116 vs the rest

[gf]

Anyone owned a jaguarxj6, or bmw 3.0? or comparable euro car in competition with the W116 cars of the time? mechanically theres no comparison i know but how do they compare in refinement and drivability, comfort, space ect? not that im thinking of swapping, wouldnt dare! heard too many jaguar nightmares. just curious? all jag horror stories are welcome in this thread

[Big_Richard]

I've driven the bmw e23 7 series which begun production while the w116 was still around. I have one as a project car that i doubt will ever get finished in this life time.

the m30 3.5 litre single over head cam straight 6 is a decent engine, light years ahead of the m110 in terms of refinement and power. The bmw was a a smaller car but steering is heavier than the w116, suspension is firmer and all in all you feel more of a driving experience than the w116.

with new everything (mechanical and suspension parts have far better availability than w116, infact im yet to find anything NLA other than interior beautification parts) they are a decent car to drive. Genuine BMW parts are MUCH cheaper than genuine MB parts too.

[WiSeGuYY]

 HEY  ALL/ MAJOR TOM

Back in 68  my parents had to get me a shrink to cure me from the abssession of having an E TYPE JAG which made me not sleep the nights and since i was student couldn't help afford it , i struggled few years till i get my first  FIAT 124 sport mod 72 as settlement and was a nice sporting ride that was 74 by then i had my driving license and was cured from JAG based on the horrible malfunction stories and lack of spare parts in my country.
Now my daily driver is BMW X3 mod 08 with 3.0 engine i wouldn't exchange it with anything  till last week i had to go out with our other car a MERCEDES W204 C300 AMG mod 11 and was remarkably much smoother in steering and accelerate better than my 4x4 beemer which was very strange for me since i also have W126 mod 85 i have it from 90 till today but as kept car and go out only once every blue moon.
and it is a showroom quality but of course not handy as the BMW.( what you expect from  26 years old car?) .

here spare parts for Mercedes are easier to find and my experience with bigger old beemers are zero unless you consider driving one of the 850 mod 90 ( which i didn't like at all)
REGARDS & good luck in your project MAJOR TOM

TAREK

[thysonsacclaim]

Oh Jags...

I almost purchased a burgandy XJS with spoked wheels. And my brother had one, same color, he swapped for I don't know what but he got it for a steal.

Anyhow, I've not had one myself, but I hear from everyone in cars that the electrical system is an abomination.

Some are quite pretty though.

[jbrasile]

Owned 3 XJ6's, a 72 Series I that was a restoration project but I ended up giving up on it after discovering it had a serious accident. That car thought me so much though... best mechanics class I have ever had...

Then on to a 74 Series II, not bad but as usual full of problems, bad oil leaks, iffy BW 65, etc... Anothet great lab... did the a/c evaporator on that one.... twice!!!

The 87 BRG / Biscuit was superb, 1 owner from new, original paint and interior. A lotof miles, 195k when I bought but the engine had been re-done at 125k so no problems there, original BW 66 was intact too!!! That car left a lot of good memories, no major issues. One failed a/c compressor, and fuel pump, the rest was all regular maintenance. Bought it the weekend Lady Di passed away, actually on the 30th of August 1997. Kept it until 2005 when I moved back to Brazil, it had 230k miles when I sold it.

Here are a couple of pictures.








My opinion:

Ride: There is absolutely nothing on this planet that will ride like a well sorted XJ6, absolutely incredible. I read once that Toyota actually bought a few back when they were developing the Lexus line to try and emulate its ride characteristics and smoothness.

Reliability: Jags can be run as daily drivers if you know what you are getting into, Series I cars are excellent and so are late Series III starting around 85 ( the John Egan era), series II are a toss, if you get a good one it will go on forever, but they are rare, most are just bad all around... Coupes are gorgeous to look at but they all leak inside and wind noise is an issue at speed

Style: I love all 3 series, the rear end is just sooooooo elegant...

Fit and finish: Series I are pretty old school, interiors don't last. Series II again, not very good. Series III are excllent and long lived.

My dream garage is a 450SEL, XJ6 and a 500SLC.... had 2/3 of it at one point or another, first the US 80 450 with the 87XJ and then in Brazil the 450 and 500SLC... One of these days I shall have it complete, hehehe.

Here is the 500SLC...







Tks,

Joe

[1980sdga]

Nice cars and good pics Joe!

I've had a couple of friends who have had Jag projects which didn't work out. Neither of them had any business trying to fix up old cars, especially exotics...

[thysonsacclaim]

On the topic of Jags,


What do you guys think of the new Jag symbol? TBH with you, there aren't many of the new new Jags here. Working at the fill station, I've seen all manner of cars and can spot them real well at a distance of 50-100 feet.

However, I couldn't recognize the new Jag (it was an XF)! Even my Trooper friend, in for a cuppa, (who spots cars all day) had to ask the owner what it was. I like the grilles and the styling, but I do miss that prouncing Jaguar. My co-worker has a nice, black XJ6, I have the W116, and my other co-worker has a Benz 550.

Personally I like my car best, the XJ6 next, and the other Benz least. It has the big, bug eyed quadruple lights which I was never fond of. And it's on dubs (no offense to anyone at all), which isn't my thing, but I suppose they look nice on that particular car. She was requesting I put dubs on the 116, to which I said "absolutely, unequivocally NO!" 

[Big_Richard]

I might also note, no one should consider purchasing any BMW made late 80's onwards without sound electrical knowledge and the ability to use a soldering iron.

I've lost count of the boards, relay cards & modules ive had to resolder in my mates e34. What a peice of shit, and i pitty anyone clueless who has to take the car to a mechanic, they will have no idea whats going on.