Hello All.

Thought I would post a few thoughts on my 2016 XJ and share with the forum. I picked up the car end of September, but have not really had that much time with the car as I would have liked.

I have the Black metallic (Ultimate) with the Ivory/Oyster interior and am coming from a 5 series, The first thing you notice is how well damped the ride is thanks to the air suspension. The surprise is how good the XJ is in the corners with good steering feel, although the hydraulic setup seems a little over boosted compared to the one in the 5. Handling is great and this car really shrinks around you as your step on it. Love all the standard equipment, from the sound system to the updated in-control system, the trick navigation within the dash and the heated/cooled seats. The interior is old school luxury and I love the expanse of wood in the cabin. I was originally thinking of an XF which has a nice interior but just a bit too modern for my tastes compared to the classic nature of the XJ. The engine note sounds good, its different from the inline 6 I've been used to. The supercharger definitely gives you the get up and go without any lag and I'm still amazed that a V6 in this size of car can still match and beat mid-size offerings in terms of performance.

All in all I am really glad I made the decision to "move up " to the XJ.

So for those interested I have some "personalizations" to the car listed below. The remaining 2 items I have on my immediate to do list are to tint the windows, but have not decided between 20-30% transmission and I need to get a tow hook license plate holder as I currently have the plate attached with some 3M tape since I did not want holes drilled into the bumper.

• CQuartz UK Ceramic Paint Sealant with reload hydrophobic coating
• 3M Clear Bra (Hood)
• Bumper Defender molding strips (essential for parking in NYC streets or parking garages)
• Amber Side marker Delete (Chrome film wrap + Laminx Tint)
• Shadowline Window Trim (Vinyl wrap)
• Smoked/Gunmetal Emblems and Fender Trim

Couple of questions for fellow XJ owners.
1) if anyone know what bulbs are used in the mirror puddle lights, I would like to replace the incandescent bulbs with LED's as long as they do not throw errors. I am assuming the whole mirror housing has to be removed to access the bulbs? Surprised that a car that comes with full LED headlights does not have LED puddle bulbs.
2) By the looks of the spare wheel it looks like 18 inch wheels can clear the brake discs, if so has anyone attempted to put 18 inch winter wheel/tires(tyres) on this car? My other car is a Volvo which has the same bolt pattern so I might be able to use the summer wheels from that as winter wheels with winter tires that I have which are 245/45 but would go on 18's. However i do know that the XJ is a staggered setup even for the AWD so depending on the offset the wheels would be well inside the arches.
3) What are good websites for XJ specific parts and accessories aftermarket or OEM, the only one I have seem to have found is Minagallery.com, any others?

Cheers
Kay

Some Pictures with my cell-phone so disclaimer on the quality.

 

congrats on the car, it looks gorgeous!

its incredibly impressive how well the car can move and handle despite being as large as it is, and my car was an XJ-L just to put it in perspective.

What are the differences between R-Sport and non R? I dont see anything on the exterior. Is that red lining on the bottom a custom add or part of the R trim? I'm envious of the updated nav/dash system

 

Thanks! The R-Sport has a lower spoiler, enhanced side sills and a rear spoiler as well as the black mesh grille. The red lining is something I have added on for visual contrast and to provide some modest scrape protection against those parking bumper/stops when my wife drives the car ...

 

Bump. Just wondering if anyone has any answers on these. For the puddle lamp bulbs I did some digging around and think these are 5W T10's but not 100% sure if someone can confirm?

Also wondering if anyone has a a tow hook license plate holder fitted and where they got it from. I followed up on a few eBay stores but no one has these in stock for the XJ, since its a rare care. One of the realities with a Jag (maybe more so for the XJ than other Jaguar models) is that there seems to be less aftermarket parts available relative to the German brands.

Thanks.

 

kaysid,

I presume that the factory moved the puddle lights to the bottom of the side view mirrors beginning with the 2016 model year. Puddle lights in previous models were in the door bottoms, and were integrated with red safety reflectors that lit up when the door was opened.

If the 2016 XJ has those red reflectors in the bottom of each door that light up when the door is opened, you may want to swap them out for Growler puddle lamps and not mess with the side mirrors.




For details, see: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-lamps-166622/

Another mod for your consideration is to hide the front license tag, which IMHO ruins the look. Amazon sells this stealth automatic retractable bracket: https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Powe...iglink21907-20



Stuart

 

Congrats! Looks sharp.

 

Thanks. I did not realize previous years did not have puddles in the mirrors. The 2016's still have the red reflector lights in the door so I should be able to do the growler mod, thanks for sharing, looks good.
Will look into the hide away plate, have to see if it works ok with the front lip.


Thanks!

 

Pics, please.