I just finished putting in a Blaupunkt radio instead of the factory radio.

Bench test your new radio with a speaker and a car battery or a 12V power supply before you start the job to make sure you are working with a good new radio.

Please see my other posting for wiring information. There seems to be no ill effect to not connecting the one red-striped wire that is not on the diagram. It is NOT ground. I capped if off. I still don't know what it does. Display dimming input for when headlights are on?

You have permanent 12V, ignition on 12V, ground, power antenna out, and 8 speaker wires to connect. I used a AA 1.5V battery to confirm that I had the right wire pair for each of the 4 speakers. That won't harm the speaker as long you do it briefly to get a little scratch out of them.

Make sure all 4 speakers are connected with the same polarity to not have them play out of phase.

The VERY expensive slanted Jag radio frame from the UK is unnecessary. It looks great without it.

As for removing the old radio. The 3-4 videos on Youtube "Jaguar xj6 radio removal" are ok but don't capture the real work. Is is a much bigger pain that you would think.

The ashtray comes out easily when the lid is CLOSED after you remove the screws.

The wing nuts for the wood trim are easy. It may help you to wait with the gear shift trim removal until the wing nuts for the wood trim is out.

You will probably break some of the plastic tabs on the brittle plastic gear trim frame. A little silicone can reattach it later without the tabs.

It is NOT easy to get the radio/center dash frame out. The 3 connectors have very short wires. You can get your hand in there from the passenger side to remove the connectors from the two electronic panels and the radio. It helps a little to tilt the whole assembly upward and moving the gear lever.

It is not a crisis but it is VERY likely that you will break the two tabs at the top of the frame off the frame. You can live without them.

I soldered the old wires to the new Blaupunkt connector. I do not like automotive crimp connectors.

Test the new radio in the car before you put it all together again.

The old factory radio, while working, had some visible capacitor leakage and the belt is buried EXCEEDINGLY WELL inside the tape mechanism. The job looks worse than on a Teac Tascam C1 professional deck.

The new radio with its matching speakers sounds a lot better. It is no Bowers and Wilkins but a big improvement versus stock.

 

I have made the same upgrades as you. Apparently music playing was not a priority back in the day. You may also want to consider adding a compact, powered sub for a mid-range base bump. I did a posting of my efforts.