In the late 1970s before I came to be, my mom spent a few years in London. It's there where she fell in love with Jaguars. Now don't ask her about which model, how many cylinders, or the compression ratio of the engine.

All she'll tell you is she likes a "white Jaguar with quad headlights."

I know this because it's exactly what she's mentioned over the years and something I've heard throughout my life. But she was never in a financial position to buy one then, and wasn't later on either. She drove me to school in a beat-up Datsun 210 with faded paint, black t-shirts to cover the ripped seats, and it was constantly being fixed by my late uncle who was a mechanic.

My car ownership history (2019 Miata, 2016 Cayman S, 2012 C63, 2010 S4, 2003 M5, among others) is not representative of how things used to be, but I owe a lot of my success to her sacrifices, to her working multiple jobs, and now I want her to enjoy a ride in a car that she thought would never be possible.

She also hasn't driven in years and while she doesn't have a need for it, the point of this car is to fulfill her only automotive wish.

"One day I'll have a white Jaguar."


I've been casually searching for the past year but lately became more serious about it and finally found this 2004 XJR with 107k miles in Arizona. I'm the 7th owner according to Carfax and the person who sold it to the previous owner apparently treated it pretty well. Front air suspension has been replaced, new headliner, new water pump and hoses, new adaptive cruise module, and probably some other areas have been addressed. Just before I bought it, the fuel pumps and sending units were replaced as well.

I drove it across the desert from Phoenix to LA with the temps consistently over 100 degrees but with the recharged A/C, had no issues at all.



Prior to leaving, I had the warning light for low washer fluid which was going to bug me, so I emptied a gallon of fluid in the reservoir. And yes, the hood struts are shot.



I'm obviously new to this forum, but not when it comes to bringing cars back up to snuff with a lot of documentation. I started a YouTube channel last year to showcase my work and attention to detail (OK let's be honest, my OCD) and may do a video or two on the XJR eventually, but for now I'm focused on getting it ready for her.

This is quite the 2-car solution with the XJR being 46" longer than the Miata.



First order of business is getting it smogged in California as I currently have the P1000 code. I've done plenty of reading and aware of the required drive cycles needed to get the evap system to be ready, just need to burn a little more fuel to get within the 30-85% range.



Looking forward to getting to know the car better and engaging with the community. Expect many updates throughout the way!

Cheers.

 

Looks a very nice car. Most people wno own these cars do look after them as they are in love with them just like your mother ! Do you hava mandatory roadworthiness testing in California ? OK, you have pollution tests but what about the fitness of the car to be driven ? Reason I ask is because some of the suspension bushes are notoriously short-life on these cars, the worst being the bottom air strut bushes, but the rear lower wishbone bushes are also a quick wear item. Of course if the car isn't doing a huge mileage every day you can probably wait a while, and it's usually not necessary to do the work all at once. Main word of warning is not to take the car to a Jaguar main agent for work like this, which is well within the capabilities of a normal garage, or hopefully a Jaguar or European car specialist somewhere in LA.

 

No road worthiness or inspections to worry about here, just smog. Every once in a while you'll see a random check point where they'll pull over cars with illegal exhausts and check to make sure the noise isn't too high.

Thanks for the note about the bushings. I'll be putting it up on jack stands soon enough and will take a good look at everything. I'm sure a good portion of the bushings are tired at this age and doubt they've all been changed. Just need to decide how much money to throw at it. Planning on doing as much work as I can on my own like previous cars and for anything else, I've been recommended a reputable indy shop.

 

I just love the first photo: "An advert for Green Energy involving an XJR"
And the second photo: "What do you mean a Big Car?"
And the third photo: an advert for jaguarforums.com?

Lovely story, and thanks for posting.

 

Thanks! Should be a fun journey.

 

Welcome to the family of Jag ownership as said before a good Indie making sure he's got the jaguar or equivalent diagnostic tools will help or getting one yourself.

The forum is your go too and has been for me for over a decade of multiple jaguar cars culminating in my X350 XJ8 best one of the lot in my opinion

Jaguar owners aren't like other car owner the cars might be exclusive but the owners I've met over the years from all walks of life has been fantastic

My ex wife used to get jealous with all the time spent on here lol suppose that's why she's a ex lol enjoy

 

Great cars your mum will love it

 

Finally got the car smogged after I realized that the entire drive cycle needed to clear the evaporation system readiness monitor wasn't necessary once I looked it up on the California state website:



Test only took 6 minutes.



Popped in a new battery into the key fob while also removing the rubber piece and cleaning it with soap and a spare toothbrush. A clean key is key to a clean ride.



I'm also looking at stripping the chrome and powder coating the stock wheels as they've seen better days:



And this unfortunate surprise when I went to swap the plates. I'm guessing the original bracket was lost and one of the previous owners just screwed into the panel instead. Fortunately it's mostly concealed.

 

Gave her some love last Friday. Did a quick exterior wash and installed new hood and trunk struts:



Just look at that hood staying up under its own power. Neighbor helped hold it up while I swapped it, then told me his trunk ones don't work on his Fusion. Once he saw how easy it is to replace them, decided against going to the dealer so I'll hook him up once he's got new parts.



No clue if the drain hole in the cowl was ever cleaned, but I dug up a lot of dried leaves and dirt from there. I'll have to see exactly where it pours out underneath once I take the panels off to make sure the entire path is clear.



Then off to the cabin filter which was pretty disgusting.



The hood latch spring was bent and you can see where it was hitting the radiator cover. Bending it didn't solve the issue and I'd get intermittent "bonnet open" messages. Can't have that, so I got a new assembly.



And now all is swell.



With it removed, noticed the leaper was slightly loose. Needed a 24mm deep socket to tighten that bad boy up!



New coolant reservoir cap for good measure.



The gas cap strap was missing the locking pin. Not sure how that happened as the strap itself is in good condition. Guessing at some point the original strap ripped, someone busted off the pin and didn't order it since the new caps apparently don't come with them.



While replacing the air filter, wanted to the get the lid completely off so I went to detach the mass flow meter connector, resulting in the plastic tab breaking (you can see it on the strut tower). Brittle plastic is brittle. It's a pretty tight connection so not concerned about it coming loose but something to keep an eye on. Eventually will look into replacing the connector and re-pinning it.



Accessory belt looks ok, but the supercharger pulley one does not. Both will be replaced.



Lastly new wipers. Hearing the hardened ones scrape and chatter across the glass was not a pleasant experience. I was confused why I couldn't get them in "convenience" mode (mid-stroke). Turns out there's enough clearance to raise them in their resting position to swamp them.



Much more to come.

 

Looks like you're gradually sorting out the neglect ! I see your front air spring units are not the Bilsteins. You can tell by the shiny metal cone sticking up into the engine bay.

 

Yes a lovely looking car. Nice to see someone putting in so much effort to look after the car. As Fraser mentioned, I too noticed the front air struts. One is coned and the other on the other side is not coned and seems to be two different struts on the front. From two different manufacturers maybe?

 

Yeah it was replaced with an Arnott unit but clearly didn't do both at the same time. I haven't had time to put the car up on jack stands to get a close look at everything yet but will post pics of what I find soon enough.

Speaking of pics, one other minor item to document. The blue really ties the engine bay together.

 

I'm pretty behind on updating this thread but a lot has happened over the past few months. I surprised my mom by coaxing her into the garage as she was blown away by the sight of a car she's lusted after for over 40 years. She was utterly speechless and it literally took hours for the shock to wear off.

Got her reaction on video too! For the next week she couldn't stop telling people about it, lol.



I've continued to work on it and have been including her in some of the tasks to give her a sense of accomplishment. Never in her life did she think she'd be popping in new center caps into freshly powder-coated BBS wheels.



Had the chrome stripped:



And went with a bright silver powder coat option:



Wheels have such an impact on a car's presence so despite the cost, really happy with how it turned out given their original condition:




Once I take care of a few more items, I'll do a proper photo shoot, likely in January. I took care of the scratch on the front bumper and did PDR on a dent on the rear quarter panel.





Got rid of the musty smell inside the car:



Flushed the brake fluid as the pedal felt a bit spongy, plus didn't have any record of when it was last performed (old fluid in plastic bottle).



This is the first car that's too long for my Quick Jack, so did each caliper one by one using my MityVac while entertaining my dad.

 

Next up was the fuel filter with new O-rings.



Disconnected the battery and found the pressure relief valve (blue cap) located on the passenger side fuel rail. Squirt-squirt with a towel on top and good to go.



Removing the plastic panel was straightforward revealing the filter and associated bracket. Used 16 and 20mm wrenches to remove it, though the new one required 22mm for the filter nut.



Here's the fuel that came out of the filter...not too bad at all so I'm assuming it's not the original. Not exactly thinking it through, my dad commented "well of course it's clean, you only use good fuel!" I then explained how I'm only responsible for 1k out of the 108k it's been driven, lol.



Here you can see the O-rings...



...and new filter installed. Probably should've added the mileage on there too.



I planned this out so when I was complete, the tank was pretty empty, allowing me to give it some injector cleaner to work its magic with a fresh new tank of petrol.



More updates to come!

 

you might want to put two of them in the tank. that treats up to 21 gallons and your tank is 26 gallons. car is looking great. really like the wheels. good luck with it.

 

I have not seen a white XJR x350. Like it.
The maintenance you have performed will keep your mother out of trouble once she drives it. Any complex car this age needs some TLC.
For some reason the shape of the lower front end looks different than others I have seen. May just be the color.
I have nicer cars than my XJR. But it gets more positive comments from strangers than any of the others.
Have been continually working on mine for almost seven years now. But it really has been almost trouble free for three or four. Some items like brake fluid flush have been performed twice now. Supercharger oil will get flushed again soon.

 

Thanks, I'm happy I ended up with an XJR instead of a Vanden Plas as the additional power is nice to have when I'm driving it. Still haven't pushed it too hard as I want to address other areas first like the supercharger oil.

I have a few more cosmetic updates to share, then I'm planning on flushing the transmission fluid (already have 14 quarts of Mercon SP on hand), then take it to Vegas in 3 weeks. Then I plan on putting it up on jack stands and take my time with a lot of miscellaneous items (coolant flush, new belts, diagnose an oil leak, etc.) The suspension needs a lot of love too, but that'll wait till next year.

 

Like many, my clock bulb was burned out and I really disliked how dark that center panel was at night. Replacement bulb part number: 2721MF

Remove the rear climate control panel by popping it out, revealing 2, T27 screws.





The shifter surround on my car popped off way too easily. Turns out some of the plastic underneath had broken off a while ago and wasn't applying tension.



After removing 2 more T27 screws on the bottom, the center console can be pulled out as it's just held in by clips in the front.





Started off near the lower right corner to remove the cluster panel.



The reinforcement ribs are fun.



Now there's access to the clock/vent assembly...



...but there are still 2 more screws that need to be loosened...



I decided to make life easier and just removed the panel in front of the airbag (battery was disconnected).



I also found it helpful to remove this additional screw for the cluster. More wiggle room, doncha know.



And here we are.



The clock easily clips out and a quarter-turn later, the bulb is out.



Replacement bulb is longer but not an issue. I ended up buying 2 which was fortunate since the first one wasn't snapping in easily. I was also hoping I could transfer the green plastic cover to the new bulb, but it was too far gone.



Brittle plastic being brittle, I broke a piece of the cluster and a tab on the console, though nothing epoxy couldn't fix. Everything else went back together pretty smoothly.



Before buttoning up the back, I once again addressed the old wire loom tape and cleaned it up.



Brilliant!

 

Over Thanksgiving break, decided to finally go out and take some proper photos with both cars. First up was washing them which was also a great opportunity to take care of years of caked on dirt in the trunk lid hinges and the muddy nastiness that had been living inside the plastic trim pieces.





Cleaned up the pieces with 303 Protectant and applied new tape.



That's more like it.



The driver's puddle light was broken so I replaced that with a used part off eBay.



We now address a couple items that make people think it's a new car.



The original badge was done.



Once again I summoned assistance and was met with initial confusion about why someone keeps floss in their garage.



Team effort on removing the old, stubborn residue.



For the trunk button, I first tried prying off the sticker but ended up popping out the button itself with a small pick. Peeled off the old sticker and used tape to apply the new one.



Yuge improvement!



Went to Malibu as there's a nice lookout on Piuma that I figured would be a good spot.


Years ago I bought a red jacket for photo shoots with the intention of returning it, but never got around to it. Glad I kept it though.




Unfortunately my mom was getting car sick and I cut the photo shoot short for the day, but glad I was able to get this frame-worthy pic.

 

Great thread, you have done a wonderful job bringing the car up to great condition