Bye E92, Hello XF?

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Feb 2013 at 10:55

Hi OCUK!

With a new addition to my family, I have decided to consider getting rid of my BMW. I needed a 4 door, but wanted similar performance.

So, I took a look around, and was very taken in by the Jaguar XF SV8. However, when i checked out the fuel consumption i decided against it. So after being told by BMW that they sell almost everything non-m as a diesel, i decided to take a look at the dark smokey side!

So, i checked out the XF 3.0 diesel S model, which sports a sharpish 0-62 time (I know) of 5.9 seconds with an auto-box. So I set in motion the stealer to take a look at handing back my BMW and walking out with an XF.

The deal costs slightly more a month than i am paying now, but the car is 1.5 years newer, and should almost double my fuel economy. the E92 is getting my 26-27 on average over a tank (OBC figure of fail).

Is there anything else I should be looking at?
List of wants (in order):

4 Door
Navigation
Similar performance to 330i
Better MPG than 330i
NO RUNFLATS!

[TW]Fox · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:05

If you only get 26 from an N53 330i, one of the most frugal 6 cylinder petrol engines around, you don't have a hope in hell of getting 50 from an XFS!

You might want to tell us your budget.

Steedie · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:06

Do it! You won't be disappointed, I absolutely love my 3.0 XF

When I was looking, I test drove the 3 series (5 series were way out of my budget as I'd have wanted an F10), and the A5 and found that the XF was the best place for me in terms of interior, and the car that bought the biggest smile to my face while driving it

One thing I will say is what Fox is saying above, you will not get 50 from an S. I'm lucky to get mid 40's on my non S. I'm averaging 32mpg at the moment across all my driving, mix of dual carriageway and some town driving

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:13

Budget seems to be around the 20k mark.
I dont find many people getting more than 26-27 a tank with the autobox?!

[TW]Fox · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:17

Malt_Vinegar said:
Budget seems to be around the 20k mark.
I dont find many people getting more than 26-27 a tank with the autobox?!

And as above people don't average 50 from an XF. The odd person might do well if they do lots of long trips but if that as you then you would currently be doing far better from your 330i.

Steedie · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:20

The S seems to average around 38-40 on long trips from what I've seen on various XF forums, which for a car that does 5.9 0-60 and not far off 300bhp, is still pretty good

AndyMoody · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:20

I was also looking at the XF 3.0 diesel as my last tank in my Impreza WRX worked out to 16.4mpg. I don't do lots of long journeys but thats probably due to not wanting to do a refill every 200-230 miles of superunleaded. Not sure what else but Audi 3.0 TDI quattro as these are available with 4WD and manual like the Impreza.

Just think I'd miss the performance and handling but then like the mpg ?

mattyprice4004 · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:27

I would absolutely love a 3.0 diesel XF. What a well put together and lovely looking car.

Goes some too for a dag dag! I was surprised. There's a fleet of Jags as taxi's here in Southport - so far I've seen a couple of S types, about 5 X types and an XF.

[TW]Fox · 27 Feb 2013 at 11:59

Steedie said:
The S seems to average around 38-40 on long trips from what I've seen on various XF forums, which for a car that does 5.9 0-60 and not far off 300bhp, is still pretty good

I'm not really sure it's that great economy wise. Infact it strikes me as particularly poor. It isn't 300bhp, its 270bhp, and 38-40mpg on a long trip isn't far off what you can expect from similarly powerful BMW's... fitted with petrol engines. An F10 530i has the same level of power and is capable of the same economy - and runs on petrol. An F10 535i has even more power and more performance and isn't far off on a run either.

Not that this means the XF isn't a good car. Infact it's a very good car - arguably it’s the best executive saloon this side of £20k (As under £20k doesn’t yet buy decent 6 cylinder F10s or current gen E Class Mercs). But it's not super frugal and it shouldn't be chosen or justified purely on its fuel economy. Buy one because you want one not because of some sort of fuel economy based maths because you'll be dissapointed.

If you are getting 26-27ish average out of a 330i then you can probably expect 33-35ish from an XFS Auto. It certainly isn't twice as economical as Malt seems to think it might be. Big, powerful 6 cylinder diesel automatics almost invariably never are.

On a nice long trip at the speed limit then you can probably return fairly impressive numbers, but then your 330i can also do that and you'll know yourself how often you actually manage it and therefore how often you'd manage to get I impressive economy from the XF.

Mickey · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:01

As others have said, you'll struggle to get decent mpg in an S, but it's worth it

My long term average is 27, getting into the 40s only really happens on long trips (42 from Leeds to Edinburgh last week), and you can sometimes creep into the 50s on long stretches of 50mph roadworks on the motorway.

Bear · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:42

As already said the XF isnt that economical, over about 5000miles I have averaged 30mpg but that is over all journies, cold starts etc.

J1nxy · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:52

Best I ever saw out of my pre-facelift car was 45-46mpg over a 2 hour drive, average is mid 30s over the time I had it. Facelifted car highest I've seen is 48-49 over a simliar journey and averaging 2-3mpg more over the last 8 months.

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Feb 2013 at 12:54

[TW]Fox;23841809 said:
If you are getting 26-27ish average out of a 330i then you can probably expect 33-35ish from an XFS Auto. It certainly isn't twice as economical as Malt seems to think it might be. Big, powerful 6 cylinder diesel automatics almost invariably never are.

On a nice long trip at the speed limit then you can probably return fairly impressive numbers, but then your 330i can also do that and you'll know yourself how often you actually manage it and therefore how often you'd manage to get I impressive economy from the XF.

33-35 is a nice step in the right direction! Especially when the performance is greater. I was looking at the SV8, but some people report mid-teens with mixed driving, so thats a just a little bit too low for me.

I have also had to fork out a lot on tyres for the e92 for various reasons, which has really added to the running costs for the vehicle. With them being run-flats, punctures and an alloy failure have bumped it up a bit.

Is there anything else in this bracket that might be an option for me?

Steedie · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:00

Tyres can be pretty pricey on the Jag too.

I have 18s and a full set of decent (Contis or Goodyear) are still close to £800. So I'd imagine the 20s if you went for those would easily be pushing £1k or over, but then I have no idea how much your E92 tyres are so that could be cheaper

J1nxy · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:21

255/35/20 are £250+ a corner for a decent set.

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:30

J1nxy said:
255/35/20 are £250+ a corner for a decent set.

Hopefully the alloys won't be made of cheese though

I just paid £260 for a single 223/35/19, which I had to argue about. they wanted to charge me almost £350 each! They claim that I was buying it below cost price for them. Not including fitting.

1k for a set it fine as far as I am concerned.

You can get Conti's in the the 255/35/20 for under £210 each non-fitted.

[TW]Fox · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:34

Don't forget diesel is more expensive than petrol to buy.

Basically forget fuel economy, you won't make noticeable savings. Buy an XF because you want one and they are great but don't buy one based on fuel savings.

J1nxy · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:34

They don't seem to be

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:38

[TW]Fox;23842547 said:
Don't forget diesel is more expensive than petrol to buy.

Basically forget fuel economy, you won't make noticeable savings. Buy an XF because you want one and they are great but don't buy one based on fuel savings.

Like i said, I love the XF, i was just fishing for extra reasons to love it

http://www.sytner.co.uk/guy-salmon-...nes-379372-974839.aspx?st=Vehicle&vhl=-379372

Thats the one I am looking at right now.

Also this one, but I prefer the first really.

http://www.sytner.co.uk/guy-salmon-...cot-373412-974865.aspx?st=Vehicle&vhl=-373412

Mickey · 27 Feb 2013 at 13:54

Malt_Vinegar said:
Like i said, I love the XF, i was just fishing for extra reasons to love it

http://www.sytner.co.uk/guy-salmon-...nes-379372-974839.aspx?st=Vehicle&vhl=-379372

Thats the one I am looking at right now.

Also this one, but I prefer the first really.

http://www.sytner.co.uk/guy-salmon-...cot-373412-974865.aspx?st=Vehicle&vhl=-373412

If you do look at the luxury spec car, I'd check the sound system out, if it has the 140w system then it's not very good at all. Prem Lux gives you the 320w as standard which is much better sounding, I couldn't really tell any difference between the 320w and 440w in terms of quality, just a bit louder.