Hey everbody, I've been lurking on this site for well over a year and I finally took posession of a beautiful Black-on-Black, West-Coast, 2006 XKR convertible with less than 24K miles last month. I've had a half-dozen or so Jags in my past including a couple E-types, S-Type Rs and and XJ6 so I bought it with open eyes and an understanding wallet. I've also got a restored '91 Porsche 928S4 that I've had for over 20 years so I also understand the pain that comes with the passion. Having stated that, I'm already starting to get the little frustrations that are predictable with a pedigreed automobile.

ITEM #1: Two days ago my radio stopped. Just stopped. Antenna still goes up and down with the key in and all the other controls in the center panel work; but it's a blank screen on the small LED panel and no sound. The battery was replaced last June according to the carfax and there hasn't been any problem starting or operating anything else. Where do I even start to look?
ITEM #2: Low beam passenger headlamp stopped. Looking in the handbook, I'm comfortable replacing it myself but should I replace it in pairs (both lower beam units) while doing so? Is there a recommended "better" lamp/brand/color/intensity than the factory issued for the XKR?
ITEM #3: Getting a squeal from the brakes. The drilled rotors look good and pads haven't been measured yet. The Calipers are the red Brembos which I believe are the 4-piston units. What are the best LOW DUST replacement pads suggested? I've got the 20" Montreal wheels and they are pain in the *** to keep clean with what I assume are the factory pads.
ITEM #4: Recognizing that even though it's an extremely low mileage vehicle, these are not meant to sit. I've read about the blue (or green) shower from the top hydraulics, upper shock mount rot and previously experienced the hose failure under the supercharger on my '"05 S-Type R; so again, I kinda know whats coming in my future but there are no indications of any of these typical problems at this time. The question is how long do I PROBABLY have before I have to deal with these issues on an extremely low mileage 15 year-old XKR? It will go into storage by month-end and won't see the road till probably late March or early April.

I thank you for your valued experience and thoughts!

 

Before you attack any electrical issues measure the battery voltage. It should be at least 12.4V with the ignition off, and 12.6+ would be better. The top latch hoses are affected by temp., especially on a black car. If it has been kept in a garage over the years you should be okay. Mine had failed before I bought the car with 50K mi.

 

The radio: My radio was intermittently going out a few months ago, which led me think I had a loose connection somewhere. That was a blind alley.


Finally it just died. An old mechanic pal of mine said it just sounded like the amp had just died. I really didn’t want to go down that road as I had no way to test the amp unit (in the trunk). But I just bit the bullet and bought a used amp on eBay for $43.

it took an hour to excavate the old amp and get the new one plugged in. Problem solved.

if you can find a reasonably priced used amp I’d recommend just buying it and seeing if that fixes your issue. They don’t last forever, and it’s a cheap fix.

Brakes: I really like the ebc red stuff pads. Low dust and extremely easy on the rotors. Great stopping performance. When I bought my ‘02 XKR about 3 years ago, one of first things I did was to replace the rotors and pads with the ebc pads on all 4 wheels. The car never stopped better. Much much better than the OEM pads.


Z

 

Hi Paul,

Congratulations on your very low mileage XKR!

I definitely recommend replacing both low beam and high beam bulbs while you're at it. The Sylvania Silverstar bulbs, available at most auto parts stores, are significantly brighter and whiter in color temperature than standard bulbs, at the expense of having a shorter life (I get about one to two years out of them). They're also expensive, at about $50.00 per pair. I am currently running the Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs in our 2001 XKR, and the light is on a par with the Silverstars and they were significantly less expensive purchased from Rock Auto. On our car, the low beams are size H1 and the high beams are size 9005. If you have HID low beams, the burners will probably be the D1S and the OEM burners are Osram Xenarcs.

I've had excellent performance from the Akebono ceramic pads. Quiet, smooth braking and virtually no dust. I get them from Parts Geek if Rock Auto doesn't have them. The EBCs that zray mentioned are also excellent.

Cheers,

Don

 

After much resistance I made the headlight switch to LED bulbs. The top of the line halogenwere an improvement, but curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to see firsthand how much better the LED’s could be. I have 3-4 cross country trips a year that entail 10 -12 hours night driving each way. For me, the top of line Hakari ulna were the best choice

Hakari makes several grades of LED’s . The entry level bulbs are about $40 for a pair. For another $40 you can get their “ultra” series bulb, which feature another 25% increase in lumen output over the e try level product.

I believe your car uses the H-1 low beams same as mine:

HIKARI Ultra LED Headlight Bulbs Conversion Kit -H1, Prime LED 12000lm 6K Cool White

High Beam:

HIKARI Ultra LED Headlight Bulbs Conversion Kit -HB3/9005, Prime LED 12000lm 6K Cool White

Z

 

Welcome to the forum. I also have a 2006 XK8, with only a few minor problems. This is the best place(as you likely know by now) to get good info. My car had 92K miles on it when I purchased it. Now about 97K.
I haven't seen any discussion here, but I am hoping that the "Green Shower" problem was resolved when JLR started using better hyd. lines later in the production.
My car is currently getting new paint, and I have replaced the rear seats with a professional 'package deck'. Designed by me(with a lot of help from forum members), and built/installed by a local full renovation shop. WIll post pix once paint is finished.

 

Hi Z,

Thank you for this great information on the Hikari LEDs!

With a color temperature of 6,000K, the light will have a blue cast compared to halogens or OEM Jaguar HIDs (4,100K). How would you say they compare in brightness to the better halogen bulbs?

Do the LEDs have a resistor to prevent bulb failure warnings on the instrument cluster?

Cheers,

Don

 

i believe you can get the resistor if the warnings appear, but I never had that problem crop up.

I tried several top rated halogen bulbs as I was determined not to have to go the LED. route. once I opened up my thinking slightly and tried the LED’s I kicked myself for taking so long to make the improvement.

None of the halogens could hold a candle ( pun intended) to the LED Hakari bulbs. It wasn’t even close. I believe I can call the switch to the Halari bulbs a “no brainer” without overstating the LED pluses.


Z

PS. The Halogens, no matter the brand, had a yellow tint to the beam. I really don’t consider the temperature of the Hakari bulbs to have a blueish tint or cast. They just look bright white to me.

disclaimer: my eyes are 69 + years old and not the precise instruments they used to be.....

 

Paul & Don B.

Lets talk Head Lights for that 2006 XKR....My current XKR is a 2005 XKR Coupe ( My 4th X-100) ... When I got this one several years ago and as with all the others, I could hardly see to drive it home from Dallas....They come with (D1S HID Low-Beams and the High Beams are Halogen Bulbs) from the Factory.... I almost broke my neck trying to see farther down the road that night, so when I got Home to Cinco Ranch, one of the first things I did was order new Lights from some Internet Company and spent a whole bunch of money and got all this stuff so I could see better.....I thought I was getting the best and as it turns out I was just spending a bunch of Money in general...Oh! the new Lights worked OK but not as good as I wanted...so a year or so later, while on Amazon, I found the answers that I was looking for....at a price much, much better......This is what I have in my XKR Today:

High Beams:9005 LED Mini-sized conversation Kit - Bulbs are Mini-sized 80 Watt with 6500K's for $50.00 (This is a little short LED set-up that mocks the size of the Halogen Bulb, so the Light source hits the "Reflector" at about the same place! This keeps the Light from breaking-up and scattering the Light all over.....In other words, the Light is directed down the Road instead of scattering it! $50.00 (Look at your High Beams and you will see the Reflector I'm talking about behind the Bulb)

Low Beams are Projector Lights loaded with D1S HID Bulbs---I don't remember Wattage off hand but they are used the most while driving, they are the one's on the outside. They are pretty Dim and I wanted the best! So I ordered (2) or (1) Set, which are made by Sineporeal. They are D1S HID Bulbs 35 Watt - 6000K and cost $25.38 for the pair. 6000K is about where the color of Light starts to turn Blue, so at that point it can't get any Whiter...I love them and my Neck doesn't hurt anymore, as I don't have to strain to see anymore!

The other thing I did was replace the Ballast for the Low Beams. After all the 2005 XKR is 15 years old now and I wanted the best..so I replaced them with the same Ballast that Jaguar had which was a "Valeo" LAD5G (They cost about $165.00 each) Look at Amazon and you will find a replacement Brand much cheaper.....but this is the one that came in the Car. Your choice, as they don't need replacing in most cases, but they are not easy to get to, so I replaced them anyway. Because you will probably need to remove the Headlights from the Car, this would be the time to completely change out everything involved with the Headlight system. You will be very happy with the results! Makes you feel like your driving a 2020! Either go to Amazon or eBay and check out what they have as they seem to have as good if not better systems as the LED Light Websites! Oh! I forgot to mention, I have not had any CanBus problems with these Systems! It's just a Bolt-on deal......

Let me know if you have questions!

Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch

 

Item #3: ceramic/organic pads don't squeal and don't dust.
Item #4: My 2001 did the green shower at 80,000 miles. There are better replacement hoses than stock, search the forums. And you might consider replacing all the hoses, the two for the latch and the 4 for the rams, at the same time. Peace of mind; do it before you get showered.
Here's a source of better hoses: tophydraulics