About a month ago we purchased a 2009 XJ 2.7 from a used Jaguar & Saab dealer in Holland. On the way home (to Belgium) it had a really violent vibration that was not present on the test drive. The seller said to go have it balanced and they would take care of the cost. The car was purchased with a set of wheels from an XK that had 255/20 front and 285/20 rear. It did not pass the Belgian import guidelines and dealer swapped them out for the original 255/19 with a new set of Chineese tires on the wheels. After balancing and having a thorough inspection the car still vibrates (not as bad, but very noticeable) at speeds between 100-140 kph. Anything over 140 is fine, I got the car to 200 on the Autobahn and it was very smooth. The garage claims it is 100% the tires and putting a high quality product will mitigate it. I am still skeptical, is it possible that new tires, cheap or not, that have been balanced can have such an impact on the cars ride?

Thanks on advance for any feedback!

 

I share your scepticism and have moved your post from General Tech Help to X350 forum for advice from members with the same model.

Fitting a set of wheels from an XK which has different wheel/tyre sizes front and rear is strange. The X350 was available with several wheel options but for 19 inch the rim is 8.5J x 19. Regardless of the choice of tyre brand, the size should be 255/40.



When i've had balance problems I've had the wheel/valve checked first for distortion and to see if it is out of balance. A distorted rim can make balancing impossible.

Graham

 

Hello Graham,

Thanks for the response. The current wheels that are on the car are what came with it, OEM C2P12002, and the spare in the trunk has what I would assume is the original Pirelli P-Zero tire on it.

I guess my question is what are the odds that two sets of wheels and tires cause the same phenomenon? If it is something other than the wheel what could it be, air suspension? The garage said that everything looked "perfect" and its the cheap tires... all I know is the car isn't very pleasant to drive and really want to get to the bottom of the issue.

Greg

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/th...f-tire-shaving

Haven't had to do it since my E-Type in the 70's, but yep they give you a sedative in the waiting room and cut perfectly good tread off.

 

your a brave so and so going over 80kph on chinese tires . bugger that !
get them off there for everyones safety .
also for piece of mind check the rubber donuts on the drive shaft .