an SDD computer, put it in the brake maintenance mode which will recalibrate the e-brake system when you take it out.
2) disconnect the battery once you are done (DO NOT CLOSE THE TRUNK!!!!!!!). When you reconnect the battery, it will force you to recalibrate the e-brake system.
3) before putting the tire back on, use your thumb or other prying device and move the e-brake lever manually a few times till you can't move it the full stroke (repeat for the other side).

If you are doing the fronts, again, very similar to other cars. The trick with this one is you need a 9mm allen to get the bolts for the calipers off. You can push the fluid back into the reservoir with the fronts.

The only other "tricks" that you need to be aware of is knowing whether you have the standard brakes or the upgraded brakes. As a general rule, if you have the 5.0L supercharged engine, you have the upgraded brakes, all others have the standard brakes. The second thing is to order 2 brake wear sensors. Atleast 1 will need replacing since you have the message. There is one wear sensor up front, and one in the rear. Based on your mileage, odds are, you are looking at needing to replace rear pads.

if you need more advice, let me know. I have done both the fronts and rears on my car in my driveway.

 

So, there's not a wear sensor on both front wheels, just one on the driver's side?

 

There is one wear sensor per axle. They are readily available at most places you can get after market pads (rock auto, amazon, etc.) for $15.00 or so. I just did mine as well. If you've done brakes before, it is not that difficult, really. Just replace both sensors, as the old ones are likely rusted in, etc., and not worth screwing with. Before ordering parts, as Thermo said, know which brakes you have. The HD front brakes are 380mm diameter with 2 pot calipers, and order the appropriate parts. I noted in previous posts that several car parts places show the standard brakes as fitting all, yet they do not.