Here's the iPhone dock that I've installed into my Jaguar S-Type. It's not some special, third-party iPhone dock, it's an Apple OEM dock (I used an original iPhone first generation dock, but a regular iPhone 4/4S dock would work the same).



What do I use my iPhone for?

I use my iPhone to replace so many functions. I use the app Navigon (fully stocked with all in-app purchases) as my GPS navigation system (more advanced than any other hardware or software GPS you can run in a car).

I play Spotify in the background for music 90% of the time, but sometimes I'll play podcasts, internet radio or if I'm on a long trip home, I'll load up my Storm Sim app to "play" thunderstorms while driving to help other passengers sleep. When "Leona" needs to speak directions or let me know she's changed the route because of traffic or an accident, she lowers the volume of whatever's playing and speaks, then raises the volume back up.

I also use the phone as an entertainment system, loading up Netflix, Hulu Plus, whatever, to entertain passengers. In this situation, Navigon runs in the background. When "Leona" needs to speak a direction, she simply lowers the volume of whatever video is playing on screen and speaks.

I also use the phone as a car phone with handsfree speaking, voice dialing, conference calling, etc. (Siri works fantastic by the way.) I still get GPS voice directions, but instead of lowering the volume of the phone call, "Leona" simply speaks at a lower volume (so useful, in fact, I wouldn't even consider talking on the phone if I couldn't hear the GPS).



How do I have it connected?

It's a dirt-simple setup for connections as far as the dock's concerned. It's got an Apple USB wire connected to the dock for power. That's all that's connected to the dock.

As far as audio, the audio is connected via streaming bluetooth via a Scosche bluetooth audio device. The Scosche has an internal mic, which pics up audio for hands-free calling. (So I can pick up the iPhone and music still plays in the car, even when walking out to pump gas with the phone. Yeah baby.)

The Scosche is connected directly through an in-line FM modulator. (The quality sounds 95% like a normal line-in until I decide to upgrade the stereo. Getting a $400 touch screen stereo's not on my list of priorities.)



How was it installed?

In my previous car, my Lexus SC400, I had the dock sitting in the same exact spot that it is in the Jaguar. I was able to keep it in place using 3M adhesive foam tape. I tried that with the S-Type, but there wasn't enough of a shelf.

So I bought a thin piece of flat, long copper metal. I bent and cut the copper into shape. On the leather bezel of the center console, there's a peg behind it in the middle top used to hold the bezel into place against the body. I cut a hole into the copper metal and placed it over the bezel peg. Now, the copper will stay in place without having to modify the interior in anyway.

I then drilled two small holes into the top bottom of the copper metal. I then drilled holes into the bottom of the iPhone dock and screwed in tiny, flat-head screws to keep the dock to the copper metal. Then, installed it also it in place in the car. The copper extends out over the center console, keeping the iPhone in perfect angle to reduce glare and maximize visibility.



To address the issue of bouncing, I installed foam pieces underneath and behind the dock, which aren't really visible (which was my intentions). None of this modifies the interior (my main goal), so the dock uninstalls with the interior just as easy as any other parts of the car.

Finally, the dock was painted a cream color. The dock was actually painted when used in the Lexus, so the dock's been painted for a year and a half.

Why an Apple OEM dock?

Simple... any, and I mean ANY... other solutions requires more than one step to connect and typically can't be connected with one hand. That, and nearly all of'em are ugly as sin. With this, you can dock or undock with one hand (vital to safety). It's also the best looking solution I've ever seen, and I've done a LOT of research. With this, the iPhone can be interacted with in the same as interacting with the stereo. Same reach, same distance, same visibility.



Perfect GPS and cell reception and climate controlled.

iPhones can have GPS reception anywhere inside a car, but the location happens to be the best location inside a car... directly in view of the sky but close enough to interact with. The problem with having an iPhone under direct sunlight is that they'll heat up to the point where heat will end up damaging the battery overtime. But, as you'll notice, the dock is right in the middle of the A/C vents. The iPhone doesn't block the A/C vents, but air does blow past it. This then keeps the iPhone in the perfect temperature. The A/C keeps the iPhone cold, and the sunlight warms up the phone just enough to prevent the iPhone from being icy cold to the touch. As far as wintertime, pure A/C heat already gets ported through the bottom vents so there's never been an issue of the phone being hot (years experience with the Lexus). If anything, during cold winter nights, the iPhone will be warm and pleasantly toasty to hold. (For times when driving in the summer with windows down, the wind seems to keep the iPhone from getting too hot and I've never experienced heat issues, even on 2+ hour highway drives with the A/C off.)



Pros and cons?

I've pretty much already mentioned all the pros. There's really only one con, and that's when playing video. Video plays sideways, as the phone's in portrat orientation in the dock. I do have a little iPhone clip that allows you to play the iPhone (out of dock) on its side for playing video, and I have a separate iPhone cable in the glove box for power... but honestly, I prefer to just leave the iPhone in the doct and play videos in portrait. It seems too odd to comprehend, playing video sideways, but people get used to it within about 20 seconds. If playing video for passengers in the back only, I simply place the iPhone on it's special little clip mount on the center console for people in the back to watch.



Over all, this one little $30 modification is one of the best modifications I've ever had. It also looks crazy sexy to anyone who sees it. JbB

 

WOW, great write up and thank you for sharing!

 

From a non-I-phone user - (although, now I "may" switch !!) that is such a great looking set-up. Great job & many thanks for sharing that with us.

 

Clean install - nice work and great pics!

 

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'd love to mention an Andrioid or Windows Phone method of doing something like this, but unfortunately only the iPhone has a dock system like this.

But, pretending the iPhone didn't exist and I had an Android or Windows Phone... I'd want a setup like this, as far as the location and position. A lot of phones have micro USB connectors on the sides, so it'd never be a one-handed connect / disconnect... but having the phone in the same spot would be cruital for visibility, accessibility (being able to touch the screen as easy as you can touch the stereo) and climate controlled. I'd end up taking a piece of plastic the size of an iPhone dock and hollowing out a part of it so that an Android or Windows Phone could slip in and out in the same method. It wouldn't be as pretty, and you'd have this big, long exposed wire going to your phone, but at least you could "undock" it and use it in your hand.

 

Congrats on a really slick setup. I may be SOL in copying it since my car isn't bluetooth enabled. Could you provide more detail on how you set it up to run the sound through the car speakers?

By the way, I called my Jaguar dealer about the ACM and iPhone hookup and they recommended against using the ACM. They were having too many complaints about its reliability. They recommended going to an audio specialist about getting an iPhone hookup.

 

JbB - That's one hell of a set up! Looks great! Thanks for sharing...

 

Thanks Abonano.

And Carmel, your in luck... Leona didn't come with Bluetooth either, which is actually how I indented when buying an S-Type. I choose the non-touch screen, non-premium stereo as my first choice over the premium and / or touch-screen systems. Why? Because I wanted a car with the option of adding an aftermarket stereo (since the A/C and other controls aren't integrated into the stereo) and I went non-premium so that I wouldn't have to deal with any of the fiberoptic audio BS.

So, how did I get bluetooth audio into my stock non-premium setup? The stock stereo has absolutely no audio "input". So, I used the next best thing, the antenna. (For anyone wondering, wireless FM modulators suck just as bad now as they did years ago.) I bought a Scosche wired FM modulator. This...


It's a powered and grounded. I wired it up to the power of the stereo's power in the back. It's got a god-ugly audio "input" switch housing that they want you to install into your car's precious interior. ...Yeah, bump that. I hid that baby away behind the radio, never to be seen again. Note that this means I can't ever access FM or AM radio, as when the FM modulator's switched "on", it blocks all radio signals (which is good when you want to use it, as you'll never get any interference from radio stations). Now me, I loath FM and AM radio, so this wasn't a problem. (Any radio shows worth listening to, I can stream through my iPhone.) The only issue I can see would be for drive-in movie theaters which broadcast in a few hundred feet FM radious. That issue can be solved by with a simple smartphone FM receiver, such as this...


To hook up the wired FM modulator, you unplug the antena from the back of the stereo. The antenna in Jaguars is goofy and won't fit ANYTHING standard, so an antenna adapter is needed (which typically include both male and female connections). Here's the exact one I bought...

Jaguar Antenna Adapter FM Modulator Wire Set 2000-2008 | eBay

Connect both ends of the adapters to the wired FM modulator and then connect the antenna ground wire into the modulator and the modulator into the stereo. Then, connect a 3.5" headphone wire to the input of the FM modulator, hide that ugly baby back behind the stereo and run the headphone wire out to the open interior and install the stereo back up.

Now, you can either run that wire to the iPhone dock's audio input and be done with it... but you won't have "proper" headsfree calling and you won't be able to undock the iPhone without the audio stopping (when you redock, you have to replay the audio again). So this is where this sexy little puppy comes in, Scosche Motormouth II mobile bluetooth. This...

motorMOUTH II stereo - Handsfree & Streaming Audio Car Kit

You put this little sucker somewhere close to the driver and passenger (I choose to "hang it" off the driver's side center console armrest storage, semi-hidden outta' sight). Connect it to power so that you don't have to bring it to charge each night (the iPhone and bluetooth get their power from a dual USB 9V accessory plug-in). You then plug the FM modulator's headphone wire into the Motormouth II and boom, your done. Since the device is in the center of the car, you get great mic quality for calls... both driver and passenger can speak into it and use it (I can even talk with the windows down, something I can't do via speakerphone).

There's too many pros to list, but I'll mention the two cons. The Scosche wired FM modulator's probably one of the best out there, and the quality sounds good, but they didn't amplify the audio signal, which means audio levels will be a tad lower than what you'd get playing a CD through the stereo (which only effects how loud you can play audio at the maximum). And the Scosche bluetooth is a little annoying (compared to aftermarket bluetooth stereos) in that it doesn't auto connect... you have to push a little button on the device to connect, and when you restart your car (say from pumping gas), it disconnects the bluetooth connection.

That being said, I'd choose this system any day over the best options included by Jaguar. A dedicated bluetooth audio streaming aftermarket stereo, however, would be superior (but this option is less than $100).

The good news about this setup is that ANY stock Jaguar S-Types can use this method for audio input. JbB

 

My car is the S type R the stereo is different has different wireing no connection for the interface plug ????

 

I couldn't do it. I just hate having big ugly docks sticking out off my dash.

 

thank you so much

but i have small queation do u have some pics to show as how u did it

and the apple oem how u put it there and does the oem fall down or not moving

 

So in post #8 when you listed all the accesories will I need to buy the $30 FM modulator from Amazon and the $13 one from Ebay? Or do I just need the part from Amazon?

 

I don't think the O.P. frequents the forums anymore...

 

Here is a company that I have used their products in the past. Great quality mounts and holders!

Pro.Fit International - Producing Cell Phone Holders and Car Mounts with a professional fit

 

I know this is an old thread but for anyone doing the FM modulator install, for the 2002 s type, the yellow/red wire on the back of the radio in the wiring harness is the accessory power and will shut off with the vehicle. I searched the internet high and low and wasn't able to find the right wiring diagram for the 2002 S-type and just had to test each wire. Just thought maybe this post would help someone in the future

 

I'll be tackling this job soon. Your comment is much appreciated.
Steve