Have been wanting voltage and true water temp read outs. I have a Nav car so no gauges. Steve's Real Gauge is an excellent choice for water temp but no voltage.

Decided on a ScanGauge e for it's read outs, programmable ability, cost ($100) and size.
ScanGaugeE : Linear Logic - Home of the ScanGauge

This unit does a lot more than I want or need however it does exactly what I do want which is display voltage and water temp at the same time on one screen. The screens are programmable for any available read out from the OBD port as well as the screen color and brightness. It is also programmable for how it turns on and off, I set mine to turn on when it detects rpm and off when there is no rpm. A plus is it will read and reset codes. Fired up with no issues on my XK8 and connected to the OBD port with no problems.

I installed it in the coin tray. Fit perfect with a little sanding/rounding on the ScanGauge e case to match the coin try corners. The unit is exactly the right size length wise for the coin tray. Only mod to the coin tray is a hole in the bottom for the OBD cable. Routing the OBD cable was easy, removed the under steering wheel tray, secured the wire as needed and tucked it under the console edge, it will then route directly under the coin tray from the edge of the console.

While it does not look "factory" it does look "installed" not just tacked on or hung from a bracket.

I like it, does just what I wanted plus more!

 

Here's a side shot...

 

Hey, nice, clean look and with the functionality that you wanted and needed. And plus it was a low cost option that provided everything as a more expensive option. Especially if you wanted to keep your navigation system in place. Let us know how it performs for you over the next few months...

What other functions do you think you may use it for on the XK? Have a good day & congratulations nice install.

 

I have a 2002 XKR and wanted Voltage and Oil pressure so I went to a place called Radar Mirror and got electronic/digital gauges added to my rearview mirror. It works great and doesn't look like it was an "add on". You can get any combination of gauges that you want as long as there is an output for that parameter.


Mark

 

Well done! Looks great.

 

Thank you Jan, I will look into this unit. I like the easy install. Yours looks great. Rich

 

Mark that's pretty trick! What is the cost of the rear view mirror unit? Does it have any warning indicator or buzzers.

 

I replaced my mirror at the same time and I think that was the biggest cost. With the new mirror, I think it was around $700. However, you can send them your current mirror and save a few hundred dollars. Just Google Radar Mirror and you'll find the site. In addition to hidden radar detectors, they also do the gauges like I got.


Mark

 

I can get one of these here in Canada for CAD 104.95 delivered, which sounds good. My only question is how is visibility/glare when mounted in this way ? Is it easy to read when the top is down ?

 

I was curious as to how units like ScanGauge, Radar Mirror, etc. pick up the info for things like coolant temp. I think that the bluetooth type devices that work with Smart Phones also can provide a wealth of info. Is this done by basically just plugging into the standard OBD port are are there wires that need to to splice or tapped into?

Doug

 

They just plug into the port, either with wire or wireless connection depending on receiver.

 

I am using Torque with bluetooth. I like it.

 

Viability is excellent top down or up, the screen has two programmable brightness levels, I run mine on low and have no issues reading it with the angled mount in the coin tray. I even played with the adjustable screen color and got it to match my radio and heater displays dead on.

I did look at flat mounting it in the coin try which will work if you take the unit out of it's case with no mod to the coin tray. However with it flat mounted the display was difficult to read from the side/ drivers seat.