This Jag shares the DEW98 platform with Ford Thunderbird (2002-2005) Lincoln LS (2000-2006), it's essentially a Ford with grandma styled headlights and an overly angry cat symbol/logo. I call it the Roaring Kitty with gimp back legs (open diff). The shared Ford interior buttons/trim, the cheap plastic panels really screams 1998 USA car production. I'm surprised there are no 1998 Ford Taurus parts on it.
My daily. This exact version. I just started school when it was new. He is right in every sentence. The only downside is crappy materials, and some stupid engineering, but overall its great!
This is like looking at uploads from the Sun newspaper showing how "well" the Ukrainians are doing vs Russia, and looking at the brainwashed in the comments section, vs Hindustan Times which shows how "poor" Ukraine is doing and seeing the brainwashed again!. In other words, this is pure E39 porn for people with an E39 fetish. Therefore allow me, as a person who has owned three E39's including the M5 and no fewer than five E60's and while it's true that I remember cursing BMW when they released the E60 back in 2003, having owned a two 530d's, a 535d, a 545i and the M5, I have had ample time and experience to compare the two derivatives and much like Clarkson couldn't understand why people would buy a 7 over this 5, I cannot understand why anyone would prefer an E39 over an E60. But let's break it down: The E39 was designed by a Jap, and the E60 was designed by an Italian (not Bangle) The E39 rusts like hell, the E60 doesn't The E39 M5 was a late bloomer to the party and you can tell that BMW had no intentions of releasing an M5 in this shape (it's only a subtlely upgraded 540i Sport with the same recirculating ball steering box that's found in vans!) The cup holders are pathetic in the E39. BMW clearly weren't paying attention to VW when they developed the Passat. They hold the cup too near the base, they are too flimsy and because the climate air intake sensor is mounted behind the cup, the climate control will freeze your nuts off if you've got a cup of coffee placed in one, and turn your car into the tropics when a plonk a cold can of coke in one. I haven't found a single area where the E39 beats the E60 in how it drives. And from a mechanical point of view, I can only think of the N47 520d as a lemon. Even the S85 V10 is a good engine as long as you junk the old rod bearings for aftermarket replacements and change the oil twice as often. And don't give me the throttle body crap, because if you can't change those yourself, you should ditch BMW for a Toyota. Now i'm sure there are those out there from warmer climates like California, where you can own a E39 and it not look like a Rover SD1 after 10 years of use, but for the rest of us, you would have to either have a friend who's a crackerjack welder or can weld yourself to own and maintain an E39, whereas all you really need for an E60 is your trusty laptop running ISTA and probably a couple of replacement ECU's. Now without dissing the E39 too much, i'll just say this. It was a great car.......in it's time.......which passed it by.......long ago. Much like the E30 was!. But I can see the cars have a cult following. I just struggle to understand why?. I may be biased a little (also) but I would say that BMW's best years were from around 2003-2008, before they introduced those shit N47 and N57 engines, but still had trusty lumps like the M47, M57 and M54 and they finally figured out how to paint a car and it not rust!. Although, for an old design I will give kudos to the E53 X5 - they are standing up to the test of time rather nicely. Shame the E39 and E46 which were arguably good looking cars are rot boxes!
I don't like either because I am not a racing driver. I don't care for V8' because the straight 6 in my jag is just fine for me. The BMW is the more common fashioable car, whilst when it comes to Jags you either get them or you don't. And that's the older ones I am talking about. If I was buying a new one today, I would choose a Toyota Camry over these two names. "I'm over the Emperors new clothes".
If Jaguar would have put a limited slip differential in the S-Type R, and at least an option for a manual, this would have been much, much closer. I honestly do not understand why Jaguar went with an open differential.
Gentleman's rocket ship with predictable manners is my guess. And while Tiff didn't mention it this car had the 'fake' LSD in the form of active TCS which essentially clamped the wheel spinning with the brake.
This was my first car ! 525tds, at 227000km. I said: y wil keep it until the engine die , 14 years later it did.... even my daughter drives it 😁, what did you think ? The next day à buyed the same e39 but 530d from 2003 with 193hp chiped to 231hp , and drives great !!!
first learned to drive in my little 2002 z3 m roadster, still going strong with falling apart plastic bits and an ever-on check engine light, and i wouldn't trade it for anything
I love the input of The Smith's, "What difference does it make?" At the end! Very good! And what a smashing car! I own a 1998 528i 5 speed manual. It's a blast!
I love these old jaguars, i had a ‘03 stype 3.0v6 with the 6spd almost fully loaded. Although it wasn’t a problem free car but it has always started and never let me down. Loved the look and the comfort so much. I got a ton of good compliments from the people all the time on a daily bases. My favorite was when the small kids got frozen then started to waving with a huge smile on their faces. Just only for that itself was worth thoes hafty service bills what i always had. Still love and miss the car and have zero regrets. The s type is a timeless and beautiful car and would buy it again.
Yawn. Totally predictable result. We've all seen it many times. You can go back and read road tests from decades ago and it's the same story. Comfort vs performance is always a compromise and when faced with a decision Jaguar always compromises towards softness/comfort. Without fail. I seriously doubt that the usual Jaguar buyer is concerned with how the car behaves on the *race track*....but a BMW buyer might be. I like both Jags and BMWs but they're very different and always will be. These race track comparisons of the two are silly, IMO. Love Tiff Needell, tho !
7:30... "is it worth £40000 more than a 5-series?.... Nope." About ten years ago I went shopping for a GT car; I tried a DB9, an XKR, a 911, a R8 and a BMW 6-series. (I didn't bother with a Mercedes SL for three reasons: 1, they don't have a back seat. 2, the quality of the plastics was (and still is) grim. And, 3, Mercedes design their cars for the left-hand-drive market, but unlike BMW and others, they don't bother to reconfigure a couple of items in the engine bay when making a RHD car... they just plonk the steering wheel in as best as it will go... this means that in RHD cars the steering wheel is horribly offset and not directly in front of the driver. Don't believe me?... go and sit in any of the following and note where the wheel lines up with the centre of the driving seat; S Class, SL Class, CLS Class, E Class). I needed a GT car because i wanted a useable back seat and a large boot. (Which ruled out the R8 and 911 straight away). But of the DB9, XKR and the BMW I realised a startling truth... I couldn't work out why the DB9 was £40000 more than the other two. It's quality wasn't any better, it wasn't any faster, it wasn't any roomier or comfortable, and it certainly was nowhere near as reliable as the BMW. Aside from the brand the Aston made no sense. I did like the Jag, but it was a bit 'nanny-state' in that it wouldn't let YOU, the driver, fully control the gearbox (ie. the gearbox insisted on grabbing low gears when they were not needed) and the back seat wasn't quite large enough. So, I went for the 6-series... and I still have it almost ten years later. It has never put a foot wrong. Our garage at home includes other genuine M BMWs (not tacky so-called 'M-sport'), genuine S and RS Audis (not tacky 'S-Line'), and a couple of V12 'exotics', and the BMW sits perfectly alongside them all. I'll might buy more companions to sit next to it in the garage, but I'll never get rid of it.
