It was very easy. I found that the original OEM unit had an adapter from it to the main harness, so I was able to remove that adapter and solder the wires to the new head unit and power pack portable alpine amp that just piggie backs from the same wiring. Great Sirius XM, Bluetooth , HD radio, auxiliary ports etc, but does not look very complimentary with the car IMO:

 

I like it. It's very difficult to get a system that looks at home in the XJS. I've had about 4 different units in there over the years. The one that looked the best match was a pioneer system where you could adjust the back illumination colours through 64000 different combinations to get it to perfectly match your car. So, I adjusted it to the sickly green glow of the rest of the dash and it blended in, ie



Unfortunately, the stereo itself wasn't very good and was missing some key features I needed (bluetooth for one) so it had to get swapped out before long.

Glad you got the feature set you were looking for

 

I have the JVC KD-AR880.

You can adjust the colors to match the Jag as well. I think it fits just great.

The display on my unit seems less "dated" than what seems to be out for sale now? Those big chunky letters lighting up pieces of a figure eight to create awful looking letter shapes look plain bad.

I've said it before, but I can't believe how bad car stereo displays have gotten. They seem to have gotten worse over time, not better!

I'll post a pic this weekend.

I bought it for the Satellite Radio compatibility and USB port, but it has an aux jack and bluetooth too.

 

@ Sarc,

Thanks. I think it looks much better with the lights of. At least it was not that difficult to install and has all the capabilities I want

@ Vee,

I agree with you on the display. Should be a nice apple type touchscreen, there was one out there, but it did not have all the features I wanted

 

Crap crap crap.

I knew this would happen right after I bought mine.

Alpine just came out with another top unit: the. CDE HD 149 BT:

Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.

It has everything mine has PLUS the ability to change colors to green and a more dignified looking display, more appropriate for the XJS

I already pre ordered the new one from Crutchfield. I will have it early next month.

The old one (less than a month!!) cost me what the new model costs now. I even bough a 3 year warranty for it.

As soon as I get the new unit the 1 month old one will go on sale along with the transferable 3 year warranty for a fraction of what I paid just a few weeks ago when I made this original topic.

If anyone will be interested let me know

 

I like the blue, have you thought of changing the other dash lights to match the Alpine?

 

Oh that stinks! I feel terrible for you.

Has the nice looking screen that I would have been looking for.

Good luck unloading the old one! It won't be easy...

 

It's a thought but I really would not care to do that, specially for that headunit.

It's just easier to buy the new one and install it

 

Yes , the screen is more subtle and elegant looking. It's exactly what I want. That's why I just stopped fooling myself and went ahead and ordered it. I wish I would have known when I bought the "old" unit that they where about to come out with a new product line .

If I can't get a reasonable price for the one month old unit ill just keep it and put it on my mothers car. That unit cost 300.00 a few weeks ago and it has a 3 yr warranty. If I can get at least 170.00 I ll sell it. Otherwise it isn't worth selling.

 

Got the new unit early !



It's got everything the old one has, only difference is the I can change the display color, it's got a nicer display (no crazy disco effect) and the AUX and USB outputs come from the back, which means I have to find someplace to run those cables to.

I was thinking putting them in the ashtrays.

Thoughts ?

 

I ran my 3.5mm auxiliary jack into the front lip of the black plastic basket at the armrest. You won't even know it's there, until you need it!

You'll need to buy the jack from Radio Shack and splice an aux cable to it. Basically run a double ended aux cable from the back of the radio, down into the ski slope area all the way into the armrest. Then drill a small hole (I forgot what sized bit I used) in the lip and...well, the rest is easy to figure out.

It's best to get an aux cable that has a 90 degree jack, this way, the wire won't interfere with the window controls.

As for the USB, I'm not quite sure why you would need that anymore. I used to plug in a flashdrive, but it's really more trouble than its worth.

Maybe to recharge devices? That might be best left to the ashtray.

 

That's a great place for it, Vee.

I probably will go ahead and try to do it inside the ashtrays, although I don't know how difficult it will be to drill thru them to get the cables inside. Ill do the aux on the right and the USB on the left. I won't be able to install until next week when I go by the body shop or I might just wait until they give me the car back in a few weeks.

 

I did that before I did what I did.

There's large enough gaps in the ashtray assemblies to snake in cables without cutting any holes.

It's a great idea. I swapped my ashtrays out for the cup holders, so that's why I needed to come up with a new plan.

 

For anyone wondering how this turned out, the new radio works better with the car and my aux socket is in the cubby, much like the new cars:

 

I like my Parrot Asteroid Classic - good hands-free, some bugs that ironed out with a software upgrade, looks OK in a walnut dash..

 

Spikepaga, nice upgrade. Have you done the speakers as well? For anyone looking to maintain a factory look, check out Nakamichi. Hands down they are the most understated units with quality sound. Blaupunkt also makes a few decent units. Alpine used to feature an XJS ski slope in their brochures: the classic 6 green square button head units. Beautiful. They need to resurrect that design language.

 

Hi Spikepaga,

I just bought the same setup as you, even before I read your post! Funny!

Do you have a wiring diagram? How did you know which wires to connect?

Your help would be appreciated.

 

Quick Update:
I have also installed this system into my '96 XJS. The harness that goes from the car wiring to the original Jag Head Unit (HU), fits directly to the back of the new Alpine HU or the KTP-445A Power Pack wiring harness (I highly recommend this power pack as it raised the RMS wattage to 45W per channel and it sounds AWESOME!), no soldering required. Direct fit. It definitely looks as close to OEM as you can get.
I don't use Sirius. However Pandora works perfectly, as does the iPod. Handsfree telephone calls sound good too.
I will attach pictures once I get my ski slope back from British Autowood. He is converting the ashtrays to cup holders. I have never smoked, and the XJS definitely needs cup holders. I hope this helps others that are contemplating an upgrade. The Alpine HU's are direct replacements with updated features.

 

So sorry I missed your first question Zac, but it looks like you figured it out, the stock radio comes with a harness adapter and you just match the colors since its Alpine. Super easy


I got the same mini amp too. I love it. The XM and the hands free. It's the best upgrade I have done to my car.

Where did you put the XM antenna, the amp, the USB and aux and your microphone? Post some pics !