I have a 2009 Super V8 Portfolio (the celestial black color) and am loving it. I got it from a Ford dealer in Buffalo with 16,000 miles on it, and it now has about 21K. Pittsburgh, where I live, is pothole central, and the winter saw me lose three winter tires and two rims. Those 20" wheels really don't like Beirut-like surfaces! I also appear to have had the last available (for now, at least) Selena rims - my Jaguar dealer imported one from the UK and told me there were no more in the world.

Anyway, I wanted to ask other owners out there two specific questions - given that the car is supposed to come with 'everything' does yours have a heated steering wheel? Mine doesn't and I missed it a lot in the winter! My previous XJs came with that as standard. The other question concerns the shift. I have two little blue bumps that seem to be LEDs which don't ever come on. Anybody have a theory what they might be? I'm assuming that they're some aftermarket gizmo installed by the original owner, but it's bugging me that I can't work out what they are!

Kevin

 

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Honestly, my first thought was "oh my god someone drilled holes in that irreplaceable $$$$ alloy shift surround"

I think you'll find there was/is a radar detector fitted to your car, one of those sneaky hidden installations, and these are the indicators. It may have been removed by the previous owner, but they left the indicator lamps in place, for obvious reasons...

 

Hi Kevin,

On our '04 XJR (which has a much more stripped down feature set compared to your Portfolio), the heated steering wheel works in combination with the front seat heaters. If your seats have heaters, perhaps your wheel is heated but the heater is not operating properly.

I can't help you with the blue LEDs. Aftermarket alarm or radar detector installation?

Cheers,

Don

 

Oh, I forgot about the wheel.

Full leather steering wheels are not heated, the half wood/leather or full wood wheels are. As Don says it works in conjunction with the seat heater, if you have some wood.

 

Hi and welcome Fozard - a lovely car you have there! When you get a moment would be nice to see some pics of it.

Many of us have similar problems with our alloys, one solution that we adopt is to buy a set of used alloys which we put our winter tyres on. Our roads in the UK are equally poor, I've only this week had to take my 21" wheels off due to pot hole exposure! I run a set of 19" wheels with winter tyres... 235 45 19 on the front and 255 40 19 on the rear. It's also much cheaper than buying new Selina's from a dealer - unless you particularly want to keep them in business ;-)

I've just had a look on ebay, there are several listed as brand new from £200 - although im not sure if yours are 8.5j or 9.5j (assume 8.5 due to offset). I'd be happy to help with shipping some out to you if you still need some.

 

Kevin,

I have a 2009 Super V8 Portfolio in the Astral Gold color.

The two blue lights on the chrome shift bezel would be some sort of aftermarket installation. Either the owner or a service center would have drilled holes in the Bezel.

Regarding the 20" Selena wheels, your Jag dealer is probably incorrect -- I had recently inquired with my local Jag parts department and there appear to be plenty in stock. They gave me a quote as I plan to order a second set. (Also, the Selena 20" wheels were an accessory to the XF and XK)

My recommendation would be to check with a Jag Parts Department instead of the dealer. If you did check with your parts department, try another Jag Parts Center and have them do an inventory sweep of number of rims left.

 

Yes, it's a leather steering wheel. All I can tell you is that when it's been parked outside all day (at work) and it's way below freezing out there, I can't drive it home without gloves!

Radar detector is something I hadn't thought about, and it's a good idea: I'll investigate further. As to the rims, thanks Michael. My dealer's parts department told me that part C2C39725 (a steal at $1,260 before tax!) was out of stock worldwide. The XF and XK versions seem to have a slightly different offset or come listed as 'front' and 'rear'. On the Portfolio, they're all the same spec, right?

I think that in any case for the winter I'm going to use something less expensive to replace! Ideally I'd like to buy an old AWD just for the bad weather, but if I do my wife will leave me . . .

 

Win win situation, a new car and less nagging?

 

Sorry, no. I've driven both. Extensively. 1960's to present-day.

Not unless you've managed to drive on the roof, not floor, of a Beaker civilization hand-dug tin mine, slate mine tailings, a rock-shingled beach, or the Giant's Causeway.

Pittsburgh is Alvis territory, not Jaguar or even Land Rover.

And I mean Alvis Saladin and successors, not Speed 20. Even a Bren carrier or an M18 Hellcat would shed track in short order.

 

On the underside of the chrome and wood trim piece, are the blue LEDs connected to anything?
This trim is able to be removed easily.

 

A little late in the day, but yes definitely an aftermarket part on the gear surround.....

As for the steering wheel, it never gets cold enough here to note if the steering wheel is heated..... though on previous comments stating that the lether steering wheel would not have then I guess it does not have.

Tend to use the cooled seats more than anything.

On thinking on the heated/cooled seats.... is the seats heated/cooled on the base and back?
__________________

 

Guys, I'll close this conversation for now with thanks: I'll try to get some pictures posted one of these days. I think you're probably right about the radar detector. There's no sign of any extra electronics anywhere under the hood, and so far I haven't had the courage to rip off the bezel to see where the wires go! I may just live with being less curious . . .

I guess I'll have to adjust my mental picture of the previous owner. I thought it was a little old lady with exquisite taste, and it was obviously a showoff with a lead foot!

Kevin

 

Or maybe just a show-off. Period. Those LEDS' COULD have been purely decorative additions by someone wanting to impress.. With mystery and a repertoire of 'many' tall-tales. Tailored to fit a given situation, even.



Side note .. 'RADAR' detectors being illegal here.. IF I thought I had need for one, I'd rather have it interrupt a door-switch sensor line and pulse-flash a 'door ajar' warning- which is otherwise a steady-state indication.

Would get the job done w/o making it obvious anything was there.

 

Those are k40 leds for radar detector