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Hey everyone. Simple question: will this hack work on my
03 S type R with premium sound and Mac?? Post says it is for XJ AND XR but no mention if hack will work on mine. Thanks!
I don't think it will work since the STR uses the newer optical audio communication system. Same thing goes for the x350 XJ's and whatever similar generation tech XK's, this procedure wouldn't work on those either.
You will need the "audio connectivity module" to get an aux input on your car. Check the x350 forums, should be easy to find there.
If you're especially electronically inclined, you could try to reverse engineer your cd changer to see if the CD circuitry and the audio-network circuitry can be isolated from each other. That would be my first try if I got an x350. Good chance it's very difficult or impossible however.
I fitted one of these units in my XJ8, works just as well as any other aux input, factory fitted or otherwise, that I've used on various cars. Installation is straightforward enough, took a feed off the 12v socket to power it and hid the switch and 3.5mm jack in the arm rest/cubby.
I'm thinking the same thing, couldn't you strip away the shielding on the wire leading out of the CD changer and tap into the same 3 wires? That would reduce job time to 20 minutes and minimize risk of damaging the CD changer.
Fyi, for other owners, I did exactly that and indeed it works perfectly - much easier than opening the changer up but the wires are VERY thin, so be extremely careful striping the insulation!
Also, I just attached RCA ends to them and then connected to a standard A2DP Bluetooth receiver, powered from the radio-antenna erector-motor wires (shutting off radio cuts power to BT device, making it easy to reset it while driving if needed)
Hello , I,m walther from Holland.
I have a 2000 XJ8 with a normal soundsystem ( no amp ).
Is it also possible to open the CD cable at the headunit side ??.
Please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some information about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.
Does the normal system come with a CD changer as well? If it does, you can. If it doesn't, you can't.
The reason this trick works is that the audio wires are the only ones that are bypassed, while the communication wiring is still connected to the CD changer. The head unit talks to the CDC to see if it's there, and if it's not, it won't switch to the CD mode. If it is there, the HU switches to CD mode, and just plays whatever audio is coming in through the line, regardless if the CDC is playing or has no disc.
GOPI,
any chance you could post images somewhere else now that photobucket wants to rape users? Or is there an easy way to view these? Google didn't give me much to go on
As this thread saved me tons of money and guaranteed the best sound quality without changing the look of the car I want to add my update to this thread.
I followed the instructions from Gopi and it worked great. I only made a little change to the cutting of the wires part. Maybe this might be useful to someone else.
So instead of cutting the wires I cut away some of the plastic with a sharp pair of scissors.
With the exposed wires from AUX cable I was able to thread and curl them trough the still attached connectors.
Only thing left to do is add some solder and heat shrink and it looks like new.
And it also works like a charm in my Jaguar XJR 308 from 1999. I don't get any errors. The only thing that happens is that the CD changer is looking for a CD to play and when it has cycled trough it says "NO CD" all the while playing my music.
Next stop is adding some Bluetooth connectivity to my AUX input.
After repairing my Alpine 6 CD changer three times, I bypassed the changer with a cable from Discount Stereo. It easily plugs in by the changer, threads through (not so easy!) to the inside of the centre console and gives me a jack to use my iphone as a music source. Works great and cost less than $100.
JAG-CDR Aux input with Changer retention for Select Jaguar XJ and XK Part Number JAG-CDR Compatible Vehicles: 2000-03 X308 Prem (XJ, XKR, VP, DE)*
https://www.discountcarstereo.com/ I have a 2003 XJ8 with the Premium stereo package but they also make a cable for the standard stereo.
on mine. Thanks!
