The parrot is of equally high call quality. I've done various tests, both calling into the car, and calling out from the car, and the sound quality is perfect. I've even been 4 up in the car and had everyone in the car conversing with the person on the other end of the phone and all 4 of us could be heard clearly.

I only have 2 small issues.... first one is apparently the indicator clicking noise (which is actually synthetic sound playing out of the little speaker under the steering column) appears to get amplified for some reason, so it sounds quite loud when you're listening in to a call. Second issue is that the parrot doesn't mute my radar detector, which is mounted directly beside the mic :-) but I guess you can't have everything

 

And, the Parrots has more feature - a nice display, etc... Either way, the install should be equivalent. It's not the device/brand that made the install and use so nice, to me, it's the Jag's pre-wiring and system operation that I'm loving.

 

Quad

Where did you tap into for power for Sat radio? I was thinking about tapping the harness is the center console or the cigarette lighter. Any gotchas/lessons learned besides the alternator whine?

 

Matt,

Still have an alternator whine?

How much did you spent on your system?

 

Started using the cigarette lighter outlet in the ash tray (which is switched with ignition) using the cigarette lighter adapter that came with my Sirius radi0 - it drops the 12V to 5V for the Sirius... but while installing the T605 I also removed the circuit board from the Sirius cig adapter and powered it from the REAR cigarette lighter wires that were hidden under the console right next to the phone connector. It's also switched so my Sirius turns on and off with ignition.

I considered using the power in the phone connector, but was lazy and didn't bother checking whether the Sirius and the T605 combined would draw more current than allowed, so I used the rear cig outlet wires instead.

 

Whole bunch of odds and ends:

12v Female receptacle inside the center console:
I like your idea to use the circuit board from the sirius adapter and keep the power source out of sight but for me I wanted to have a discrete multi-use source inside the center console. So, I went with a slightly different approach. I decided to install a female 12v receptacle in the center console. Using tapping connectors, I used the ignition power and ground that route to the forward cig lighter. For the female 12v receptacle I used a splitter I already owned. It had a single male connector which split with 2 female connectors (originally used to power multiple devices off one cig lighter). I cut the female connector off along with about 5 inches of usable wire and discarded the rest. I extended the connector wiring with another 8 inches of 16 gauge wire and used that as my 12v female receptacle.

IR repeater idea:
I don't like lots of gadgets in plain visible sight all over the car (external GPS, external SAT etc) even if the wires are out of sight. So right now, I am running my XM inside the center console. What I would like to do is find an IR repeater online which I could then discretely install inside an air vent, run the wiring down to the console and tape the IR transmitter to the XM unit. This would allow me limited but vital control of the radio via remote control without raising the center console. The thought process behind this comes down to the fact that I really only listen to about 10 channels and I can program those as favorites and then switch as needed. I will keep everyone posted as to how this turns out.

Wire routing inside the cabin:
Something I also wanted to share was how I routed wires from the trunk to the console. I wanted to keep the car as close to "factory" looking as possible and one thing that quickly ruins that appearance is loose/visible wiring. The hardest part for the XJ8 in this instance was routing wire to the console from the rear seat. You can hide the wires under a floor mat/ under a front seat etc but they are still visible and can get kicked which can in turn wreak havoc on your setup. I initially thought I was going to go with standard white wire channels that you would find at any hardware store. I wasn't happy with the idea because the channel didn't match the aesthetics of the car in color or fit but it was better than the floor mat/seat/or cutting carpet routine. I was walking to the register to buy my wire channel, and, as luck would have it, I stumbled on something that is the last thing you would ever think would go in a Jaguar. Screen Porch channeling. It's brown (you can also get white, tan, black etc) and is also semi-moldable (needed to account for a slight bump in the floor board). By appearance it matches very similarly to the channels on either side of the car by the door sills which run under the rear seats. It has 3 grooves on the underside where I ran the wires from the back (aux input and XM antenna) and I was able to fit the piece underneath the center console and the rear seat bench. Because of the tight fit under the console and rear seat AND due to the ridges on the bottom of the piece I didn't have to double back tape it down as it stays in place very well. I know, it sounds ridiculous but...It looks fantastic. I will post pics tomorrow.

Lesson Learned: While nosing around the ski slope area be very careful removing the molded plastic cover which covers the screws for the gear shift and ski slope. You need to remove it evenly straight up. Do not torque or twist as this will break the pegs which it uses to stay in its fixed position.

I did about 6hrs of driving today and the system is working 4.0. No issues.

 

Interesting strategy for hiding the wires - looking forward to the pics.

I ran my wires under the rear seat, out the left heelboard into the bottom of the sill plate, then at the front of sill plate, behind the pillar cover. At about center of the driver's seat, I exited the pillar cover and entered the seat track, following it backand forth (outside where the seat slides) crossing to the other track, , back and forth, and then up between the parking brake lever into the bottom of the console. Only place you can see any wires is between the left pillar cover and the left seat track... but I'm tall, my seat is always nearly fully rearward, so you have to look REAL hard to see anything.

For the T605 remote, I mounted it just below the left center AC register, the cable immediately dissapearing into the crack just above the radio escuchion... down the cracks, pushed deep into them, to the floor, where I pulled it up under the edge of the console to the back end. Didn't have to remove any trim pieces whatsoever.

Radio shack used to carry an IR remote repeater that you could modify to meet your needs... don't know whether they do anymore, but I've seen them elsewhere too. With a bit of ingenuity, you'll have it working in no time.

 

Wire routing inside cabin

 

I just completed the installation of a Parrot Mki9100 and a Sirius Starmate 5. Everything was done in the console area and I did not have to crack open the CD changer. Best of all I did not have to try and run wires to the trunk.

Instead I slit the CD changer harness open behind the radio and tapped into the CD audio input there.

Everything works perfectly. I'm feeding the radio from the parrot. The parrot switches between my Ipod, Sirius, and Droid phone seamlesly.

 

I considered doing this, but I felt running cables to the rear was preferable to cracking open the radio bezel, mounting, etc... I'm concerned about adding squeaks or rattles, which, knock on wood, I do NOT have yet. And, for those of us with premium sound system, the CD cable only propogates between the CD changer and the amp, also in the trunk.

The Parrot will handle more than one Bluetooth streaming audio source at once? Nice - the Moto T605 will only link to one.

 

Removing the radio and reinstalling will not cause squeaks/rattles if proper reassembly is done. Actually a reinstallation can sometimes aid in NVH reduction because fasteners work loose over time. I've done lots of work in NVH reduction in my career and opend up more I/P's than I can rememberm looking for a noise only to find it went away after reassembly.

The I/P Center Stack Area is a robust assembly and the only thing to fear of the job is the removal of the Shifter Bezel.

On another note, the most annoying thing is the creaking in the Center Console area coming from the Lid. I'm working on a fix for that with my old NVH kit.

I'm not sure if the Parrot can handle more than one bluetooth device at a time. It does however handle the Droid via Bluetooth plus it has a hardwired Ipod control/connection, a 3.5 mm stereo jack, and a USB In. The Ipod is on it's plug, the Sirius is on the 3.5 mm jack and the USB port is still open.

I'm going to get a large capacity USB stick and load all of my music on that. The Parrot can read sort and play mp3's so this will allow me to have my music in the car and be able to leave the Ipod in the house where it's safe.

 

Hi chaps,
I've been keeping my eye on these posts to see how they develop, as the bluetooth idea intersted me. I bought a Motorola T605 kit the other day and today set about following Jim Royal's diretions for installation. Having now finished the install, I find my phone doesn't function. I had the fixed phone option, as I'm UK based, and have converted the changes in wiring colors between US cars and ROW cars. I am unsure what the next step should be, but I use my phone frequently so need it to work in the car.

The stereo works the same but, comes up with no phone when the buttons are pressed. Please help!!!!

Thanks, Stu.

 

Thanks, I assumed the IPod was via bluetooth... so instead, it effectively has two AUX inputs - 1 dedicated iPod and 1 3.5mm jack PLUS reads USB sticks? Very nice.

I'm running Sirius through the 3.5mm jack and my LG Dare phone with streaming Bluetooth audio through the Moto T605; both sound fantastic. I'm then switching between the Moto and the CD changer with the relay system described earlier.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the results. Your Parrot has some features, however, I wish I had known about earlier... ah, there's always upgrade time; and the T605 was only $25 on eBay so I won't be losing too much cash in the process.

 

Sinister

Glad you were able to work that angle. I wanted to keep functionality of the CD changer. Going through the trunk allowed ample space to make RCAs for both the changer and aux input and easy access to switch when needed. It's less expensive to replace the CD changer than screwing around with any of the pieces or parts up front. The ski slope is $800 alone and the shift bezel is $150 etc.

 

1st thing I'd recommend is to ground what you believe is the MUTE line in the console connector and verify that the radio switches to and displays "PHONE". If that doesn't work, I suggest that your color code corrections may be wrong. I found that although the colors at the console connector were somewhat different, the pin numbers were the same as in the PDF article. Once I found power, switched power and ground using a multimeter, that gave me connector orientation and the rest were simply following the pin numbers.

BTW, in my early attempts at connection identification, I blew a couple of the fuses for the console connector power... if I recall, they were in the right side rear heel board fuse box. If you can't find fixed 12V and switched 12V in the console connector, this is probably your issue also. Let me know and I'll revisit my search and tell you what and where the fuses are.

Does your T605 remote light up when the key is in the run position (so the radio would be on)? If not, it's the wiring, the fuse/s or both.

 

I did have 2 blown fuses but they were in the boot fuse box, both 5amp. I have managed to get the unit to power up, detect the phone and function as it should. However, I still hve nothing throught the car stereo, no phone function. I am waiting to hear back from Icarus about the extra connector I need to ground in the Boot for UK cars. Then hopefully I'll have it all working

One thing I have learnt from this, which I originally learnt when I re wired my Triumph Herald, I hate wires on cars!!!! Ha Ha!

Thanks For Your on going support, I'll keep you posted on developments. S.

 

What signals did you wire to the audio+ and audio- wires in the console connector, if any?

 

I connected them to the ones Jim Roal's guide told me to. However with the change in wiring colour I had to go off the plug numbers instead of the wire colours. I did have two wires the same colour (Blue/Yellow) so I may have used the wrong wire to ground. If I connected to the Neg- on the cigar lighter would that be ok as a ground? S.

 

When I tried to click on the link posted by QuadManiac

Jag aux selector.jpg

I got a message that said either I wasn't logged in or I didn't have the right privileges to access this file. I know I am logged in because I am making this post. Can someone please give me a clue??? I would like to hack into my cd changer and use the input for my i-pod............Thanks..........Dan

 

That's just an embedded picture that should be available.. but since you are an new subscriber, maybe the forum requires something?

Anyway, I'll just place it here.