I bought a very clean 2005 XJ8L about 6 months ago.
Love the car but have two questions that hopefully somebody can advise me on.

1} Last month, somebody decided to steal my driver's side front grill.
Any recommendations on the best place {price and service} to purchase
a new one. Do I have to buy a pair? Also considering going with a mesh grill.

2} Last week my unlock button on the remote stopped working. It took me forever to get into car. Don't think {?} it's the remote battery as both the lock button and trunk button seem to work fine. Please advise me.
Is my only option to purchase a new remote and any idea on how much that will cost? Is this something that I can only take to a Jaguar dealership?

 

I'd avoid the Jag dealer on the key fob. As long as the key part works, it should not be very expensive to swap remote part.

 

I got the remote part on EBay, about $40 last month. I think it was "FOBs For Less"? Had a Jag repair shop do the programming for $60. I did not have a working spare to do it myself.

On the mesh grill, there are a few members that has done replacements including me. Again, I got mine from EBay for about $90.

 

You could also check Car-Parts.com to see if any salvage yard in your general vicinity has the part.

It's always great to keep up with the local "junks" that you may someday need for parts. You're in a major city, and your model of car should be around.

 

I also have an 05 XJ8L and upgraded the front grill using mesh grill (2-piece set) purchased from ebay and paying $80 to install... it took my mechanic 1 hour. Be sure to bring the installation guide (attached) to the shop so they know how to do it correctly.


Cheers,

Wolfy
Los Angeles

 

I recently purchased a mesh grille from Jaguar XK8 XJ8 XKR XJR X-TYPE S-TYPE Performance Parts Upgrades and Accessories. It looks great and I installed it myself in about 45 minutes. Maybe I'm a sucker for not seeking a deal on ebay, but the shipping was fast and like I said the quality is superb. It makes a huge difference compared to the stock grille. Definitely a worthwhile investment. I guess if you wanted to just replace it with the egg crate style I could sell you mine since they live in a box right now...

Pm me if thats the road you want to take