Well, I went berserk and bought a 2004 XKR Portfolio since the 99 XK8 looked lonely. I was wondering what the little speaker grills on the passenger side windshield frame and outboard the passenger seat are for. It would seem that if they were tweeters, they'd be on the driver's side too, just wondering....

 

They're not speaker grilles. The are part of the active restraint system. This system pre-tensions the seatbelts (and may do other things, not sure) in anticipation of a crash.


Mark

 

Occupancy Sensors. Just hope you never need to investigate them further.

The SRS (Supplementary Restraint System) is horribly complicated. I spent almost six months troubleshooting an Airbag Warning Light on my 2005 XK8.

Graham

 

You're not going to believe this, but it actually senses what "position" the passenger is in and will disable the airbag if appropriate.

Give it a try - Have a passenger lean way forward toward the dash. In moments the little yellow "Airbag off" light will illuminate. Then have the passenger sit back normally, and viola(!) the light extinguishes.

It's a pretty cool idea too. Think about it: you want the airbag to keep you from impacting the dash/windshield, ...... NOT to launch you into the back seats!

 

Somehow, I suspect the wife would prefer eating the airbag rather than the windshield! Oh well, anything to protect us from ourselves.