So before I start, the ultimate goal is to to have the OEM touchscreen stereo head unit that keeps the OEM look, but with modern features such as bluetooth phone connection for music streaming, phone calls and maps etc. When I purchased the car it had an after market head unit in it which looked terrible, so the first job was putting OEM stereo back in which incidentally made all the steering wheel features work again including cruise control while looking a sight better!

So to start with, my stereo is currently the two small screen system shown in the attached image. So stage 1, is to upgrade from the OEM two screen, to the OEM SINGLE touch screen (see other pic). So question one has anyone done this and was it a straight forward swop, or was there harness changes etc? (no boot navigation system or CD changer needed due to stage 2)

Stage 2: Anyone aware of a company state side (I'm in Texas) that does similar work to the company in England that created JagDroid, the Jag OEM touchscreen conversion that allows Apple car play/android connection?
I HAVE reached out to them. The reply I got didn't fill me with confidence that finding a OEM touch screen, shipping to the UK, shipping it back etc would be viable/the best way to go, especially when some of the reviews/videos I've seen on youtube mention teething issues that required sending the head unit back a couple of times before it was actually working properly.

Its a fun project I'd like to tackle and I'm sure I cant be the only one that would like a few modern features while keeping the original esthetics of our cockpits :0)

Thanks in advance as always.


Change this OEM head unit to the single OEM touchscreen unit.

The desired OEM head unit with bluetooth capabilities

 

If you're doing it for Bluetooth streaming, forget it. The only Bluetooth Jaguar had in the X350/X3358 is phone calls. That's available with either head unit set. I have the basic head unit in your first picture and can make calls through the system. I can't stream music. The touch-screen can't stream music, either.

I bought the box from jagaux.com but have not installed it yet. I did get one last year and installed it, but it wouldn't pair my phone, and the troubleshooting steps the guy wanted to go through with me were beyond my ability. The version I had required going into the head unit and soldering some wires to certain points on the circuit board, and cutting a line in one cable. The man was very helpful, and after he developed a no-solder version of the kit for the X350 he sent me one of those, and that's what I haven't had a chance to install yet.

Besides all of that, I'm not sure the touchscreen system is a direct swap for the non-touchscreen. You certainly won't have navigation unless you all all of those components, and I'm not sure it works at all if it can't see the navigation module. Also, I think the touchscreen only came with systems with the "audiophile" stereo system, the one with the amplifier in the trunk, subs on the rear window shelf, and the imaging speakers in the dash. If all you have is the door speakers, no amp in the trunk, I don't think the touchscreen head unit will work, but I'm not 100% certain of that.

Regardless, don't go into this thinking the touchscreen is required for Bluetooth; it's not. And either way, there is no music streaming, only phone calls, without some third-party solution.

 

@ChristianMichael I take the one aftermarket unit that you have with car looks like this:

This is the only other unit capable of android auto, aside from Jagdroid I found.

 

Thanks for the reply Wfooshee. You'd be 100% correct on the fact the original head unit didn't play music, only did a weak attempt at phone calls. I had it in my 05 XJ8 so know where you are coming from. THATS why I was asking if anyone knew a 3rd party company that adapted the head units with a modern upgrade to circuit boards etc. The jagdroid uprade does offer everything I want including maps etc but as I also mentioned, thats over seas and isnt viable. Shame really as they also offer a new upto-date touch screen that's brighter and more modern looking while keeping the exact same cockpit look. but again.... shipping over sees to still have teething issues.....nope.

I have looked at Jagaux, so thanks for sending that link and I will reach out to them. For me the benefit of the original OEM touch screen is it looks stock and is meant to be there, and looks like it should while also keeping the rest of the cars electronics such as A/C etc working.

Thanks again

 

Thanks for the reply Big Koshka. Nope, the pic below is from my actual car when I got it. Thats why I pulled it within a week of owning her :0)


Just not my bag of chips.

 

OK then you can take a look at this link:
https://www.canavie.com/97-tesla-sty...-p3601220.html
There is a forum member Dennis Black I think he has a business installing those "Tesla Style" android tablets.
I did install mine myself, bought it from link above. there is a great number of resellers from China offering these units.
I have mixed feeling about this product: no manuals none whatsoever, you have to learn to use it by trial and error. 4 months after I still trading e-mails with seller on how to use it.
The benefits: I still have original radio unit and if need arises I can plug it back; unlike Jagdroid where you have no way to go back, unless you get radio and cables from boneyard.

 

Seeing this, I'm wondering if your fiber optic system even still exists. An complete aftermarket swap like this usually requires running wires from the head unit to the speakers or an external amp, as the factory system with external amp has no copper running to the amp.

However, if your car was originally equipped with the "premium" audio, as opposed to the "audiophile" system, there is wiring from the head unit to the speakers, as the head unit drove the door speakers, which were all that exists in the "premium" system, directly.

Another difference is that the front tweeters are wired differently between the two systems. In the base, "premium" system, the front tweeters are wired parallel with the lower door speakers. In the higher "audiophile" system they are wired parallel with the dash ambience speakers. The rear tweeters are parallel to the door drivers in both systems.

So, if your car was originally equipped with the "premium" system, you'll have the expected LF, RF, LR, RR pairs at the back of the head unit, and the wiring for those will be there in the dash. If you car originally had the "audiophile" system, with the trunk-mounted amp, the dash speakers, and the subwoofers, then the speaker wiring did not exist behind the head unit in the dash, only at the amplifier. The head unit connected to the amp (and the CD changer, the telephone interface, the voice activation module, and the navigation system) by the fiber-optic system. A replacement head unit in such a system would have to have speaker wiring added to connect the head unit to the speakers, and there's no telling how that was done until you get in there and look, and if things were cut to do that, you might not even know where those cuts were made.

 

+1 mine unit came with a harness, that was going from head unit to all speakers; In the boot I pulled connector from amplifier and plugged end of added harness in connector that goes to speakers. This effectively takes amplifier out of the loop

 

That's how it would have to be done, but if the aftermarket head unit did not come with such a harness and the installer had to make his own connections, there's no telling.