Ok, I admit it…. it’s happened to me, I have become somewhat of a “Jag” fanatic.

Go easy on me here as I reveal that i’ve actually only ever owned two Jaguars, my current being a beautfiul X351 XJ and an X250 XF which i’ve recently parted with. You’d be well within your rights to question my “Jag Fanatic” authenticity given my relatively short lived experiences with the brand and that’s perfectly fine, but I seem to have found myself obsessed with the brand and spending what seems like every passing hour reading online about them.

The majority of that reading online centers around my next car purchase, an X358 Jaguar XJ. I have well and truly fallen in love with the X358, so much so that I feel like i’ve read and scrutinised every single advert for one in the UK at the timing of writing this.

Now, for context and information, i’d previously been a huge BMW fanatic. I loved, and still love everything about BMW’s, you’d never find me bad mouthing them or pretending that I don’t have any affection towards them anymore, but to me, Jaguars offer something very very different to a BMW. Granted, i’ve only had an XJ and an XF to compare with all of my previous BMW’s, but they’ve taught me enought to know that they are two very different beasts.

My last BMW was actually an M2, quite a departure from an exectuive Jaguar XJ with massage seats right? The M2 was simply astonishing. I had always yearned to own a real M Car and when I was finally in a position to do so, I couldn’t say no. Many people, particularly motoring journalists, refer to the M2 as the “Ba” of the M car range and also sometimes refer to it as the “cheap” option (If only that were true!). I however have to disagree, I think the M2 is the perfect M car. Bare in mind my views are solely based on my circumstances which are living in the UK, in a busy city environment with heavy traffic for the majority of the time. With that in mind, opportunity to really stretch the legs of the 3.0 straight 6 engine were limited at best.

Anyway enough of the M2. I had decided I wasn’t getting any younger, my back felt a litle bit worse for wear from the spine jarring M2’s suspension and tyre setup and therefore started to look for something a litlte bit more comfortable and serene. I’m not sure I could have gone for something at the furthest end of the scale from a BMW M2, A Jaguar XJ X351 Portfolio model. In a word, it’s beautiful. It’s everything I could have wished for and more. Everything is just so relaxed. The seats feel like armchairs with every bit of electrical adjustment you can possible think of, the double glazed glass makes it nigh on silent when travelling along, the 3.0d V6 diesel engine goes about it’s business in spectacularly quiet and unassuming fashion, I could go on and on, it’s just a beautiful place to be.

I think it’s that tranquil, releaxed experience that has drawn me to an X358 XJ and the desperation to acquire one that I seem to be inundated with. The X358 is a world apart from my current X351 XJ and if you recall back in 2010 when the new XJ was revealed, Jaguar received heavy criticism for the bold new design of the XJ. It was so drastically different to the X358 XJ, I think it took most people surprise and most of the disconcerting noises were coming from Jaguar fanatics who felt Jaguar had destroyed the XJ. How wrong they were, let me tell you, Jaguar got it absolutely spot on.

I test drove an X350 XJ some time ago which is essentially the pre facelift of the X358 model which i’m so desperate to own. Essentially, the X350 and X358 are the exactly same car underneath and inside, it’s the front and rear end’s that look vastly different. The X358 looks much more modern with it’s more sportier looking wings and bumper grille and once i’d seen a few X358’s, I knew i’d never be happy with an X350.

What are your thoughts? Is the X358 Jaguar XJ (2007-2009) the last classic Jaguar? Comment below or follow us on Facebook for more updates.

My search for an X358 continues, i’ll be back with further updates as soon as I have one!