Russ68

Well done Jim, surprised we've not run in to each other on the Island! Reckon a leaper will set her off even better, our X200's have the hole needed to mount them under the badge, and you can get a good one for c£20 and no danger of getting the position wrong, which I've seen a few do with later ones

I was going to vote for the C-Type just to be a contrarian as nobody else had! It did win the LeMans 24hr on it's 1st attempt after all! But reading the early one's had drum brakes and were flawed in other ways, including aerodynamics lifting the rear at over 120mph, I had to go with it's sucessor the D-Type, which was an absolute beast, and spawned the beautiful E-Type. I'm also surprised not to see a MK2 on there, as this was quite iconic and groundbreaking in it's day. But given it's competition success, technological advances and current values, I'm going with the XK140 D-Type. Yes please, I'll have a green one

I got one of these, only £10 on ebay and wired, so avoids the issue of it not talking to your phone or tablet. Imagine it won't do everything the more expensive one's do, but you get what you pay for and it's worked well for me so far

Hi Stuart, Can't imagine the 2.5 will be any or much quieter than the 3.0, so a straight though pipe is not an option. Prior to fitting my stainless ones, I fired her up with no rear boxes on and the noise was quite outrageous, very loud indeed! Mine has felt livelier since going for the straight through stainless, but whether this would be reflected in an actual dyno increase I don't know. I certainly saved c30kg by dumping the enormous, over baffled stock systems, but unless you have c£400 to throw at this, your best bet is probably the breakers. I have my old boxes, but not great nick and a logistical issue to get to you. Hope this helps, Russ

Berkshire Jag Spares have always looked after me well, good quality parts and advice, reasonably priced

Berkshire Jag Spares have always looked after me well, good quality parts and advice, reasonably priced

Wow, that's the spec to have! Fantastic, well done! Have you had her long? As mentioned I'm hoping to go down this route too, so I may hit you up for some advice at some point

Seriously Brent or just a bit of strategic parking? Haha! Bit like mine below: If you have indeed bought that beauty, well done Sir! I'd potentially love to do this at some point (buy a classic S-Type, funds and storage allowing etc). The S-Type is better value and arguably a better car than the MKII (which must be one of the best looking saloon cars ever built!). Details please

Just noticed that a tyre size of 185/40/18 is mentioned numerous times earlier in the thread (typo by me haha!). Whereas the non staggered 18" alloy on the S-Type is a 245/40/18

Jon said this: Just wanted to conclude this thread. I finally gave in to paranoia and purchased a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's based on the excellent reviews. £158 each online with free UK delivery, will get them fitted at work. I paid about 1/2 that for the 275/35/18 Nexen N'Fera for the back of my Sport, and 1/2 that again for the 235/40/18 Winrun's which I had all round but are now just on the front. I lucked into a crazy deal on these just before they were discontinued. Surprisingly good for the money, but I'd prefer the same all round, which I'll do at some point. It's worth reading back through this thread if you haven't already, a number of knowledgeable people commented and much deliberation was done before decisions were made

I swapped out a non operative CDC in the boot, which I guess is c20 year old tech as well. But the replacement unit was only £30 and it works well. I suspect the wiring is sitting there waiting, as unlikely they'd use a different loom just to add nav, so if nav was an option on your model year you should be OK. But I can't confirm this categorically, hopefully someone can. Ron has a good point though, can the old nav be updated and suchlike? Good luck

I use Proxes T1R's on my MGF, pretty good but don't think they had them in the sizes I needed for the Jag, which is how we arrived at the choices in this thread i.e. I went for Nexens for my 3.0 Sport and Jon for Michelins on his R...

You can buy the fobs and buttons from eBay (and elsewhere I presume) and have them programmed by a local independent if required, generally cheaper than a dealership. Or there are services on eBay that will reburb your old fob if worn and broken switches, I've done both for the Jag and one the Discoveries after I was quoted £150 for a spare. Getting a new key and fob for the S-Type, was about 1/2 that and the key refurb only c£20 I think. The batteries are cheap, so worth swapping these our 1st, it shouldn't need reprogramming if originally programmed for the car, unless something has gone wrong

Sounds like battery in the fob to me, not sure your exact model but often a CR2032 battery

Could be worse then Good news re them fixing the rust, although I only paid £200 earlier this year for mine to be rustproofed and Waxolyed. Good luck with the fixes

I didn't buy off the internet for those BTW Tony, I went to Berkshire Jag Spares, who know their stuff and offer a quality product. I use them for nearly all mechanical and service items and they haven't let me down or sent a wrong part yet, long may that last! In this instance the price did ramp up, I had one completely shot and another questionable joint on the one side and decided to replace both arms. Costing the best part of £500 inc VAT and labour, ouch! But know what you mean, saving a few £ is nothing to being stuck without a car, or being supplied the wrong or a poor quality part! Bet Laz did it much cheaper with his hands on approach, what did the lower arms add up to Laz?

Crikey! But a side impact into a lampost is always going to cause a challenge for a vehicle structure, you'll really need a full roll cage to deal with it 'Deathproof' etc. You could roll the issue back further and ask how the car was travelling laterally at such speed. Shot tyres, poor driving, diesel on road or similar. Anyhow, hope there was nobody was in that passenger seat! I also echo it's worth having the sills checked, took me over a year to summon the courage to whip of the plastic covers, but I got off lightly, a small patch was all, then Waxoly everything and cover them back up

Just checked my records, I Paid £136 per side for the lower rear arms, with bushes, good ones though from Berkshire Jag Spares, this in £326.40 in the VAT, ouch! At the time it was easier to get the MOT garage to do it than fitting them myself, so I agreed £100 for this. Making it, I think the most expensive job I've had on her to date...

You know you’re bushes Laz, thanks for the detailed explanation! I thought the £1k sounded expensive Tony, but that’s a lot of work and parts

Welcome aboard John Derek, you are obviously a man of some taste And sounds like similar Mini experiences 'back in the day' Matthew, I honed my skills in a Mini and have found them largely transferable to other cars. If my 17 year old me could've seen into the future, or even into the drivers seat of my S-Type, I'd imagine he'd / I'd be pretty impressed with it

Haha! I think you might be confusing 'need' and 'want', but I hear you Sir and more power to you! There was a beautiful 2005 XJR for sale locally recently, alu body, 400bhp, I was tempted, but resisted!

Good to hear from you again Jon! Nice to hear you're keeping her going and still having fun

Really nice post that Matthew, so glad you're enjoying the car and impressive MPG, you're preaching to the converted obviously, and like many of us, I see a long journey in the S-Type as an opportunity rather than a chore . Might have been me that describe my Sport as 'chuckable' Knut Are, I had some questionable tyres on when I bought her, but after changing these and bringing the suspension up to standard, it was nothing sure of a revelation. Like Jim, I'm on the Isle of Wight and we have no shortage of twisty B roads here. The Jag copes well with them but is arguably even better on a more expansive road where she has a chance to carry a bit speed through the corners and power out the other side . While you never forget her weight, she's a sports saloon rather than a sportscar, in the mould of the MK2 and 60's S-Type. But mine is composed and grippy through the corners, and stops well too with new rubber all round and new brakes. An extremely capable car IMO, and if you work on her yourself, you can appreciate the engineering is a cut above what you'll see on more humble cars. Cast alloy double wishbone suspension as opposed to some pressed steel offering is part of the reason why she does handle so well, despite the weight. Your friend may have a point with the Ford Jaguar moniker Jim, as Jaguar was owned by Ford at the time and she's built on a Ford / Lincoln floorpan. But suspension is Jaguar as is the VVT on the already very capable Ford bottom end, making the engine into a Jaguar specific AJ-V6 power plant. But don't accept anyone saying she's an uprated Mondeo. Not that there's anything much wrong with this, but it's the X-Type and the Mondeo which share common ancestry, and not our larger and longitudinal engined, rear drive S-Types. Happy driving

I was previously quite interested in an XKR, so I can comment on this. For a brief period leading up to the early part of last year, it seemed as if the XKR price had hit rock bottom. Regularly seeing pretty decent looking ones, full MOT, no advertised faults for £5000 or less. Even a couple of later 4.2's with the better gearbox. I'm kinda gutted I didn't grab one when I could, but TBH I have enough on my plate so probably for the best! Perhaps fuelled by a number of articles around the time of how this was an affordable supercar etc, I then noticed prices starting to rise and go beyond the sort of bargain basement level I was open to. Towards what one would pay for the later X150, where I then decided to focus my attention, before coming to my senses and agreeing with myself and my better half that perhaps I should fix all the cars I already have before buying new ones! To be fair, and IMO only (but I have bought and sold c250 cars and retain a keen interest), a dealer, or informed punter is unlikely to want to give more than £1K for a 'spares or repair' with no MOT'd, and this could be less, even much less. It couldn't even be test driven and would technically have to be towed away. As your faults sound fairly minor, I'd suggest it was a no brainer / wise decision to pay the £hundreds and reaps the £thousands back in selling price. Obviously, full valet before sale with all history ready and ideally 2 keys, present the car as an inspirational, appreciating classic, you should be able to ask at least £5000 for it I'd have thought, even more maybe if clean and straight like you say. Better than the £500 you might get spares or repair if taken away on a trailer IMHO only, best of luck in any case, hope you get what you want / need for it

Yup, sounds more like transmission if on pulling away rather than going over an uneven road surface, I reckon Joe has nailed it with his previous comment