I know this is a Jag forum. But any comments welcome. I am choosing between a XJR and a BMW 760li individual. Both are very nice.
XJR has 40000Miles on it and the 760li has 55000 miles. Assuming both condition the same. Pricewise, the XJR is about double the price of the 760.

Thanks

 

The BMW has a V12 engine, the Jaguar a supercharged V8. If both cars are about the same age, the much lesser price for the BMW may indicate it is not favoured on the used market for some reason.

 

I think it was JD power that rated the BMW 7 Series the most expensive luxury car to own period. That V12 will drink your bank account dry I expect.

(or it may have been Consumer report 2013?).

 

I own a 2004 XJR and a 2006 750Li. The 750 is the V8 version of the 760. I like the 750Li for long trips with the family. The back seat is amazingly comfortable with reclining option. The BMW feels fat to me, not as responsive. But still a great car. It's my wife's favorite.
The jaguar is mine. It's sleek, fast and responsive.
Now, mechanically, I'd buy the Jaguar 100 times before I'd buy the 750Li again. That car scares me. Every time a light on the dash shows up I feel a pit in my gut. Often times the 2 indys and the dealership are stumped with the problems that come up with the BMW. Frustrating.
The Jag has had its issues, but I have been able to handle them all myself. Easy to work on, less challenging to figure out. I have been trying to figure out how to get my wife to trade the 750Li for a Super V8. No luck just yet.

Buy the Jaguar.

 

I am a new xj8 owner and was considering a BMW - until I drove the XJ8.
Now I am 54 years old and while I still like a "driver's" car, as I have aged I also prefer not to feel every bump and crack in the road. Enter the Jaguar.
The BMW is obviously a nice driver's car - with the sports handling and suspension. In my opinion, and only my opinion, the BMW will give you a bit more of a you are in control type driving experience as you feel more in contact with the road.
But....
The Jaguar, at least the XJ8, gives me the same control, but in a luxurious style which I prefer more myself. The jaguar has basically zero body roll, goes instantly where you point it and is a mini rocket - but I don't feel all of those bumps and cracks in the road.

Also, and again I am a new owner, I have no idea how it is doing it, but I just went on a road trip to Ohio, 486 miles one way and on the way up I was doing 90 almost half the way - I averaged 29.6 mpg.
Coming home I was probably averaging around 78 mph and averaged 28 mpg.
Around town I "drive" it when needed or to have fun, but I am not always getting on it and I am averaging 27 mpg.....

using Premium gas - that alone puts a smile on my face.

The interiors - I have always loved the looks of a Jaguar interior. While it gets knocked in some reviews, I like having the analog style clock . To me it adds a touch of class. The wood speaks for itself.

I am obviously biased, but I am really glad I went with the Jaguar.

One more thing and this is sort of an ego thing - I hadn't really noticed this until I bought the XJ8. I see BMW's everywhere, I have not passed a XK350 style jaguar yet. I ran across an F-type and quite a few of the s-types, but I have not seen one XK350 yet.
Sort of makes me feel like I know a secret that few others know lol

 

Agreed on seeing the BMW everywhere. Not maybe as much with the 750Li, but they are out there. Rarely do I see another XJR.
That said, I do want to point out something contrary to Donberry:
The XJR is more of a seat-of-the-pants, driver's car...better feedback, response, etc. Tighter ride compared to the BMW. I never drove the XJ8, so maybe it really is soft compared to the BMW, but the XJR really "sports" it up.

 

don't get me wrong when I say soft. It is still a driver's car, it's just that it has a more "plush" feel to it.
In many sports cars, when you go over rough roads, bumps etc you are obviously not going to get a nice cushy ride like say you would in a "Cadillac" (I use that term in that in the old days you would say the car rides like a Cadillac, meaning a plush , cushy ride)

Thinking about it, what it may be is that I am not feeling the bumps etc thru the steering wheel the same way I have with other sports cars, so I am using the word detached when I should be using a different word.

Whatever it is, don't get me wrong because the XJ8 , at least mine, handles every bit like the sports car that it is

 

BMWs are frightfully common!

 

I agree PigletJohn! In our neck of the woods, our 325i is nearly as common as Accords and Camrys.

I have a friend with a 750Li - not sure of the year but it's not the latest body style. I would say that the steering is and handling are better than our '04 XJR, the rear legroom is significantly better (our XJR is the standard wheelbase), but our XJR is significantly more powerful and accelerates noticeably faster (not sure how it would compare to the V12 model).

Our Jag rides noticeably better despite the longer wheelbase of the BMW. I do not like the BMW idrive system, so if the 760Li you're looking at has it, check it out thoroughly to see if you could be happy living with it. Depending on the model year, the BMW may have more technological goodies that will be either overly-complicated or fantastic until they fail.

One of the things BMW really gets right is driver seating position and relationship to steering wheel and pedals, but the Jag has so much adjustability that it's just as good.

From a repair standpoint, aside from typical maintenance, our '04 BMW 325i has needed the entire plastic cooling system replaced, front lower control arms, fuel pump, most of the air intake plumbing including the DISA valve which changes the length of the intake runners and is poorly designed. I was able to do all the work myself. 135K miles and still runs like a champ, but the clearcoat is failing on the trunk/boot lid.

Our '04 X350 has required an air suspension compressor rebuild (which I did myself), still has an air leak in cold temperatures, the headliner fabric is beginning to sag in a few places (I'll recover the headliner myself), and there are a few small areas where the clear coat has flaked away. Otherwise at 80K miles it starts, runs and handles wonderfully. It literally eats up miles on long trips, has all the passing power you are likely to ever need, and gets excellent fuel economy for such a powerful luxury sedan.

Hope this info helps! Let us know what you decide.

Cheers,

Don

 

I considered (briefly) a BMW when it came time to replace my 98 750iL. The main reason I chose the Jaguar is that I think the BMW is ugly. Personally, I think Chris Bangle ruined the look of luxury sedans world-wide, and that includes the X351.

I never had any problems with the V12, other than the standard OSV replacement and a cam position sensor. The engine was unbelievably smooth, responsive, and gave me an average of 18mpg around town and 28mpg on the highway. That's about 3mpg better than my '04 XJR.I don;t know how well the E66 holds up, but my only problems were shocks, a radiator replacement, and a front end rebuild and wheel bearing replacement every 80,000 miles. Oh yeah, and the infamous delaminating "security glass." After 180,000 a lot of electrical gremlins started piling up that rendered the car worthless.

When I looked at the new BMW, besides the styling, I was turned off by the fact that I passed half a dozen identical cars during my test drive. The whole feel of the car, while certainly familiar after my previous one, was not as good as the Jag. The two cars are SO different it's surprising. You drive a Honda, Toyota, Nissan - basically all the same. The Jag had a different attitude. For example, the nav in the Jag has a pleasant British lady telling me, "Turn left soon..." The BMW, in a stern, male Tuetonic voice, said, "In vun thousand, three hundred and fifty one feet you VILL turn left... and if you don't, ve haff vays of making you turn left." :-}

With that said, the repair bills on the XJR with 90,000 miles on it have already exceeded the repairs on the BMW with 170,000, and that's with me doing all the work. Two air shocks, compressor, trunk latch mechanism, HID capsule, auxiliary pump and a bad park sensor. Except for the wheel bearing failure at 80k, the BMW was trouble free until 100k. I still like the Jag better, though.

 

Park both side by side in a parking lot and watch how many lookers stop at the Jag vs the BMW. willing to bet three to one, but then I am bias as this is my fourth VDP and never owned a BMW

 

AMEN

 

Agree with above opinions if it's looks and style, get the Jag. It beats the BMW hands down.

 

My jag gets looks like no 4 door BMW. True story..xjr all the way..The 760 is likely a tad more or a comfortable ride as the xjr leans toward a more spirited drive

 

Since this was posted 2 years ago, I wonder which he/she went with.

 

Doh! Must have gone to BMW...

 

Our Jags enjoy more exclusivity because BMW sells far more cars because it is a far more popular brand than Jaguar is, no doubt. Then, it was Jaguar, themselves, who contributed to this inferior sales numbers even more. If you compare 2002 sales of X308's vs. 2008 sales of X350's, you'd see the huge drop in sales, yet BMW kept their numbers up, thus increasing this difference. Ditto vs. Mercedes and Audi. I live in an area where appear to be more BMW's than houses, yet I hardly ever see Jags in comparison, let alone X350's. The prestige of the BMW brand is, simply, scary. Health-wise, Jaguar needs to go back to sell at least what they used to sell, even when that only meant 10% of what either one of the German marque's sells because, while we enjoy our cars exclusivity, Jaguar lives on the edge of the abyss.

Cheers,