In the latest copy of Jaguar World Magazine, there's an article about a 2003 XKR which has been heavily modified by Hydratech (who manufacture waterless coolant) for marketing purposes.
One clever "improvement" which I thought might be of interest here, is the relocation of one of the switch panel strips, to provide space for a double-din radio / satnav panel.
Not a great photograph - scanned from a magazine - but I'm sure you get the idea !!

 

Well that's an interesting choice for relocating those switches. Looks too "non-factory" for my taste but was done well.

 

Rothwell - personally, I agree - quite like being "factory original" even if that means a redundant cassette player but I prefer the above solution to some of the other "retrofit" options which, over the past few years, have been put forward here.

 

Personally, I don't like what they did to the rear either, but I can see why it might appeal, and it's certainly been done to a high degree of quality :

 

Definitely don't like that rear. I can't image that it would withstand a minor impact.

 

I tend to leave the top down a lot when the car is unattended. Having a cassette player in the dash gives me some comfort that a thief would not have an interest in ripping my dash apart to get it.

That double din might as well have a screensaver that says "take me".

 

Car stereo theft, is nearly a thing of the past. So little market. Best bet is smash and grab for a mobile device.

Button relocation is surprisingly easy.

 

I'm impressed with the button relocation. No, it doesn't look factory, exactly, but was very well done and a great solution to the problem.

That said, I'm not unhappy with the factory Alpine head unit and will keep it until it dies. When and if that happens I'll put in a single-DIN unit of some sort.

 

If my OEM Alpine head unit/amp ever dies and can't be either repaired or replaced with a second hand unit, I will just put something new in the boot, leaving the original head unit in place. I don't use the radio or the cassette, in fact the only button I touch is the volume control and I'm sure that could be rewired to work with a new amp.

There is plenty of room in the boot to hide things away, leaving it looking entirely original.

 

This was also done by a few forum members - Rob Enderle (enderle) made the mod to his 2004

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...project-82601/

below is Dan02xk8's mod

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...eakers-161496/

 

My private import ex-UK 2004 4.2L XK8 came into Oz with Alpine SatNav with which no other Aussie XK8/XKR was equipped. Apparently, Jaguar cancelled the Alpine order of Aussie map disks . . . thus making it useless in Oz and the supplied UK map disk redundant. Pity, because I like the SatNav in my MY07 S-Type Luxury.

Now . . . here's the good news. A fellow Oz JF member [kosta013] has published in the S-Type forum of his replacement with modern TomTom or similar - complete with lifetime maps included and rear cam added. I see no reason this can't be adapted to the OE X100 SatNav, though I have not yet started on my XK8.

Cheers,

Ken

 

You mean something like this.

 

I may well have asked you this before, but what sat nav unit is that? Its obviously bigger than 5" as it fills the space so well.

 

Yep sossybaby . . . I mean exactly like that . . . it's a project that's burning a hole in all the other tasks around my litter of Kittys at present. With my UK spec Alpine and maps disk, whenever I type in a destination address, the b***** thing asks "Now, would that be Bradford, Manchester or Solihull?" Grrrrr!

Cheers,

Ken

 

Very nice. Some precise cutting needed for sure. I put mine in the console and am very happy. (thanks to whoever posted it first) The original head unit and nav seemed way outdated to me. So, I swapped out the nav for gauges and put in a nice double din unit. I left all of the old gear in the trunk and just ran new wires for new JL speakers in the front and back (with a sub) and a nice amp in the trunk. 1000% better sound. Now, I have Bluetooth for phone, digital music, updated nav and steering controls still work. Much better.