I tried searching them before, dwgates. They don't seem to carry the adaptive shocks. They don't even list an option for an 03 XJR. They have very good pricing though!

I emailed Rimmerbros.com as recommended by Highhorse asking for details about shipping, taxes etc. It may be most practical to get them from overseas, ironic huh?

If the Partsgeek ones are the same, they are the cheapest I've found so far and they have free shipping. I may be getting ahead of myself anyway, I don't know if I have the budget right now. I have spent THOUSANDS in the last 7 weeks fixing up this car. I need to do a bank account reality check, haha.

 

Mr Harvest, If these are the actual adaptive shocks the price looks good. I thought the adaptive shocks had a harness coming out the top though. I'm wondering if these are just able to be put in the car but you don't get a change in dampin. They look suspiciously like the ones I took off my XJR *(original I'm sure) and the ones I put back it. A call to the company should straighten answer that question though. Funny how these repair jobs balloon (work & $) on these big cats. Mine was just up in the air for some tranny work, which I haven't even gotten to yet, thanks to spotting a bunch of torn boots when I was first looking around. I'll look at the stack of bills afterwards I guess...

 

The wiring harness is part of the car, they would simply snap into the opening at the top of the new shocks. Good point though, I should call them first before I order anything.

It seems unlikely that Bilstein (sp?) would make two different adaptive sport suspension shocks to fit the same car, especially since the demand is probably significantly lower than the demand for other types of more common cars. I feel like it's probably the right shock.

I totally agree about the ballooning projects, but I also kind of like it (budget not withstanding). My dilemma now is that I have all the parts to re-furbish the upper and lower control arms and replace the outer tie-rods, but then if I do that and go get an alignment I may have to go pay for ANOTHER alignment when I put the shocks in. That's why I want to do it all at the same time. It could easily be a month though before I can afford to order the shocks.

I have flirted with the idea of selling my BMW since I never drive it anymore. I could take that money and do some serious upgrading and re-building on the XJR. I could easily get as much for my E30 as I paid for the XJR. That would be a nice car budget to play with! I am certain I would regret it though. I have had that BMW for 9 years and replaced EVERYTHING. That car is in amazing condition. It has a lot of sentimental value, too.

Anyway, back on topic. Knowing that the shocks are causing the little "hop" up front and having to drive the car another month before I can consider fixing it is difficult. Wow I'm spoiled. lol

 

My wife and I just went for a drive in the BMW. It has been driven maybe 10 miles in the last 12 weeks, poor neglected car. haha

The reason I mention it here is for the perspective I just gained; the importance of suspension upkeep. I always thought of the BMW as a bit rough and bumpy because it's designed for handling. Over the last few years I have replaced all suspension components front and rear with Lemforder and/or Sachs Boge. The car is so tight and responsive, and frankly it has a very smooth ride. Sadly, my "bouncy" little E30 rides and handles better than my XJR (although its not nearly as fast).

I say that to say this: I am now even more motivated to invest the time and money into the XJR. If I can make that little E30 ride that great, then imagine what the results would be if I put the XJR through the same overhaul!

It has also solidified my resolve NOT to sell the BMW, so the XJR suspension budget will have to come from elsewhere, lol.

 

It was my understanding that Bilstein still had the rebuilding service -- it's not cheap ... but not 300 per. My memory is/was that the facility was in CT.

 

I tried calling Bilstein today about the rebuilding, but got some contradictory information. They said they can rebuild aftermarket Bilstein shocks, but not OEM units that came on the car from the factory; something about the seals...or something. I have decided to rule that out anyway, primarily because of the required down-time for the car if I went that route.

I know it's unlikely anyone will be able to clarify any of this, but I have found several sources for the shocks and they don't always share the same part numbers. I feel that the shocks are the same, but some vendors of their own reference system for the product, but I don't know for sure.

W0133-2033801 -- Partsgeek
20-070502 -- Bilstein website
MND2140GD -- Heritage Jaguar OEM part number site

Anyone able to provide assurance that no matter which one I order it will be the correct shock?

 

I would hope that the Bilstein's would be real...as in not Chinese replicas. I would call Partsgeek or any of them to verify those are OE types and not knockoffs before ordering.

 

Call your local dealer or one of the online dealers -- get the correct part number and the wholesale price of the part. Now you have the correct starting point.

 

That's interesting ...... know I remember someone getting them done. I think they were in the 175 each range.

 

Yeldogt, I may not have called the correct Bilstein offices but I searched "Bilstein USA" and called what appeared to be a corporate number. They told me they could source new ones for me and that the part number would be 20-070502. Also, according to the Bilstein website, that part number is listed as superseding part number MND2140GD, which is the Jaguar part number I had originally been searching for.

Using that part number I ordered two new ones this morning from an authorized Bilstein dealer and hope to receive them by the middle to end of next week. The picture on their website was completely wrong, it was a black Bilstein strut, but the part numbers and product description were dead on correct. I'm thinking it was a "representative" picture. In fact if I clicked to another screen it showed yet another different shock (a black rear type shock) for the same part number. So, pictures notwithstanding I am quite confident I have the right shocks on the way.

FCP Euro immediately sourced the Meyle bushings I asked about and even beat the lowest price I could find anywhere else. They also agreed to take the Uro bushings back. For all I know the Meyle and Uro bushings come off of the same production line and simply go into different boxes! haha. But, since they are not particularly easy to replace, I'm going to go ahead and get the Meyle ones.

 

Anytime you see a WD number on a online website it
is likely to be a WorldPac number. They do this to prevent
you from cross checking part numbers.

Stupid brain dead practice akin to security theatre.

 

I got a text from my wife while I was at work today; my new shocks arrived!! I was very excited and set aside the evening to install them.

I get home, open the boxes and the first one is perfect; exact replacement for my car.

Second box.... Rear shock for a Volkswagen Eos (I don't even know what that is...).

Major disappointment. I noticed they drop shipped it from a local Bilstein office so I called them directly. They were very nice and said they'd ship the proper one immediately, but it's coming Fedex ground from California. I am in North Carolina. Did I mention "major disappointment"? lol

They came earlier than I expected anyway, so I guess it's bittersweet.

Is there any benefit/problem with installing ONE of them now? It seems the passenger side is the bumpier one, would it be silly to replace that one and drive 4 or 5 days before replacing the other side?

 

No benefit/problem, especially if you plan on putting it on stands. By waiting you put it on stands once and that's it. I agree with the bittersweet analogy.

 

I had planned to do one side at a time. I was going to raise, for example, the front passenger tire off the ground and remove it. Then, put a bottle jack and block of wood underneath the spring carrier and remove the upper shock mount. Then, remove the lower bolt and pull the shock out the bottom. Then, put the new one in securing the bottom bolt first and then the upper shock mount. Then lower the car and torque the lower shock bolt. Then, do the other side.

If that technique is acceptable, then I could do half of the job now and the other half when the shock arrives next week. If both are in fact bad then the ride may only be slightly improved, if the passenger one is the only one bad then I should notice a very nice improvement. Either way I'd still put the other new one in next week.

Any flaws in my thinking?

 

I was too tired last night, but I went out this morning and changed the passenger side front shock. I've read lots of posts where they say "that's an easy repair, shouldn't take you very long" and I take it with a grain of salt. I figure there is at least ONE crappy little snag that will make the job take longer than expected.

Not here though! Man, that was so easy. I slid the old shock out and put the new one back in with no problems. My only poor decision was leaving my wife's car in the garage and replacing the shock in the driveway. I lost a few pounds sweating. Who knew it would be THAT hot at 10 am.

I have yet to test drive; will be leaving in a few minutes. If the ride is better (less basketball bounce at 75 mph) then great. If not, then either it's the other shock that's bad, both shocks were bad, or it's something with the bushings and ball joints that I already have on the shelf in my garage. Or, it's the tires... in which case I'm doing a nice front end re-fresh that my 13 year old car needs anyway, right?

 

Test drive successful. I took it on a 15 mile circle that includes a particular section of interstate that always causes the bounce; nice smooth ride. Now it could be a fluke since it would "occasionally" drive good before. Usually, the hotter the outside temperature the bouncier the ride. This is easily the hottest day since I bought the car, so if that was a factor then my results were good. I am anxious to see if the ride gets even better when I replace the drivers side shock next week.

Also, there used to be about a cm difference in the height on each side, with the passenger side being lower. After the drive I checked and the passenger side is maybe a mm lower now. Not sure how the shock could affect that, but I will keep checking.

 

To address the original topic of this thread, I guess I have indeed found a "middle ground" answer to the upper control arm bushings. FCP Euro immediately provided a Meyle option, which matches (by brand) the Meyle bushings I also got for the lower control arms. They took the Uro ones back issuing a full refund, minus shipping of course since they had no fault in the situation. I received the Meyle ones today.

The associate at FCP said he thought many Jaguar owners might share my preference so they removed the Uro bushings that were listed and re-directed the link to the Meyle ones.

For many years I've been purchasing BMW and Volvo parts from them, now I enter a new era with Jaguar parts.

 

Ok, 12 days later and with the new shocks the ride has improved so much that I'm not really even planning to replace the bushings and ball joints any time soon. I have all the bushings and ball joints (and tie rod ends) in my garage already, so eventually I will certainly replace it all, but it doesn't seem that critical now.

I am taking a week of vacation the first part of August. Perhaps if I can source a spring compressor between now and then I'll go ahead and replace everything.

 

I have officially been granted the first week in August (first 10 days actually) as paid vacation. I am planning to replace all four ball joints, all eight bushings and both tie rod ends. I already have all of those parts in my garage.

What I DON'T have is a suitable spring compressor. If anyone has one I can borrow/rent/purchase I would greatly appreciate it. Please post here or PM me.

Thank you very much!

 

Mr Harvest, Ijust did this job on my 99 XJR (it was a bear and I removed the lower/ rear wishbones and gave them to a shop to press out and in). I also made 2 spring compressors so I could shorten the time the cat was in the air. They are pretty simple and inexpensive to make. I'm not sure I'd want to compress the springs for removal of the pan this way or use the other method I've seen here where you use a bunch of long M8 rods in place of the pan bolts but they worked well for this job. I can post a shopping list and pictures if you want to make your own. The only tools needed are a hack saw, drill (& bits), and a vise makes pressing the cross pins for the top easier than tapping with a hammer but isn't necessary. Similar compressors have been shown here as well. I imagine any of them would work to hold the springs somewhat compressed for the ball joint job.