I've found an old thread or two on this topic, but for someone considering a used purchase - something with at around 50k miles/80k km or more, I'm not sure this has been well addressed.

Here's what I've worked out so far.

On the one hand, the X250 has some advantages:

• Nicer interior
• I'm guessing a lot more were made (no?) which could mean more used and even new parts available, plus more experienced independent mechanics?
• And of course, they are a LOT cheaper. Or perhaps there's a reason for that ... ?

On the one hand, the X260 also has advantages:

• It's newer, so new parts may be easier to come by?
• At least with the engine I'm mainly looking at, the 3 liter diesel, the X260 is a bit more powerful, and a bit lighter too. And perhaps those bits add up - the one X260 I test drove felt like a genuinely fast car, despite my arriving and departing in something with a significantly higher power to weight ratio. Whereas the two X250s I drove did not make the same impression on me. Maybe the torque difference is even bigger? Or maybe my test drives were too short, and the roads too different, to get an accurate impression? (And if this is a real issue, does the 275 hp 3 liter in the X250 respond well to chip tuning?)

Then there's the key question for me: Which is more fun to drive - as a Sportbrake? The X260 is generally said to be more fun to drive, but the X250 sportbrake is generally said to be more fun to drive than the X250 sedan. So perhaps with Sportbrakes, the tables turn? (I'm only considering the 3 liter diesels and, just maybe, the V8s.)

Have I missed any important differences? For instance reliability? Or anything else? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

this is gonna be a hard comparison. its a v8 5.0 vs v6 3.0D type thing and many like myself HIGHLY prefer V8's especially with the Supercharge. Youd have to look for non bias opinions. Not sure why youd tune out a Diesel engine either considering most people who get diesels are lookin for more gas mileage and as you know tunning your car would decrease the gas sufficiency, so that would be a best of luck finding a diesel tuner. With you tunning your car that states to me that your looking for a car with high HP and Torque so its like why wouldn't you get a v8 supercharge other than pricing.
I myself bought an xf 2012 v8 N/A and highly regret not buying the V8 supercharge, I had the same question "can I tune my N/a v8" and was informed its best to trade my car in and buy a v8 supercharge as the tunes wouldn't be anything significant without the supercharge so I came up with a new question "can I install Supercharge to my N/A v8" answer was "yes but you'll be dumping in 20-25k on parts and labor just to get the supercharge and make it stable enough for my car without mods"

 

but my personal experience with reliability is quite great. Sadly I don't do any mechanical work to save myself from the dealership pricing but typically every service ive done was 500-1200$ at most at JLR. Nothing major has happened to my car im 70kMiles deep bought it with 58K miles so a year in a half of ownership and only crazy item ive done was my coolant pipes (coolant flush provided) and gas filter(3 oil changes, alignment, brakes/rotors, coolant sensor, tire pressure sensor) other than that this car has been Killin it and I live in the Sonoran Tucson Az where temperatures reach 110 on the daily summer days this car is also non garage kept.

 

Good questions. (Which make it pretty easy to guess that you're probably in the US and definitely not in Europe, unlike me ;- ) )

Anyway, where to start? Underlying the questions seems to be "why not a V8?". Well, I'd consider a V8. But (1) very hard to find here, (2) I'm tired of constantly paying for fuel (much more expensive here) for my BMW V8 (and the XF V8 is likely to be worse), and (3), the diesel may be more fun (especially in the case of the X260). How can that be? Simple. It's a family car. So if I have big, rumbling, 500 hp V8, I can never use more than half throttle or half the revs. With the diesel, half the revs gives me full thrust anyway. And its "only" got 270/300 hp, plus all the revs sounds like a petrol/gasoline engine at (a bit more than) half the revs, so I can use all the revs (sometimes).

Why (chip) tune a diesel? Also simple: (1) it generally works very well (much bigger % gain than you'll get with a NA V8), (2) diesel tuners are easy to find, and (3) while my test drive in a X260 3L diesel left me feeling the car had all the thrust I needed (even in direct comparison with my more powerful BMW), my two test drives in X250 3L diesels left me wondering if they were fast enough (but short drives on different roads, etc., so who knows). (Though I said chip tuning "generally works well" - I would like to be sure the Jag V6 diesel doesn't often react badly to chip tuning.)

 

haha too me it sounds like youre leaning more so towards the Diesel! and rightfully so. If a family car is in need than definitely don't want the babies in a v8 lol! best of luck mate on your find as im sure you will find it. Definitely rare in the U.S especially the sportsbrake idk if they even sold those here in the U.S tbh (man those look like so much fun and I dont even like wagon type cars)