X300 & X308 wheels

[a8hex]

I'm finally about to get my X300 back on the road after it went missing for a few years
It's not finished by any means, but I can enjoy her as she is for a while.
I'd bought some replacement wheels a few years back and I dug them out over the weekend and noticed they've got different finishes.



I'm pretty sure this is the original X300 style which is just polished and then lacquered.
While



Seems to be painted silver.

Does anyone know when Jaguar switched over? Is the painted wheel from an X308?

The original polished wheels caused lots of problems with moisture getting behind the lacquer and causing unsightly blemishes. I know Jaguar were aware of this issue early on. Steve Cropley had an early X300 as a long term test car at Autocar and noted the issue when they returned it. The guy from Jaguar noted at the time it was a problem they were aware of.

[mickrick]

Polish them and don't lacquer them. It doesn't take much to keep alloy looking good if you give them a whizz over regularly.