I've just purchased a fantastic Sapphire Blue/Ivory leather Jaguar XKR Convertible. It's a 2001 spec with 20" BBS Detroits & it's in very good condition with only done 50k miles, but there are a few modifications I'm considering. I don't want to change the car too much because to be honest I've already fallen in love with the design because of it's original appearance.

I'm a bit nervous about doing something I may regret & would welcome some expert opinion before I change anything from std.

What I'm thinking of doing is;
1) Because of the darker metallic blue colour I want to change the "opaque Orange" side turn indicators to a more modern looking "Clear White" lens using Chromium orange lamps.
2) I also plan a similar upgrade for the four orange side reflectors on the bumpers. I've seen some great opaque White ones with a row of 12 LED's from Adamesh that have White LED's in front bumper & Red LED's in the rear bumper), as per the USA specification. I know Jaguar made the loom connections available & have found the connectors in the bumpers wiring harness, so I know it should be a relatively straight forward job.
3) I miss my daytime Running Lights for safety not bling reasons!. So because I need to refurb the two front headlamp lamp units anyway because they are pitted & previously bodged with silver touch up paint, I need to take the lens off anyway. I have seen a quality looking DRL ring from Paragon, but it's pretty expensive at £200.
4) I have a telephone in the armrest which takes a std SIM card. I would ideally like to Bluetooth it, but not sure how.
5) I have bought a cassette converter so I can use a USB, I-Pod to play some tunes & there's a similar Cassette converter that may work for phone Bluetooth (I'm not sure if they work on the Jag set-up?).
6) Last one is just to disable the ariel mast pop-up so I can have a sleeker look when not using the radio (thanks to some previous threads I can see it's a straightforward job beneath the armrest wiring harness).

I'm not sure if it's actually legal to have the side reflectors lit up in the UK?.

Any advice, or guidance on my plans gratefully received.


Thanks, Martin

 

Welcome to the forum!

Most of these things are tried and true so I doubt you will regret any of them.

For #3: The process to remove the lens can be a bit daunting but there are a number of members who have done the mod you are wanting.

#4: Also can be done, but requires removing the old phone and tying into the system with your own wiring. Can be done several ways, and there are some good write ups in the DIY sticky.

 

Thanks Charlie,

I appreciate the feedback & I'll have a good search through the DIY Sticky section.
I'm going to take my time & enjoy the process.

Cheers, Martin

 

You may want to read the DIY sticky on New Owner,
I’m buying a used XK8/XKR, what should I look for?
There are two links, while upgrades are all well and good and as said been done, there will be a number of mechanical items you will want to check as well, these links will give you that information, some are trivial others a bit more important. It also depends on what service records the PO provided on the car... Happy Motoring