Hi all, anyone know if the base XJ8 came with adaptive suspension as a factory option? Asking because I'm chasing down a front end rattle on my 2002 that recently developed. The previous owner/selling dealer had KYB shocks installed all around, and URO shock mounts up front. It was quiet for my first 3,000 miles of ownership and then started rattling around 103,000 over rough road/bumps. So far I've replaced the sway bar end links personally to no effect. More to the point, I took it to an independent euro car shop to have the balljoints and bushes checked. To my surprise, the guy told me the rattle is caused by the shocks and shock mounts being mismatched, that my car requires Bilstein adaptive shocks and that the KYBs I have weren't intended for the car. I tried to make sense of it and even asked about changing the mounts, but he was insistent that the mounts are right and the shocks are wrong.

That doesn't make sense to me because I thought adaptive referred to the CATS electronic suspension and I assumed the base model didn't have those. Plus I don't have any wires. However, I did find a Jag catalogue that reference "comfort" "sport" and "adaptive" shocks as well as shock mounts for 02 XJ8 with and without adaptive (some sites say "electronic") suspension. Is there any way my base XJ8 came equipped with adaptive suspension, CATS or otherwise, and it has the wrong type of shocks?

 

there’s the regular, sport, electronic sport (CATS) and electronic touring only found on the super v8.

somebody probably just put the cats front mounts on your car. give me your vin and i can see if there’s anything unusual about it.

 

The bushings on the upper mounts are a larger diameter. I wrapped tape around the smaller diameter (Bilstein) shocks until it fit snugly into the bushing.
Easy fix..

 

thanks to both, I did wonder if just the mounts could be swapped for cheaper. The VIN is SAJDA14C72LF48222

I hadn't thought about modifying to fill the space, thanks for the tip

 

According to the decoder in IDS it appears it did come with CATS but it also claims it has a quick clear front windshield and no third brake light which doesn’t seem to be correct.

If you have CATS there should be a module under the passenger kick panel.

 

Hmm, not sure what to make of that, if the rest were spot on then I'd trust it more. I pulled the kickpanel off and managed to crack it into 3 pieces in the process - all this hard plastic is so brittle at this age! I don't see a module, just wiring harnesses, I looked around up behind the dash too. I should've moved that foam out of the way

 

I would replace the shock mounts, but not with URO.

 

Just ordered a pair...driving the car today elevated this on my priority list! Went with ~$30 Meyle to avoid URO and still cheap on partsgeek.com (any connection to Mahle?). The Eurospace ones for ~$80 each appear to read "Meyle Germany" in the picture, I wonder if they're actually identical?

 

Meyle is pretty much the german Eurospare. They put their name on parts from various sources, “Meyle Germany” stamping is one of their tricks, usually indicates a chinese part.

 

12mm diameter rods for adaptive suspension iirc?
Hard to get that spec for the front mount anymore but I was advised to buy the normal type and re drill to 12mm for mine with adaptive.

 

Happy to report blissful silence after install, swapping out the shock mounts did the trick! Thanks for the suggestion to just swap the mounts. I don't know if my car ever had adaptive suspension but it was a hell of a lot cheaper to swap the mounts to fit the KYBs which are completely satisfactory

 

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