Just wondering. I was casually looking at a SVR at my local dealer (not buying one) and noticed it had every possible option/pack except the blind spot monitors. Seems kinda silly; might as well throw that in too. I'm so used to (and love) mine that I'd have it on any car I buy in the future.

What were they thinking? The SVR would be in front of everyone else so don't have to worry about anyone being in the blind spot?

 

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing it can be done without too much expense or hassle. Probably just new mirrors and a tweak of the CCF using SDD.
But do you really need it?
I have it and I find it both useless and annoying, just adjust your side mirrors properly and there are no blind spots to monitor!

 

Yes they can be retrofitted, largely as Oz mentions. I added them to my X351 and the system is the same.

You need the mirror glass with the LEDs built in, either new mirror assemblies or just add your own pair of wires to each mirror (you can use a shared ground for the third as the OEM does), a pair of sensors for the outside rear quarters behind the bumper cover (specific to VIN ranges as features changed through the years, an SVR likely has reverse collision detection but 2014-15 models may not have that unless specified), and the wiring in between. You should also fit a blocking tape to the inside of the rear bumper cover to limit the scan area to prevent them being mis-triggered, but having bought them I forgot to add them to my XJ and haven't noticed any issues. On the XJ the only wiring needed was in the mirrors and the rear bumper harness as the body harness was pre wired. The F-Type schematics look the same.

The CCF does need updating to enable them.

The benefit of the BSM for me is with the reverse collision detection. If you are parked in a bay with a large vehicle either side, or a garage, you can slowly reverse back and it will flash and beep loudly to warn you of any vehicle approaching from 50 yards or so either side long before you can physically see them. (It will not detect pedestrians, but sometimes triggers for shopping carts.)

 

Agreed about the reverse traffic detection, it has saved me a few times when reversing out of a tight parking spot (usually when surrounded by boof-mobiles, AKA SUVs or 4wds), but I didn't realise that it and the BSM were bundled together.

 

I had the same thing happen to me with an R convertible. It was priced right with every option except Vision which includes not only the blind side but also the rear-view camera so you may want to verify that the one you are looking at actually does have the backup camera as it may not. It was enough to get me to abandon the pursuit of that particular car. In fact, the ONLY reason that SVR may still be available on the lot may well be due to it missing those features.

NOTE: you CAN retrofit a backup camera but I would not do that on a lease as you could also end up paying HUGE $s on lease turn in if you have to splice wires in order to do it. If you are buying rather than leasing then these mods may not be of as much concern