Purchase of my first X350

[ptjs1]

Gordon,

Looks really good! The same colour scheme as mine except you have piping (nice). Confusingly, the DY isn't anything to with the colour.

Now, it just needs a nice mesh grille, some Philips Xtreme 130 headlight bulbs......

Cheers

Paul

[GordonJ]

Paul,
I am looking at the lights next, and I have just fitted the boot liner as recommended by you and Mike.

Gordon

[GordonJ]

Hi David (davidr) and Mike (J44EAG)
getting ready this weekend to go up home to Scotland and spend some time with my sister and some other family members. This will be the first serious run out since the X350 was acquired and I'm looking forward to it immensely. I'll keep you posted on it's performance and my thoughts when I get back.

Gordon

[pmcguire123]

hi gordon i to am from doncaster (home of football lol)
hope you have a good trip in your motor mines going into chris in armthorpe to have all suspension bushes changed plus new discs and pads (ouch) but will be worth it regards pete

[GordonJ]

Hi Pete,
Nice to see someone on here from Doncaster. Chris looks after mine as well. Have always found him fair at trustworthy, in fact this X350 I have was sourced by Chris.
Pete did you notice we have a new region formed to serve the Doncaster area, so if you are not affiliated to any other region we would be more that pleased to see you come along. See us under Doncaster and District under the regions banner.

Gordon

[pmcguire123]

hi gordon thats great news pm me some details and ill come along
regards pete

[GordonJ]

Hi All,
well that's the first long run completed. Up home to Scotland to visit family last week and I have to say what a dream journey. 800 miles all in 500 motorway miles and 100 over the A66. The car has returned an average of 31 mpg and coming home on the Friday night through the wind and rain I am well pleased.
First thoughts were on the comfort, what a lovely drive, no effort at all and arrived just as fresh as when I left.
Car never missed a beat and just covered the miles effortlessly, only thing I would say is that it didn't like the wind but other than that no problem.
Very quiet and smooth, well pleased with the gear box as well.
If this car keeps up this performance I will be more than happy.
To date all I have done is have the pollen filter changed to day.
A car I would recommend to anyone without fear. Only Jaguar I have driven that I would say tops this is the F Type which our local dealer gave us for a morning, but there again it's a different type of car.

Gordon

[ptjs1]

Gordon,

Glad the journey went ok and that the car is proving all you would hope.

Worth getting the tracking checked. Mine has been a bit nervous in high wind recently and I've just found out that I've worn the inner shoulder of both front tyres down to zero because of what seems like toe-out tracking problem.

Cheers

Paul

[GordonJ]

Paul,
thanks for that advice I'll keep my eye on that but all seems okay at the moment and tyres all seem even at the moment. The wind was strong though and even the trucks were swaying in the wind.

Gordon

[J44EAG]

These cars are amazing if suspension is completely as new. Obviously they drop back as miles and age accumulate. Deterioration is slow and somewhat hard to detect unless you have an A1 condition car with which to compare it.

Back in September 2015, my car when first purchased with 78k miles covered was a bit of a nightmare. Essentially this car had a completely worn out and rather dangerous suspension. It was literally "hanging"! Now completely re-bushed, wheel base length, caster, camber and toe angles reset plus 25mm off the ride height. The ride drive, handling and directional stability are now spot on. Its a completely different car from the one i acquired. I`d encourage other owners to seriously have their suspensions checked over and worked upon to keep their cars as close to "new" condition as possible. It really does make all the difference especially in inclement conditions.

Any car which exhibits strange or disconcerting feed back via the steering or in directional stability, probably needs a good look over. In my recent experience, totally rebushing my thirteen year old car has been a revelation into the effects of individual bush decay and a massive improvement resulted on each and every occasion a bush set was replaced. Wandering around at the front end was initially improved by changing lower front wishbone bushes to harder non OE material which then greatly improved again once upper front wishbones had also been rebushed. The previous typical "dead around centre" feel is now a thing of the past. The time and expense has been worth every penny and more. No more nasty suprises and a quieter ride but not to the detriment of ride quality.

As a passenger in my own car the other evening following rear suspension bush replacements earlier in the day, I was well pleased with the result and have to say these cars must fall into a category reserved for the best riding cars ever made. In prime condition I`d say they are not far of unbeatable. You would be hard pressed to find any other make or model that comes anywhere near close or can better a 350. If you put a stack of money on the table and told me to find an alternative for a 350, I would have a terrible job on my hands. These cars when properly sorted are probably as close to perfection as you will get.

Mike

[GordonJ]

Mike,
I take on-board everything you have said here and I follow your X350 posts religiously and today while Chris Isle replaced the pollen filter he again gave it the once over and told me to stop worrying as everything is fine. But it does in my opinion do no harm to have it checked regularly as this car is worth keeping in tip top order. He looked after the X300 I had bought from Vince and when the chap came over from Brittany to buy the X300 and the S-Type he was amazed at the condition both cars were in. Again these two had been looked after by Chris and no doubt how they had been kept helped the sale go through. Plus all the work Vince had carried out also helped, again to a very high standard.
So I can assure you this car will receive the same love and attention, and some day it shall turn up in Portsmouth lol
And yes it beats the pants of other cars. Just a joy to drive.

Gordon