Hi All. As a new owner I've really appreciated the help I've gotten so far on this forum. Here are a couple other questions I have about my 2005 XKR.

1) I was having trouble seeing out of the rear window through my rear view mirror (too dark), so I removed the tinted window film that was on the rear window. I can see much better, but now the cloth covering the horizontal area under the rear window looks white, instead of match my cashmere (SDZ) interior color - apparently the tinted film shading made the white cloth look like the rest of the interior's cloth color (clever trick by Jaguar). I saw on the forum info about SDZ leather dye, but not for the cloth. Does anyone know a brush-on cloth color dye that matches the cloth (not leather) color for SDZ interiors (note the cloth is not actually the cashmere leather color I don't think, but something lighter).

2) I'd like a parking aid sensor for the front bumper to keep from scraping it on curbs etc. I read the discussions on the forum about 3rd party/ebay type ones, but the discussions were all several years old. Forum user WhiteXKR talked about making on that sounded ideal on this forum, but that was over a decade ago and as far as I can tell was never made. What is the current thinking on the best option? Either a beeping system or a camera system is fine.
P.S. I have a backup camera on my Garmin (Drivesmart 55) that I replaced my outdated Jaguar dash navigation system with (that to another post on this forum :-), and thought Garmin might make a front parking camera too. Turns out the don't. I figured maybe I could buy another Garmin backup camera and hide it in the front, and all I'd have to do is have a touchscreen button on the Garmin screen to switch between cameras, but they don't offer that. Seems like that would be an easy software only change for them to make that could be downloaded to increase their sales, but no...

Thanks for any help.

Bruce

 

Updates: 1) Turns out the cloth covering the horizontal area is the same color/material as the headliner, just didn't look that way since more light shines on it than the headliner. 2) I got a curb alert for the front parking sensor, and it works pretty good but I'm always worried when I get close to the curb and don't hear a sound whether I'm just not close enough yet or if the curb alert didn't turn on with the car for some reason and I'm getting ready to scrape on the curb. So as a backup it turns out you CAN install a second Garmin camera (BC40) and switch between back of car and front of car with a button on the screen, so I use that if I don't hear a curb alert beep when I think I should.

 

I know you’re a new owner and all, but I can’t help wondering if you are trying to fix something that really isn’t broken.


with just several sessions using something non-abrasive such as a large cardboard box, it’s very easy to learn where the leading edge of the car resides.

not to worry, will always be in the same location. And you can easily stop the vehicle consistently the same number of inches from danger, time after time like clockwork.

and all without the pesky outlay of time and treasure, not to mention the addition of more complexity to an over burdened electrical system that already can’t reliably maintain the features it now has.

Z

 

Zray, hadn't thought about doing that - good idea I didn't think of. I was just tired of getting out and seeing that I'd stopped 4 feet from the curb when I parked :-).

 

If you need a a cheap solution to avoid high-tech, I’m your guy

(like “McGuyver” or Professor from “Gilliams Island”, depending on your age group.

most of my posts are some kind of hack that you won’t see in any shop manual.

Z

 

Thanks, zray for a clever and practical idea. Having lost all sight in one eye to cancer years ago, I am left with zero depth perception. It doesn't hamper my driving as over time you develop a skill of relating to other objects, it's the near situations that give me greaf, like that heart stopping grinding noise when I overshoot the curb. Even if I am pulling up nose to nose with a sign post, I have to creep in tiny moves to try to get as close as I can without hitting it. If I'm pulling in beside an already parked car, it's pretty easy to just line up my door with his door. Thanks again for a great idea, I'll give it a try.

 

I work for Garmin and can say that we don't sell a product specifically designed for the front in the way that you have described. However, some of our products allow up to 4 cameras to be connected. I added a DriveSmart and a BC40 (battery powered camera) to my XK8 because a) it doesn't have a backup camera and I am used to having one; and b) my rear park sensors are not functioning at the moment. We sell wired backup cameras but I was hesitant to touch the wiring. Some have taken out the old GPS and replaced with a Garmin in the Dash. If you select a newer one, you could have the backup camera there via bluetooth.