That would be really nice if you could custom carve a wood covering to go around it with the jaguar leaper in gold or silver under the varnish.

 

@Hanabal - I agree, but how would you get the colour exactly right?

 

I'm not sure. Maybe home depot can match varnish the way they match paint. One could also just test a bunch of close varnishes to see which one matches. I feel desperate now that I think about it. My head unit won't work with anything new and all of the new head units are ugly and there are no prefabricated covers that I can find.

 

OK, this is about seven months late here, but I just stumbled into this and I happen to be the original designer and installer of the "2 single DINs of different makes" being thrashed here. That full system, 5-weekends installation was done on my old 1998 XJ8L (BTW, NOT an XJR), which I already sold about 5 years ago. BTW, the nice couple that I sold the car to, while test driving the car, kept saying "I'm buying this car just for the unbelievable sound system alone".

First - That install had neither video, nor double-DIN plans when it was conceived, so nobody was trying to break double-DIN ground with it. It was a purely audio improvement concept.
Second - Because it was an audio-only focused project, it was absolutely imperative for me to include the very unique, awesome Pioneer DEQ-9200 Digital Sound Processor that I had already used on at least two of my previous installs, and which can again be seen on this site's gallery being featured on both of my Jags, my XJR and my XJS. It is a single DIN display, but because it is only 1 1/2" deep, when placed together with a single-DIN head unit (like on the XJR), it does NOT add up to a full double DIN. -- There's no EQ in existence that can come close to what this Pioneer unit can do, especially with its self ("Auto") EQ feature, perhaps with the only exception of a quite sophisticated -if discontinued- Alpine processor that I was once demonstrated. This is the reason why, although the Pioneer unit is no longer in production either, I still search for it and manage to find, yet, another unit for newer installs.
Third - The other, separate unit next to the above mentioned processor on this "awfull" setup was a Kenwood Exelon head unit that interfaced with the Kenwood Music Keg under the passenger seat, a 40GB MP3 digital storage hard drive, and which treated it just like if it was a common Kenwood CD changer, controlling, selecting and displaying all of the MP3 file tags. Any guy reading this can easily identify the convenience and sophistication of these two units that I dared to place together and which appeared to be "exactly the reason why we (some) are trying so hard to do better"...
Fourth -- Finally, I don't believe that "stacked" stereo equipment looks necessarily bad just because they're of different brands. Since when stacked equipment needs to conform to the same brand? Who does that at home? So, home is OK, but in the car you cannot mix brands? Even if it is for the sake of achieving the ultimate sound and/or convenience?

BTW, on my current install I did not use burlwood at the sides, but I matched the dark plastic and I have USB and A/V interface on it, plus the subwoofer amplitude control. I did want to have a double DIN in there, but it is just a little bit too painful to do so, so it wound up looking very similar to the one on my old and beautiful BRG XJ8L hereby being thrashed... Finally, I believe that no double-DIN install, however "politically correct" it may look, comes close to the quality of sound that I had on that car and that I currently have on my XJR (and/or XJS), as well.

Better late than never...

 

@ Forcedair1

I fully understand the reasoning behind the fabulous sound system you installed in your (ex-)Jag. I have finally bought the XJ8 I was talking about in earlier posts in this thread. The native sound system is not satisfactory at all. I have owned much cheaper cars with better sound from the native audio system.

Your description truly sounds like a state of the art solution (and cheaper, presumably, than for example this 7000€ Bang & Olufsen sound system designed for the Mercedes-AMG!)

Now, taste is of course personal and difficult to discuss. With all respect, I find that the 2 units don't contribute positively to the look of the car interior.

However, I am not only concerned with audio (although I would welcome a significant improvement of the sound quality). I am also eager to upgrade the GPS system. I want to have a fully functional GPS system in my car and I don't want to use my Garmin nüvi because it looks awful in the Jag when mounted on the windscreen. The primitive native GPS is not great at routing, the display doesn't show a real map, I don't think that I can get map updates anymore, and the CD map I have covers only Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - not all Europe. In the U.S., it would be like having a map covering only 1-2 smaller states.

This is why I find AlexD's installation so tempting. I am now looking for a car mechanic who is willing to try

 

I absolutely understand the looks and flow of lines issue. It is obvious that the stock set up is always designed with "flow" in mind, therefore, yes, it does look more like "it belongs" there than mine does. I suppose it was a matter of trade off: looks vs. sound, and sound obviously won, other wise my XJR trunk would be perfectly empty right now. As a man who's dealt with aircraft all my life, I just happen to like "busy" cockpits with various pieces of smart equipment and nice gauges galore. Conversely, looking at never ending pictures of car afer car that look all exactly the same OEM untouched version can get old and boring. You can attest to that by looking at my two Jags here, or at the better featured CarDomain site. If I'm pushed to pick between "flow lines" and smart and functional equipment, I can pick the latter without abandoning Jaguars dignified interior, trust me. And again, please (all) understand that the XJ8L install was back in 2000 when there was little interest (or concern) about "must have" things video/GPS, compared to today's, 10 years later.

This is why my current XJR install has been such a struggle. First, there was the major decision to remove the OEM Alpine amp and GPS unit, not only because of its limited display features when compared to just about any stand alone unit available today, but because of the overall system's limited audio quality and expandability/features. Like I said, I really wanted a double-DIN in there, but that nasty metal cross beam at the top of the opening will simply not let you push that big 2-DIN monster in there (which I know is the reason why the other nice double-DIN shown on this thread is at such an exageratted slanted angle to avoid that beam, noticed?) Besides, the very opening is about 1/4" too small. We're talking structural alterations for the sake of a double-DIN, or buying that brand new and expensive double-DIN head unit and kill the warranty by axing it apart...a nightmare that won't even let you load DVD's from your seat because the player is in the trunk...where do you draw the line on this?

The other alternative would be the pop-out screen head units. Never did like them because they cover needed controls and displays, plus they won't talk to my Music Keg in the manner my current HU does, although I suppose that I could get me the Kenwood pop-out screen HU.... They actually do come with nice built-in GPS and/or a remote black box. Since they also feature USB interface, I could just load up my 40GB of music into any Western Digital small hard drive and still be able to control it from the radio while getting rid of the now dated Kenwood Music Keg..

I may wind up sold on a pop-out screen head unit with GPS, after all. This is all about affordable compromises and I'm willing to give in, although I don't see how this will change my two single-DIN setup. The pop-out HU still is a single-DIN unit. But then, when it's popped out it will cover the "shameful" second single-DIN unit above it...

I'm waiting (and very curious) to see what alternate solutions will be performed by those not happy with my setup. Talk is cheap. Crawling and sweating in your garage until 4:00am is not.

 

Point taken. You're definitely not going to see me crawling around on my garage floor at 4 a.m. with screwdrivers, plugs, long cables etc. I am looking for a professional who is willing and able to change the original sound and GPS equipment in my car. Not easy to find. Most simply refuse before I even get a chance to explain what I want.

The rest is a question of priority. @ Forcedair1, it seems audio quality is paramount in your case and sat. nav. secondary. (I sure hope the music on that 40 GB hard drive is FLAC or another "lossless" format, not just 128 kbps mp3 files )

I'd be willing to make a slight compromise on sound, if it means I can get a great GPS system.

I may be stupid, but I am not really sure I get this... Do you mean the angle of the faceplate in the installation by AlexD shown on the first page of this thread?

I totally agree with this. I hope to find a system that'll let me use my iPod classic with its 80 GB of mp3 files, squeezed to 128 mbps by iTunes...

 

I hope that's working on the car........seriously, it can be done, double din is not out of the question. I've spoken to guys who've done it and seen some very clean installs, it's about how you do it.

I'm prepared to take my dash out to do it, are you? the other item to consider is the airbag module on the trans tunnel, this has to be moved to another location, so as to slide the headunit into place. Nowt to do with cross brackets, they can be filed.

Me, I'm going for a clean looking Pioneer Avic, with all bells and whistles. I love my music, and I love my car, so it's a case of doing it right....I've spend a lot of time rebuilding it, and the last update will be touchscreen double din. To do it correctly sometimes takes thinking outside of the usual constraints of the owner, and into the realm of professional engineering.

 

@ Sean B

Sean I too am interested in a Double DIN for my XJ. I too thought about moving the ECU that is in the way and cutting the metal. I'm not too fussed on having Sat Nav, as I have my own Specialist one, but would like the Full Screen and good sound. I've seen one I'm interested in, but thought about issues fitting it. I like what you're saying, keep me posted on how this goes. Maybe it can be done without dash removal.

 

"Point taken. You're definitely not going to see me crawling around on my garage floor at 4 a.m. with screwdrivers, plugs, long cables etc."

Not me either, not anymore. I shiver at just the thought of taking upon such a project one more time; I'm too old for that. So much work to get it the way you want it. Problem is that an equivalent job from a pro won't be cheap. Catch 22...

"...it seems audio quality is paramount in your case and sat. nav. secondary. (I sure hope the music on that 40 GB hard drive is FLAC or another "lossless" format, not just 128 kbps mp3 files ) "

It's just that I very seldom need/use GPS and if I know I will be going somewhere I'm not familiar with, I just take the wife's Magellan for that trip; no biggie. However, I do like to have movies whenever I stop to eat a hamburger or to wait for something, or the wife wants to watch a movie or TV show while we're heading out somewhere. --- The MP3 encoding is done at either 192 or 256, can't do any less with classical music, which I listen to about 90%. In fact, as I've already mentioned somewhere else, I may be ditching the Kenwood Music Keg because of the limited capacity of the hard drive plug-in cartridge that I have (40GB), and larger ones are no longer available. It's time for a 500GB Western Digital, that way I hardly need any compression

"I may be stupid, but I am not really sure I get this... Do you mean the angle of the faceplate in the installation by AlexD shown on the first page of this thread?"

Oh, no, nobody's stupid here. It's actually MY fault thinking that the link to the subject install was on this thread. It is actually on the link that SARC provided on entry #15, page 2. Two of the four pictures on that link (entry #5) are from a double-DIN install with, like ivory color vinyl at both sides of the display; that's the one I was refering to, sorry. The screen is facing up at a significant angle (albeit convenient, I suppose) and I believe it may be because of that frame metal beam that goes across the top of the radio opening. It's a chunk of steel that I'd be concerned cutting off in order to be able to push a double-DIN unit straight in.

However, most of my ICE is already there, including a nice 9" TFT display that I keep stowed away until I want to watch something. So, if I see a plausible method to place the double-DIN monster in there, I will jump on it one more time... what the heck.

 

I was just comparing my old XJ8L radio install with my current XJR install.
The XJ8L install is at a sharper angle because I placed the radio above the digital processor. The radio is full depth (about 6 1/2"), therefore it would hit that infamous beam unless it is tilted enough to avoid it; this is what creates the angle. My XJR install is not tilted as much because I placed the processor at the top. The processor display is only 1 1/2" deep, therefore it won't quite hit that beam, i.e. no need to tilt it so much. You can confirm the lesser angle on the XJR radio pic on this site's gallery (Page 11).

So, the install where the screen was detached from the unit only used the opening area and did not reach deep enough to find the metal beam. Clever.

 

Sorry, the XJR moved to page 1.
Page 11 is my XJS.

PS.
Please, know that I'm not asking anybody to go and "admire" my pics... I'm just making reference to the less tilt angle that the XJR installation required when compared to the old XJ8L install, because this time I placed the 1 1/2" deep processor at the top. It is an indication that going in straight from the top edge of the radio opening does find the steel beam at about 2" deep.

 

I know this is an older thread, but this is pretty much what I am in the process of. If the OP is still around, I would love to know which steering wheel controls adapter you used.

 

For what it's worth, I'm still looking into options for this as well.

I've written off the idea of fitting a double din headunit straight in, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, filing the brackets and moving the airbag sensor doesn't appeal, and secondly prices of decent double din units are ridiculous here in New Zealand, let alone issues with radio bands and not having sat-nav.

The next option was to do the screen relocation that Alex has done. This is still an option, but there still isn't really anywhere tidy to put the rest of the headunit, and also I believe some (mainly Alpine) headunits don't work very well when there is more than a metre of extra cable between the screen and body.

The one possible solution I have found though, is this little touchscreen unit from Alpine:

TME-S370
6.5" WVGA Touch Screen Monitor
This little screen is less than an inch deep, and according to the manual, is able to remotely control another Alpine headunit.

The plan is to have a headunit in the boot, controlled remotely by this in the front. It also has connections for satnav and a rear view camera, if you want.

However... as is always the case, nothing is ever that simple! I'm having huge trouble getting this unit to actually send a control signal to another headunit.
I have a few people working on the problem for me, so hopefully, one day, I'll be able to report back with some good news...

This stereo build has been in progress for about 4 years now though, so don't expect many updates soon I just thought it was worth mentioning, as someone else out there might be able to take this idea and get it working, as it would make for a VERY simple install once all the pieces talk to each other.

 

I was looking at the same solution, same screen and all. Please report back any news, and once I get started I will do the same.

 

I've been thinking about some sort of audio upgrade as well, and I don't need/want navigation either. I'm wondering about the possibility of mounting the double-DIN display in the console, but then repackaging the guts to fit in the center bin, or maybe even under it - I think there's a fair amount of room between the bottom of the bin and the floor of the car. I'd just rather not run a mile of cable through the Jag if I don't have to.

 

I bought an old Apline IVA_D900 headunit, but unfortunately it was second hand and in pretty poor condition. I have been working with a local installer but so far neither of us have had any luck getting it to work properly, let alone talking to the Touchscreen. I think I might have to write it off

The next option I'm looking at is a similar era IVA-D310, which looks to be complete and in much better condition.
What i'm really struggling with is getting a definitive list of units that are compatible with the Touchscreen unit. Even Alpine's own helpdesk couldn't tell me!

In the states you guys have access to a much newer range of products, so you might have more luck getting it to work than I am?
Or at least if you contact Alpine directly they might be more helpful.

There really isn't much room in the centre cubby. It's not that deep, and there is no room either side because of the aircon ducting. It might be possible if you don't mind losing some space in the lid though

 

You may be able to put the rest of the headunit in the glovebox if you want up-front space.

 

slight update...

Managed to get my hands on a slightly different Alpine headunit, the IVA-D310. This has a foldout touchscreen, so I thought it might work with the TME touchscreen... but no. Doesn't seem to want to talk to it either, and won't even send a display signal to the screen either, it seems to only be able to run it as a 'rear monitor', which is of no use at all.

May look at a JVC unit soon instead, and go back to the idea of hacking it apart and seperating the screen from the body. It looks like the only real solution at the moment

 

Another non-update...

Did some investigation into the Pioneer App Radio and Sony App Remote headunits. These looked slightly promising, especially the Sony units. They have 'full 2-way control' between the headunit and either an Android or Apple device.
The idea being to hide the headunit and have a tablet as the only thing showing.

Sadly the Sony requires you to hold down a button on the headunit to sync to the tablet every time you turn the car on, there is no automatic pairing. Also, even when it is paired, the display is horrible! When listening to the tuner option, you get a blank screen with the frequency band displayed in the centre, that's it. Ew...

Might try to do some more research into the Pioneer App Radio and see if it's interface is less useless.


(I knew I had a deep-seated hatred for Sony car audio for a reason...)


On a more positive note, I found a local installer who seems to be pretty experienced with complex Alpine units. Should hear back from him in the next few days, so I will keep you all posted