Mine has the reclining seats with heat, cool and massage.

 

Yes very nice MV Rider, looks to be the same interior as mine, same colour too, love it.
The heated / cooled and massaging seats go down very well lol
Mines is back in tomorrow at the dealer for warranty work on a slight leak on the diff.
Jim

 

Got the call earlier today and got the car collected, all good, great to be back inside the big cat.

Summary of work is as follows...

Checked and confirmed leak from input shaft seal, supplied and fitted diff seal per tech bulletin under warranty
Boot remote open / close - Close feature from dash not for this market.
Check n/s number plate lamp inop - Cleaned terminals with contact cleaner reconnected all A ok.

Jobs a goodun as they say....

Now between work / decorating / family visit tonight / work tomorrow etc I need to try and find a little time to clean the car for early doors Saturday and Jaguars 50th year celebrations of the XJ
There are around 400+ VIP spaces for XJ's and I managed to bag a spot, there will literally be hundreds, potentially thousands there
I'll meet up with John in his freshly painted X358 and convoy down, hoping to arrive around 8am at the Airport retail park, Unit 1, London road Coventry CV3 4RP and it's around 2 miles away from JLR Classic works, Imperial Road, Prologis Park, Ryton, Coventry, CV8 3LF
Jim

 

I was on holiday in Portugal a few weeks ago, Well the sun was shining, no surprise there, 29 degrees too ****** hot, Mrs C lovin it of course, currently toasting one side after the other.
I called my daughter in my house waiting for parcel collect....
Although a little over 3043km away the car started via the app all A ok......Impressive stuff...

The odometer JUST rolled over 30,000 miles recently, I did mean to stop and get a pic but just didn't quite have the time.
Car was cleaned Sunday along with the X type and it was a beautiful Autumnal day here today, sun shining with just a little chill in the air, but blue skies, all good...

I had already decided I wanted a little photo shoot day today, try to get a few more decent pics of the car as I don't seem to have too many as yet. I'm waiting for Niall to do his pro photo shoot but day to life just keeps getting in the way on both sides, hopefully soon on that one though as he takes some stunning shots and has a great eye.
I visited my cousin first and took her out for a coffee and a catch up, Stevie had called earlier too with good news, his Audi was back from paint and looking good so we arranged a wee catch up for later.
After time with my cousin I took the car to the bottom of the village and the auld deserted road for a few pics, the sun was out and car looking good. I ran off around 200 pics and thought I must get 2 or 3 half decent ones out of that lot, lol.

I caught up with Stevie at his place and checked out the car, looked great, a job well done. The car looks great for year and mileage, loved and looked after although he was bemoaning a few swirl marks. I didn't think they showed up too badly on the gun metal grey type exterior but there were some there.....It was a chance for me to wax lyrical about PB Blackhole, so took it out the boot along with a damp and dry microfibre and some masking tape, we did a 50/50 shot there n then lol

It worked out well and really made a visible difference so I think that's on his shopping list now.
Headed home to try and edit some of the 200+ pics and try to get a few decent ones, see below.....








Jim

 

It's only a 2 day drive from Glasgow over some superb roads. .......

....... although the car wouldn't be looking so good at the end of it.

Graham

 

I'd love to take a trip like that Graham, Mrs C isn't as up for these things as Mrs G clearly is. I genuinely do hope to get the NC500 under my belt in the next year or so though

Jim

 

Well meeting today at 10am and its around 1 hour 10 minutes for me, so as want to be there with 30 mins to spare to give the car a going over, and I wanted to get up to see what the weather was doing, and or any remedial work to the car etc, meant I was up at 7am

Sure enough it had been merrily coming down all night so the car was well n truly soaked, the roads were drying off nicely though and looked like it may hold off for a while at least, if not the whole day.

Out at 7.15am drying off the car anf fixing any issues here n there etc as well as cleaning the wheels again, back in at 8am and had a coffee and chat with Mrs C before heading off at 8.30am

I got there nicely at 09.40 am and had to tidy up the car again after the previous 60 miles or so and finished just as Terri arrived in her newly sprayed again XK, beautiful colour.

Brian arrived with his XK closely followed by Caldean and 8bit with theirs, so truly outnumbered by XK owners, big time, so had to watch my step lol.

Here's a few of the group shots taken prior to breakfast....




Then headed in for a breakfast ( what a big breakfast mmmm, had everything ) washed down with a coffee and chat took us till around 12pm

At this point Caldean, Niall and myself headed off to have the photo shoot, with Caldean leading, me and then Niall. Of course he had to go the small country lane back roads ( loads of fun, they really were ) and I swear he hit EVERY puddle and dust mound there was on the way

By the time we got there, the car needed a going over again, big time....

Anyway Niall got ready and did his thing, I had the car tidied up and he worked his magic on the car from various angles, using various lenses and telling us about light refractions, and other technical photography "stuff" which went right over my head.

We took turns backwards n forwards, my car, Caldeans car, different angles and locations etc, very very tiring stuff I have to say lol

Knowing Niall and seeing many of his pics from previous shoots, I know they'll be fantastic and can't wait to see them. In the meantime Caldean and I amused ourselves taking our "pics" which I'm sure will pale into insignificance, here they are anyway....










As time was moving on we headed back to the Antiques and Arts centre, same as before with Caldean, myself and Niall......You'd think I would've learned, car looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks after just a few miles

Time for a cold drink and a coffee and then 4pm time to hit the road.....****** tiring day lol

Massive thanks to Niall for giving up his time and expertise to take these pics, just have to wait until he can get the time to process them to his exacting standards, hope to be able to post them once done, really appreciated.

Good to meet up with faces old and new too, enjoyable all round

Jim

 

Well after a nail biting week, Niall has finished working his magic on the photographs from the shoot on my car and Keiths stunning XK

I can't thank Niall enough for his time and efforts on this and am needless to say very pleased with the results.

My best guess is that the mix of a real car enthusiast and semi professional photographer make a winning combination. Its easy to see why he's already had some work published I believe.

Check out his FB page here https://www.facebook.com/niallporterphoto/

There are other pics of some gorgeous cars and a bike too, easy to see why he's in such demand.

Here are mine..




















Thanks again Niall https://www.facebook.com/niallporterphoto/

Jim

 

Wheels refurbished a few weeks ago, Tress dropped me off and headed back to beat the traffic, I had another 30 mins to wait until the wheels were put back on the car.
I managed to head on out and speak to the guy putting the wheels back on, pleasantly surprised to see he had the Growlers facing the valve caps. The finish on the wheels looks great, very pleased.
The obligatory walk round showing nothing untoward, the interior clean and as expected, fuel still ok and mileage not moved, all good

See below a quick snap of the finished wheels



Well, having a look around at oil / filters / vacuum pumps etc....
Taggarts Jaguar are asking £255.00 for an oil change on a "fixed servicing" price for a 3 year old car
Prestige Jaguar at £65.00 per hour plus oil / filter etc will be around the £160.00 or so I guess

Don't know if I'm necessarily into brand snobbery, but the correct grade of oil ST JLR.03.5005 / Ford WSS-M2C934-B ACEA C1 Low SAPS engine oil in Castrol or similar is ****** expensive.
I'm fairly confident that the Fuchs / Mannol / Comma / G Force oils etc should be fine as long as they meet the spec, which they seem to do.

The difference can be from £5.45 per litre up to £13.95 per litre ( depending of course on where you buy from )
The filter - I'd probably just get from the dealer or similar....
Next up, is whether to go for the Pela type hand operated vacuum pump with 7 litres capacity etc ( around £25 - £60 depending on what / where you buy from ) or to go down the route of a small electric direct pump straight into a waiting container?

I'm also thinking of adding the Icarsoft LRV2 code reader to my arsenal too, cost around £150 there or thereabouts, needed to clear the service reminder of course.
This should also be helpful on the X type, so winner winner there.
Looks like it's a no brainer as I'll be doing around 2-3 oil changes per year

I went with the Mannol ( Its a German brand I believe and to the JLR / Ford spec ) and it comes in a 20 litre container £83.99
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mannol-77...sAAOSwol9c3Rdk

Icarsoft LRV2 code reader £136.00
7 Litre Oil Fuel Fluid Extraction Vacuum Pump Fluid Hand Operating £26.69
All ordered and should be winging their way here shortly
I got the oil filters ordered just a short while ago and went with Mann
Carparts4less had them for £8.43 each with free delivery, so 3 off were ordered

The other 2 will be spares until as and when required. I'm hoping the oil / vacuum pump etc arrive Monday / Tuesday as I really want to get this done, had the service light on my car for around a week now, which is just about the longest ever, although it stated around 1300 miles to go

That said another thing crossed my mind, I took out the extra years warranty last year and it still runs to January 21st 2020.

To keep within the terms of the warranty I'm going to have to have it done / stamped etc and so to that end will be calling Prestige first thing tomorrow morning to see when they can get it booked in, asap as far as I'm concerned.
It's pointless paying all that money for the peace of mind and then messing with it.....

Jim

 

20.06.2019 update
Long day....

Left at 11pm and headed south, heading for Welsh Wales ( Cardiff ) Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfill, Glamorgan, Neath etc....

Nice quiet roads down at that time, missed ALL the traffic and got there around 6.30am, drove through the night with wind and rain, then sunny intermittent showers, cloud and sunshine the rest of the day

got everything done that needed done and headed back North, arriving home at around 7pm, so around 18 hours in the saddle and a tad under 900 miles covered.

Needless to say she's filthy now, here she was much earlier in the day, now much worse


Took it steady on the way down, then had some fun on the return leg, saw around 45.2mpg and managed around 671 miles on one tank before filling up at Sandbach, the last 280 miles or so were a lot less fuel efficient lol

20.07.2019 update
Up and at 'em early doors this morning and first at the tyre depot to have my rubber changed.

It was the new to me, Falken Azenis FK510 tyres this time, as there seemed to be a bit of a shortage of Kumho Ecsta PS71 in the 275 / 35 / 20 sizes and I didn't want to mix brands.

It's a good tyre, well rated per A for wet road grip, E for fuel efficiency and 69db front road noise / 70db rears and a decent tread pattern too

I mentioned to Jim, the owner about the newly refurbished wheels AND also to the tyre fitter, then proceeded to watch him do the work. I have to compliment the young guy, he took his time, no windy guns here and all torque wrenched back up to spec, nary a smudge or a mark on the them, fair play.

I dug into my pockets and gave him a couple of quid to get a beer as a small thank you, as you do.

Here's the new rubber on the wheels.....




It was a little damp here this morning although nice n dry / sunny at the moment. On leaving the tyre depot I went down the hill, then took a sharp left and she squirmed a little, dash light lit up for traction control.

As I'm sure you all know, this is the story of new tyres, I had the same with my new Kumho's and also with new Pirelli's etc back in the day, they have to be worn in, see below

"Tyres are comprised of many layers of rubber, steel and fabric, due to these different components, your new tyres require a break-in period to ensure that they deliver their normal ride quality and maximum performance.
As tyres are cured, a release lubricant is applied to prevent them from sticking in their mould., some of the lubricant stays on the surface of your tyres, reducing traction until it is worn away.

Five hundred miles of easy acceleration, cornering and braking will allow the mould release lubricant to wear off, allowing the other tyre components to begin working together.
It's also important to note that your old tyres probably had very little tread depth remaining when you felt it was time to replace them. As any racer who has tread rubber shaved off of his tyres will tell you, low tread depth tyres respond more quickly.

Don't be surprised if your new tyres are a little slower to respond (even if you use the exact same tire as before) even a little slippy, their new, full depth brings with it a little more tread squirm until they wear down."

I'll be giving it a few hundred miles in any event as I usually do, before really testing them as it were.

19.08.2019 update
I had a wee trip today, 300+ miles with some hum drum motorway and speed camera miles, then....

It was some beautiful twisty windy roads through the hills of Northern Scotland

Here's a wee taste below of some of the miles I had the pleasure to drive today.



The new Falken tyres are now well n truly bedded in and running great ( maybe a little softer sidewall ) but held the road well and tracked straight n true. She was given some beans today into the bends etc and the pipes were well n truly cleared out, although didn't help the mpg too much.

As much fun as I had I found myself thinking more and more about a remap for those extra horses and Nm of torque, got home mid afternoon with the car considerably dirtier than when I left and one or two flies / bugs etc attached to the windscreen / bumper

Jim

 

29.08.2019 update
In the past I've tried somewhat harder to really see more what she can do, fuel economy wise and saw the following results
755.6 miles travelled on one tank of fuel



46.9 mpg on average ( I did see 55.2mpg at one point for a short while )



17 miles left until empty



If I remember rightly on that occasion she took around 72 litres to refuel, so around 1 gallon left in the tank, which if I'd ran her dry, would've meant around 805.56 miles covered

I genuinely think in extreme circumstances, with little to no traffic / hold ups and mostly all easy 65mph - 70mph motorway miles that 850 - 900 miles would be possible!

Stop / start and 4 or 5 miles here n there around town mostly, with a little dual carriageway etc thrown in easily sees 500 miles to a tank and around 30mpg generally

Not bad for something that takes up this much road space

02.09.2019 update
Wipers today, the existing ones were coming to the end of their life, they were cleaned a little while ago and improved, but I always know it's a sign they're ready for replacement

Bosch aero wipers were the replacement £32.00
Now just very quiet cleaning operation and smear / judder / streak free windows
Happy days

05.10.2019 update
I managed to give the car the once over this morning, quick wash n dry, interior dealt with too and she looked pretty good, for a while anyway. The rain had stayed away till around 11.10am and then just a slight drizzle from there, could've been worse I suppose.

Around 11.30 it was time to leave, a quick run up the M73 / M74 and arrived just at 11.55am just in time to see Colin parking up. It's still a little surreal almost as she's basically a sister car with a few slight differences and one big one under the bonnet of course, I genuinely don't see that many here, when I do they're white / grey / red etc.

I parked up in the next bay, side by side before getting out to catch up with Colin and check them out side by side, they did make a nice pair..





The differences were so subtle, yet certainly a nice shine from Colin's, a credit to his detailing

Into the carvery, just as it was starting to get a little busier, a nice feed and plenty of it, an orange juice and the craic

All in all a very pleasant couple, 2 and a half hours were spent, ending with me chatting on about a full meet / mini meet and or XJ only meet at some point. I think an XJ only meet would be good, it'd be good to see the difference between 2016 Tan hill Inn one and now.

There were no X351 at Tan Hill, I think there'd be more than a few at this one, still with plenty X350 and X358 of course, must get my thinking cap on

Jim

 

09.10.2019 update
After more than a few weeks of little / no miles, fixed that today. Couple of visits required with some great possibilities at the other end, soo
I left Glasgow at around 10.30am and arrived at Pontypridd in South Wales around 06.15am, also got to Neath, Pontyclun and Penderyn / Aberdare, before heading back home

Arrived home around ten to six having covered 887 miles, flawless and saw 52.2 mpg and 50.00 mpg for most of the return leg until I let loose the last 100 miles or so
Interesting moment around 2.30pm approaching Charnock Services on M6 Northbound. I saw another Jag coming up behind me.

As he approached to overtake, just cruising past I looked over ( as again, I really don't see that many about these parts ) and he looked over with a "knowing" nod and a smile on his face, as he just raised his fingers off the wheel in a salute / wave.
Made me smile...

19.10.2019 update
Well the miles seem to clock up fast, just rolled over 43k yesterday...
Seems like only a short while ago she was on 17k.
Time to start thinking about the gearbox fluids change soon, but I'll get the M.O.T. out the way in early December and then possible remap first

26.10.2019 update
Strange one today...…After a wash / dry etc I went for a run, noticed a warning on the display " Blind spot assistance unavailable"

It popped up a few times on / off, then after a few off / on cycles seems to have disappeared, something to monitor though for sure....
Other than that, nice clean car, nice sunny day although pretty cool, a few miles with plenty of smiles, all good

05.11.2019 update
As mentioned a little while ago, time ( almost ) for a service, just before the M.O.T. too...



She'll be 4 years old in January and at a little over 43k miles, well under the recommended schedule of 64k / 48 months, not that I'd be adhering to that anyway.

Those that know the car, will be aware she's already had several oil changes etc over and above anything else required. I won't be going for the interim service, but choose the full service option instead of engine oil and filter, fuel filter, air and pollen filter along with lubricating the roof slides and various other checks etc, top off the DEF fluid also
Jaguar offer fixed priced servicing for cars over 3 years old at £385.00 which isn't as awful as it might seem, to me anyway

That said I'm awaiting Dougie to come back to me from Prestige and will more than likely be going down that route and as soon as possible.

On past experience of having the throttle body replaced and the MAP sensor coked up filthy, I'll be asking them to remove / inspect and clean also for peace of mind.
Chances are that as the warranty runs out in January ( unless I decide to renew - unlikely at the moment ) I'll be doing the basic oil changes / air filter / fuel filter / pollen filter etc myself at much reduced costs, only using Prestige etc where and when required
See attached sheet for breakdown of service schedule

Jim

 

12.11.2019 update
Well, in nice and early this morning and the guys sorted me out straight away, Jim and Jamie on the car meant it took no time at all, both air filters were changed
Strangely the drivers side was fairly clean, the passenger side was filthy!

Pollen filter changed out, oil filter too as well as the fuel filter ( tough to get out, tight for space ) and then the oil changed along with visual inspections etc etc
I also asked them to check / clean the MAP sensor, as I've had issues before, please see below, it may help others
This is something I wanted to bring to the attention, specifically of the 3.0D owners

I'm sure some / most of you even may know about the MAP sensor, some may not.
A bad / clogged up or failing MAP sensor can cause all sorts of issues from excessive fuel consumption, to lack of power and or failed emissions.

I haven't had any of these problems myself, but I did have an issue on 04.12.2018
A P0234-77 Turbo overboost condition, seemingly caused by the throttle valve sticking somewhat. Jaguar assist were called and they checked / rectified etc, see link to post below
https://www.jaguarforum.com/showthre...=1#post1141632

As part of this process, they also diagnosed a dirty MAP sensor which was cleaned on the spot, took literally 5 mins and easy to do.

That was on 04.12.2018 at 32,862 miles, fast forward some 11 months to 12.11.2019 and 44,074 miles ( only 11,212 miles ) and I'm having the car serviced,
a full on B service and I remember this scenario and ask them to check / clean this MAP sensor.
See pics below....



Apologies, as the pics may not be the best, but enough to give you an idea.
Unfortunately I have no pic of the MAP sensor fouled with sooty oil but please rest assured, even after only 11,212 miles there was around at least a couple of mm at least coating this sensor
A simple wipe with a clean rag was all that was required and then replaced, that simple.

I encourage all 3.0D XJ owners to check theirs and clean as required. It's the simplest of tasks and will pay dividends in the long run.
It's certainly something I'll be checking regularly as I move forward.
Hope it helps

Everything all done in jig time under my watchful eye, plenty of banter and then the drive home, satisfied all is well
Not too many brown drinking vouchers were required to secure all this, online history all done, a good day.

Just for clarity, I'm talking about the MAP sensor..
I'm bummed that I don't have any before pics and not the best during / after pics. That said a friend of mine has the same car, just a couple of years older, we may get together soon and check his, do a better job.

In the meantime, as a reference, see below for what I believe to be the same style as fitted to our cars that does show a fouled up *before* and a new one for comparison
Before - fouled up unit


New unit


Jim

 

21.11.2019 update

Bored, made a wee video....

Special thanks to Niall Porter and his amazing photography skills, hope to have a print or two for the office wall shortly

24.11.2019 update
Firstly, I've finally got around top speaking with Niall, re some prints of the photoshoot he did on the Jag some months ago.

I settled on a few of my favourites and it'll be as follows. A 18" x 12" print on a black self edged Art panel for the main one in landscape, with 2 images in a matching 12" x 8" Art panel in portrait to sit side by side, as below



I think they'll look nice in the office and can't wait, an early Christmas present from me to me....

25.11.2019 update
XJ booked in for M.O.T next Monday morning at 09.30am with my usual local guy.....

I'll do a few checks over the weekend, double check the tyres, check lights, top up screenwash and have her cleaned etc, she's only been serviced a few weeks ago and all seems well, so fingers crossed

Hoping for a nice easy pass early December, that out the way and then concentrate on the nightmare that will be Christmas, around 13 for dinner and I'm doing most of the cooking, should be fun!

Jim