I am a former member here, having owned both XJRs and a Supercharged XF in the past ..I defected from Jaguar to a Porsche Panamera a few years ago, but I am now thinking about picking up an older XK8 or XKR as a spare weekend cruiser.. I am wondering if the older Supercharged 4.0 engines present more maintenance or servicing issues than the base 4.0.. I am looking at a 2001 XKR with about 105,000, but it has been well maintained with timing chain updates and regular service records.. I am just curious if the Supercharged engine will present long term service or maintenance issues over the base engine...

 

Your darn right, a XKR will require more attention than a 4.0 N/A and time and money.

You are rewarded with more power and a higher insurance premium ,more power, and more risk of an accident.

I stick with a xk8 to keep me out of trouble, Im a hot head.

Regardless of what you get, get a drop top.

 

105K I'd rather have the R ..got one with 18k replacing the tensioners sooon
Force fed no VVT to worry about lower compression ratio I think
same engine as a Lincoln LS
tensioners are the bane ...there done
when were the tensioners done
does it have the niscasil bore liners... hope not
whats the price
pay 10K no more

 

I just read elsewhere that the transmission in the 2001 XKR is a Mercedes sourced tranny rather than the ZF transmission in the XK8 of the same year.. I also read that the Mercedes tranny is stouter and less problematic.. Is this correct info?

 

Correct info.

The R also has less failure prone plastic in the cooling system.

If you get an R with 100K you should definitely change the supercharger oil as preventative maintenance.

 

That is correct though it does need periodic fluid changes to stay in top shape. That sealed for life stuff is nonsense.

There are also some upgrade options like the blue top solenoid a to firm up the shifts.