I recently bought a new Bluetooth diagnostic tool for my Volvo. It’s the Autel AP200 and works well for that. It costs £45 inc delivery from Autel directly (They’re also available on Amazon for around £70).

In checking through their vehicle compatibility tables, they claim it is fully functional on the X300. The add on software download for Jaguar was £20, so with low expectations, I thought I’d give it a shot to see what it could actually do.

I have to say I was actually surprised. It cannot do absolutely everything it claims to, but it can do a lot that I’ve never seen before at this price point for the X300.

It has all of the normal OBD engine related stuff that you would expect and that you get with any cheap ELM327 adapter and a phone app. You don’t need to buy the Jaguar download for that – it’s included for all manufacturers for free when you buy the hardware interface. But it can do much more.


I went through each of the modules on my X300 and tested connectivity and functionality on each. This is the summary of what I found.




So there is some very useful functionality over and above what you get with Standard OBD. ABS code reading is an obvious big plus, as well as the other modules above which, although not generally troublesome and not mission critical it’s handy to have.

BPM Live Data also is great benefit. There’s some stuff in there that will help in diagnosing some of our common ailments. A few examples from a quick look

- Key in ignition Indicator - for the sticky lock barrel issue

- Starter Relay enable, Park/Neutral Status - for all the “My Car Won’t Start” threads

- Door Ajar flag – for alarm and central locking issues



The tool and software seems to be generally robust. It doesn’t fall in a heap if it can’t communicate and recovers gracefully. It has a few quirks. For example, on doing a full system scan it missed out on quite a few modules, but selecting and scanning each module manually is fine.

It can’t read the VIN (no surprise – nothing does to my knowledge). But you just select “Other Vehicle” in the Jaguar models list, then you are presented with a list of VIN ranges and you just pick the right one for your car. Simple and intuitive.



Just to clarify how the pricing structure works for this tool.

You buy the hardware interface (Bluetooth). I paid £45 inc. delivery (2 days) from the Autel UK online store.

When you buy the hardware interface you get standard OBD for all cars forever. You also choose one manufacturer (not model) specific download for free and you have that forever.

Additional manufacturer specific downloads can be added for around $20 or £20 each. But they are only valid for 1 year, then you need to renew. So it may make sense to buy an interface for each manufacturer you need if you think you’ll need them for more than 1 year.



So to summarise, for £45 you can get a diagnostic interface for your X300 that covers Engine, Transmission, ABS, Climate Control, Seat and Column Memory Module and BPM Live Data. I think that’s pretty good value. If you also have other later Jags then it could be a no brainer. (BTW I don’t have any affiliation with Autel, just posting for information.)



Here’s a few screenshots from my testing. I unplugged an ABS sensor to force a fault for testing purposes. The other faults are real and are on my To Do (Sometime) list.

NOTE: I ran a test using Jaguar IDS before testing the Autel Unit. All of the DTCs reported by IDS were also reported by the AP200 (except the false ECU codes that IDS always reports – so the AP200 was actually better than IDS on that!)

 

Thanks Brendan, this looks like a must-do for many of us, especially at that price.

So the SLCM remains a mystery, except for the magic of the IDS. Any Airbag diagnostics?

I wonder if it can shed light on another enigma: the Driver's seat preset memory function oddities.

 

Excellent detective work, thank you very much for sharing! Definitely a massive step up in the tool chest of the X300 enthusiast for very little cost.

 

Thank you so much for sharing! This is valuable information!

 

Does this OBD work on the 1995 X300, as the OBD was not fully functional until 1996.

 

@SleekJag12

Richard, yes I think it will certainly help with memory seat issues. It reads the codes and has full live data for the seat module. Here's a couple of screenshots from the Driver Seat Module..

No, it can't do Air Bags. But neither can IDS. In fact, the Air Bag Control Module is not even on the network according to the electrical manuals, so not sure how anything could help with them.






Yes it works on early cars. Mine is registered Oct 1994.

 

Airbags are mechanical, there is no power needed to make them work, so they’d never show up on any OBD2 reader.

 

Hey Vee. You must be thinking of something else. The Air Bag system is most definitely 100% electrical and not mechanical.

 

95 jag will have a mechanically fired airbag. There will be nothing plugged into it to make it deploy.

What year do you think it went electrical?

 

Anyone tried one of these on a X308? I know, wrong forum but hey…

 

I ordered the reader based on this thread; With quick test seems to be connecting to main modules (ECU, TCU, ABS, clima, body controller, seat controller...). So far so good.

@b1mcp
thanks for the tip

 

I'm not seeing where I can view the live data? Just reading and erasing codes.

 

I was going to buy this but I can’t see where I can get it in the UK. Seems like Autel doesn’t have an e-commerce website. Where did you buy it from?

 

Aliexpress

 

Managed to get this and can read/erase codes on my X300 1995 sovereign in the UK. But no live data. It just gives me this message:




any advice? I’ve reported it to tech support so will see what they say.

 

From my understanding the airbag system does not have a data bus ( serial data as a digital string bits of ones and zeros ) in order to extract data bus information from unlike the Engine and Transmission ECU . Wich is what your reading device is deciphering

Even the airbag light is a non - digital descrete signal to the instrument cluster

The digital data bus wire is the Orange wire in the Print on page 234

jagxj1996.pdf (jagrepair.com)

The airbag control module does have contact with the external crash sensors in a more discreet sense as a on or off positive voltage signal to the airbag control module

The firing of the airbags is a definite discrete signal from the airbag control module

": I'm not seeing where I can view the live data? Just reading and erasing codes " .

In order to see live data ......

You have to initially specify the make of vehicle at the beginning of the device startup process

Code showing and clear codes does not need this vehicle specification

The software to run the device may not have live data until you purchase a authorization key ( a lot of the free ELM - 327 software sites have this as bait to tease you along )

The live data software can be purchased online or by a Torrent file with the authorization key which is sometimes a different Torrent file

I had one of these Torrent files running on mine until after 25 uses it asked for a authorization key to get live data running again

 

Okay thanks for your advice. However the only option I have after buying the Jaguar add on is the 2002-2005 XJ series. I tried that but it couldn’t communicate with any modules.

I then tried by last 6 digits of VIN which gave me the same message about no live data.

what am I missing?? I’m getting decent OBD data (fuel trim etc) but nothing else.

 

Ignore me. Figured it out.

For anyone else - it only works if you put in your VIN. Go to automatic identification and type in the VIN then you can see the relevant modules and get live data.

live data also only seems to work when the engine is running.

My next problem is how to figure out why I’ve got such high LT fuel trim: