Suspension--that is the other Achilles' heel of the x350. Bushings tend to last about 50k miles. The ball joint/tie rod grease boots all tear early and then they're on borrowed time. Upper control arms interchange with Lincoln LS, rear lower A arms as well for some years. Front bushings are available separate from the control arms and can be pressed in/out. Other bushings/parts available from Lemforder's catalog (OEM) without paying Jag prices.

 

Good news that the bushings can be replaced on their own and bought cheap. Bought a big press when I did the suspension on my 2003 XJR so will be nice to put it to use again I would think that at the mileage of vehicles I'll be looking at they will have either been replaced or need doing right away.

 

It was the almost constant need to replace suspension bushes that finally put me off the car. The lower shock bushes are a case in point. There are four of them, and they take the weight of the car. So they start wearing out at about 35k miles. The bushes are cheap enough, but then you have to add in the labour costs of pressing out the old and pressing in the new bushes, My MB SLK has similar at the front, but the bushes are a lot larger so last longer.

The only thing I had to do on the air suspension was replace the compressor. The old one got to 35k miles, (car bought at 31k miles), but the new one lasted until I part-xed the car for an X358 when it was well over 100k miles. I think the early Wabco compressors were flawed, and had to have improvements made. Jaguar probably put a lot of pressure on Wabco, because the compressors were failing well within the warranty period.

One stupid problem is the heater matrix clogging up. This is common and happened on my 2nd XJ. The parts are quite expensive, but the labour time not all that much, as the dash does not have to come out, in fact it is quite a simple job. However, this is the sort of thing that, frankly, Jaguar should have sorted out, as it is a lot of hassle.

Yet despite all this the cars were totally reliable on the road, and I took both cars to Germany on holiday every year until 2018, starting in 2010. We would do about 3000 miles driver-way back to driveway. A ,magnificent highway cruiser, but not one that can ever be neglected. If you neglect a Jaguar, like all cats it will bite you eventually !

 

???????

it’s a $2.99 walmart wiper. remove the sprayer in the blade…move it to the new one


ebay and some active brain cells = never have suspension problems again

buy used components out of the newest dew98 cars you can find, or turkey/china whitebox when applicable. late x351 late x250 any ftype. the leaking ball joint boots and wobble bushings haven’t been a problem for like 8 years

 

My Jinxie is my daily driver now, 20 miles a day between home and my office. It’s a pleasure to drive. I would suggest a X356 (2006-2007) which have better electronics, thicker windows and no chrome trim on fhe windshield. X358 are the same but the tacky facelift doesn’t do for me. There is no other aluminum saloon with a V8 engine, leather and wood wrapped interior for less than $10k around.

 

Exactly, so much car for the money. It's funny, all I seem to be finding for sale are the 2004 models. I have seen a few x358s but I really don't like the styling. The 06-07 cars seem to be much more scarce. Thanks for the input though, hopefully one will come up.

 

Hello.. I bought my 04 x350 on Jan2021 for $3700 w/ 90K miles. It's been my daily ever since and have put 35K miles on my beauty. I have other cars/trucks but this is my main drive. I love it! Knock on wood. It's been very reliable to this point. There have been issues here n there but not unlike any other 2004 car. IF I had to do it all over again I would. I was very nervous initially from the "rumors" of Jaguars poor reliability. Still feels super solid, but it could use a suspension refresh aka bushings but I live with the car being 95% factory rather than the perfect showroom ride
I avg 23-24 mpg combined. Highway I get 27-29mpg local in the 20-21 range.

 

Great feedback, thank you! Sounds like a great deal you got, hopefully I can find something similar.

 

Purchased my 2006 XJR in early 2015. Replaced all fluids immediately. All the suspension was next. Parts were easier and cheaper. Ford dealers had Jaguar control arms except front lower for a third of Jaguar price. Thinkthe AC Delco rotors were 20 a pop. Still like new.
Bought four XJR struts from a junkyard. Waste of money. None lasted a year.
Still fighting the struts. got two struts, month old Arnott on the front. One started leaking after a week. The lifetime warranty is good, but I think the quality is crap. The RMT rebuilds used before lasted longer than the new Arnott. Think a year or two is best so far. They used to be solid.
I am willing to gamble on a new option. There are MaXpeedingRods coilovers for around 600.00. Adjustable preload and dampening. So ride height can adjusted. And I imagine I would crank down on the dampers. Wish I had bite when both the old Arnott were leaking. I hoped the two new would go a couple years. A couple weeks should have been my target.
But going to replace the Arnott that lasted a week first. Other one has held air so far. A month and less than 200 miles. The rear are two old RMT rebuilds. Three or four years old. At least, maybe five.
Got two RMT rebuilds on the front of my 2005 A8. About five years old. Rear are original along all the bushings and ball joints. Replaced the front UCA bushings and swaybar links in 2013 as preventive maintenance when purchased. Not all the suspension parts made by Lemforder are rubbish. Had alignment checked this summer and tech said it was as tight as a new car.
These two gas hogs are my around town cars, Houston is big! Woodlands is 50 miles away. But 100 miles is my limit in these two old gems.
Have a slab pounder for my crazy road trips. Would be sick to burst a hose or lose an air strut in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, or Oklahoma. It would be a car hauler ride home. And traded away my car trailer puller.

 

Are Arnott air springs really that bad? I would expect them to last 50k miles at least. Anyone else with similarly bad experience?

 

I put 2 Arnott front air springs on my car back in 2016. After the first test drive, I found 2 of the top mount studs broken off (they were torqued to spec, around 20ftlbs). They quickly sent me 2 replacements and those have had no issues after 60k miles. Just did the rears earlier this summer. I had an issue trying to get the rear struts installed, there's a thread here on that, but that was due to poor instructions not the quality of the product.

 

No issues with my Arnott coilovers, installed March of last year. Coilovers, though, not air springs. I didn't even try to refurbish the air system.

 

Went to look at a car today. 2004 XJ8 with 130k Silver over Black. I don't think I'll buy this one, but after driving my first x350 I'm hooked. What a fantastic car! Even with the mileage it rode like a new car and was dead quiet inside. It felt a lot quicker than I thought it would as well, I guess these are geared well with the ZF 6-speed. Just cruising around it actually felt quicker than my 98 XJR. It obviously doesn't pull like the R once you get going but very satisfied with the power.

This particular car was decent, but needs a good amount of cosmetic work. Original owner said it was garages, but judging by the faded headlights and water marked stainless trim that was a bit of a stretch. The paint was OK and I'm not looking for perfection but there were a couple of dings that I dont think I could live with. Once was on the front wheel arch and the other right on top of the quarter panel. Interior was OK, needed a really good cleaning and headliner. Lowest he would take is $4k and if it looked like it drove it would be in my garage already, but I think I can find a nicer example. Really no sense in driving a Jag that doesn't look the part.

 

I’ve traded notes with you over on the 308 forum. Someone here mentioned plastic parts getting old and brittle. I do recall an instance in which I had a check engine light on my 350. Because of state inspection time constraints I ended up at the dealer. The issue was traced to hoses in the smog pump system. They’d gotten old and sprang leaks. New ones and some switch/valve/union box or something did the trick. Bless their hearts, they gave me a rental while they had the beast.

Oh yeah, I came to love the bluetooth in the car. I wear hearing aids, so having the audio come through the main speaker was a huge help. Without BT, the sound is piped into my ears, but road noise and the like is distracting.

I look forward to hearing about the joys of driving your new acquisition once you get it home.

 

Yea, that seems par for the course with any old car. This 2006 will be the newst daily driver I've ever owned, so no stranger to weird and age-related issues but thanks for the heads up. Will keep that in the back of my mind in case that problem comes up. Even though its a lower mileage car (41k) time takes its toll. I'll look over it in detail when I pick it up this weekend, will probably just do some preventative maintenance and start driving it within the next week or so.