I have a 2001 vanden plas that I want to put an aftermarket stereo into, just don’t know where to start. I have the single din face plate and a wiring harness but haven’t tried to install just yet cause I’m not too sure about the harness. Before I disassemble my dash, I wanna make sure I bought the right parts

 

If you bought the same eBay single DIN adapter I did it should have come with a wiring diagram and stereo wiring color guide. If you didn't get these I can send some images. I'm not aware of any direct adapters to aftermarket stereos, you may have to wire the stereo to the harness supplied with your aftermarket stereo.

This all depends on which stereo your XJ has. If you have tweeters in the A pillars, a subwoofer on the rear shelf (not just an empty grille) and an amp in the trunk on top of the CD changer you have the premium system. If you don't you have the standard system.

-The standard system is the simplest to change out. Just take out the old head unit and use the wiring guide to splice the correct wires into the new harness. Don't forget the antenna connect, that should just pop right out and directly into your new aftermarket head unit.

-The premium system is a bit harder as the speaker wires terminate in the trunk at the amp, not behind the head unit like the standard system. You have two options here, replace the trunk amp as well and run RCA cables from your new head unit to the new amp. The other option is splice the speaker wires in the trunk and run them back to your new head unit, deleting the amp from the system.

On one XJ I had the standard system but wanted an amp and sub so I ran the speaker wires from the dash to the trunk to run from the amp but also ran RCA cables to the head unit to the trunk to feed the amp. It was extra work but sounds just as good as premium systems I've revamped.

Sorry to ramble on, hope this helps.

 

Anduha

thanks for the helpful information, the Kit I received did not come with a wiring diagram. If you have pictures, it would be a lot a help since it’s hard to find them online

 

I'm having a hard time finding mine but this thread has an image of the premium system.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...pinout-189130/

Here is an image of the wiring color key.