I'm getting a suspension failure on my 99 vdp, and I have had a look into the front wheel wells, and can't find any evidence of a cats type of system. I guess I will take a look into the rear shocks for this cats system. I should know more tomorrow.

 

KYB's are way too firm. Installed and am now working on wheel bearing replacement. Not saying the two are related, however I believe I will be replacing the shocks with OEM.

 

Are the ones from eshocks.com for the XJ8 sport the same as the ones on the XJR? Reason I ask is that I just did lower ball joints and know my lower shock bushings are worn out and clunking. Car has 79k miles. Shocks feel great but maybe it's just as cheap to get new shocks as opposed to buying the bushings and paying a small fee to have them pressed in.

Thanks!!

Chris
2001 XJR

 

Chris,
As near as I can tell, there are 3 types of Bilstein shocks offered for the non CATS X308:
Comfort: put in new by Jaguar
Heavy Duty (HD) What I just put in my 2001 XJR
Sport: Stiff ride/for track use

The choice is up to you depending on how you use your car. I use mine for business, and wanted a comfortable, responsive but not "floaty" ride. To that end, the HDs are perfect on the XJR in my opinion. I feel a few more bumps with the HDs, but the trade off for me is a feeling of better and more controlled ride. I don't believe Jaguar ever specified the "Sport" shocks on any of the X308 line, but certainly it is an option as a replacement.

 

Bilsteins from All shock/turner Motorsports gave the best price and free shpping. Very informative clerk on the phone can help you choose strength, have comforts on my XJ8, HDs are best for XJR -- sports are teeth shattering

 

Thank you both for the input. Im not sure I want to go any stiffer as I live in Illinois where the roads are ok at best and not very curvy except the on/off ramps lol.

Just trying to see if its worth it to replace with new or not and which model would be a direct replacement for what is currently on the car.

 

For the VDP, the "Comfort" models were originally installed.

 

I recently replaced the front shocks on my 2000 XJR with the stock replacement Bilstein "greens". They are WONDERFUL when fresh. An excellent balance of wheel rate control and ride. They are extremely well tuned, and for a daily you couldn't ask for more.

 

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I own a 2003 VDP which is the 308 but, didn't some of the late XJ'S which were the new body style still listed as 2003's which I think were equipped with the CATS shocks?
Dave

 

U r correct

 

Bumping this. I emailed shockwarehouse about front Bils for forum members and will report back on pricing. I bought Bil tourings for my e46 from those guys and have nothing but positive things to say so far so fingers crossed on their pricing. I dropped $1455 today and while the end is in site I'll be excited for the bleeding to subside

 

Cats shocks can be fitted with non cats if you pull the plug on the module

 

I bought the KYBs. Some posters think the KYBs are too sporty/ firm,
but I think they are perfect. My XJ8 rides like a Jaguar. Not mushy,
not harsh. Pure class.

 

Great information. I was confused about the Heavy Duty vs Sport shock. Looks like I will be going with the HD.

 

Hello everybody'
I am in the process of replacing the front & rear shocks on our 2001 XJ8.

I finished my research on the current availability and pricing for the replacement of the comfort (or so called standard) shocks that were installed by Jaguar on our XJ8.

I made sure that I ordered the right shocks - first by using the JEPC (Jaguar Electronic Parts Catalog) to get the Jaguar part numbers.

Then I used the Bilstein website search with the Jaguar part number to get the equivalent Bilstein current and superseded part numbers.

I decided to buy the shocks from Parts Geek website based on their much lower prices than any of their competitors.

Their total delivered price for both front and rear shocks came to $$396.57

Bilstein Shock Absorber - Front
(Comfort/standard) not adaptive Jaguar part# MND2140AD
(Bilstein current part# 24-023740, superceded part#F4-BE3-2374-H0)

Parts Geek price $101.33
Advance Auto Parts price $182.66 (80% higher).
SNG Barratt USA price $215.30 (112% higher)

Bilstein Shock Absorber - Rear
(Comfort/standard) not adaptive Jaguar part# MNC3540AA
(Bilstein current part# 24-023757, superceded part# F4-BE5-2375-H0)

Parts Geek price $101.84 (Geek part# W0133-1911284)
Advance Auto Parts does not carry this part (rear shocks)
SNG Barratt USA price $215.30 (111% higher)

Advance Auto Parts does not allow use of any of their promotion codes on the Bilstein shocks.

I also compiled the same information on the Bilstein adaptive (comfort/standard and sport) and the non-adaptive Bilstein sports shocks.

Click on attachment - Microsoft Excel worksheet
2001 jaguar xj shock absorbers reference list.xls


Shocks are in transit. I will update this tread after I receive and have them installed.

 

Agreed.

 

Pricing as of today 10-20-2023:

Parts Geek - Bilstein E4 shocks, set of four ~$573 w/shipping
Parts Geek - KYB shocks, set of four ~$383 w/shipping

Amazon - Bilstein E4 shocks, set of four ~$540 w/shipping
Amazon - KYB shocks, set of four ~$350 w/shipping

RockAuto - Bilstein E4 shocks, set of four ~$440 + $33 shipping = $473

 

Original cats sports are what my xjr has. Stiff & harsh ? No way at all. But perfect balance between softness and stiffness while no wabble at all. Cats has part ot this of course.

 

It depends what you're used to, my Italian friend says the XJR is 'soft' - it has supersport suspension. The chassis is very sensitive to tire pressures the bigger the wheel size and smaller the depth, It's also hard setting default if there is an issue in the CATS system. C code scan to confirm.

 

Yep it is a matter of taste. My old daily driver car was nineties Volvo luxury one that has soft suspension. I'm quessing it is softer than what x308 has with comfort suspension. Current daily driver is s80 Volvo with std suspension. That is as stiff as xjr with sport suspension at soft state.