Boy, what an adventure this has been...

TL;DR: Don't trust indy shops, online parts pickers, or even Bilstein's own website when it comes to replacement front and rear dampers/shocks for what appears to be 2010+ shocks/dampers.

There's a ton of mixed information out there regarding what part number is for what model year / VIN when it comes to front and rear dampers. FCP Euro, for example, specs the Bilstein 20-114503 (green body, eye lower mount) for the rear and the Bilstein 20-114411 (black body, clevis lower mount) for the front. They previously listed the 20-114428 (black body, eye lower mount) for the front, though, despite it being an eye vs. clevis mount. Shock Surplus, similarly, lists the 20-114411 for the front and the 20-114503 for the rear.

As it turns out, none of these are correct. They all test around 5.5 ohms, which means they're for the old CATS system (pre-2010, I believe). From the workshop manual:

Whoops! So I can say definitively that neither the Bilstein 20-114503 or the Bilstein 20-114428 are the correct for the newer, non-CATS, ACDM-based Adaptive Dynamics system. I wasn't sent the 20-114411 (black body, clevis lower mount) dampers, but I suspect they are similarly for the older two-state (on/off) CATS system.

Okay, so let's take a step back... what does JPART say we need?

JPART front P/N's:


JPART rear P/N's:


So the rear is pretty clear for my case (2011 XKR 175, 5.0 S/C AJ133S engine, VIN is B41xxx): I need a C2P22569. The front is... more nebulous. It's either a C2P22812 (Other Option) or a C2P17670 (Other Option > Purple > Front). The online parts catalogues seem to point to the C2P17670, as it's purportedly compatible with 2010-15 XK and XKR, w/ Adaptive Damping, with or without a supercharger. Parts catalogue fitment recommendations vary for the C2P22812, with some saying it's for a 2012-15 XKR, others say 2012-15 XK or XKR but not XKR-S. They all seem to agree that it's not intended for 2010-11 XK's, though.

Now that we have some JPART P/Ns, let's go back to those Bilstein P/Ns and see if we can cross-reference anything. Perusing Bilstein's catalogue, you're treated to the following Jaguar part number interchanges:

20-114428 (black body, eye lower mount) = C2P11466, C2P21694, C2P3138, 6W83 18080 AB
20-114411 (black body, clevis lower mount) = C2P21693, C2P3132, and 6W83 18045 AA
20-114503 (green body, eye lower mount) = C2P21694, C2P22813, C2P3142, and 7W83 18080 AA

No sign of the C2P17670 for the front and C2P22569 for the rear, confirming that none of the Bilstein P/Ns being suggested by FCP Euro, Shock Surplus, and the like are compatible with my 2011 XKR 175.

But just to be sure, let's reach out to Bilstein and see what they have to say...



The important part in that response:
So unlike the 2007-09 vehicles, which had direct Bilstein P/N replacements, the 2010+ XK/XKRs... don't

The silver lining, I guess, is that there are some sites that appear to sell the C2P17670 and C2P22569 it appears that I require. They are, unfortunately, over 3x the price of the 20-114503 and 20-114411 dampers that all of the online catalogues suggest for my car.

Such is life.

 

 

Hey, look - I went through the trouble of doing all of that stupid research, so I figured I might as well dump it here for posterity's sake!

 

Thank you for s doing the research, IMHO This should be made a sticky...

 

Agree. Getting some 5.0 parts is much harder than it should be.

 

so should the 69 and 70 P/N fit a ‘15 XKR?

and thanks for all that. I have sourced a rear upper A arm from ford. $77 for both

 

this is C2P3134 supposed to be for ‘09 w or w/o damptronic. $127 at SNG Barrett

 

So does this all boil down to, if you have a 2011 or later XKR, the only option for struts/shocks is the Dealer?

 

Close: I believe it's 2010 or later. And there seems to be a difference between the 2010-11 fronts and the 2012-15 fronts.

From what I've gathered, Jaguar stopped using "off-the-shelf" Bilstein parts after the 2009 model year, and in 2010+ starting using proprietary, private label dampers. The old ones were Bilstein B4 OE DampTronic units - the new ones are completely bespoke and can only be purchased new through dealer networks. That change seemed to coincide with Jaguar moving from the CATS two-stage active damping system to the ACDM continuously variable active damping system.

 

I have a 2011 xk and the local mavis says the shocks/struts are unavailable from dealer.
what happens if I use the older style ones?

 

it’ll basically feel like you’re riding on rocks, as you’ll lose your adaptive damping and the shocks will be stuck on the hardest setting.

 

Yep, as LJRXKR said, you'll lose adaptive damper functionality, and the dampers will be stuck on the hardest setting. The spring rates may also be different - I'm not sure.

It looks like Mavis is the same as NTB. While they may not be able to get their hands on the dampers through their vendor network, you can absolutely buy the dampers you need from a dealer: a Jaguar dealer. You can buy them online from a number of different retailers, as well.