Thank you, Wombat... That is very reassuring - thanks. I think I will be pulling the trigger then. I would also agree with your use of Shakespearian language - re: hate full POS BMW. I dorve a 5 series BMW once, just an annoying slot machine and irritating. Dont get me wrorg I still love the CL, but with a 2002 I fear my ticker might not survive... (with no half decent mechanics here) and the Limo owner here with the XJL says it has been much more reliable than the S class from 2018...!!! Will keep you all posted. I hate noise so much due to my head injury that this will really be a mediical device for me. Kind of excited...

 

UPDATE - The car is now reserved for me. 2013 XJL, 37,000 miles. Any additional advice? First project will be replace run flats - what is highest profile that can fit with 19 inch wheels on the car and what is best recommendation for 18 inch wheels? On the 6 cyclinder can 17 inch wheels fit?) What would be the best recommendationf or wheel szie to make the ride the best? I would imagine 17 or 18 inch with 60 profile tire?

 

OK, I may have found the perfect 18 inch wheels - courtesy of Jaguar... see review for 18 inch
https://www.evoindia.com/cars/2016-j...-diesel-review
So only question is will those fit on the 2013? Cany anyone please advise?j

 

You should be OK with 18" Jag wheels but 17" probably would not fit.
On modern Jags the number one determining factor for minimum wheel size is front brake caliper size and on a base XJL with the 3.0 V6 the front brakes are almost certainly the 355 mm jobbies over which 18" OEM Jag wheels juuust fit.

 

Brilliant; thanks OzXFR - much appreciated. And it sounds like you are certain about the 18 inch fitting (and I presume I can double check with the Jaguar dealer if need be)... so then it is just a case of choosing the best 18 inch wheels to look the part on the XJL - mine is in a dark gold or light bronze colour. Any suggestions of best 18 inch wheels are very much welcome. Kind of exciting for me to buy this... I also wonder with the 19 inch what is the highest profile tire that can fit?

I also wonder how much does it improve the ride to go from 19 inch (with Pirelli run flats) down to 18 inch normal tires?

 

I had a 2010 XFS which came standard with the 355 mm front brakes and 18" wheels (called Venus). From what I can see in the pics in the ad for the car you are looking at it has the 355 mm front brakes. I don't know much about the different styles of Jag 18" wheels so I can't really offer any advice there.
Going from 19" wheels to 18" (with correspondingly higher profile tyres) will soften the ride a little but not by a huge amount, nowhere near as much as switching from run-flats for normal tyres.

 

Thank you again - great advice - so I might save some $$ and stick with the 19 inch rims for now, and just go to NON run flats. Likely the Michelln Cross Climates as that seems the only ones that fit if I tweak the profile higher and keep the overall diameter the same... (perhaps go to 235 55 19 on front and 265 50 19 on rear - Jaguar's standard should be 245 45 19 on the front and 275 40 19 on rear). Now I just have to find out if I have ventilated steats on the car I've purchased. XJL non portfoilio.

 

The 18" fits barely, but not all. Safest are to use Jag own wheels, since the brake caliber will be very close to the wheel on front. (i have 18" wheels on winter tyres)
You can check the effect of different profiles exsample here:
https://tiresize.com/comparison/
Its not only that the wheel have enough space to live, but also the speedometer will be effected since the overall tyre diameter change the gear ratio.

 

Little update - I bought it... Thanks for all your help. It arrives in 2 months. Now how to get the best fitting 18 or 17 inch wheels. Also how reliable do you think the 2103 is?

 

17 rims will not do
smallest factory wheels were 18x8J front and 18x9J rear
OEM part# C2D4497 and C2D4498 "Meru" or later design "Manra" C2D32262 and C2D32263
do not use run flats and you should be fine with the 18 inch wheels. Aftermarket wheels in 18 inch could have clearance issues with the brake calipers.
While you are changing wheels, check if you have still oem wheel nuts on your car. If so, throw them away! They have corrosion issues.

 

Thank you - that is great information, particularly with the serial numbers - appreciated. I like the Manras a lot. It will also be interetsing to see if anyone has successfully used any spoecific aftermarket 18 inch wheels as I may be able to save money that way as the Manras are not cheap, but as you say replacing the run flats is the first priority. Thanks...

In case anyone is interested I found a review and pictures with the 18 inch wheels that NielsL kindly found: - looks pretty good...
https://www.evoindia.com/cars/2016-j...-diesel-review

I've also been looking att what preventative maintenance work I might need to do e.g. on the coolant system (replace the plastic hoses) and the guide rails and timing chain tensioner. If anyone has any other advice of what I should plan on ,please feel free to advise me of the weak spots on the car - 2013 XJL 35,000 miles.

 

I found some Michelin tires with noise canceling foam inside them: - Anyone tried them on an XJ yet? They fit our 19 inch whels...

"The OE Primacy MXM4 T1 tires delivered impressive ride and noise characteristics on the road. However, that didn't come as a surprise considering it was tuned for the exact vehicle we were using for the evaluation....

"The Primacy MXM4 T1 features Michelin's Acoustic Technology, which is the company's marketing name for tires with noise-canceling foam on the inner liner. Our drivers were pleased with the overall noise comfort of the tire over all surfaces, but they were particularly impressed with the relative lack of noise on smooth roads. On the coarse sections of the route, the tread's interaction with the pavement created a subtle, low-volume tone that was mostly obscured by wind noise. Impact noise was very subdued, as well...

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=298

 

Like i wrote few posts before some aftermarket wheels fit, but not all. Best to go to wheelshop and ask if they are willing to measure the space available on front calibers. (most of the tyre/wheel shops have a tool for quick measure) I have found 18" ET45 8.5 wheels for my wintertyres (non staged setup). Unfortunally they are "no name" so can´t steer you for same ones. They look very much like Dezent TZ, but Dezent 18" ones do not fit. (tested these first)

 

Coventry manufactures a line of wheels for Jaguars. Here is a link to their website: https://www.coventrywheels.com/. There website has all the information you need. Several of the X150 Forum members have installed Coventry wheels on the ride.

 

I can't speak for the XJ but I can for the AJ126 3.0 V6 petrol SC (as advised earlier the AJ126 is/was only ever SC so it's sort of superfluous to add SC to the description).
The AJ126 was derived from the AJ133 5.0 V8 and uses lots of common parts and even the parts that are not common are very similar.
Lots of info, threads, posts, comments etc over on the F-Type sub-forum and mucho more on the XF sub-forum.
You have nailed the biggies already - the plastic coolant system pipes/hoses and the timing chain parts - although by the time the AJ126 came out (mid 2012) the problematic timing chain parts had been redesigned and updated to fix these problems. Still not 100% fixed but way less problematic than the early V8.
As for the coolant system parts don't forget the water pump which regularly fails despite four or five updates so far, see here for a comprehensive parts kit: https://euro-amp.com/products/jaguar...charged-engine
The next biggest common problem on the AJ126 is the SC coupler or torsion isolator, it wears and then rattles (a lot!), search these forums and you will plenty of info. More annoying than anything else but it can become problematic if let go for too long.
If you replace all the dodgy plastic coolant pipes the SC needs to come off and it's a no-brainer to also replace the SC coupler and fluid at the same time considering most of the cost is in the labour to remove and refit the SC, and consider renewing the SC bearings as well.
Last but not least all modern Jags absolutely demand a 100% healthy battery at all times otherwise they will have all sorts of electrical gremlins and problems, so check the battery and fit a new a new one if the existing one is already more than four years old! Also buy and regularly use a battery maintainer, CTEK is a common choice around here.

Edit - forgot to add - oil change interval!
Ignore the idiotic OEM interval of 16,000 miles or 12 months whichever comes first, that is waaaaay too long for this engine. Instead change the oil and filter at least twice as often so every 8,000 miles or six months whichever comes first. Cheap insurance.

 

Many thanks for that, OzXfr...

Quick question if anyone knows; do all 2013 XJL's have cooled seats? Or just some? And do all XJL's have paddle gear shifters on the steering wheel, or just some? Thanks.

 

Perforated seats are only used for cooled seats. The very base model (in Europe called luxury line) had only heated seats and thus smooth unperforated leather. Other countries might have different option packages.
Paddle shift was standard on all. I know no xj without it. It would mean that without paddles you wouldn't have an option to shift manually, because the rotating gear selector is unsuitable.

 

Thank you, that is great news - as mine has perforated seats. Only 6 weeks to go until it is here! Also, can one buy new leather seat covers. I can see in the pictuires of what I have bought that the drivers seat seems a little creased (not much) but I know on the S class you can buy new seat covers... - and also one seat on the back seems a very little creased also, and this is only a 35,000 mile car and all else is new, it seems for a few hundred $$$ it would be nice to have all 4 seat leathers perfect... Anyone have any ieads or knowledge if such is possible...?!

 

OEM would be extremely expensive. Restauration would be one option. The next best thing would be wreckers in the UK. They drive on the "wrong " side and the seat wear is therefore different. But there were very many different colours to choose from and the pattern design changed at least once during the facelift. Finding a matching set will be difficult given the rarity of the model.

 

Thanks for that = I will leave the seat leather replacement for now then... they look great anyway, just slightly creased.

So as I continue to pursue a very qiuet and smooth riding XJL incarnation here, I have done extensive tire research and will be following all your advice to first thing, junk the Pirelli 19" run flats. I have narrowed it down to 3 (or 4) replacement choices: - Now bear with me here, as I am going to propose something a bit not correct / naughty, but I have done it before on Mercedes and it worked fine. So please at least keep an open mind: - (but if it would damage the electronics, do let me know re: choice # 3....)

1) Continental Extreme DWS 06 Plus - not only do they have it in the correct sizes, but I can also increase 5 mm the ratio / profile, up to 245 50 19 front and 275 45 19 rear, with the Contis (no more than 3% tweak so safe) - and, all write ups say they ride very nice and are quiet but perhaps not as quiet as a grand Touring tire. Still the MB forum raves about them on MB W140's
2) Bridgestone Potenza RE980 AS + -- perhaps a better made tire, and just as quiet (?) but not available for both front and rear to go up to 50 and 45 ratios.... Still pretty good... and very comparable and some say Bridgestones are generally always better made that Contis, and I do have a lot of pot holes to contend with here.
3) Now this is where some of you may protest at my thinking. The only Grand Touring all season Tire (per tirerack) that allows me to do reduce width and increase ratio / profile by 10mm is Michelin Cross Climate 2 (yes I know the tread pattern looks awful) but it means I can potentially get a quieter tire (?) with aslo a much taller side wall / ratio and hence, would/ could go for 235 55 19 and 265 50 19 - Now, before you say anything I know that is 5% up in circum., but here I just pootle around and hate bumps and noise.

So the question is which is the best choice for silent and cushy ride. To be honest I am leaning to the Contis (at + 5 on profile / ratio) as my last set of Michelins were poorly made. If I could get the Pirelli Cinturato All Season + (any of them, 1, 2, or 3) in the 19 inch to fit I would as I know from my Mercedes CL they are absolutely the quietest and best riding tire in the world. Or Vredestine (sp.) similarly.

All thoughts and experiences are welcome. Thank you!