Bezza

Hi Andrew, Retrofitting puddle lights has been done before but as far as I'm aware there's no threads here on this forum as to how to do it. I don't know if it's acceptable here on this forum to post links to other forums, but in anticipation of it being frowned upon I offer my apologies and post this link which should help you with the information that you need http://www.jaguarforum.com/showthread.php?t=36020

The best thing that you can do for these and in fact any engine is to change the oil and filter regularly and by that I would say every 5-6,000 miles or every six months. Properly looked after the petrol V6's are bombproof and by doing these changes regularly you will be rewarded with even more longevity. I have regularly used for years now Triple QX semi-synthetic 5w30 which more than meets specifications. A full change including filter takes just under 6 litres. When you log into the site it will ask you for your registration to identify your vehicle; when you do this it will not show you semi-synthetic oils, only fully synthetic which are obviously dearer- believe me semi is just fine, they are just trying to get more money out of you. 5 litres of semi will cost you £12.49 the product code is 521776021 and 1 litre will cost you £3.58 and the product code is 521776022. If you check out and enter the code SAVEME75 it will knock 7.5% off the bill for you so total for your oil will be £14.86 and delivery is included. On the subject of the filter I know that you say it is ok but again it is a very important part of the process and the thing is that genuine Jaguar ones can be obtained from JLR dealers on Ebay for about £8 delivered, so the whole caboodle can be done for less than £25 which is a substantial saving on main dealer prices or even independants, assuming that you are going to do the change yourself. I know that some replacement filters can be had for a couple of quid less but why scrimp and risk buying an inferior one when the genuine thing is not much more? Also check out Halfords website because now and again they have good deals on their oil, you just need to check that it meets Ford specifications. Finally, yes you can go out and put mega-expensive Mobil One and similar in which will tell you that you can keep it in for long periods and yes it's good oil but I wouldn't want to leave any oil in my engine for some of the mileages that they are claiming, i.e 15-20,000, it's just not worth the risk.

Before I dash off and fit a new alternator on my son's car I've found this that should answer all your questions https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/66782171/Jaguar%20X-Type%20Premium%20Sound%20Retrofit%20Upgrade.pdf Hope this helps

Hi I'm not sure now that you have to take the loom all the way back to the head unit, it's been a while now since I broke my saloon and I can't remember to be honest. Taking the head unit out is actually quite easy, routing a loom from back to front is a bit more challenging. I'll have a dig round my wiring diagrams when I get chance and see what is involved and post a result over the weekend that may help you make your mind up either way.

Hi The wiring will probably not be there, most models did not come with pre-wiring I'm afraid. You could contact Bertieboy9 and see if he has a loom available. The sub is the amp it's all built in together with the earlier models, later models were different requiring a seperate amp that is fitted in the boot and two speakers fitted in the rear parcel shelf. Don't forget that you will need a different rear shelf cover which has the speaker grilles built in if you want to keep it 'factory fit' looking. I have a sub-woofer amp and parcel shelf cover (in flint black/ dark grey), taken from my 2002 saloon that I broke last year, available if you are interested. It does make a difference sound-wise, particularly if like me you like your music loud and bassy. I have moved onto an estate which doesn't have premium sound, although I've fitted the extra door tweeters and Premium sound Alpine speakers- the estate sub-woofers are hard to get hold of and I've certainly noticed the difference to what I had with the saloon. Hope this helps.

Hi Tim I do truly hope that I'm wrong here but I think that your gearbox problem may well be terminal. I had the same problem with my 3 litre sport last year and it proved to be curtains for my car. Of course it was repairable but given the age of my car (2002) the cost of a replacement box £250-£300 and the cost of labour because it was beyond my mechanical skills, then it had to be. When I googled the problem, the consensus was that the reverse gear going on the J gate box is a sure sign that it is FUBAR. I might say that just like yours I had no tell-tale signs that anything was wrong with the gearbox, it literally went from working perfectly to not driving backwards within an hour or so. Again I do hope that in your case I am wrong and your problem can be easily and cheaply solved, but be prepared for the worst just in case. Fingers crossed I'm wrong.

Hi Dean The car wasn't that colour but I spoke to Mark the other day on the phone and at the 11th hour he got a buyer for the car. I know that he got a saloon in the other day that he will be breaking but don't know the colour. You're best to PM him and he'll get back to you, he's been doing some night work recently so hasn't been around the forum for a couple of weeks. Hope you get sorted out.

Ey up Mark, What a travesty, I just can't believe that you didn't get something near to what you were asking for it. The description on Ebay was a really fair one and when you compare it to some of the other rubbish advertised on there for similar money, it's hard to understand why it's not sold. Such a shame because it's got loads of life left in it. I may well have use for the auto-dimming mirror as mine and the auto-lights have given up the ghost. I'll ring you mate.

Hi I'm sorry to say that I had exactly the same as you last year with my 2002 3.0 litre and the reason is that the box has gone I'm afraid. There is no way of checking levels etc, as the J gate box is a 'sealed for life' unit and as such it doesn't form part of a normal 'service schedule'.. With mine in April last year I had taken it to an auto gearbox specialist in Barnsley and supposedly the ATF was changed- 7 months later my gearbox did exactly the same as yours with no warning whatsoever. Possibly the work was not done as I was lead to believe it had, but I'd never be able to prove that. It still drove perfectly in forward gears but when I 'hit the net' I found that what had happened was a usual symptom of a failed box. The rest of the car, which had covered 124k, was amazing, so I was a bit pee'd off as you can imagine but the repair for me was beyond economical sense. Can I suggest that you contact member bertieboy9- he does have the expertise to change an autobox (he's doing one on his own car at the moment I believe) and as he breaks X types he may well have a replacement box available. He's in Leeds so if you have to travel it's not too far- as long as you don't need reverse!

Hi Ron You may well be right on that, in all honesty I probably know more about quantum physics than I do about diesel X types!

Hi there and welcome to the forum, sounds like you've got yourself a nice motor. Being a diesel you'll have the EGR valve and judging by the model year yours will have been fitted with a DPF, both which I know can be slightly problematic but there's tons of information out there with how to deal with them. I'm a petrol owner so can't offer much on that but some diesel owners will probably be along shortly to advise. Improvements, well there's loads that can be done but seeing as yours is Sovereign spec it doesn't really leave you much. With regards to MP3, you can get an ACM (audio connectivity module) fitted that is a genuine Jaguar part but (I hope that you're sat down now) new from Jag they're about £350 and being as rare as hen's teeth they regularly go (when they do become available on Ebay) for up to £200. I opted for a Pure DAB 3000 unit which gives me DAB radio and ipod connectivity plus one extra auxiliary if required. It's been a great modification for me and a lot cheaper than the ACM route. The sunroof is a rare optional extra on X types. The best maintenance advice for any sunroof is a couple of times a year is to open it fully, clean any rubbish such as tree seeds and the like out and make sure that drain apertures are clear, the mechanism you just have to spray with silicone (available at most motor factors) and if you're really keen some Castrol red rubber grease on the rubber seals does it the world of good. Castrol RRG is brilliant for all the door seals too, stops them cracking. 17 inch rims are a little bit less harsh than the 18" ones, if you're interested in a set I've got a set of Bermudas to sell at the moment with tyres. PM me if interested. 16 inch rims are a lot more comfortable still but frankly I think that they look crappy, just too small. Anyway once again welcome and I'm sure that you'll be pleased with your purchase- I know I am with mine! :D

Hi Rowley You are of course correct about labour rates in the M25 area being significantly higher than they are here in Yorkshire. Sheffield Prestige for instance charge £60 plus VAT per hour where a main dealer will be twice that. The price quoted by the two Indys you mention, is to be honest approaching exorbitant, considering that their overheads will be nothing like a main dealers are. I did know a Jag owner who lived near to Cobham and he used to travel up to Jagfix at Armthorpe near Doncaster to get work done because the labour rate made it worthwhile and the proprietor Chris has got such a good name! Perhaps a tad extreme but if it was combined with a short holiday in the Yorkshire Dales it could work for you??. What about out towards Pompey down the A3 or Guldford area? I'm almost sure that there are a couple of Indys out that way and seem to remember someone on one of the other forums making a bit of a day of it down there, dropping the car and having lunch overlooking the Solent. Final thing is that Gordon Lamb at Chesterfield near me, on their website http://www.gordonlamb.co.uk/jaguar/ are advertising servicing from £129. You could perhaps contact them by email, get a firm quote and then try and use it to beat down some of the main dealers near to you- tell them that you are heading up that way for a holiday/ visit friends, if they try and argue about the fact that it's 180 miles away from you. All food for thought, hope you get sorted out.

Well it does look nice to have a genuine Jaguar stamp in the book but at what cost? Your car is seven years old now or thereabouts, you are not adding to its value by having that stamp, possibly only its 'sellability' (if there is such a word) in the future. If I am going to look for a second hand car for sure I will be looking at the service history and expect it to be as complete as possible. I might pay a small premium for that but it won't equate to the extra that you would have paid by using a main dealer. (I'll quote you some figures shortly). If you are part exchanging your car in the future it will make absolutely no difference to the price you receive from a trader, he will only pay what the car is worth to him and will probably not even look at the service book. If he's selling it on himself, he'll certainly refer to it when he's showing it to prospective purchasers and it will be him making a profit from your main dealer services, not you! In looking at the service history, I will be wanting to see invoices, not stamps, this way I will be sure of the work that has been carried out on your car in it's lifetime. Having worked in the trade previously I have seen where stamps can be falsified in a service book, I've even seen it done with main dealer stamps that have fallen into the wrong hands. With proper, fully invoiced paperwork, from a VAT registered garage then at least you have something a bit more tangible than a stamp. Going onto the subject of main dealers versus independents. Main dealers have very, very high overheads and one way or the other they have to cover their costs. Not surprisingly, one of those ways is servicing charges. I use Hatfields in Sheffield to buy most of my servicing parts, I do my own servicing but the following applies equally if you use an independent to actually do the job for you. An oil filter bought by me through Hatfields ebay account costs £6.45, an air filter costs £7.75 (all inc VAT), I believe in using genuine Jaguar parts wherever possible and at those prices why wouldn't I? Buy the same items as part of a dealer service and you would be charged £14 & £19 plus VAT respectively, 6 litres of oil would probably set you back about £72, again plus VAT. Put together with Hatfields service costs, then you will pay a total of £199 for what is basically an oil and filter change. Added to that, you'll be sure that they will come back to you with some extras that they have found that 'require attention'- main dealers nearly always do because that is what they are instructed by management to do as part of their job. Contrast this with just down the road from me, not far from Hatfields, I have a JLR independent (Sheffield Prestige) the same service (all mechanics are JLR trained), using the same parts will cost you half that (£99 to be precise) and for a little bit less if you want to get the parts yourself from Hatfields he'll fit them for you. He's still making a tidy profit on that and they will only recommend extra work that really needs doing. Ok I won't get a courtesy car but then I don't need one. You've decided to go with a main dealer this time, ok I respect that decision but maybe before your next service ask around your area about good independents, they don't have to be Jag specialists for normal servicing but reputation is everything. When hopefully you've found one, then perhaps consider this. You mention having done 12,000 miles since acquiring the car and you are now having it serviced. I know that 10-12k is now the recommended service intervals but probably the most important item in a car's engine are the oil and filter- 6 litres of oil (well for my petrol not sure about yours) and a filter done by an independent means that the you can afford to have the oil changed every 6,000 miles. You will still have change from the main dealer price, your car will be better for it and in a few years when you possibly advertise it privately for sale, any prospective purchaser will see that you have taken real care of your car.

I know that there's a lot of drivers that have these and like yourself are quite happy with them Peter. But there's a lot of different models on the market and they're not all of the same standard. I was probably just unlucky in the one that I had but I couldn't live with it anymore and it just had to go. I've tried a few prototype replacements since but up to now I've not found one that I'm sure I'd be happy to have installed permanently. However, I'm going to keep testing models as they come available and you never know I might one day find one that I'm happy to keep! :D

I just totally got rid of mine, it was an expensive modification though.............. cost me half of the house!