Does anybody know if you can safely start the engine with the bumper disconnected? I would hate to trigger an airbag or something.

NEVERMIND - No longer urgent but still curious

 

So, it looks like I may owe you a pizza or a beer or something. I decided to check the condition of those Eurospare replacement arms since they're fairly easy to remove. And what did I find...the bushings themselves look ok but it seems that the bolt sleeve has separated from the bush, on both the driver and passenger side units. Somehow I don't think its supposed to look like this.







I've got some Lemforder replacements on the way. I never suspected these because they were still fairly new and the bushings still looked ok from the outside. These were the very first items I replaced in the front suspension, everything else came after. Looking back at my records, from the time I installed them to the time I started experiencing the handling troubles, these Eurospare parts lasted only about 15-20k miles.

So thank you very much for your suggestion, Vasara. I'm hoping this will take care of that wobble once and for all.

 

Great pictures on that bushing! I know what to look for now too. Yes I have started my 2014 several times without the front bumper in place. I have removed it for two fairly large projects. First was to install the bigger IC and upgraded Bosch IC pump. Second was to install the later model LED headlights. I read the schematic backwards and wired my LED headlights up wrong the first time. So lots of turning things off and on trying to find my problem.

Oh it will set a error light too because the front park sensors are unhooked to remove the bumper cover. Goes away when reconnected.

I have heard warnings about Eruospare parts. You mentioned getting the Lemforder ones and I have heard they were the OEM suppliers.
Are you going to ask for any warranty on the old Eurospare parts?

I have never had an alignment done and with +52K miles on the car I am surprised? Can't rotate tires as my XJR runs staggered fitment. But tire wear is nice and even and the car drives wonderful. With staggered rims about the only thing you can do is dismount the tires from the rims and then reinstall the tires after flipping them around. No tire place will do that unless you ask either. Plus usually an additional charge but I will say I am a Discount Tire guy and they will do that if asked.

I did want to thank you because this thread made me look at those Michelin Pilot Super Sports again and I did not know Michelin had significantly improved the tread wear rating and upped the mileage warranty to 30K miles. Probably will upgrade next time from Pilot Sports to Pilot Super Sports. I currently run stock XJR tire sizes. 265/35/20 in front and 295/30/20 in the rear. Considering going to 305's in the back if they will fit and look OK. But that's such a small change I have not worried about doing it yet. Pressure is usually 32-34 psi for handling and comfort. You would get more miles out of them if run say at 38-40 psi. But it will ride harder with those pressures.
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I am just happy to help. (and there are some distance between us. About 13.5 hour by plane )
This are the case in most times: Can´t see the condition before remove them from the car.
I promise you: woblle will be gone - Trust me, i am a salesperson.
You might want to check Toe-in setting after change, since with that kind of sleeve movement you will get lot of Toe-out. if you car have been under adjustment while sleeves have been out of their position, you will have big Toe-in with new ones fitted.

Been chancing these quite many times already, since i just passed 175k miles. I learned how to feel the stiffnes of the bushing by pulling the ourtermost side of the ark downwards.
I need to change my passemger side in next weekend. Lemförders will fail as well, but they last far more than aftermarks, and they seem to get better: Current pair have now 55k miles and only one side need to be changed now.

 

Good to know for the future. I wanted to start the engine and watch for leaks from my aux intercooler install before putting the bumper back on.

In hindsight, I believe the Eurospare parts began to fail after 1 year but I've now had them installed on the car for over 3 years so I doubt there's any applicable warranty.

I'm very surprised that you've never needed an alignment. The roads back in CA were constantly beating up my suspension and knocking the alignment out of whack. I got these new tires installed at the Discount Tire down the street from me and they appear to be top guys there.

I was under the impression that the Pilot Sport 4S was an upgrade from the Pilot Super Sport? I'll try those handling/comfort pressures.

 

I'll definitely be going in for an alignment after I install the new arms. Thanks so much again for the suggestion.

 

The Pilot Super Sport 4s are the newer version of the Pilot Super Sports. I love the 4Ss much better than the older version and I run them on my 2 Audi SQ5s (2018 and 2022 as well as several sets on my XJ and I ran the XJR sixes and they were great and even stuck from standing starts without a chirp. When ordering the 4Ss make sure it is "Michelin Total Performance" version as they make versions for Porsche and BMW and Mercedes. as there are different tread compounds. This is from experience.

 

Thanks XJsss thanks for the correction! I was getting confused by all the similar terms. I am running Pilot Sport 4S and plan to upgrade to the Pilot Super Sport 4S next time.
Sorry for the incorrect info.
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That Michelin 30,000 mile treadwear warranty is for the front tires; it's 15,000 for your rear tires.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/Warrant...+Perf+Tire+Pkg

 

So while Michelin will warranty the Pilot Sport 4s for 30k miles that mileage warranty, however, that does not apply to vehicles with staggered tire sizes. That is my experience, but don't let that sour you on these tires as IMHO they are the best out there.

 

Yep thanks again as I got caught with the staggered fitment issues. I forgot but Discount Tire DID tell me that last time I did tires. I guess that's because you can't rotate them front to rear so less tire mileage? Appears to be a common warranty change if running staggered rims too on other brands of tires.

Here is what Discount tire says about staggered fitments;
Staggered Fitment Tires

Here is what's important from that article;
Most tire manufacturers will reduce the mileage warranty of a tire by up to 50% on a staggered tire application. However, our exclusive Certificates will still cover your staggered tires!

Still think I will upgrade next time as I am getting good mileage out of them and am on my second set of 4 now. Have no complaints outside of price.
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I got the new Lemforder banana arms yesterday and threw them in. Here are some photos to show what the bushing/bolt sleeve SHOULD look like:




Steering wheel wobble is gone (although it has fooled me like this before). The car feels really nice, even the alignment feels ok for now. I can't believe I was driving like that for over 2 years. I never would've suspected those arms to have failed so soon. I just hope the straight arms haven't been stressed by this condition too much. I replaced those in the summer of 2019.

Speaking of stressed suspension parts, I've been very surprised that I haven't had to replace anything in the rear yet. So far as I know, its all original back there, except for the air shocks which I preemptively replaced. I had to replace everything in the rear on the old X350 by this mileage.

 

Great to hear. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy!

 

In my continuing effort to return the ride quality and handling to how it was when I first bought the car, I am also replacing the poly sway bar bushings with OEM rubber. Interestingly, Jaguar seems to have made a modification to the bushings. They now have a sort-of rougher felt-like lining whereas before they simply had cross-hatching marks on the rubber (if I remember correctly). Not sure what effect this will have, I just found it interesting. Not terrible good pics, I'm afraid.





In other news, I'm really liking the Michelins PS4Ss so far. They seem to be quite comfortable with improved handling and traction.

 

I will take a shot and say it is an anti-squeak strategy. Wondering how that material will wear on the bar itself though.

 

Interesting! Glad to see (maybe?) Jaguar trying to get rid of squeaking sway bars. It's a pretty common complaint.
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Do you have the part number of that new improved bushing?

 

C2D5793

Got them from CARiD. They came in the OEM Jaguar plastic wrapping.

 

The OEM XJR spoiler is on national backorder, so I'm patiently waiting to repair a scuff on my bumper and paint the spoiler at the same time. In the meantime, I have added the next steps towards my 2014 Osmium Blue XJR build. I painfully could not find the right XJR at the right time when I bought my car in Dallas in 2018. I'm painting the calipers when the weather gets warm and getting a set of the XJR farallon forged wheels when the price is right for my warm weather set. Last but not least, I need to either procure an XJR hood or stamp the openings for the hood vents. One day.

I'm choosing to forego the front bumper update as I have no real preference between the old style and the newer style openings. For now, I replaced the trim with gloss black instead of chrome.
Winter is leaving us here in Wisconsin - I did a decontamination wash and prep, applied the last of my past season's PolishAngel High Gloss. This fall or late summer I will be polishing and choosing another ceramic coat. I'll probably go with Kamikaze Miyabi + ISM.

 

I have to say that Osmium Blue is an amazing color! I love my IRR but if an XJR had come up when I was looking in that blue color I would have grabbed it!!

My XJR has the Farallon's and I do like them but your current wheels look very good already? I will say this is the first set of forged rims I have ever had and they are TOUGH! 52K miles and I have not bent a rim yet. My old 2005 S Type R I upgraded the rims using a trade-in program from LA Chrome. Turned out when they got my rims 3 out of the 4 were damaged/bent. Which I thought was weird because the car drove just fine and I had no indications of any bent rims. That cost me some extra for the repairs as the trade in rims had to be usable to get credit.

Maybe consider the later LED headlights? I did that on my 2014 and think they are a plus all the way around as the light is better and the I like the changed looks to.

Do you already have the lighted sills? It's a bit of bling I know but pretty cool looking. My wife's Lincoln has them too but they just don't look as good as the XJ's.
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