While on a trip driving a rental car, I got to experience the benefit of Adaptive Cruise Control, as well as regret that my car doesn't have it. Question: Is it an easy way to add capabilities to a 2012 XJL Supersport?

Rodney

 

Actually NOT an easy job.
You have to replace ABS unit and steering wheel switches (cruise control). Also you have to get ACC distance sensor and ACC ECU - place them correctly and lots of wiring.
It is not impossible - if you have the parts and wiring / connectors from a salvage car, but a "nice job".
Finally you have to program it with SDD...

All I wrote is theoretical: If any of you have actual experience please note us...

 

No need to change ABS. Radar, buttions and some software work.

 

Dear MoscowLeaper,

Sorry to go back to you, but are you 100% sure about ABS block?
I have checked all the part numbers for different in-car-options and all X351 without ACC are fitted with ABS modul Bx, Cx (end of part no.).
All cars with ACC have ABS blocks with DF (end of part no) (AW93-2c405-DF) and a huge "ACC" mark on the top of the hydraulic block.
Also if we think about the function of ACC that activate slight braking without pushing the pedal. This function needs extra hardware.

 

2012 is a harder one as it uses the older split sensor/processor setup and you will only be pre-wired for the sensor not the processor. It is possible to trick the ABS ECU into thinking it is a different installed part allowing you to flash the ACC software profile onto it, so it doesn't need to be replaced, but that is at your own risk as there may be functional complications, e.g. pre-charging if that is not done in software. Other than the sensor, processor, either a re-flash or replacement ABS ECU, internal wiring added for the processor (from memory it is only 5 wires needed and all are accessible from a single connector), and the steering wheel switches you need to make a few CCF changes and a short calibration drive and the system should be fully operational.

2016 onward you only need to add the sensor, replace the centre grill, replace the steering wheel switches and do the software changes/calibration. All cars are pre-wired with the needed connector clipped behind the bumper bar. It is a much easier system to retrofit.

I have retrofitted ACC to a 2010, 2016 and a 2018 X351. There is a period between 2013-2015 when a different setup was used which I have no hands-on experience with. I think (and that is a guess based on observation only) the system is very similar to the 2016 onward system with only the location of the sensor changing.

 

2010-2012 would easily accept a new radar (single module, C2D26979 ), with queue assist and other stuff.
And im pretty sure than the ABS swap isn't needed.

 

Have you tested this, because that is very helpful info if it works?

Initially I tried that with my 2010 (after swapping the sensor connector, and connecting it to the main CAN network at the engine/IP harness junction) but was not able to get it to be accepted. I could talk to it fine, and it would take calibration, however the instrument cluster would consistently report an ABS system fault on the display, and the DTCs indicated "incorrect CCM module fitted". It was not possible to activate any cruise functions. The CCM at that time would be the internal module, which obviously isn't fitted with the combined sensor/processor module. I tried various way around it, but in the end just fitted the correct modules for the car had it been built with them.

 

I've swapped mine original ACC (dual module) to a newer one (single module) on mine MY11 SuperSport. The programming itself is a bit tricky and involves custom programming of some additional modules, making a custom CCF template to add some options/values, but it's doable.
It works the same way on all post-2010 vehicles: X250, L319/L320, L322. Only haven't tried it on X150, since i've sold it and there's no local customers, who wants to give it a try

 

Very thankful my 2014 XJR does NOT have this. Very frustrating way to drive. Consistently getting stuck behind somebody and then I realize how slow they are going.
Big trucks cause a massive braking event for no reason other than their much large radar reflection. Awkward at best for me.
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Was just wondering what feature of adaptive cruise that you like?

I have it in my XJ Port and my VW Tiguan.........
So far in my personal experience with the feature........I bloody well hate it. In actual fact I see it as downright dangerous and a sure fire way to get yourself rear ended. Having my vehicle hard brake for no reason at 110kph due to a truck merging into a slip lane in front of me was scary as hell and was waiting for the screeching of rubber on blacktop followed by a high speed rear end shunt that could potentially have ended with a fatal high speed Car v Car v Semi is not a feature I like.
I understand why the idea of adaptive cruise may be useful, but its not for me.
I find myself constantly turning cruise on and off to avoid any chance of my previous experience and so far have found the system very Anti cruise and my hands more distracted from my driving position due to it.

 

Adaptive cruise is still cruise control, it is not autonomous driving - surely you'd need to brake or cancel any cruise control in the scenario you described? If I see another vehicle is about to merge in front of me I take over the controls the same as I would on non-adaptive cruise.

I find it useful for motorway/dual carriageway driving. In the UK our roads are so congested it would be unusual not to be in following mode for most of the time. It is also useful for driving in closing traffic, e.g. roadworks, where drivers tend to bunch together causing a lot of slow-down/speed-up.

It is interesting to see that two of you have reported large trucks causing sharp braking. I've not experience that myself in around 5 years of driving cars with some form of adaptive cruise. I do run with the detection distance set to maximum though which gives plenty of time to 'adapt' the speed so maybe that is why?

If you have it fitted to your car and do not want it you can turn the adaptive cruise off and revert to normal cruise control. It needs diagnostic equipment to disable it though, so is not something you can just configure through the instrument cluster menus. IMO it should be something you can turn on and off like BSM, etc.

Worth noting that it is not just for the cruise, but it also provides additional emergency braking features (including when cruise is not active). It is for that reason that I strongly suspect that it will start to become standard fitment to most vehicles in the next 5 years given the cost to add it is about £20 in parts at the factory and related systems are now already standard fitment.

 

XDave,
apologies I should have been more specific in my description of the events that triggered hard braking.
On both occasions I have encountered the hard braking issue, the merging traffic in question was merging out of my lane into a slip lane to turn off of the continuing road. With the use of a standard non adaptive cruise, no such braking would have occurred with the distance to the vehicle merging out of the continuing lane in front posing no threat whatsoever to collision.
The issue being neither I as the following vehicle or the vehicles travelling behind me anticipated my vehicle undertaking what I would determine under the conditions in question as un necessary and dangerous braking at speed to avoid a threat that simply did not exist due to the fact that the driving condition was completely normal and safe.
At the risk of hijacking the OP's thread, I am going to leave it there.

 

Thank you for that clarification. I think it is still useful to get driver feedback for a thread on ACC, and I find it interesting to learn other's experiences with it (apologies to Rodney if he disagrees!)

Before I was wondering if it was maybe due to calibration and driving on the left vs the right, and the earlier cars which had an offset sensor, but you are in Australia which drive on the left like the UK do and you should be using a UK/ROW calibration so they should be pretty much identical setups.

Maybe it is the road layouts at the slip roads? Do you notice the same behaviour when a truck changes lanes in front of you (from your faster lane to a slower lane when you want to continue in the faster lane?) I ask because that scenario happens with mine pretty much every time I drive on a motorway (as to be expected, particularly when approaching exits) and the amber follow me tell-tale symbol on the instrument cluster goes out when the vehicle is about half way out of the lane so the software appears to be tracking the vehicle and knows it is leaving your lane so avoids braking even though it is starting to slow. There is a delay on acceleration though if I was previously under-speed. Anecdotally that delay might be greater than in same-lane acceleration.

As I retro-fitted the systems to each of my cars with it I was very **** about the alignment to get it spot on (I made up a 345 triangle and used laser lines to get the angle correct), and all were calibrated by driving along a dual carriageway next to decent metal barriers so they are probably quite narrowly dialled in. I wonder if they actually calibrate on the car from the factory or if they just flash a standard calibration profile which doesn't account for minor misalignment?

On your Tiguan do you notice the same behaviour as your XJ?

 

XDave,
Funny you should mention slip lane layouts as in every case of its occurrence in the XJ it has been from a semitrailer merging across to the right to turn off of the continuing road in a right hand turn.
I am unsure of the setup regarding the radar system and its tuning but am wondering if there is a fan in the beam closer to the emitter and then a longer pencil beam for vehicles further away. I am unsure of the frequency used in the emitter or if multiple frequencies are used according to distance sensing, yielding a pattern similar in a way to the beam format from a headlight. I should note though that in the XJ the aforementioned braking was with the radar set to maximum range, I have since changed to minimum but have not had the same circumstance in driving condition arise as yet to note any change in vehicle dynamic behaviour of the ACC.
I have not noted similar behaviour simply from a lane change from a truck on a dual carriageway as yet. I am unsure, but logically thinking I feel the characteristic of braking has more to do with proximity than mass.
eg: the ACC begins to decelerate to speed match before any braking occurs unless the proximity of the vehicle is closer. So possibly in my circumstance the vehicle in front has somehow caught the edge of the radar beam. I wish I knew more to understand the operational intricacies of the ACC radar with a more detailed review given in the vehicle manual.
I will ask the question to my closest Jag dealer mech techs regarding the radar and alignment or if any update exists that may affect its function and tuning.

I have had the same hard braking occur once only in the Tiguan, but again this was with the vehicle in front merging to the right, again into a slip lane to turn right off of the continuing road, but in this circumstance was in a 70kph zone and the vehicle merging into the slip lane was a sedan.

I do think it would be good if manufacturers gave vehicle owners a choice of whether to engage an ACC and normal CC function, as for our highways here in my state and freeways closer to capital cities and metro areas having the choice would in my mind assist with road safety, but I am just a traffic cop, who's going to listen to me lol.
Australian roads I imagine can be quite different regarding traffic load compared with other countries, having road stretches hundreds of kilometres long or longer depending on your state of open highway between towns and regional centres with light traffic loads at 110kph max open road speed limit.

 

I know this is old but do you know of a guide/part numbers for this?

 

Interesting insights and my ACC does annoy me occasionally, but I'd still prefer to have it fitted than not.

Seems like the upgrade in 2016+ is super easy, but I'm glad I already have it installed

 

Looking forward if anyone can give a detailed or not how to retrofit for a 2017 XJ R-Sport. I start to find out how for my newly addition which misses this and while I never had a car with this option, I fancy it. The car has de 360 view for parking if this helps in any way regarding hardware sensors and cameras required.

 

Hello All,
I hope someone can help me. I have retrofitted radar sensor (part no DPLA-9G768-AD) and steering wheel controls (part no FW9313D767BD) to my pre-facelift 2015 xj. I can see the ACC module on canbus network but as a square icon with question mark. When trying to update the module, sdd tells me it's up to date. I get these faults in the picture below. What should I try next please?