Hey all,

Recently sold my 06 xj with 79k on the clock. Loved it, black/black with chrome 19's. I sold mainly after the past winter here in nw missouri where temps got below 20 degrees Fahrenheit; my front suspension wouldn't hold up. Also the Yokohama all seasons 255's weren't worth a darn in snow.

Coming to now. I sold my beloved jag, my favorite car, but winter frustrated me. Planned on something like a cayenne turbo or c300 4matic. However I recently came into an excellent deal on another super low mile 06 xj8. And I'm tempted.

My question is with some blizzaks are these good in the snow? Also was the suspension dropping in low temps on my old xj common or a sign of them going out?

 

Anyone?

 

I don't know about how these cars hold up in snow, but I do know that the cold weather air suspension issue is fairly common as they age. Mine started acting up this past winter anytime it went under 60 degrees. As far as I know, its either an issue with the shocks having leaks or the compressor being worn out, or both. I've just ordered a set of remanufactured shocks from Arnott; hopefully that solves the issue. If it doesn't, there's a refurb kit you can buy from a member here to restore your air compressor's power. So in my opinion, its definitely a fixable problem, not a deal-breaker for the car.

 

Mine is 10 years old, and once the temp drops to 30f the air suspension fails every time. I am looking to do the suspension conversion before it gets too cold this year.

 

I monitor these forums while I'm deciding what used car to purchase and the X350 is on my list but I have no experience with it.

If the air suspension units are replaced with Arnott units and the compressor is changed, do the cars stay up in extreme cold?

There are times I drive my cars when the temperature is minus 20F and I don't mind replacing parts if it will fix the problem, I just don't want to get into a car that won't work well at the temperatures I sometimes drive in.

I've always had RWD cars, and with good snow tires and a car with good weight distribution (which the Jaguar has) snow has never been a problem.

 

So far as I know, if you have replaced the shocks and compressor, it should stay up. I really don't know about -20F though. I'm curious myself.

 

The suspension in our '04 would often be slow to lift in temps below 40F, even after I replaced the piston ring in the compressor (which is all the vast majority of compressors need - most folks who buy a new compressor are wasting hundreds of dollars). Above 40F, our suspension works perfectly. Before cold weather comes again, I plan to replace all the O-rings in the entire system to see if that makes a difference. No one has yet satisfactorily explained this cold weather air suspension trouble. My current assumption is that it is a temperature-related air leak, either due to hardened or distorted O-rings or air shock top mount diaphragm seals, or the exhaust valve icing up and failing to close. Other than the shock air bladders themselves, there just aren't many places the system can leak only in cold temperatures, and it doesn't make sense that an air bladder would leak only in cold temps.

For owners in cold climates, it might make sense to convert to either the Arnott coil-over system or the coil-over system from an S-Type. I'm stubborn and intend to keep learning everything I can about the stock air suspension with the goal of being able to economically repair any fault. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Don

 

I got my 2004 in last november and had air suspension warning as soon as temperature dropped below freezing point. That yellow light kept appearing through winter until I got new piston rings for the compressor in march. Haven't seen that after fix but there wasn't extreme cold anymore. And the car worked ok through winter despite warning on , even below -30C temperatures. And with Nokian nordic winter tyres, no problem with snow and ice. Ofcourse needed to adjust driving after 10 years with AWD X-type

 

Good to hear the air system will work (if properly set up). My current daily driver is a RWD Lincoln LS (similar to the Jaguar S with a manual trans). Good snows and the car is fine in the snow.

 

There shouldn't be any problems with a working air suspension in cold weather. I have had my X358 for three years/two winters, and often been out in down to - 15 Celsius (5 F) with no problems. The car has 80k km (50k miles) on the clock.

However, these cars are not the best cars in snow. They are more "exciting" to drive in slippery conditions than a good front wheel drive car. Even with the best winter tires. But that is not why we drive XJs ...

You asked about Blizzak winter tires. I haven't tried those on the car, but I had them on another car. They were very good. Blizzak is considered to be among the premium winter tires.