Loved the matte rivera blue that was on my XJL for the past 7 months, but I am thinking about doing something new. Maybe something a bit more eye catching for the new year........

 

Can't wait to see what you may come up with. A fresh look tends to provide excitement.

 

How about this

 

I would do chrome or matte black.

 

Played around with a bunch of designs and really liked this Jon Olsson inspired pattern.

 

What kind of rims are those and how much did you lower it?

 

And saw his XJL wrapped in matte white pearl. It was stunning but probably a bit to basic for what you like. He had some 22" Giovanni's on it that looked like they were also wrapped in matte white pearl. I was in the dealership so I couldn't run out and take pics because he was just pulling off but I can tell you the 3D effect white pearl made the car look like it was glowing in the afternoon sun...If I wrap my car thats the direction I'm going...I've got my next best thing tho....Polaris white. LOL. Always been a white car guy.

I am doing my car like a Platinum edition, but whats going to set my car apart are my wheels whenever they get finished from Forgiato. I just ordered the 2.0 ECX (3D) series 22" in Polaris white with black lips and flanges so the spokes will look like they are floating in space. I saw this look at SEMA and it was sick. I'll keep you updated. Here is a photoshopped mock up of the look but this rendition doesn't do the wheels any justice because of the way the wheels are built where the spokes are wider than the lip. The second pic is the wheel on a mustang, you can slightly see the 3d effect. Before you buy any wheels you gotta check these out.

I like people like you who are brave enough to push the envelope with their XJ's most on here are ridiculously conservative, asking questions like "Will my XJL look ghetto with 22's?". Jesus, the car is as big as a house and you're wondering about 22"s being too big?

Keep up the good work!

 

Wow! Just curious.. what would it cost to have the car painted as you did? Not that I would have it done.. but just curious as to how expensive it is.

 

Wheels are Vossen CV3s and the car is lowered about approx. 1.5 inches in front and 1.8 in the rear.

 

Wheels look real nice, would love to see it in person when you are done with the car. TC

 

I dont have an exact number but I was quoted around $7-$8k for the matte blue. TC

 

Curious to know

 

Those wheels look great. And I like the dechromed look in combination with the matte blue.

 

In America I guess it doesn't matter what you do to your Jaguar as your just driving it anyways. I do feel you can "ghetto" any luxury car by going overboard on modifications. What that is means various things to various people. Some luxury sports cars lends itself better to certain modifications than others. I don't stray away too far from OEM specifications because I live in Germany and travel at high rates of speed on a daily basis. I changed the tires once and almost put the car into a guardrail because the cars handling was thrown out of wack. Where a yellow Lamborghini looks hot that same yellow would look ridiculous on an XJ but thats just my opinion.

 

Are you stating that OEM must be best because Jag thinks so?

I don't think you'd believe that an XJ handles far better with 22's would you? Yet simple common sense alone tells us that for a big, heavy car that the more meat on the road the better. The wider track the better. The less sidewall flex the better, the lighter the better, the more airflow for your brakes the better.

So many improvements can be made to a car overall, not only for aesthetic reasons, but also for actual ride and performance improvements, please don't ever fall into the ridiculous notion of "Jag does it best, they should know". You are aware that corporations need to meet financial limitations on their inventory aren't you? Cuts are made constantly to make sure the car falls into a certain price point. If Jags sold for what Bentleys sold for they would be better. This isn't hard to understand, Sir. I greatly disagree with your post.

Take a simple example of an exhaust system. Jag has to weigh the choice between non restrictive performance and quiet comforts. Jag has to consider the little old lady who may be a demographic, we as owners don't, thus the healthy amount of members on here who have opted to upgrade to an aftermarket one.

I won't even touch the "American" or "Ghetto" aspect of your post until you go on record as to what "Ghettoing a luxury car" means in your head. 22's?, window tint? side skirts?, de-chrome?, My car? Please explain. I'd like to know if you think, for example, if my car is a product of the American ghetto.

 

My good sir.

The first thing I will tell you is that I am American. Hence the name Expatjag. The second thing I will tell you is that I closed with that is my opinion in my first post because that is what it is. What somebody from Malibu believes is ghetto is probably completely different from what someone from East L.A. might think is ghetto. It is completely subjective.

I will tell you any high performance car maker picks its parts based on the performance they are wanting based on the price point they sell their car. I completely disagree with you with the whole a big heavy car will performance better with more tire on the road or the lighter the better. That whole sentence has so many faults in it. If thats the case lets just put the biggest and widest tires on every car. Your logic is more of a good thing is better which is completely false.

If you believe just putting 22's on a car automatically improves anything would be naive. And I will tell you most modifications done on cars in America are for non-performance reasons. Which who cares seeing that the top speed in only a few states is 80 mph. I will also tell you to not fall into you know car high performance better than the high performance manufacturer unless you name ends in hennessey or shelby. Even the guys that mod Asian imports end up spending two to three times the cars value to get the performance right.

As far as the ghettoing aspect as I said before that is completely subjective depending on a lot of factors some being the actual lineage of the car in question, your background, and your taste. I'm pretty sure I already gave an example about the yellow Lamborghini so I won't rehash that. As far as your car goes its your car. If you like it regardless of what others think thats all that matters.

 

As the French would say à chacun son goût “to each his own taste”. In my case I like to drive an understated "Q" ship that handles extremely well, goes like hell, and is supremely comfortable, but that just my taste. I have respect to those that have other inclinations. So while my car looks stock to the untrained eye, those that are in the know will see my car for what it is. I would ask for us to be respectful of each other and not descend into a pissing match of philosophies.


The bottom line is we love our Jaguars!

 

It seems to me you yourself raised the question of making a car look "Ghetto" in your post number 7, long before anyone else used the term in this thread.

Perhaps you are a bit defensive about what you decided were "good" modifications to your Jaguar. What you consider as "upgrades", many others may consider as "downgrades". What you consider as "simple sense", others may consider as "simplistic", if not totally erroneous assumptions. For instance, how do 22" wheels, and their resulting low cross-sectional tires in anyway improve the ride on an XJ, or far as that matter, handling on today's everyday potholed, rippled, or rutted roads?

"Ghetto" has different implications to differing segments of our population. Do you happen to be Jewish, black, or Hispanic?

Perhaps the people who you call "ridiculously conservative", view your modifications as being "ridiculously conformist" in terms of being a slave to today's rather silly and tasteless trends, such as "ridiculously" large wheels or noisy exhaust systems on an otherwise extremely well engineered and styled automobile.

 

ok, so we can all have a baseline. Any XJ that has SPINNERS on its wheels is considered Ghetto.

sorry, had to.

 

Where do I get spinners?
Ok, no need to get offensive, we each have a viewpoint of what is a good car/ design, personally I want it quiet, powerful and refined, otherwise I would have bought a Mitsubishi evo. Before anyone starts I think the Evo is a great piece of design, just not for me.