A few months back my car had a knocking/rattling noise going over bumps and on inspection the top mounts on the front suspension had essentially disintegrated. While I was in there replacing them it seemed like a reasonable project to replace the shocks since they were at about 92k miles at that point. My original shocks were black with a green dot, marked 8W83-45-AG, so I turned to a "reputable" distributor of parts and the equivalent Bilstein part number 20-114411 was guaranteed a match for my vehicle (they rejected the return despite their hassle free guarantee). I ordered a set and my car immediately rejected them with an Adaptive Dynamics Fault. Also listed as a match by another supplier was bilstein 20-114497. Scratching my head I turned to the forums for answers and learned that 2010 and later have the continuous adaptive dynamics that measure 2-3 ohms compared to the previous version with two stage CATS that measure 5 and above. The 20-114411 do not appear the same, the top has a different construction, I'm not sure if this is monotube vs twin tube but my car didn't like it. The 20-114497, aside from green pain measures 5 ohms suggesting it is the older CATS system. I laid the parts out side by side for comparison, the original is in the middle. I found some informative posts where it seems like most who have run into this issue ultimately give up and buy used from ebay. I reached out to bilstein directly for clarification and they responded

"Thank you for contacting Bilstein of America and your interest in our products. I am sorry to report that we do not offer products for a 2013 Jaguar XK Base as seen per the image below. I have also attached an image of the part number you referenced, and the buyer’s guide for that product."

Seems odd, since the original part was manufactured by Bilstein. Is there an adaptive damper that is cross compatible with other models that might be associated with a part number that is available? Or does anyone even know what the correct jaguar part number is? I've found C2P21693 on jaguarlandroverclassic.com and C2P22812 on harper jaguar. My vin is B50 if that helps, but I really am beginning to feel like I've hit a dead end here.
I seem to remember seeing something in my research that suggested the XF, but I'm not sure how to confirm compatibility. At this point I've resigned to keeping the original 90k mile parts and eventually finding some scrap off ebay since the new jaguar parts are close to 900 each.

 

I don't have any advice or an answer but I would like to follow this thread. My shocks are fine but you never know when you may need a new set.

 

You could go to coil-overs; lose originality and adaptive dynamics, but pay a lot less and have new shocks and springs

 

Going through the same issues right now as well. I got the same answer from contacting Bilstein as did you. My car is sitting on a lift waiting for these shocks. About a 100,000 miles ago I replaced my shocks with new ones from a vendor on ebay who had factory OEM shocks for about 75% less than the Jaguar price, we put them in and they've been perfect for the last 115,000 miles. But like you, the knocking and clacking over any kind of crack in the pavement are making me rebuild the whole front suspension. I will follow with great interest in your findings.

 

Probably you can rebuild you original shocks. I have made it after installing new shocks which was very tricky to find and ship to Russia. I sent used set to local shop who spesialized on refurbishing. It is not a big deal for professonal to rebuild it. Usually it needs only new sealings and oil. It cost me about 200$ each.

 

@JaguarDRew The eBay seller that tberg mentioned above, was also selling XK shocks (he had both XK and XKR shocks). The Jaguar part number was C2P17670. They were black with a green dot, and stamped 8W83-18-45 AE.
Just giving you another part number to search.

 

Pretty sure the ADCM is still able to be turned off in the CCF. early 06.5 XKs definitely were able to, poverty pack models came without CATS.

 

@JaguarDRew Have you resolved your suspension issue?

 

I love how they can rebuild these shocks in Russia but anybody in the good ole US of A tells me "non-rebuildable". How did american get so lazy...full of such junk who done want to do ANYTHING....pisses me right off!

 

Right? I used to get starters and alternators rebuilt fairly regularly in the 1900s, not any more. The society of JUST REPLACE IT creates wealth for companies and decreases the skill of people.

 

Reach out to Neill at Ashwood Jaguar Parts. Since you know all the ohms and such he may be able to ship something from the UK via DHL. He does it for me all the time. Part unavailable here seem to be available there ALL THE TIME

 

oddly my original 2012 XKR shocks at least for the fronts were Black with a Blue/Purple dot? weird. I have XKR-S yellow shocks on back of my XKR...they work perfectly fine. Why XKR-S shocks? I have no idea and neither does the dealership maybe accidentally ordered them and my jag purchased aftermarket warranty covered them.. both sides!! :P This was in 2019 still good. My front shocks are ok still and not leaking after 135k miles go figure. Rears have been replaced twice.

 

Yup, but you have an XKR. The OP has an XK, which has the green dot. But you’re right it is weird, as the 4.2 XKR had green, not black, shocks. (Guess life was simpler then…)

 

Unfortunately I'm a sucker for cockpit technology and like for all the buttons to work but this would definitely be a less expensive option

 

I've been busy tackling some other projects around the house but I came across a tech bulletin that would make it appear that the X150 and X250 have the same component and maybe the billstein part number for the jaguar XF (bilstein 26-203034) would work for an xk and be compatible with the ADS / no adaptive cruise configuration. It might prove to be an expensive experiment though, the individual dampers look to be about 450 new, still less than new ones from jaguar though.

 

@JaguarDRew PM sent.

 

Just coming back to close the loop on this issue, I ended up replacing the components with original Jaguar parts from another member that fully resolved the ADS issue and got everything working fine again briefly, have had several other issues arise since then. I do think the aforementioned bilsteins would have worked but at significantly higher cost (albeit still less than new original jaguar parts from a dealership). Would be curious of the outcome if anyone undertakes that experiment.