Hi,

I have just purchased a 2012 XJL 5.0 SS and am totally stunned at how crap the entire infotainment/satnav system is. Jaguar should be embarrassed at this part of the car.. Even the bluetooth cracks and drops out in almost all calls.

I have read all the threads here, about how you can put a 2014 model system and its a direct fit, as long as you keep the dual view option in the 2014 unit as well. There was a comment made about picking up units from wreckers/ebay for a few hundred, but the cheapest I have seen is about 1400.

I am only looking at x351 units, but is this same system in the XF or other models I can fit to my XJ ?

I have also seen some say they had the dealer update the software during a service...

I asked my dealer about getting a new 2014 model system, they said no can't be done. And then when I pushed them on it, they said there where 47 different system models in 2014, which one did I want, and the cost would start at 8000... and I would need the VIN of a 2014 car to purchase it.

So what are the real options here.. Just live with it, ruining the experience of the drive everytime I have to use it.. or is there a end user software upgrade out there I can download and update my unit with..

Or perhaps somebody could suggest a wrecker that might have these cars.. I hit the internet sites in the UK and EU but not a single wrecker replied.

Oh, Jaguar.. In case you read these messages... If this was my business and I put out such a crap product, I would provide at least a software update for my customers to get a newer version... you know like Tesla does for all customers.. keeping them happy.... just a though...

 

Obviously to get today's tech in a 10yr old design car is going to need quite an upgrade.

It wasn't crappy back then BTW.

 

The reason there is no software update is because it requires different hardware. There was a limited VIN range around the launch of the 2012 MY where Jaguar would offer to replace the system on earlier cars to give them the later system to avoid a reduction in new sales after the first system facelift was announced, but that has long since expired even if your 2012 may have been included.

The 2013 screens are still available on eBay but get snapped up quickly as the increase in used early XJs changing hands now means a lot more demand for upgrading them. Places like Eurojags in the UK will get them in, but you need to be patient. The ones above £1k on eBay tend to be from the big European breakers and there is usually room for a significant negotiation on price. Average sale prices have increased in the last year - I'm seeing most sold around the £450-£500 mark now.

Although the systems share a lot of components amongst the various JLR models of that age none are cross-compatible. With a 2012 MY host you will need a 2013 MY donor to retain the full functionality (massage seats, instrument console and digital radio controls are the more notable breaking changes for 2014).

As JagV8 mentions the system in the 2010 launch model would have been designed 3-4 years prior in 2006/7 in order to get the supply chain and prototyping in place for launch. It was all resistive touch screens back then, and the dual view technology was considered leading-edge stuff. JLR do not have the volume to turn new tech around as quickly as the likes of BMW, and infotainment is not really a primary sales concern for them. Think of them as the smartphone maker that brings out their copy model 2 years after the Samsung's and Apple's of the world.

Whilst the earlier systems were bad (mostly due to the frustratingly unresponsive nature of using them) the later capacitive touch screens with more processing power are still perfectly acceptable.

 

I had an "early" 2012 XJ-L, and the dealer had me bring it back, so they could R&R the sound/nav unit.....