Agree Moeks, thats why its so cheap to buy it doesnt have the badge - hence the phaeton comparison. Id also say that the XJ and lexus (and even the a8) sit below the others in the pecking order. In terms of size and refinement it is much bigger and improved on my old 5 and on par with the 7 and s-class.
Hehe you reckon an XJ sits bellow a 7 series in refinement ? ...having rather a lot of experience of both, I can tell you that is not true at all. The only one that can actually match it for pure waft and quietness and absolute refinement is the S class, followed up but the Lexus, the reason I put the Lexus down a notch isn't so much because it doesn't ride as well or smoothly or isn't as quiet, it is ...it's because it has door locks straight out of a Toyota and I just can't get over that

...then again the Jag has rather Ford like switchgear to be fair ...The 7 series and the A8 both fall short in this regard as both try to be more sporty ...the Phaeton is probably a match but I don't have any personal experience with that one to call up on really so I don't know for sure.
I think the best inside for quality is actually the A8, although the previous model A8 is the worst for refinement, having said that, saying it's the worst is like saying you're the dumbest person in Mensa, you still need to be pretty darn smart to get there at all.
Really, with the luxury cars, there are two slightly different approaches. Mercedes, Jaguar and Lexus take the super waft factor approach where BMW and Audi take a more sporting approach. Now this works well with the smaller executive cars, but really I think with the full sized luxury saloons, trying to make them 'sporty' really just ends up with those cars having a less comfortable ride than those that do not take the 'sporting' approach. You aren't going to make a car like that particulary sporty, and people tend to buy them with absolute comfort in mind. Hence the best selling luxury car in the world, is the S class, not the 7 series (this probably has an awful lot to do with market penetration too, BMW have only recently started making inroads into the Asian markets where as Mercedes have been there as long as anyone can remember).
Having said that, the new Jaguar XJ actually outsold the S Class by 38 percent and the BMW 7-Series by 70 percent in it's first month of production in the UK.