Or if they would have installed rear folding seats like just about ALL cars cheap to very expensive have. But not on the XJ?
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Not sure if this applies to rthe XJ, but the XE and XF could be ordered with folding rear seats and recently they've been supplied as standard. However, this still doesn't help with getting the trunk open because, unlike most other cars where the folding rear seats can be released by pushing buttons within the cabin, on the XE and XF the release is via 2 rather flimsy pull cords located INSIDE the trunk!

 

Yes your right. That's the puzzling part? Their flagship car and no folding seats? No option to order it either.

Now I had an S Type R and that was also claimed to not have folding seats even though the regular S Types all did. Jaguar stated that was because they wanted the R to have a stiffer chassis and they could not acheive that with folding rear seats. So instead of removing all the folding seat stuff Jaguar left all that and coiled the release cables up and hid them in the trunk behind the trim panels. Then they added a big sheet metal brace in the opening between the trunk and the passenger compartment.




So a number of us STR guys fished the cables out in the trunk and viola we now had rear folding seats!!
They did give us a small "Ski Port" thru the center arm rest in the back seat on the stock STR's. But as you can see it's pretty small. Plus it was set up as a ski bag so nothing could extend beyond the bag which limited the length of stuff you could carry.



The large sheet metal panel is removable but I found I could snake things in OK with the panel in place. You can see the trim panel wings Jaguar installed and they folded out of the way so I left them in place.

So the only thing I can figure is they again wanted a very stiff chassis/body and maybe with the XJ being Aluminum compared to the steel bodied S Type it had more give and needed more structure/geometry to get the stiffness Jaguar wanted? Just a guess because I really wanted those fold down rear seats! Was hoping to find the same thing as I found on the S Type but there is nothing there. I have had the entire rear seat and rear deck taken out for other reasons. It's a solid panel and is not removable.
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Hi. I'm currently having same issue with trunk.. I have back seat down I see the connector but what tools do I need to hit it with 12v there

 

Model: XJR575 (2018)

What happened: the last time I closed the trunk, I noticed the escape handle wasn't in its proper position, but hanging from the trunk instead. Next time I tried to open the trunk, it were stuck: I couldn't hear the lock releasing, but the motor was actually trying to open the trunk, slightly moving it on the right side.
I first followed the instructions to try to trigger the lock with the connector situated behind the rear seats, to no avail.
So I had to find a way to manually pull the escape handle inside the trunk. Here are a few photos and explanations.

First of, release the back seat base using the 4 latches (beware they are fragile, broke one of them).

Unlock the base by pulling it up and forward, disconnect electric connectors on both sides, and remove from car.
Then you can see 2 white straps hanging from behind the seats back.

You have to pull those downwards, quite hard, so as to unlatch the seat and then tilt forward.
Once tilted you can pull up the seat so as to disengage the 4 axis at the bottom, and get the seat out.
Now you have access to the (black or white) cable cover that closes the hole allowing the cables to pass into the trunk.

First unclip the flat cover on top, so you can access to the clips that maintain the cover attached to the metallic body.
You can then bend the cover, and you will see the trunk covering beneath.


Now you will have to cut it with a cutter to make a hole, and you will have finally access to the trunk.


Using a metallic rod with a hook you will then be able to catch the escape handle hanging from the trunk lid, and pull it.

Hooray! the trunk opens!
After that the car would beep whenever I tried to close the lid, I had to start the engine, and then everything was back to normal.
I have no idea what caused the problem however.
Good luck.

 

A great explanation and pictures - thank you!
Unfortunately, this will only work with cars sold in N America where the emergency release handle inside the trunk is a legal requirement. In the UK (and in Europe I think) there is no such legal requirement, so this emergency release is not fitted - presumably so the bean counters can save a few cents per car.
So, faced with the problem that OP described - I don't know what you can do, short of brute force prising open of the trunk lid and accepting the consequent damage.

 

That's the German version.

 

Ah, my mistake then. So it appears that it is only UK supplied cars that don't have the internal emergency boot (trunk) release handle. If true, that's a very petty cost saving measure by JLR

 

Both of my UK X351s have had the emergency boot (trunk) release, and I have never seen one without (and I have seen upwards of fifty). I think you may be confusing the X351 with other lesser cars - it may not be a legal requirement, but it is fitted.

 

Old thread, but I wanted to chime in on my recent experience. Went on vacation for 3 weeks. Came back home to a dead battery. I used my C-Tek charger to provide 12 volts to the point required to open the trunk. Trunk wouldn't open, even after leaving at the connection point for two hours. Where my car was parked, didn't allow access to the connection point using jumper cables from my other vehicle. So I had to call a battery service. Connecting a brand-new battery to the connection point, and I was able to open the trunk right away. This leads me to believe, that a trickle charger like the C-Tek, doesn't provide enough amperage to open the trunk, when the battery is completely dead (my battery was 6.5 VDC).

Lessons learned: 1. Park my car on the other side of my drive way, so I will be able to connect my other car to it.
2. Use fresh battery or other vehicle to get power to open the trunk.

Note: The C-Tek charger will work if the battery isn't as dead as mine was. I have done it before. But if it is super dead, you will be SOL.

 

Or you buy a longer pair of jumper cables, or two pairs of 4 meters. Or three, and you connect them all together, so you can even start your car with/from the car of your neighbours... Or am I wrong?
I just bought a 4 meter pair instead of the 2 meter I had, just to make things more easy, just in case.
But also make sure they are thick enough, I bought a 2000a pair, the 400a I had didn't gave enough from one car to another because these batteries are big (100a in my case).
And if you leave your car a long time without running, just disconnect the plus from the battery and your C-tek will work from the front till the back just like that, because the battery will not eat all the watts anymore. Press the button at the back and it will open just with the C-tek, I tried. ;-)

 

Thanks for that tip. I was curious if that would work, but was hesitant to experiment, because if it didn't, I would be truly locked out of the trunk(at least electrically). Curious though. You said disconnect the positive terminal. I am accustomed to always disconnecting the negative. Will it only work if you disconnect the positive? How about if both terminals are disconnected at the battery?

 

You can tie a bit of string to the luminous emergency handle and run it out of the boot as a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card.

I don't know if it is relevant, but the negative terminal has all the battery management gubbins on.

 

When I do it, I leave the hood open/just not closed (it stays in the garage), or I leave two tiny threads from the front connections coming out from under the closed hood or through the grill.
You can also leave two thin threads coming out from the closed trunk, connected with the plus and the minus cables from the battery.
I disconnect the plus to be sure the battery will stay good for so many months, and it's the easiest/closest connection to reach, but it will work either way, with any connection or both connections disconnected, because the only part you disconnect is the battery itself, all the other connections, also the one to the front, stays intact. I tried to be sure anyway, but if you (only) leave the plus connected, maybe your battery will get empty/lost and/or maybe the C-tek will send all his power to the (empty?) battery and the button outside maybe doesn't work than. Something ofcourse that I didn't try. ;-)
Last time, after all kinds of tests and with 100% confidence, I left the C-tek IN the trunk, connected with the still connected minus and with the disconnected plus cable, and I left the plug itself from the C-tek hanging out from the closed trunk. Everything closed.
After 4 months, coming back, I connected an extension cable from the lightnetwork to the C-tek plug, opened the trunk smoothly with the trunk button, connected the plus cable to the battery again and everything worked again as it should. With a still 100% good and charged battery.
Anyway, if something goes wrong, there is still the option to open the drivers door with the emergency handkey, pull the hood handle and connect your C-tek at the front.
And than press the trunk button with a big smile.
Ofcourse you can do all the tests you want with the trunk open as I did, to avoid any complication. If you press the trunk button with the trunk open and you hear that opening sound/click, it works the way you did it and it would have opened the trunk. You're not depending on any battery, only on your C-tek. ;-)
If you don't (like to) trust your C-tek, leave some threads sticking out at the back AND at the front, if you hate to use that emergency key like I do. :-)

 

This is incredibly dangerous advice that should not be repeated.

Disconnect the negative terminal first. If you accidentally touch the body with a metal spanner attached to the positive terminal, the battery will instantly dump hundreds or thousands of amps through the spanner, potentially welding it to both the body and terminal (and your hand) quicker than you can say "F--k that's hot." Once it is welded to the body and glowing red hot you have a short circuit that you will not be able to remove easily, and your battery will set itself on fire within a minute or two.

Once the battery is disconnected it is no longer part of the circuit and cannot deliver or accept a charge.

 

This was my thought. Once one of the terminals are disconnected (preferably the negative), it is no longer in the circuit. DC circuits need a positive and a negative to work.

 

Of course, obviously, but anyway, once both cables (or only the plus) are disconnected from the battery the trunk button will still release the trunk if you connect the C-teck or any other charging device with the two cables and therefor with everything that they're leading to (including to the release button). That's the point. That device will work like another battery, you will have a positive and a negative by/from that device. Actually that device is replacing your battery. It's logical, so I tried, and it works.

By the way, the comment about welding a spanner, here above, could be true or not, I don't know, so better save than sorry, or at least careful, but everytime I hit something negative, directly (or trough a cable) from the plus pole, nothing else than some sparks appeared. Never welded anything that way in my 65 years, nor burned any cable, nor lost any hand, foot, ear or nose. And believe me, I have a big nose which has been sticked, not stuck neither welded, into a lot of stuff.
Actually, anytime I want to check a battery, and I'm used to big batteries in my last 30 Jaguaryears, and I don't have any measure tool at hand, I check it by fastly passing something negative among the plus pole, and I'm still alive.
But again, of course, better save than sorry and I'm not the expert here, let that has been said, but I will continue disconnecting the plus because the minus is much more difficult to reach.
Nevertheless I'm a bit scared now, so I will handle it more carefully than before, thanks! ;-)

The never welding Mexican Dutchy

 

But that would be far too simple of a solution for a Jaguar engineer to do! They must keep things very complex so only Jag-certified mechanics can work on them at dealers and charge us an arm & a leg.....

 

Usual story, flat battery and no charging points under the bonnet. Drivers manual in the glove box, which won't open without power. Looking at the rear of the boot, next to the unlocking button, there is a small square plastic plug. Used the emergency key from my key fob, prised out the plug, and a keyhole is revealed which opened the boot.

 

So you haven't got an X351, then?