Hello
First post, I need some advice please. I pick up my XKR soon (ish) after attempting to buy one for a very long time. I worked at the Jaguar R & D centre in Whitley, Coventry, on contract for a few years, so getting one of these was a must.


I know its been covered here a lot, I can't live with the lack of gauges, seems stupid to me (I know too many people who have blown up engines on new cars).


I have seen the digital options on here that use the sat nav screen, very tempted to go that route, though would prefer real clocks.
Aside from the fact that they don't have oil pressure, has anyone seen or tried these?
OIL WATER TEMPERATURE + VOLTAGE + LED DISPLAY CARBON FIBER DASH MOUNT POD HOLDER | eBay
Any feedback would be very much appreciated. They seem to be the only XK/ XKR specific clocks I can find.


For the record my modern car knowledge is near nill, but I have a few handy with electronics friends.

 

Don't seem to be able to edit the post. Just to say my modern car electrics knowledge is nill, but I have friends who are pretty good in that area. Any feedback appreciated. Thanks

 

Looks like a nice package but the question is where would you mount it. Pretty much all on this site are not happy with the gauge issue and the solutions shown here seem to be the best way . I guess the most important one would be the water temp . I thought someone here was looking at doing a gauge set using one of those "A" pillar pods so if it was done hopefully they would speak up. I was considering putting a 2 gauge pod located on top of the ash tray which would have WT and Volts but haven't found the right size/type gauges. As a point here if there is a "sensor" in the engine bay then you could add another one to hook up a wired gauge. What would need to be done is find the sensor location and insert a tee fitting with the additional gauge sensor. I even believe you can get oil pressure from the port that has the low oil pressure warning sensor. It is just a matter of someone wanting to do it.

 

Hi jagtoes, i was wondering if the clocks could be mounted on the dash in the centre above the dasboard forward facing air vents? Would they look wrong? It would not take much to make a platform to fix them to. If the feeds for the HKS option can be used with some effort im sure everything can be hooked up?
Ive seen pillar pods used, they do work but im not sure if i like them in that location.

 

IMO if you tack something like that on your car, make sure you can remove it and restore to OEM look if you're ever going to sell it.

I feel you pain with the gauges. I've opted for the Nav screen gauges myself.

My personal view is that adding the look of a 70's muscle car is not for me, but that's my opinion and it's your car.

I think Lothar52 made something that fit in the upper left vent and held two analog gauges but I'm not certain it was him. I thought it looked OK. My wife didn't, but it was removable for resale's sake.

If you go with real analog gauges, you can add oil pressure. You would need to fit the sensor into the current hi/low pressure switch that triggers the idiot light, but that's not difficult to Jagtoes point.

If I were to do an A-Pillar set up, I would wrap it in the same cloth as the current pillar cover. I looked into it, mocked something in photoshop, showed it to my wife and she chuckled. Project scrapped.

We've also discussed a HUD unit and another gent was going to buy a gauge hump and install it as an experiment (with HUD though, you still won't get oil pressure)

Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

Sean W your name is familiar, i think i found some posts of yours in another thread on gauges.

Further update: from my limited understanding there is nothing special about these gauges because they dont come with any sender units.

I rang my independent technician in Coventry, he said if i get any gauges he can connect them providing i get the right senders.
I have work to do on researching this.

I am about to ring Demon Tweeks in the UK.
They sell Smiths Classic gauges. I need to see if they also do a dashboard pod.

The other lot on ebay do dashboards pods, but i need ones that will fit the smiths classic clocks.

The lack of clocks as standard is just wrong, reminds me of the cheap bottom of the range fiat seicento i used to use to run to the railway station in. Id rather have dash mounted clocks than no clocks, but i would possibly shroud them in leather to try to make them look part of the car. There is nothing we cant fabricate here in Coventry.

I'll keep you posted

 

If you find a place you want to install the gauges, consider hiring someone who can create the pods with a 3D printer. It should be cheap enough. Then you can wrap them in whatever you want or hydrodip them as well.

 

Further update, and thanks Sean W.

The link i put up i think is pod only, sorry for being thick. I spoke we Demon Tweeks, they said the car will have senders already for the current set up, all they need is the tread type and they can give me the right senders for the gauges.

The standard gauge size is 52mm...same as the pod on ebay so that works for me.
Looking at the speedo and rev counter they have a top hood in leather effectively. I can make a similar hood for the pod and get my friend ( a Jag trimmer) to coat it in the same Leather. I think i can make this look like something theuly should have done in the first place!

I'd prefer oil temperature over pressure, running motorbikes, including 2 oil cooled motorbikes, ive learned its a long time running before you're really in the safe zone. Pressure issues i will leave to the engine management i think. Bad idea?

 

wsn03 - have you considered installing an oil and water temp gauge into the cup holder 'slots'. I have an 07 and it would not appear to be overly difficult to run the lines under the shifter console to get to the holders where the gauges could be mounted. You have a choice to slide the arm rest over the gauges to cover them or keep them displayed. There are also bluetooth gauge versions which plug into the OBD port and send signals wireless. The lack of gauges is also a pet peeve of mine.

 

Here's the link to the gauges I referenced earlier. Good luck though, I couldn't get a straight answer or commitment on a price.

You could replicate it with a 3D printer though. see post 21.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-154924/page2/

 

I was thinking about a 2 gauge pod/hood that would mount over the top of the ash tray. It would sit on top and cover the opening where the wires could be run. I was looking for small linear/horizontal type gauges instead of round . Just wanted a water temp and volt gauge. It would look similar to but not the same as this with only small rectangular gauges similar to the "line" type figure of the WT gauge in the F-Type. https://www.google.com/search?q=ferr...IkaTBfyIaVFkM:

 

Welcome to the forum wsn03,

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 info 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.

Graham

 

Could someone please post a link to these?

Thanks

 

Hello fstbmw1, thats a neat solution thanks, but i love seeing gauges in front of me. Comes from the many cars ive had in the past with gauges strewn across the dashboard. So it wont be sn option.

Ive looked at the current layout, im convinced i can build a nice display that will look like it should really be there

 

Thanks Sean, i like that but im convinced i can do a nice row of 3 on top of dashmdashboard but looking like it is moulded into the whole set up.
I have a design in mind

 

Looks good, but id like clear round Smiths Classic gauges, 3 of them (combined water temp with oil pressure), oil temp, voltage.
Would like them in my eyeline so on top the dash works, but designed carefully to blend in

 

Here you go. This is my set up and it replaces the earlier HKS Camp2 set up which is cost prohibitive, for me anyway.

Credit to WhiteXKR and flyc2c. flyc2c has a terrific write up embedded within my post. My solution uses bluetooth in the OBDII port so a little less wiring.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-camp2-175877/

 

I just googled OBDII wireless auto gauges and found that there is a growing market of gauges and gauge pods that use BT gauge sets. These are not the Torque Pro smart phone types but actual gauges and gauge screens that can be placed anywhere in the dash. My bet is someone is working on or there will be something available that allows you to wirelessly BT into your infotainment screen WITHOUT having to do any wiring or cable connections. Auto meter is getting close .

 

I wish but no. In order for the infotainment system to accept a bluetooth display, it would need to have bluetooth embedded, which it doesn't. It would also need the capability to convert and display the bluetooth data into images/ video built into the software.

Both are cost prohibitive. I really wish it were true Jagtoes.

Jaguar will be adopting android auto in the next year or two, but it will never be retro fitted to our cars.

The only way any of this would happen is an entrepreneurial forum member.

 

Just putting this out there.... evidently there is an add-on for the Torque App that allows the displays to be mirrored on an Android Watch. That being said, I do believe there is a cycling mode to display different items on the same watch device. So, if anyone wanted to mount their single Watch somewhere and have it all set to go, it would be MUCH less intrusive (and easier to mount) than full-sized gauges.