Does anyone know whether the shocks on 1997 VDP are interchangeable with a standard XJ6?

 

Going out on a limb here, as the USA market did get some very different stuff to us in the colonies.

Mechanically I see no reason why they would not fit, UNLESS one of the cars has self leveling rear suspension. In that case, NO.

There were different ride spec shockers for different markets and vehicle specs.

 

Yes they are interchangeable. The only possible difference is if the car had the standard touring suspension (black dampers) or sports suspension (green dampers). It is most probable that both cars have black standard one.

I don't believe the self leveling suspension was an available option for US X300 but my memory is foggy on that.

 

Thanks to all for your quick responses. I'd also found that they are interchangeable according to the Boge catalog (https://mediaservices.zf.com/Redirec...9GKaRC%2BpY%3D), which as I understand was the OEM shock absorbers manufacturer for Jaguar.

 

Boge was the OEM for Jaguar at times, yes (Ser III XJ6/12, and some XJS, for example). But, AFAIK, all the X300 cars used Bilsteins.

Cheers
DD

 

Most aftermarket suppliers get very confused when describing X300 shocks. I had a terrible time trying to find some replacements.

The definitive resource, as far as I'm concerned, is Jaguar's own Genuine Jaguar Parts and Jaguar Accessories for Classic Jaguars from Jaguar Classic Parts UK. Good pictures too.

 

Yeah, if you look at the actual catalog listings from Jaguar you'll see that quite a few different shocks were used. In some cases I suspect the differences were rather subtle. For one example the German market XJRs used a different rear shock than all the XJRs. How much different could it be?

Aftermarket suppliers (or even Bilstein in their own aftermarket offerings/marketing) will often reconcile several variations into just a couple choices. Thus the half dozen or so variations originally used by Jaguar become merely "standard" and "sport" (or similar wording) in the aftermarket world.


Cheers
DD

 

How so?

Just wondering.

Cheers
DD

 

I specifically wanted sport shocks (black/blue spot), as factory optioned on my Sovereign (which normally came with black). Of course if you have a V12, the comfort shocks are the black/blue spot, and the V12 sport shocks (green/blue spot) are stiffer still. And the XJR was different again (green), unless it was German, in which case they too were different (yellow).

Most places just sold "X300 XJ6/XJ12/XJR shocks", with no distinction between any of the above. This did not inspire confidence that they accurately matched the originals.

 

I believe both the black and the black/blue spot shocks are for the comfort suspension. The sports shocks will be green on MY95 cars and green/blue spot on MY96 & MY97 cars.

It can definitely be a bit confusing and I've found that many suppliers list the shocks incorrectly.