I did exatly the same with mine before I bought my TSW rims - Photoshop. I tried many options before I spent the $$$$$
I think the rim color works well with your dark grey car. They kinda match the color of the vents.

Regarding telling the wife.
Two things to consider...............
She may not notice once they are on the car and when she does it will be too late.
And you know what happens when the dog eats your steak at the barbeque...........if he eats it all........or only eats half.......he still gets into the same amount of trouble.

 

SB Wheels in the UK sells new, used, and refurbished wheels for Jaguars, including 20" Cremonas for the XK/XKR. Here's the link to their homepage: SB Wheels then click on STOCK LIST.

I prefer the Sentas over the Cremonas, but to each his own. I would keep the car original and have the Sentas professionally refurbished at a fraction of the cost of buying new wheels. Just my :

Another wheel to consider is the Selena. Although rare, is appears to be available from SB. Here they are on my car - supplied by the factory for only one year on the 2009 Portfolio models:



And close-up:


Much more distinctive and unique than the Cremona, IMHO.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Stuart

 

Since you haven't told her already, my guess is you don't. And if she is talking about spending it on a holiday, it isn't your spare cash anymore.

Keep your wheels, they look great. Have them refurbished for much less and go to the beach.

 

I vote Cremona :-)

 

Apologies for the delay in responding.

Once again, thank you for complimenting my car. I'm still awed by it at times. Jaguar builds a beautiful automobile.

As to the shine...I must confess that two of those pictures are from the detail shop who machine polished/paint corrected it for me. My beloved XKR hadn't been treated as kindly prior to my purchase as I would have liked but the detailer brought it back nicely. Interestingly enough, I thought it looked pretty sharp before. Just depends on what you're used to, I guess. (And avoiding high intensity halogen lighting ) I think you would agree that it made all the difference in the world.







For what it's worth, that detailer prefers BlackFire Wet Diamond polish/sealant after correction. Personally, I've used Zaino products (Z-2 specifically) for years on my cars and am still very pleased with them.

Truth be told though, the machine polishing is the secret to my particular car's shine. Unless you are starting with a perfect paint job, there's only so much you can do hand applying a non-abrasive polish/sealant/wax to your paint. At some point you need to actually take off paint (not for the timid) to make (or restore) the surface perfectly smooth. Anything else is just a temporary band-aid. This even applies to very expensive brand new luxury cars. Some of them are delivered in atrocious condition. You'd be surprised what you might find with a good halogen inspection.

p.s. Here's the whole ugly process if you're interested. I can't recommend Eric at Tru Shine enough. I think I caught him on his way up. His business has really taken off and deservedly so. He spends a lot of time on true exotics nowadays and I'd probably have trouble even getting on his schedule with just a Jag.

 

Fantastic detail work. I need to get my XKR to my future in-laws' garage so I can whip out my polisher!

 

AirCav, thanks for the link, I enjoyed viewing the rejuvenation project. They did an awesome job.
I think with the Portfolio, you have the best of the earlier re-models - it doesn't have the silly electric aerial (like mine), but it also has a proper gear stick, which is something I don't like about the latest version of the XK. The only thing missing is the newer 5 litre engine!
Unfortunately, before I could ever consider putting my body work through that process it would need a lot of touching up/respraying. After 6 years of doing nearly 80K miles it needs some work, which is one of the things I'm looking into.
You've made me feel even more depressed about the state of my XKR. Thanks!

 

Keep your chin up and try to embrace your car's battle scars as a badge of honor. Be proud that it has endured the real world, quite unlike the pampered garage queens that many of us drive. Keep in mind that a day spent with a well loved, well used Jaguar still beats the heck out of spending it with any shiny new "Universal People Mover."

 

Well said, I couldn‘t agree more.

 

Regarding the Senta vs. Cremona debate, I would definitely vote Senta. However, if it's individuality or customization, why not refurbish your Sentas and add a red shadow between the spokes or maybe a red rim protector, something that would set your wheels off with a highlight. It would completely change the character of the wheels at a fraction of the cost.