George - thanks. Too much for me, I was just hoping to do without the ACM. I don't actually need or want rear screens LOL

 

Ok I'm done... I didn't do things "by the book" per se.

First I have an aftermarket Pioneer DVD/Nav Head unit in my car, and my objective was to integrate these into the rear video output of that unit. I wasn't planning on using the wireless headphones, or the card reader - although that feature seems kinda cool... We didn't realize these things have a built in media player.

I ended up with the control panel in the center arm rest, for now, even though the remote "eye" is on that. We'll see if I change my mind on this. It gives a cleaner look especially considering I have to plug an rca cable into the system for my rear screen output from the head unit.

You don't HAVE to take the ashtray out, the splitter harness works perfectly fine on the rear power point to draw power for the system. That's what I did. The seatbacks are a bit tricky, but they do come off.

I have a bunch of pictures, I'm wondering if I should post here, or start my own thread.

George

 

I would post them here...

 

..Post them soon, because I'm really curious how you tackled this job By the way did you test it out with a DVD movie or anything to see the clarity and crispness on the LCD?

 

Hello to all,

I have had these istalled for 18 mths plus now and they went straight in my 2002.5 STR.
No cutting etc.
Even the electric headrests still work.
I think the reason they say they only fit on the later cars is mainly because of the leather pipeping trim.
I have been lazy and have not taped the cables to the seat as per instructions.
My kids have watched movies through their portable DVD players (with no screens, just players), but thats about all. The quality is very good for a standard resolution screen.

Recently I have tried to load a movie on to an SD card for them with no success.
I am doing something wrong, perhap wrong SD card? Any suggestions?
Also my new Panasonic 1080p camcorders SD cards don't want to play on this system either????

 

The posts on the headrests are designed to fit a car with electric headrests. Also they are piped to match the premium trim. That trim was available from 2005 and up (2004 outside the US). Hence the instructions saying that it is for 2004 and up. The reason they are listed as 2007 / 2008 is that the premium trim became standard across the entire lineup for the last years of the S Type...At least in the US...

I have the same issue as you with the memory card...Tested it yesterday with a portable DVD and the test subject reported clear sound and great picture..Only in his words it was..."DAD! This is SOOOOO coool!"...Not bad coming from a 5 year old....

I PM'd another user that is posting in this thread and he suggested that I use a smaller card. I have a SD card that is 4g and a Memory Stick that is 4g as well. They are formatted in FAT32. I put an assortment of media on them to test out the various functions. Some video, pictures, and MP3's. I keep getting a "no media found" message, so I think it is the size of the card.

 

Ugh, so I'm at work, and I forgot my camera at home (which has all my install pics on it).

I do have a shot of it done in my iphone i'll post.

And as far as the media reader, I think the issue is sdhc v/s standard sd. Most everything these days is SDHC. In 2006 when these were made, and probably before that in 200x when they were designed, that wasn't the case. Standard SD cards went to 2gb. So I think that might be the key as far as getting the card reader to work. Now, where does one find an old 2gb sd card. I think we might be able to order some for cheap somewhere. One of my old cell phones might have one as well, which I can stick in an micro SD to regular SD adapter just to test this out.

George

 

Hey... There's "the guy" that gave me the memory card suggestions...

Found quite a few to choose from on Newegg.com . I'm going to try my local Office Max later today.

 

Ahh..I just had an interesting realization while looking at your pictures...

Your seat backs are different than mine.. I need to take pictures of mine..

See, you have the removeable backs that they show in the instructions. Mine are different. They have a map pocket, but the back is attached differently than yours. I know it has to be clipped together somehow or else, how in the heck did they make the seat??? It just isn't easy to figure out, so the "feed the wire" method may be the best alternative for those with seats like mine..

 

Really? Post a pic of your seatback if you can. Mine's an 03 base 3.0 car.

I know you have the redesigned exterior, (Since you have an 05) but i thought the interior was the same.

George

 

Here is a picture of the seatback, George. See how different..

Also, funny how in a digital picture the control panel and trim ring look like the colors are way off. While slightly different, they don't look that drastic in person.

 

Uh yeah... Now I see the difference.

You know the control panel in the rear console doesn't look that bad. If I only didn't have the RCA cable coming from my headunit to feed video into the screens. Hrrmmm... How to make that look "not ghetto"...

George

 

BINGO...Give George a cigar.. Got a cheap ($10) 2gig SD card from Target last night. Loaded a few files. A video, four pictures, and two MP3's and the card reader saw them all! Now this rocks! I saw NewEgg had a 3 pack of PNY 2gig SD cards for like $20 with $3 shipping. I'll get those and load some entertainment files for the kiddies and it's all set. Now I really like this little stand alone system! Just to get it retro-fitted to the Caravan..

 

Glad to see it worked out... Now only if the system had the option of a line level a/v out for the player, so I could pump it back into my head unit.

2gb SD cards are cheap these days. You can get 10 for $60 on ebay all day long.

George

 

...George you holding out on the pics? lolz....thought you were going to post up the pics you took I should be getting mine in this Thursday if all goes well

 

Okay Okay... I took some pics of the install.
I don't know how helpful they will be because I really didn't do things by the book.

I tapped power from the rear power point socket, which I removed, and mounted my control panel in there for now. I used the hole provided by the power socket being removed to feed the wires into the center console. I took the car apart more than it really needed to be, but I had to pull my center stack out to get to the rear video output of my Head Unit.

Here's the pics I have, I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have but it's honestly all pretty simple.

George

 

....Thanks for sharing the pics George!,

Your seatbacks in which you installed the rear tvs in are the same as mine. My question to you is, do I have to remove the gear shift console? I thought of putting my center console for the tv unit inside the armrest like you have, but wasn't sure if I had to remove the center gear shift console . I'm glad you got the video working off the SD card, looks sweet. So do you have any shortcuts to point out in the installation process? ex: Procedure on removing the back cover off the seats?

 

Do you have to remove the gear shift console? No... I guess not if you tap power from the rear power point.

I figured out how to get video running off the SD card, but I haven't done it in my car. The video you see playing is a dvd in my head unit.

As far as removing the seat back. Put your fingers under both side edges of it. Push to the left (don't pull), once you feel the tension holding it to the seat release it will just flop back towards you. Do the reverse to reinstall, but this time make sure your fingers aren't under the edge and push forwards.

 

Nice work!!!! I got mine today and its going to be my project this saturday after I leave the jaguar dealer for service. Got mines in blck also from dan which he helped me out tons. Its weird your seats dont have covers, my 01' did have covers and still my 07' STR has them also. Clean setup though

 

..lolz looks like both of us have our Saturday cut out to do this install. I too have the charcoal black colored headrest. Still debating whether to install it under the armrest console or the standard rear