So I have an XF and a challenger. The challenger group is always modifying and customizing the cars to make them faster, better handling ect.

I noticed that the general Jag owner has limited aftermarket parts and not much hacking or customization going on. I get it, you buy the best why screw with it? Well as much as I love my car I hate the NAV / control screen. I have an 09 but the software works more like it was made in 1999.

My last challenger (08) was light years ahead as far as usability and we even had full color screens! I know, almost like star trek or something. (dr who for other side of pond)

I digress.. So my idea is to see if the current (2011) control screen would fit into the space where the old one was and of course be modified to work as well. Any one have an idea if most connections would be similar?

I asked local dealer but they just stared at me like I came from another planet.

 

A few Jag techs have piped up and stated the systems are completely different and incompatible. So from that feedback it means it isn't going to swap in but that doesn't necessarily mean someone couldn't figure it out. The 2012 system is very nice.

 

What you see on the dash is just a screen. The screen is just a "monitor" to present the user interface for an integrated set of hardware, software and operating system that is embedded in the entire car. To exaggerate to make the point....you could stick a 42" plasma screen in your front seat hooked to the same feed that the small screen gets and you would see the same thing only bigger. There is no logic/processing in the little bit of "hardware" that you see as the dash screen. Think of it like the monitor on your computer. To change the system would mean removing and replacing a highly integrated set of components throughout the car. Fun to dream about such an upgrade but totally impractical, if not impossible.

 

Wonder why they did it that way? The dodge has a "mygig" system that allows the whole "head end unit" that is everything (NAV/RADIO/SAT) to be removed and swapped from one vehicle to another (ie challenger to ram pu)as long as the bus speeds are the same. So if I didn't have NAV in my car I can buy a unit that has it on ebay and swap units.

So instead of putting the computer part behind the radio you are saying that they are spread over the whole car? Even if they did this, if used the same connections and bus speeds the new one may be able to be adapted.

I think that finding a salvage unit to look at would be first step.

 

You raise an interesting point on the Dodge systems. My wife has a Wrangler and yes the head units are swapable. I perhaps sounded like I knew definitively that this was not the case in the Jag, but I believe that with so many of the "vehicle" control elements surfaced through the screen interface, jag has simplified the number of hard buttons in favor of soft. In the Dodge stuff, at least the older, the nav/entertainment is all that is in the head unit so more portable across many models. I think the fully integrated systems that have things like seat controls and other stuff require more central processing. ALL of that said....I'm speaking as a technology guy....not someone that truly knows the depths of the jag system.....which means take it all with a grain of salt.