Its only been a month, so its not a fair comparison, but this might actually have eclipsed the RS6 as my favorite car Ive ever owned. That was the car I set as my benchmark for all future cars to beat, and this might be the one that knocks it off the pedestal. At this point the RS6 is still up top, but this is knocking at the door.

The interior is in a league all of its own. Everything else I looked at just had regular old interiors. The nicest, most different one was the 650 GC, and it wasnt even comparable to this. Its just a genuinely nice place to be (someone on Reddit pointed out the center stack looks like a face - it does). Its comfortable, its quiet, the color is awesome. I know London Tan isnt to everyone's tastes, but i think it is fantastic and so much more interesting than boring black, old man tan, and Windows Toolbar gray. The exterior is gorgeous, the upright front grille is different from the direction most others are going, and thats great. The *** and 3/4 view are fantastic. Its just a great design.

But driving this is what its all about right? And I ****ing love driving this beast so much more than the CLS63 I replaced with it. The transmission, this glorious transmission that almost seems to know what I want before i do it. Theres no more weird downshift confusion like with the 5G/7G Mercedes autoboxes. It doesnt try to race up through the gears as fast as possible, and no weird bogging down and loss of power at the low end when doing a rolling stop. God bless you ZF and your abilities to make a transmission do what i want.

Of course it isnt perfect, cuz no car is. I know this is Jaguar/Land Rovers thing, but the gear shift circle thing is stupid. I know they also arent the only ones, but that doesnt make it less stupid. No gear lever means i am forced to use the paddles, and since i dont drive with 2 hands at all times, this is kind of a pain in the ***. Thankfully though, the transmission makes up for that 90% of the time. Its also a bit strange that you close the sunroof, and it only goes to the vent position, and then you have to close it fully. I am used to it now, but there were definitely a few times i left it open. IDK why this is a thing. I also dont know why the parking sensors default to OFF, and you have to turn them on, except when you are backing up, and then the front sensors turn on automatically. I just flat out do not understand that. It seems opposite. When i shift into reverse and hear that shrill beep at me, and look behind me to see an expanse of nothing, then i realize that its beeping at the wall in front of me, the direction I am moving away from. Plus the infotainment (hate that) screen is ridiculous, but servicable.

Anyway, I love this car. I look back at it every time I walk away from it. It has absolutely renewed my desire to modify my car, join the community, and enjoy it.

 

Do you need the paddles?
I read that the 8 speed has a 200ms shift time which is about 1/2 the time it use to take.
I don't find I use the shift paddles much because the tranny seems to so good?

I just ordered a tune and will see how much it changes the car.
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i have the 6 speed, not the 8 speed, but either way, its still worlds better than the Benz transmission, and it really does know what its doing and does it well. its almost always in the power and never stutters unless i almost force it to.

i dont really need to use them, but sometimes on back country roads or even a highway pass, its fun to drop a couple of gears, take off, and hear the V8 sing.

 

Apart from my driving not being as "spirited" as the OP's appears to be, the starting post could have been written by me up until a few weeks ago.

Right now my XJ sits in the shop awaiting disassembly to find if the heads, block or both got toasted when the water pump let go on the Interstate. I suspect it is 50/50 on the warranty company declaring the car beyond economical repair and making me some kind of cash offer. That will blow chunks if it happens.

Assuming the worst, I would be happy to buy another XJ provided the seller could prove it has the latest and greatest water pump. Otherwise, no sale.

As it is I shall be going after Jaguar for the out of pocket costs I have incurred from their faulty design that should be recalled.

 

Damn i am really sorry to hear that. That really sucks. I definitely need to confirm the water pump on mine then, despite having the CPO warranty. Ill have to ask the service guys to check.

This is like the AMG 6.2 head bolt worries all over again.