Last year on holiday in Germany, I started to hear what sounded like a wheel bearing noise at the front of the car. It was like a "whoo-whoo-whoo" noise that speeded up as the car went faster, eventually the sounds blending into a drone at speed. I was worried enough to take it to a Jaguar main dealer in Mainz for a check-up. No fault was found although the technician did say it could be my new discs, (Mintex not Jaguar). Back in England I could not hear this noise, but it was a lot cooler, (Germany can get very hot in summer, that's why we go there).
My local indie could find nothing amiss with either front bearing, but changed the discs on warranty. Once back in the UK other matters intruded, and the noise was not noticeable at all and anyway, no fault had been found.

So, over 12 months later, we were again on holiday in Germany, and this time the noise seemed much louder, and also even noisier going round left-hand bends. The evidence seemed overwhelming that I had a front wheel bearing problem.

So why only in Germany did I hear this noise ? I did a bit of research, and found that almost all roads in Germany are surfaced in Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA), and from my experience are like billiard tables compared to our very poor surfaces. The Germans invented SMA hence why it is used almost exclusively there. Traditional British surfaces are done using Hot Rolled Asphalt. This is laid and rolled out, then, whilst still hot, fairly large granite chippings are rolled into the surface. It is very hard wearing, but noisy. On the other hand, SMA surfaces are renowned for their low noise. So this seems to be the reason I only noticed it in Germany, and to some extent in France and Belgium.

The upshot was that last Wednesday, the car went into my local indie for an investigation that I attended. Road test on the bad roads around Stoke-on-Trent was inconclusive, but the noise could be faintly heard above the tyre noise. Back on the ramp, both front wheels were spun up, but no noise could be heard even with the stethoscope, and bearing play was within tolerance. Then the rear wheels were spun and immediately a bearing noise could be heard on the left rear wheel. So my prognosis of a front wheel bearing was completely wrong, even though steering input varied the noise !

Trouble was this wasn't the only thing found. Both ball-type bushes on the lower wishbone were shot, as was the lower shock bush. So I had to bite the bullet and they fitted a new wheel bearing, OEM wishbone, and shock bush. Not cheap, but the noise has now gone.

I think that with my car now on 113k miles, I am going to have to accept that renewal jobs are going to become more frequent. The car is now not worth much, and I can afford most of these jobs. What puts me off getting a younger car is the cost in capital and then subsequent depreciation probably costs more than what I'm spending now. And, of course, the car is the Devil I Know, whereas another used Jaguar will inevitably have a need for some repairs anyway, but I won't know until I buy it.

 

Great that you figured it out, but bummer on the expense. Thanks for the update. Keep on rolling!

 

The good news is that the price of the wishbone was less than last time.


The plain fact is that the dark heart of the X350 car, (at least the early ones), is the short life of the suspension components.


Jaguar have achieved reliability; I've never been let down at the roadside with this car in 53 thousand miles and 6 years ownership. However, I've had to spend quite a bit of money on parts that are expected to eventually wear out, but not quite so fast as I have experienced.


So, from my ownership experience, n 2003, the year my car was made, Jaguar still had a lot of work to do on durability.


noun: durability - the ability to withstand wear, pressure, or damage.




I talked about this with the staff at the independent Jaguar shop I used, and they told me that they don't seem to have so many jobs to do on the suspensions of my car, (and also the S-type and early XF). So it would seem later parts that are identical to my original 2003 parts are made of better materials. Or maybe the cars have all gone for scrap !!

 

You'd have thought they were bought by Audi (we've had several and they too eat up their suspension bushings on a regular basis)