Hi all,

so I am curious; can anyone tell me the function of the metal bumper overriders on the xkr? i.e. these bits (this photo is from an xk8, but you know what I mean.

The reason I ask is I am installing a single piece mesh grille (the obligatory Mina gallery piece) and its goes over the top of these overriders out front of the bumper cover; I am sorely tempted to go off-piste and mount it behindthe bumper cover instead so it looks more recessed, i.e. like the OEM 3-piece XKR grille, but without the overriders. The metal overriders appear to be riveted in, so removal will involve some drilling, grinding and swearing and ill probably have to dremel out a little clearance from the bumper cover, but it all looks doable even if the rivets at the top cant be accessed with a drill without a LOT more dissassembly, so would probably have to grind those off sideways. I could also take a grinding disk to the overriders themselves and cut them off which would be easier, but I always try to do everything reversibly - i.e so if I wanted to I could rivnut, rivet or tap/bolt them back on and restore the original 3 piece grille look.

So before I go hacking away at my obstensibly very clean 34k miles car I thought I should check... what are these metal overriders for? Are they designed to be crushable/deformable structures in a collision? I.e. are they a significant safety piece? I like modifying cars but I do have a personal principle of never doing anything that subtracts safety.

 

Bumper regulations have changed over the years and vary from country to country. All designs must take minimum 2.5mph impact and I believe the USA is 5mph (which is 4 times more energy). Many regional X100’s also have the impact absorption features on the bumper beam mounts at the outer over-riders (which are hidden behind the bumper skin and each side of the ‘mouth’.

These combined features are designed for deceleration and damage limitation. If you remove some, then low speed impact damage will be transferred to more bodywork and the cooling module - much greater cost...

 

I installed the Mina Grill as well and just drilled out the rivets holding those supports in... I think they are more of a 5-mph protection for the bumper but other than that no real help in a collision. Make sure to spray the inside area black so it all blends in through the grill.

 

^^^^^^^ this is exactly what I did. Anything over 5 mph and those metal supports are no help.

Furthermore, unless you are hitting a flat wall, or another XK8 / R head on, those overriders won’t help at any speed over or under 5 mph.

I don’t know about the vehicles in other locales, but around my area of the country 99.9% of all vehicles are way higher than our XK’s. The entire front end of the Jaguar XK’s will slide under the other vehicle and their bumper will magle our “bonnet”, etc. So those metal overriders are serving no practical purpose.

Off they go.

Besides, the Mina Gallery grill looks stupid unless it’s recessed. Just take off the XK’s “nose cone” and attach the grill the much better way..

Z

 

Yeah I think this is what I will do; had to get the car back together to take it for some work the next day, and the grille isn't totally centred anyway, and then I spotted the bumper is slightly squint (because I put it back on, alone, in the dark) so i figure I'll take those overriders off at the same time and mount it further back; might need to dremel the inner bumper a bit, no biggie. I am not a fan of the look where I can see the rubber trim surround on there anyway and the whole point of the XK's front end is to evoke the XKE, so recessing the grille is pretty much a given for me, i mean the original grille was recessed, just with the silly overriders.

Any issues drilling those rivets out? I notice the ones on top have the hood support above them and I wont be able to get at them with a high speed, so I will probably dremel the heads off instead. Will take a while, but I have plenty of bits. If I ever re-attach them I'll use rivnuts. Or I might just finally capitulate and buy a proper grinding wheel lol. Yeah those overriders aren't going to prevent any meaningful damage, and if only for up to 5mph collisions, then they aren't safety items anyway. And apparently they are not even on all of these cars, just the NYC/CA ones.

 

I used a Dremel cut- off wheel on mine, and a chisel where I couldn’t get the Dremel to fit. It was not difficult, just slow going and tedious.

Z

 

Those metal overriders are merely mounts for two pieces of probably the most expensive plastic Jaguar sells, at least on the XK8. When i moved the license plate, of course the nice holes drilled in them were not enough damage. Even the slightest pressure on the lic plate bracket causes the plastic to crack at the drilled holes and makes them fall apart. I did it with a parking lot chain-link fence.

I like the look, but that is merely a taste thing. They are in the same color Dorchester Gray as other trim pieces.

BTW, if you would like to move your lic plate below the grille opening in a neat way, simply order a

Grote 43022 Black Universal Steel Offset License Plate Bracket

Get some stainless steel screws, nuts and washers, some foam rubber padding, and mount on the lower lip of the bumper cover. The drilled holes will not be visible if the bracket is ever removed. Bend the bracket as needed. I added a nice rubber surround for the plate with stainless screws and black screw covers. People say that it looks factory and better than the original. The car keeps its look even with the number plate. This works better for the more rectangular and longer UK plates. And, i did notice a cooling difference.

If i can figure out how to post a picture, will do so.

 

@WhiteHat Thanks! I've decided to chance it on the front license plate and just do without, I just keep it in the boot with some zip ties and if I ever get pulled over i'll attach it temporarily. I'm not doing anything particularly naughty in the Jag anyway. I have an increasingly modified mx-5 for that kind of silliness.

@zray the lower rivets drilled out easily enough because there's access, but after starting to grind one of the top ones I decided "screw it" and just cut the overrider off and left a piece with two rivets there. If it was really important to me then I guess I'd use a grinding bit on the dremel and just take a very long time, but I decided I was deluding myself that I would ever re-attach those overiders. Mounting the grille behind is turning into a faff though, mostly because I do not want visible hardware on the outside of the bumper cover holding the grille on. After some soul searching I've started reproducing the oem grille bracket out of some steel and tapped the old holes for plastic retainers on the bumper so I can bolt to them. Also have to dremel off some plastic from the back of the bumper cover to get the mina grille to sit cleanly. I almost re-used the brackets from the oem grille, but I cant weld and those grilles seem to be worth some money on ebay, so figured its better to sell it.

After all the faff, really wish I hadn't bothered lol. I'm grinding away at my bumper cover to get it to conform to the shape of the new grille, trying to tell myself "you're not screwing up... you're not screwing up...". It is not easy getting this piece to install nicely, cleanly, in the correct position, without a lot of trial and error. Shame, the grille itself is nice, but the instructions and hardware are dogsh!t. I would cheerfully pay double for a grille that was better thought out.

 

I did not have holes drilled on either of my XKRs but Texas requires a front tag so I used an old tag and some sheet steel for reinforcement and mounting.
Two holes near the bottom edge of the front bumper cover where it rolls under.

Bent an old TAG and used some sheet metal screws to put the legal front one in place.

One pic is my Black conv. and the other is my Platinum conv.

 

I'm needing to replace one or both nose cones on my 2002 xk8 convertible. Any info on where to buy these nose cones?

 

the plastic covers or the metal supports ?

my plastic covers are a
little mangled but the metal parts are in good shape. You can have any or all of it including the grill for the cost of shipping. (That’s almost free !!!)

Z