Every car I've ever seen in New York ends up with trashed bumpers and tons of scrapes and dings all over!

 

It would appear that the transmission flush has a huge impact on the way car drives. The shifts from 1-2 are much smoother (although I can still feel it sometimes), but I did not detect any harsh shifting in the higher gears. I haven't driven freeway speeds yet, so I'll report back on that later.

I'll be getting the the lower control arms done in the next month or two. It's only the front right which is leaking, but my mechanic recommended I get both done at the same time. I know the parts are about $500 each, so I'll be watching online for any deals that come up.

 

Have you seen this thread?

Jaguar Forum.co.uk • View topic - The definitive wishbone bush thread

I assume they are the same ones you can see on the UK EBAY if you search for 'X350 bush' for around 50GBP.

 

The rt. front corner is the one that takes the beating. Check out www.welshent.com. They usually have good prices on control arms. Talk to Herky.
If it were me, I would not do the lft. front until it shows signs of failure. My rt. front failed at 40k miles. I now have 65k miles on the car and the left front is still okay.
Good deal on the xmission. A fluid exchange seems to work wonders on these cars. At 90K + miles it was past due.

 

Thanks for this info. I''m going to check it out. I sure would be nice to save some $$$ on this stuff. I appreciate it.

 

You're right about the transmission. When I first got the car I thought it must have needed a TCM software update. It was only by reading this forum that I learned about the possible effects of a fluid change. It's made a big difference.

With respect to the control arms, I'm going to see if I can get some of the bushes from the previous post and save some $$$. Right now the only sign of failure is the intermittent knocking on little bumps. It's not bad, it's just that the car is so beautifully refined in all other respects that I notice it. As this car is new to me, I'm so happy that there are no other apparent issues. Thank you all for your responses.

 

Mitch,

Please note this correction to my previous post that had a fat finger/head error. I would not R&R the left front lower control arm until it shows signs of failure. By all means replace the rt. ft.

 

Thanks for the clarification. If I can get the bushes from England, I'll let you know how that works out.