searched around, didnt find any good answers, but,


Does anyone know what differences lie between the X350 and X358 front ends?

Is it just a different front bumper and grill,

or are the fenders and hood different too?

Want to buy an 04-05 XJR next, but I would love to put an X358 front-end on it!

 

Ok...i'll ask. Why not just get an X358 XJR?

 

Yes bumper grill and fenders are different and of course if you do the fenders you'll need the wing mirrors as well as the indicators are in there instead. But yeah just buy a X358. Plus it'll look odd doing the front end and not the rear. The front and rear bumpers drop the profile quite a lot on the X358.

 

I agree with L80OUS, it would look unfinished if you just did just the front, really needs to have X358 everything to look right. My car was a 2004 x350 and has been fully converted to X358 styling.

 

Out of interest, I see you have an aftermarket exhaust, but would the standard exhaust tips fit and look ok with the X358 rear bumper? or would it overhang further making the exhaust finishers look even further tucked under?

Also how much did it all cost you?

 

Hi L80OUS, yes you are correct, the standard tips would be lost underneath.
I didn't do the conversion, it was done by Herculesuk1 from the forum.

 

Thanks for the replies guys,

to answer some questions'

why not buy an X358? For one thing, I want the brembo brakes of the 04-05 XJR. and prefer the seats/interior of X350. X358's are much harder to find, and fetch quite a premium over a X350.

Thanks for the heads-up on the mirror-mounted turn signals on the X358.

Not sure if I'm totally sold on the X358 rear bumper, I was planning on getting J-complete side-skirts and rear-bumper-skirt instead,

So front bumper and trim, grill, fenders, is whats required.

Alecesonline, I like what you've done with yours, but I bet that conversion is much easier to source parts for in the UK.

Did you also need the X358 belly-pan/under-tray to go with it?

 

I'm currently in the middle, closer to end, of this conversion (I've got a thread on it here that I'll be updating hopefully this weekend or early next week). Now, my conversion is due to an accident and my insurance allowing for a self repair with the new parts, most of which they are paying for as well as labour so I'm actually making money. You do need A LOT of parts, but it's easy to do. There is an entire thread on the UK site by x-dave (the ultimate modifier!) which lists all parts and the like. Now, I ordered all the small parts from the US (Gaudin Jag) and the bigger parts from the dealer here in town (no shipping cost). The bumpers came from the US and were new parts at a body shop left over that never got used. Overall the cost was about $1500 CDN for the parts sans bumpers. The bumpers were about the same. However, this doesn't include the wings and mirrors and upper front grille. Those parts will be added to mine but as I can find them at a reasonable cost and as funds allow.

Like you, I am a fan of the pre-06's due to the brakes. The rest, basically the heated/cooled seats, can be retrofitted with a little effort. When I was looking, the X358's were like hens teeth here in the great white north as you have found, and generally a priced a little high in my opinion.

PS. you do need the front undertray as well as fender liners.

 

Which parts of the X358 front end, are XJR specific?

Are the fenders between the XJR and XJ8 pretty much the same?

Is the front bumper the same? With the only "R" specific elements being the grill and bumper trim?

 

For the front end - the bumper is the same across the models, it's whether or not you have fog lights that determine the inserts you need where the fog lights would be (along with new fog lights if you have them). The fenders are identical for all 04-09 XJ's (the indicators did change locations) meaning you don't have to do the fender update (the ones with the vents) at the same time. I didn't and everything fits fine. Also, from what I can tell, all they did for the fender vents is cut out a hole for them (well, a little more complicated than that!) so I'm actually going to attempt to just cut and modify my current fenders this summer to fit the vents. That would save a ton of money since new fenders aren't cheap by any means. If you do the fender upgrade, then you need to do the side mirrors as well since the turn signals moved into them from 08-09. You also need new wheel arch liners (along with the front undertray as I mentioned before), bumper side lights, headlight washer jets/hose/pump. You are supposed to get a new front bumper harness as well, but I just made mine work by cutting off the wrong connector for the new fogs and wiring in the correct ones (happen to have on hand) and a little work to make the bumper side lights fit the new housings. Easier than shelling out $250 for a new harness. Also, the front bumper brackets are supposed to be replaced but I just used my old ones. They worked fine. The lower grille you need depends on if you have a block heater or not. If you do it's supposed to be a black grille with the proper cutout, but I didn't like the black one, I wanted the chrome one. So I just cut it myself so my block heater fit through it. Worked fine.

The rear is where you need the new bumper brackets, but the splash guards don't need to be changed like they do in the front. The harness is different since the side light markers changed, but like the front, I just made it work instead of getting a new one. The rear bumper is supposed to be spec'd different for the R/Super V8 and the base, but I don't actually see the difference. I have actually looked at them side by side and my view is they are identical. I actually have the non-supercharged bumper on my car and everything looks like it should. Well, I think that sums it up! I think if you wanted to do the entire conversion, and were willing to wait for used parts, possibly needing a little repair (such as bumpers) you could probably do it for around $5-6000 CDN. Less if you did things like modify your own fenders for the vents and if our dollar ever decides to get closer to the USD since most of these parts come out of the states if you're looking used and much less if you do your own paint/body work. Or just run over something falling off the truck in front of you like I did and have insurance pay for the whole thing. I'm sure there are some details I'm missing but I think I got all the big stuff.

 

Different front bumper rear bumper. The side fenders with vents, the grille. The indicators on the mirrors. All chrome on bumpers gone.