Hey everyone. Since I returned from my very long vacation where I purchased my new XJ, I've driven it one time. Over the last 30 days or so, I've been planning, purchasing, and coordinating various changes to the car - improvements and additions that I feel it absolutely needed to truly love this car. I wanted to share them with ya'all, and of course, show some pictures of the results. I recently detailed every inch of her, and the polish certainly deepened the paint color. (also remember, my car was lowered in the front only by 15mm, using the SDD)

1. Added a phone module (PSE), microphone, and bluetooth module (BTUM) with a little help from Graham and frequentflyer on sourcing the parts. Thanks guys! The install of the modules and microphone went smoothly, and no problems at all pairing and downloading my contacts from my Samsung Galaxy S II.
2. I've added a few items in the boot, for some better, more organized storage options. I purchased the 'Trunk Lid Organizer', 'Umbrella Holder' and a 'Car Tidy Net'.
   
3. This car has absolutely no place to put your phone, but luckily, Kuda makes a mount for the XJ just like the one I installed in my xk8; it matches the ivory color perfectly. In case you wonder how I keep my phone 'stuck' to this mount, even with its face angle...I secured a supermagnet on the underside of it, and by placing a thin washer inside the battery cover of my phone, that pull is powerful enough to keep it put all driving conditions.
4. The ACM should be here tomorrow, and after that is installed, the creature comforts inside will have been totally satisfied.
5. Now, the exterior modifications. Here is what the car looked like after I got it. Note the extent of the flashy stuff.

• I traded the chrome mirror covers to usmc1211 for his slate grey covers, and painted them to match the radiant red paint.
• With the help of Rick (joycesjag) I was able to find a grille assembly from an 09 at a salvage yard, and had it repainted as well.
• I hated the front license plate bracket, and upon removal, I found five...yes 5 stinking holes in the bumper! I got ambitious, and took the front bumper off the car, stripped it of its trim and lenses, and it also went to the body shop with the other parts.
• While I was at it, I noticed a 4-inch scratch on the rear bumper, all the way through the paint....soooooooooo, off it came and added it to the pile of parts going to the paint booth. I saved myself probably $500 in labor removing them and all of the parts myself.
• The front chrome 'bumper blades' were pitted really badly, probably from the salt in Minnesota, so i couldn't put those back on...new ones from our sponsor JPAM (Gaudin jaguar), but not exactly cheap at $135 each corner.
• The previous owner had the daytime running lights turned on, and at over 49,000 miles...the HID bulbs were pretty weak, and different intensities. I replaced them with new OSRAM D1S bulbs, part number 66140CBI 5000k 35W.
• I was planning on just getting the 'Custom' rims in silver to replace the chrome ones on it. I bought a full set from allfactorywheels.com, but one of them didn't pass their inspection, and they couldn't repair it. No others in stock either...bummer. A huge thanks to XJ04 and his post for giving me another option and a unique style of wheel to replace it with. It was only shear luck that allfactorywheels had a set of four, although I did have to pay another $125 for each wheel, but they did give me free shipping as consolation for my inconvenience. Alas, I was blessed with a newly refurbished set of 'Jupiter' wheels, all 19x8.5 in size. I think these look really good, especially on the radiance red. What say ye all?

 

PS, be looking for a thread in the classifieds in the next week or so for the original chrome wheels and the shiny grille - after I clean them up for presentation. I'm not keeping them.

 

I have to say that I am not into "moding" the XJ, I think the folks at Jaguar did a fine job but after seeing what you did, I have to say job well done. I love the new front grille, adds even more class to a already classy car.

 

Nice mods, that grill looks nice.

 

Looks great Matt, just need to lower it now.

 

Matt looks fantastic, nice mods!

Though you know I am a BIG fan of the shiny stuff, your XJ is tastefully done, be proud!

 

Well done WaterBoy!

 

Thanks a alot guys! Reaffirmation by one's peers is very important to me.

I must also confirm that my seat heater must've come from the same batch of hamsters that many of you experienced. However, the steering wheel has no problem reaching a temperature worthy of beelzebub's enjoyment.

I do have a cold-only chirping s/c belt. The dealer states that in their replacement, the idler pulley and tensioner get replaced with the belt. Does anyone know if the pulley/tensioner is really necessary?

 

Outstanding, love the grill and the fact that you have not front plate. Md has a requirement for one and I have gotten way to many 70 tickets in the past so I complied with this car.

No no Cambo, I don't think needs to lower it the stance is great!

 

Just a 1/2"...

 

LOL maybe!!!!!!!!!! I know I need to lower mine a bit!

 

I really really like it....

BUT I would have taken it one step further, especially since you were painting both bumpers.... I would have had the bumper blades color matched....

Ala S-Type R or Sport pack. That has always been my gripe with the XJR and since yours is a super v8, well I think it's worthy of the "Sport" guise.

Looks great.

Take care,

George

 

Absolutely gorgeous and a definite upgrade Matt

I'm with Androulakis on the bumper blades in body colour also to complete the effect though.

 

the car looks great, i think you should do a front bumper swap and get the 09 bumper..just an idea

 

Really nice car, my mods will start next year hope I can keep up.

 

Car looks great , really polished up well. I have a 2003 model the same colour and it still looks great , pulls lots of comments and drives brilliantly, it has now done over 180000 miles, enjoy your car !

 

Looks fantastic! What polish did you use? I'd really love to see how you detailed the Jag.

What's the total sum of all these mods?

Also, have you gotten to try out the 1.5 BT ELM327 chip yet? I'm looking at that.

 

The car has been lowered a bit...on that angle in the driveway, it doesn't show the true level of the car as it normally rides. I want to update that 'lower your X350' thread that shows the results of the 15mm drop on mine. I'll do that tonight, if it doesn't get too dark by the time I get home.

@George and Jim...if I color matched the bumper blades, I would have dechromed practically all chrome entirely, save the door handles and trunk plinth. I was going for a balance, with a slight advantage towards the red side of things. By pulling the covers and grille, I think I more than tipped the scales back to the color-matching side. It does have all of the comforts of the VDP, so I wanted to leave enough frosting to convey some air of refinement. I don't want this car's appearance to make any onlookers to think it fast and pretentious...not that the stype Rs and XJRs are blatant about it, but the super doesn't have extra badging nor the caliper markings. I'm just trying to stay loyal to the intent, while correcting the blinding potential from the sum of the chrome parts

@carzaddict, some may like the 'newer' appearance of the 2008 and 2009 (X358), and I did consider the newer model when I was shopping, however, personally, I dismissed it on my sole dislike of the external changes over the X350, with one exception - the grille.



The new bumper looks like its sticking its lower lip out and pouting, and all that chrome trim around the lower openings and funky fog light panels just doesn't look right to me. And, to be honest, I wanted a model that still had a leaper that was designed to be on the bonnet, as I never had one, and likely never will again. It has everything I wanted (save the cooled seats of the X358!), and nothing that I didn't. This model gets better gas mileage than the X358s also - aluminum body and less weight, most likely. All advantages, with very VERY few disadvantages the other way.

 

I took the advice from our resident forum detailer (Innovative Detailing) and purchased a Porter Cable 7424XP dual-action buffer, then I use a clay bar to prep, Meguairs Ultra-cut Compound for heavy swirls or neglected paint jobs (like mine), Ultra fnishing compound for light scratches/swirls or to follow up an Ultra-cut, if needed. Then I use Zaino Z-2 polish, and top it off with Z-CS Clear Seal, a synthetic sealant that you don't have to buff off.

Including the phone, BTUM, grille (includes painting), wheels, and ACM...I've invested $3,500. The wheels alone were $1,900, so that was a big chunk of it. I did not include the HID bulb replacement or bumper re-sprays either. All install labor I did myself.

I've got it, and tried it on my XK8. I haven't plugged it into the XJ just yet, but I can on the way home and will let you know if it works well. I'm not sure what the v1.5 will give us that the previous version did not, but I like progression in all things techno.

 

Those "double 5 spoke" wheels on 350 cars are inspired. I favor them in general but on the XJ they are a force multiplier.