I still can not decide which one is a better car.
I have a few questions about each car, that I need help putting answers too.
First off I am only looking at getting a coupe.
1) Which one is more "rare"? The coupes only.
2) Do both have the same upgrades suspension setup (off the xk180 concept car)
3) Do both of them suffer from the plastic tensioners and the nikasil problems.
4) Do both of them or neither of them have xenon headlamps.
5) Which one will be more collectible?
6) Do both have the same upgraded breaks?
7) I know the 100 has the recaro seats but that isn't really a big deal
8) If you had the choice between both of these cars which one would you pick and why? Or any other reasons why one is better than the other.
Thanks in advance!
Mike

 

Mike
I can't answer all of your questions. I personally don't think either one is better than the other. They both have the plastic tensioners so hopefully the previous owner has addressed this issue. The Silverstones had Nikasil blocks till August. The only way to know is to find the engine # Mine was built mid August but the motor was assembled in later July. It has the Nikasil block. Nikasil isn;t a problem today. Many believe it's a better engine than the steel lined. Mine has 80,000 and runs strong. As far as which coupe is rarer I know the production numbers for the 100 was split 250 each I don't know how many were shipped to the U.S., but there was only 30 Silverstone coupes imported to the U.S. in 2001 out of 232.
The suspensions and brakes are the same, I don't remember reaading they were the suspension came off of the 180. The Brembos were first installed on the 180 for the show circuit. I picked the Silverstone but I;m partial to it after owning it. Which is more collectible, The XKEC club in England considers the Silverstone one of the most collectible of the 100 series, Hope this helps, but you won't go wrong with either.

 

So your saying of the 500 100's their was 250(out of those 30 were coupes) XKR-100's and 250 XJR-100's correct? Does your silverstone have xenon headlamps and did you change you own tensioners?

 

No of the 500 2002 XKR100 250 were coupes, I don't know how many were shipped to the U.S. Of the 232 Silverstones only 30 coupes were shipped to the U.S. If your buying this for an investment It really doesn't matter that you buy a coupe by all past records, of classic autos, convertibles will usually bring a higher price there are exceptions. I know a lot of people think that because they ran fewer coupes that they will become more valuable. but by most classic car records convertibles are always more desirable. There's something about the top down automobile. Considering that they produced 29000 plus coupes of XK-8's and XKR's That's about one out of three. My tensioners were changed by the original owner's dealer in Dallas, I'm the second owner. When the Silverstones were introduced they went to select customers and they were demanding a higher price. The headlights on both years were halogen.

 

I asked this question to myself before I searched for an upgrade to my 97 XK8. I decided what overall collectibility will mean and I didn't think it was worth trying for something more 'collectable' than 'useable'. I ended up with an 05 XKR. The updated body style was only made for 2.5 years, it includes HID lights and backup sensors and many thousands of tiny updates and changes over the years and included the nice factory 20" wheels, Recaros and the larger stroke 4.2 and 6 speed transmission that is miles better than the 5 speed.

2000-2003 has a whole host of issues that still hadn't been corrected, most notably the tensioners and bad front bushings on the XKR. The HIDs, Recaros, backup indicators and upgraded engine and transmission was well worth the upcharge for me. The updated and more aggressive styling of the 04+ also appealed to me.

So, instead of searching for collectability, it might do you wise to search for a car that has all the features and color that you want. That's just my 02....

 

As written by X
Definitely the 6 speed transmission was better than the five speed ZF, but the early XKR's had the 5 speed Mercedes which is practically bullet proof. so that really isn't a issue. 20" wheels were not standard equipment the 245/45 ZR 18 (F); 255/45 ZR 18 was. Both the X-100 and Silverstones had back up sensors as as standard. A lot of the later 2005 and 2006 were equipped with many of the options at the end of the run to unload inventory, but not every XKR had all of the upgraded suspension, wheels, and brake options.We use our car as a driver in the summer. We'll take it on vacations and weekend retreats. When you address the main issues that the early cars had they do become very reliable.

 

I think all 4.0 supercharged cars came with the Mercedes transmission. I would much rather have the Mercedes unit than the ZF 6 speed. The 6 speed has shift quality issues & is alsonot made to take the torque.

 

IMO neither Silverstone nor XKR100 models have translated their purported premium status into significantly higher resale prices. I've been tracking online sales, eg. EBay, Cars.com, etc.; and when the narrative sales pitch begins to flaunt the "rare" model aspects, I rarely see any bump in final sales price.

I think most buyers see these factory specials as not much more than cosmetic fluff with a few extra parts from the corporate bin adding very little real performance gains. I personally don't see their perceived value.

Our XK8s and XKRs are screaming bargains for buyers. There are a lot of higher mileage cars coming onto the market, and its going to be a decade or more before supplies diminish to the point where one of these models is "rare'.

 

If you're looking for a "collector car" though, you're probably also looking for extremely low mileage... under 20k, ideally under 10k... and a car with that low mileage probably hasn't had the tensioners done, the front suspension bushings in the XKR 01-03 range tend to deteriorate too quickly (from some reports as soon as 15-20k miles) and you still have to deal with possible green shower (for verts)... abs module issues seem to be an issue on the higher mileage cars, so you probably won't have to worry about that.

All that being said, you'll be paying a premium for a low mileage car that may still have $5k+ (or many hours of self-labor) worth of issues that still need to be corrected even though doing all the upgrades won't significantly affect the value which isn't really any different than a "standard production" vehicle.

And by all means, the 03+ cars still have issues, but the closer you get to 06, the more issues have been corrected.

Between 2000 and 2006, how many upgrades/modifications/changes has the XKR had? At least several thousand... from what I understood, and I don't remember the model year, but one later model year had almost 1000 minor changes/tweaks from the previous year. For one MY.

So no matter how much a 'collectable' car will be, one of the last MY cars will be better and more reliable in the long run, IMO.

Even though my 97 XK8 and 05 XKR share many interchangeable body and interior parts, they're two vastly different vehicles.

But, I'm just voicing my opinion based on what I know of both of my cars and the research I've done after falling in love with the body style. My 97 XK8 was an uninformed impulse buy because of the lust I've had for one when I first saw the press releases, magazines and video clips about the XK8. It was an impulse buy because I needed a car quick and I didn't research it at all.... my 05 XKR, on the other hand, was one I was specifically looking for... it was more than 3 times the purchase price of the XK8, and it was worth every penny of it.


Yeah, I haven't seen any real difference in price either.

 

As wriiten by GordocatAs written by X
I'll agree with both of you I never paid a premium price for mine and I don't see them bringing any kind of premium. I never bought mine just because it was a Silverstone I was looking for a XKR this one just happened to come up for sale The bushings for these cars all carry the same part # from 2000 to 2006 I haven't hears of any premature failures, I'm sure that it's happened. But I don't think it's a common problem. Many older cars are still running original bushings.
Your 2003-2006 still have the weak convertible latch hoses as the 2000 to 2003 Actually the first year models had better hoses on them. There was over 900 different upgrades from 2003 to 2004, but a good majority didn't pertain to reliability, a lot was cosmetic (except for the 4.2 engine) and to help lower production cost. I don't believe there was that many after the 2004.
The highest price I've seen for either one was for a Silverstone with 40,000 miles sold at Mecum for $25,000 and a 10% commission. The lowest was a Silverstone for $12,000 with about 60,000 miles

 

What exactly would i need to check or change? This car has under 10k miles too and has been maintained.

 

Tensioners would be the main concern, tires would be the second, if they are the original Pirelli's ,tires age, if their used or not. Personally I would change all the fluids, transmission, brake, antifreeze, power steering, I don't know if the supercharger fluid would break down with age or not. Since it's a coupe you don't have to worry about the convertible hydraulic system. If the owner kept it maintained, he should have these records, so you may not have to.

 

Tires were replaced a few years ago at 5k miles, so they should be fine. I would defiantly have the tensioners changed as soon as i possibly can. He says the car is regularly maintained, so i think the fluids should be fine, might have everything flushed in the fall, but i will ask that's a good point, thanks.

 

You sure you would "defiantly" change the tensioners, or maybe definitely change them. I would hope the latter.

 

Sorry that was my bad haha. I sent that from my IPhone.

 

manufacturers and pundits may say the fluids will be fine for x miles or x years.
Maybe not definitely defiant, but some defiance might be in order.

 

Why are you being so combative/defensive? lol, strange but funny.

It may be the same part number but at some point early XKRs ate front end bushings. I thought that was common knowledge? I've had the same discussions with two different mechanics both bitching about those first several XKR years. One of my mechanics said he replaced defective bushings on more front ends than he has failed hoses, I dunno, I didn't ask, I was told this in general car talk with my friend. /shrug

I was just pointing out potential issues that would most likely not be addressed on <10k mile car in the perceived "collectible model years".

I've replaced the stock hoses on my 05 with the kit from Coliflower, sure, the rear rams and hoses as well as the latch could fail at some later point as well too if you want to be really fussy about it.

FWIW, the stock bushings on my 1997 XK8 are still fine, no deterioration at all. But it doesn't have the roof hose issue that all the later years have either.

Sorry if I've offended your particular model year. lol


...

I don't even know how to respond to that. lol



You would need to check everything. Secondary tensioners. Check the roof latch hose for deformation or signs of failure. Check the tires for deformation/flat spots. Check the bushings for abnormal wear or deterioration. Check the reach and tilt motors. I dunno there are a bunch of specific things that can fail on the XK series. There is a sticky FAQ thread with everything you would ever want to know here... The first two links in that thread are "I’m buying a used XK8/XKR, what should I look for? ":

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ts-data-29800/

 

Silverstones and 100s are very nice and many of the features are standard on later cars, personally I prefer the 4.2 to the 4.0.

In regards to the bushings: This is not necessarily related to early cars. I took delivery of my 2006 XKR, built in April of 05, with 13 miles on it. My lower control arm bushings were failing on average every 18k miles, causing alignment, tire wear and poor handling issues, this certainly could have been accelerated by the fact I drive the car pretty hard on some pretty bad roads. Anyway at 54k I replaced them with poly bushings and have not had a problem since.

 

X
I'm not being combative or defensive, I honestly never heard of the pre mature failure of the front bushing. The900 changes were mentioned in Nigel Thorley You and your XKR, and Jaguar XK-8 & XKR Performance Portfolio. The 4.2 engine was gone over quite extensively with quite a few upgrades. Some of the cost saving changes were the ZF 6 speed. Jaguar was able to go to one transmission and drive train for both XK8's & XKR's and eliminations of small covers on bolt heads, shock covers etc. The bean counters always get fingers into it. There was definately many upgrades made to the later models, but I still believe the early models are pretty reliable after the main problems have been addressed. Most of the problem cars we read about on the forum is a small pecentage compared to the overall production of these vehicles. This is just my opinion.

 

I drive my car really hard as well... I've about 10k on my car since purchasing it and my bushings are still fine. I have seriously worn out my front tires, which were like new when I got them, but they're both wearing nearly identically. I can't say I've driven on horrible roads, but many roads around here aren't all the greatest.


I never said the early cars weren't reliable after you corrected the issues. I was just posting some of the issues that do need to be corrected... but if you're paying a premium for a low mileage limited edition model, you may still have to pay for all those upgrades if you can't do them yourself, and all those issues being corrected properly can add up to some serious $$$. Imagine having to immediately get the tensioners and front bushings replaced as well as having to pre-emptively do the convertible top hoses. That could very easily add more than $5k to the purchase price of a super low mileage early year XKR.

Personally I think the difference of regular and limited production runs in value will be negligible. Unless, you get something really limited like a Sterling Moss XKR, but those are hideous, IMO. The only other rarities that I think might have any greater value are low mileage 96 XK8's and maybe pre-production XKRs.