My 3.0 X-Type Sport Premium

[DAN_V6_SE]

Well, I`ve had the car a couple of weeks now, and can safely say that I made the right choice exchanging my old SE 2.1!

 

The gearbox is tight, the clutch feels just right, the suspension feels better and the AWD gives a more `planted` driving feedback. The steering wheel is a better design, the seats feel more supportive and when you put your foot down the extra power (230bhpish from factory?) is really noticeable.

 

The car does have half the mileage of my old 02 plate though, this is on a 55 reg and in great condition. Well worth the drive from Leicester to Brighton to go and fetch it! 18inch alloys and the sport spoiler on the bootlid too. Usual electric everything, heated seats, sat nav built into the dash. Basically the exact spec I had been searching for over the past couple of months. It has full service history and was serviced and M.O.T`d the day I collected. Just need to get my reg plate transferred over and jobs a guddun! It currently has the incorrect size plate in the recess on the rear! Which is annoying me! Overall, massively chuffed and money well spent I`d say!

 

A few pictures >>>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DAN_V6_SE]

http://www.carmats2u.co.uk/jaguar-x-type-car-matspetrol-03-on-918-p.asp

 

Just bought these from the link above, I`ve gone for rubber mats and a rubber boot liner too. Custom fit for X-Type.

 

I have a couple of questions on my car, answers and opinions please>>>

 

1) The boot lid is very heavy compared to my SE and the button is positioned under the lip rather than on the front, when I press boot release on the fob it pops open.. Should the boot self raise? Or can it from a button inside the car or somewhere?

 

2) Should this car have a remote control for the sat nav/audio system?

 

3) Shall I go for the later front grill or leave it as it is? Or do you think it will look better with the newer grill?

 

4) Shall I put a leaper on the bonnet (did it with the SE and I was quite fond of it..), or leave the bonnet original? Opinions please!

[knightsmith]

Dan,

 

I enquired about a leaper and was told not to by a magistrate (on this site), so I wouldn't tempt fate.

 

Not sure about the front grille, but I think your car looks very nice the way it is ,Ii prefer the more rounded shape to the shape of mine, although I am getting used to it. Can't help you with the other questions I'm afraid, but no doubt someone will be along shortly who can .

 

It does look a very nice car, and I hope you will continue to be pleased with it.

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Alheoh]

http://www.carmats2u.co.uk/jaguar-x-type-car-matspetrol-03-on-918-p.asp

 

Just bought these from the link above, I`ve gone for rubber mats and a rubber boot liner too. Custom fit for X-Type.

 

I have a couple of questions on my car, answers and opinions please>>>

 

1) The boot lid is very heavy compared to my SE and the button is positioned under the lip rather than on the front, when I press boot release on the fob it pops open.. Should the boot self raise? Or can it from a button inside the car or somewhere?

 

2) Should this car have a remote control for the sat nav/audio system?

 

3) Shall I go for the later front grill or leave it as it is? Or do you think it will look better with the newer grill?

 

4) Shall I put a leaper on the bonnet (did it with the SE and I was quite fond of it..), or leave the bonnet original? Opinions please!

 

1) The boot lid does not self-raise. I looked into achieving that by fitting stronger gas struts, and while they did actually open the boot lid at the press of a button, albeit slowly, they also made it a Herculean challenge to push down & close, requiring two hands...

The original gas struts are exactly enough to keep the lid in place, not letting it raise up nor go down by itself. If yours doesn't stay in place when like half-open, you might look into replacing one or both of the struts.

 

2) None that I know of. Since you have the cassette player, consider doing this extremely handy mod (unless you have ACM installed that is).

 

3) The later-style grille does look good with the pre-facelift front bumper. It is one of my planned upgrades. However, I won't be buying the OEM 2008+ grille, for I dislike the idea of chromed plastic mesh and a fixed spot for the badge. See the ones below, the one on the left is the OEM plastic grille, the one in the middle is a new-style grille by Mina Gallery (which I like), and the one on the right is an earlier "new-style" grille by Mina Gallery with a denser mesh.

 

4) If you do put a leaper on, do as I did and buy something like this copy version. It is spring-loaded (and actually moves more easily than the OEM leaper), and attached with dual-sided super strong 3M tape so it does not require drilling holes in the bonnet. I fitted one on my car one month ago and it stays on like it's set in concrete. I call it "the copycat" :D

If someone complains about it and you have to take it off, you'll have a pristine bonnet underneath rather than two mounting holes to fill & paint. The only real difficulty with this one is that without the mounting holes to guide you, it takes some effort to measure and see that you put it in the right place & that it's straight. I put mine slightly further forward than the original ones because I found that it looks better that way.

[DAN_V6_SE]

Thanks for the replies. Yes the leaper I had on my SE was spring loaded, I thought they are road legal? I`m tempted to just keep the car standard to be honest though. The self raising boot thing, I could swear I saw an X Type boot self raise, and with the differently positioned button and weight difference between the boots from my old SE and the Sport, I was curious. It does not struggle to stay open, everything works as it should but if it is not meant to self raise that`s cool, so now I know nothing is wrong.

 

Not going to bother with the tape deck messing as I have the 6 disc changer in the boot anyway so I can just burn a few cds and put them in there, looks a handy solution though for ipods etc. I agree a proper mesh is better than plastic with the grille, I do like the look of the later styles, I think this will be one thing I switch out! I can always keep the original and change back if I get bored.

 

Oh finally.. The 3.0litre V6.. Power wise, is there any way of getting a little extra grunt? Not that it needs it, really is pokey and a quick car to be honest, but you know, any common ECU remaps or chipping that people do? Just curious as to if anybody tunes them a little?

[Alheoh]

The boot has two small actuators which pop it open by about an inch, but nothing more than that. Of course, the X-Type you saw could've been modified somehow, but it's not an easy thing to accomplish. It has those two collapsible-kind of hinges which save space, unlike on some other cars where the boots fling open due to counterweights on the hinges but this requires quite some space inside the boot.

 

2001-2004ish cars had the green boot lock button on the plinth between the letters G and U, 2004ish-2007 cars have it hidden underneath the plinth (and the ends of the plint are not as "pointy"). The 2008 facelift modified the plinth once more, this time making it span between the rear light clusters.

 

The CD changer is good too, though be advised that the changer (nor the dash-mounted CD player in X-Types) does not support MP3 CDs, that is, CDs that have music on them as files rather than tracks. This limits the amount of music you can have to 6 traditional 70ish minute CDs. Still, unlike the AUX-IN mod you can use your steering wheel controls to skip songs.

 

The grille is held on with 4-8 bolts (can't really remember) and nothing else, so it's extremely easy to swap. I think one big advantage of the proper mesh version of the facelift grille is that if the basic badge is a tad boring, you can change the badge to whichever you like, such as a green background 3.0 Sport badge (from an S-Type) for a nice little detail.

 

Regarding tuning, the X-Type isn't exactly ideal for that. You've already got the biggest engine with the manual gearbox, so it's already the fastest model available and the tuning options are really limited. Any sort of simple intake/exhaust mods are mostly to enhance aesthetics and acoustics rather than performance, and most if not all chips are scams until proven otherwise (has yet to happen I'm afraid). The only real performance upgrades I've seen done are the Arden +20hp and various superchargers (by Arden, by J Nothelle and by Elite Jags). The Arden tune-up is very expensive already and the superchargers are significantly more than that, so...

Any performance increase will of course stress the drivetrain (transfer case especially) more, if you drive, eh, "spiritedly". It's the weak link of the X-Type and one of the reasons they didnt' get the X-Type R to work.

[DAN_V6_SE]

X Typical >> Thamk you for the great reply, this forum is really picking up with knowledge being shared! Great stuff!

 

Yes I could have sworn I saw a chap in a layby and his boot self raised, and he was still sat in the car. But the main thing is mine functions correctly as it should, so no problem I`m not fussed if the feature is not there, just the fact everything is spot on.

 

How much is the Arden tune up approx.? Doesn't sound really worth it for 20 horses to be fair, cost vs gains. Unless your going to say 500 quid or so but I`m guessing by your reaction it`s more! And how much are people paying to convert to run with a supercharger? What is the supercharger of choice? Just curious but if it can`t handle it anyway, running the risk of damaging the engine? I`m used to Jap vehicles that`s all, always been of interest to me pushing a bit of extra power and I currently run a 300bhp MR2 Turbo, which will be getting a forged rebuild next winter.

[DAN_V6_SE]

Ah just remembered... bluetooth hands free.. If you look at my pictures you can see some kind of old phone holder, well when I press the phone button it says phone in use `replace handset` or similar.. Is it this that is causing the problem? I need it removing? There is a microphone on the ceiling above the drivers seat that looks original..? I would like to connect my own phone and make it work as it should through the car.

 

Also would the sat nav screen had a remote when new? (Not that you need it! Just want my car `spot on` as it should have arrived from new).

 

Again, any help and advice greatly appreciated!

[Alheoh]

There was a link to Arden's webshop on my last post, but it's getting close to £6000, truly not worth it unless you have a lot of money to throw on an old car for a less than +10% power upgrade. The Arden and Elite Jags supercharges I do not know the cost of, but the Japanese J Nothelle one was over £10000 I think. This isn't a cheap car to tune in any way, and as such most don't.

- I've seen one Arden-supercharged X-Type on the UK forum, someone bought it 2nd hand.

- The Elite Jags -worked X-Type was a custom job featured in some magazine until it was, ahem, "wrapped around the tree".

- The J Nothelle supercharger I've only seen to exist on their website, never heard of nor seen an X-Type with that fitted.

 

There's been no remote for the satnav (like I said in my first post :P). Can't help with bluetooth things, mine doesn't have it and I don't think it was even an option in 2001. The phone holder however looks like just a holder you can fasten a phone-specific mount on so it shouldn't cause any issues aside from being a tad ugly.

[DAN_V6_SE]

Haha, yeah you have put me off bothering with engine modification for sure! Sorry I missed the links there! I`ll take another look at sorting the phone over the weekend.

 

OK final question for a while I promise! >> The 3litre engine, is it correct that this was jag specific or was it used in the mondeo? As I know there was a 3litre v6 in that? Not that it `really` matters, I`m just curious to know.

[Old Peter]

Haha, yeah you have put me off bothering with engine modification for sure! Sorry I missed the links there! I`ll take another look at sorting the phone over the weekend.

 

OK final question for a while I promise! >> The 3litre engine, is it correct that this was jag specific or was it used in the mondeo? As I know there was a 3litre v6 in that? Not that it `really` matters, I`m just curious to know.

Hi Dan, 

 

I have read somewhere that the 3 litre engine used in the Jaguar was also used in a Mazda model.  I cannot find the source for that and I cannot vouch for it's veracity.

 

Peter

[Alheoh]

Haha, yeah you have put me off bothering with engine modification for sure! Sorry I missed the links there! I`ll take another look at sorting the phone over the weekend.

 

OK final question for a while I promise! >> The 3litre engine, is it correct that this was jag specific or was it used in the mondeo? As I know there was a 3litre v6 in that? Not that it `really` matters, I`m just curious to know.

 

It's actually a Porsche V6!

...well, not exactly, but that's where the life of the AJ-V6 originally sort of began. You and all other X-Type-interested people out there, read this:

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/jaguar/x-type-jaguar/the-cars-jaguar-x-type/

 

As you are bound to find out, the X-Type isn't just a Mondeo dressed up as a Jag, as some people seem to believe, since they have just about 20% shared parts. Even the more expensive S-Types apparently share 40% of their parts with the upper-segment Lincoln LS. All in all, parts-sharing isn't all bad, I for one wouldn't want a Jaguar-made control modules instead of some proven ones from some proven companies.

[DAN_V6_SE]

Removed the annoying phone holder today, stereo out job and then just two screws holding it so that looks neater. Removed all the necessary interior trim to finally get to the bluetooth little black module thing inside the cubby box, disconnected it for ages and this has still not cured my bluetooth issue. Next weekend I will find the other module in the boot and try disconnecting that, failing that I can try replacing both I guess but they are rather expensive from what I can see searching the net, and no certainty that they will cure the problem.

 

[DAN_V6_SE]

Right well I still have not sorted the handsfree issue. However I did replace the blown Bulb in the boot. I had also noticed that the gas struts that hold the bonnet were weeping, and were failing to hold the bonnet up! So I ordered a brand new set from Amazon for £60 and fitted those today, very easy job! Made by `Nitrolift`, they are meant to be a better quality and and last longer than the Jag counterparts so we shall see how they go. So all that is wrong with the car now is the bluetooth.. I will update on that situation soon! I did also notice that my sat nav disc is 2004, so will be ordering the 2012 upgrade disc now to replace that.

 

[DAN_V6_SE]

By the way, in my third picture where I replaced the courtesy light in the boot, there is a strap seemingly to hold something in place. Is there something missing from my boot?

[Old Peter]

There is also a strap in my s type Dan, and it is for holding something of your choice in place.  I have a canister of WD40, and a pint bottle with screen washer in mine.

 

Peter.

[DAN_V6_SE]

Thanks Peter. I might get a car fire extinguisher to put in it. I did not know if my car should have come with a warning triangle, or a first aid box or something and they are missing? Does anyone know what extras should be in the car with those kinds of items if any? The space saver wheel and jack/tools are in there. I`m trying to get the car really spot on so buying bits as needed or whatever is missing. Pretty much there to be honest just this damn bluetooth but I won`t let it beat me! :-)

[Old Peter]

Hi Dan,

 

My 2005 X Type SE [2005] did not have those items and it came from a top dealer with whom I have had business connections for over 30 years.

 

Aldi sell a good fire extinguisher of £8.99, and I will get a warning triangle before I go on holiday.  I have also put together a first aid box.

 

Those bit you mention are the ones that Jaguar d not put in cars, but hope you will buy them!

 

Regards,

 

Peter. 

[DAN_V6_SE]

Thanks Peter. Well if you spot any optional extras or bits I can add let me know!

 

In the meantime, my upgrade disc for the sat nav arrived, so installed that. It is a shame that they have not updated since 2012 for the X-Type, it seems the XF has a 2015 update. Also put in a nice jag cig lighter. Still putting off the boot phone module investigation.. Soon!

 

Booked M.O.T and service at Jaguar Sturgess in Leicester for the 20th of this month, I did open up the air filter and had a look and it is clean as a whistle anyway to be honest. Get another stamp in the log as it has had one every year of it`s life so far I don`t want to break the trend!

 

[Bezza]

Love the cigarette lighter, can I ask where you got it from and if so how much?

 

With regards to your bluetooth issue I could point you in the direction of some information that may well solve any problems but I'm not sure of the attitude towards posting links to other Jaguar sites- being a newbie I don't want to cause offence.

[DAN_V6_SE]

Hi Bezza. The cig lighter is available on Amazon and cost £11.99, it is weighty compared to the stock plain cig lighter, not the best picture above but it is quite a nice touch.

 

Regards the bluetooth issue, any help appreciated! So far I have had all the dash out and stereo to check loose wires, opened up the antenna module, disconnected battery and reconnected, tried allsorts putting in the # codes on the touchscreen.. My next point of call was check/disconnect the module in the boot.. Which I still will when I have time, just always so busy with work.

[Bezza]

Hi Bezza. The cig lighter is available on Amazon and cost £11.99, it is weighty compared to the stock plain cig lighter, not the best picture above but it is quite a nice touch.

 

Regards the Bluetooth issue, any help appreciated! So far I have had all the dash out and stereo to check loose wires, opened up the antenna module, disconnected battery and reconnected, tried allsorts putting in the # codes on the touchscreen.. My next point of call was check/disconnect the module in the boot.. Which I still will when I have time, just always so busy with work.

Hi Dan

 

Thanks for that I will get myself onto Amazon and get one on its way to Sheffield toute suite!

 

I'll PM you about the bluetooth.

 

Bezza

[DAN_V6_SE]

Thanks Bezza checking PM now.

[peterw]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T4QtLxdomjA

[peterw123]

this is a boot mod I fashioned up last year ,thought you mite like