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I think it's kinda ugly comapred to the factory unit, but I still appreciate the fact that this is available. I've long been worried about what happens when the screen/head unit develops a fault/dies (which it inevitably will at some time down the road, Murphy's law says it will be just after Jag stop selling replacements, so you also won't find a used one anywhere), there's at least now another option available to keep your collector car away from the scrap heap.
So do you loose anything at all that you have to use the screen for that is not related to music? Offhand I can think of trip meters, nav, climate, seat heaters, all the car setup/settings, valet mode, 'secret' service menu etc etc?
I mean there's a lot of stuff you still need to get to besides music....
Even for music, I presume you loose the Dolby DSP modes if you have the premium sound? (apparently you also lose the DVD nav support and 6 CD stacker but in my mind that's actually an upgrade assuming you can remotely see/control your phone's display)
First Posts from people usually aren't an in-depth deep dive into a semi-major project using a specific item with a link to an already-forbidden company like N*vt**l.
Plus, no other posts in any other thread.
I can't say for certain, but I had barely made any other posts before I made a thread detailing the Android stereo upgrade on my Jaguar XJ. I don't believe his thread to be some kind of spam attempt. As another poster pointed out, if so, it is a very bad attempt, because he barely talked about the product that no one wants to here about, but instead talked about another product he purchased.
I've long wondered about how this type of thing works.
So if you do this "upgrade", do you loose anything at all that you have to use the screen for? (that is not related to music?) I mean like trip meters, nav, climate, seat heaters, all the car setup/settings, valet mode, 'secret' service menu etc etc?
I mean there's a lot of stuff you still need to get to besides music....
The OP said he lost his valet function. The one I bought for my 2012 XJ, I was able to retain ALL of my OEM functions. The installation requires removing two circuit boards from the OEM unit and installing into the Android Head Unit. This is how that is accomplished. You basically have the OEM screen, and the Android screen, depending on what you are using. If you want to use OEM navigation, heat seaters, valet, etc., then you choose the OEM screen from the menu, and you pretty much operate the same as the factory. The unit he installed, appears to be of a different type, that doesn't require any circuit board swaps for the install.
Interesting thread! Nice to know that some options are becoming available. I really hate how slow the screen is in my XKR (Though my XJL SS is WAY worse).
I would mourn the loss of physical buttons for climate control. I am kind of old school like that.
What I'd REALLY like to see is the android replacement for the same screen size that's already there. I don't need a bigger touch screen, but I'd love to have car play compatibility. But I also don't want to give up the legit sat nav and sat audio capability too. There are a lot of places in the US that still don't have great LTE connectivity and having nav and audio that works when out of cell range is still important to me.
Can you be a little more specific as to what other pictures you want to see ? I have pretty much posted most of the main functions Let me know and I will try to accommodate.
In an ideal world it would have been nice to retain just the climate control physical buttons and have only the screen replaced but I did search for that and couldn’t find a solution.
This unit was basically a plug and play so I am
not sure why I lost the valet function and I don’t believe there was a way to retrofit the circuit boards from the original main unit but I may well be mistaken on that. I would imagine it wouldn’t be hard to add that back in with some programming.
I am trying to see if I can get the factory to fix the few Mis spelling corrections and the valet function in an update for the future ....
Interesting thread! Nice to know that some options are becoming available. I really hate how slow the screen is in my XKR (Though my XJL SS is WAY worse).
I would mourn the loss of physical buttons for climate control. I am kind of old school like that.
What I'd REALLY like to see is the android replacement for the same screen size that's already there. I don't need a bigger touch screen, but I'd love to have car play compatibility. But I also don't want to give up the legit sat nav and sat audio capability too. There are a lot of places in the US that still don't have great LTE connectivity and having nav and audio that works when out of cell range is still important to me.
I prefer the large tesla look and doing away with all the knobs. One should be able to download maps from google for navigation without the need to use LTE data. Doing away with the navigation CD box in the trunk is a blessing--doing away with CD's in general is a blessing. I'm very interested in this unit.
Is Navtool the brand? How would I find this on Ebay? I love your upgrade. Cant believe my XK has active cruise braking with radar but no Bluetooth to play Spotify!
I want one of these before next summer! Please advise on model number and brand. The Alibaba link is not working for me. It apears the Navtool is only an interface. How do I get the screen and trim ring for my XK?
As i have said in the other thread dealing with this; I have been in contact with the manufacturer asking questions and getting some answers. From my correspondence with them I am sure that the XK they are working with is a 2007 and doesn't have some of the abilities and complications that are present on the 5 litre models. In my last email I asked about their unit working with the built in reverse camera on the 2012+ cars and they were not aware that there is such a thing. I am including his response below:
1. SiriusXM satellite -- not yet.If you have external one with app, I think this android unit will support it.
2. We are not sure if it supports factory rear view camera.
Here we installed it with XK cars without factory rear view camera
Interesting thread! Nice to know that some options are becoming available. I really hate how slow the screen is in my XKR (Though my XJL SS is WAY worse).
I would mourn the loss of physical buttons for climate control. I am kind of old school like that.
What I'd REALLY like to see is the android replacement for the same screen size that's already there. I don't need a bigger touch screen, but I'd love to have car play compatibility. But I also don't want to give up the legit sat nav and sat audio capability too. There are a lot of places in the US that still don't have great LTE connectivity and having nav and audio that works when out of cell range is still important to me.
From what I have seen that is available for the XK, what is available for the XJL is better. You can keep all your OEM features with the ones they make for the XJL. That being said, if you use Google Maps(instead of Waze), you can still have navigation without a data connection, because Google Maps allows you do download the maps. I stick with Waze, because in the country I currently live, I am never out of cell range.
Well, this has been an interesting read and discussion going back and forth with the old sceptics. At the end of the day, it’s up to the individual to do their research and determine the true viability of this product. But the ridicule and reception provided to Luke is clearly unjust and down right rude! What evidence has that ridicule been based on? Nothing, other than suspicions. That’s fine, but unless certain of ones accusations I’d suggest that those opinions be kept to oneself and treat the contributors with some level of respect, unless justified otherwise.
All that aside, interesting product and thanks for sharing your experience Luke. Would be interesting to hear your feedback as you get to live and experience its interface a bit more over time. Having installed an aftermarket unit in my Landcruiser some years ago, I found it great initially, but over time I decided it was rather clunky and nowhere near as seamless or sophisticated as OEM products.
Having a Portfolio XKR myself with a machine turned finish alloy console and dash, I suspect they wouldn’t be available to match. Now having said that, I guess this is the issue of these Chinese units, but what’s with the “Average Oil” consumption figure? Suspect you have some serious car issues or it may be one of many glitches in this Chinese attempt?
Cheers;
My sincere thanks for positing this. Regardless if it is an add or not it has good info. I have a 2012 R Convertable and while it was still under warranty the screen started blacking out. It was intermittent but eventually it went out while at the dealer for service. They replaced free of charge but it concerns me. Occasionally on starting up it will not open and just shows the Jag logo. So far, it has always reset after I turn the car off and wait for a few minutes. However, I am sure at some point it will die and the repair is super pricy if done by the dealer. This replacement makes much more sense. I know you said heated wheel is not on the program but is the seat cooling feature? Also, I am a do it yourselfer but this looks over my head, I did install the module for remote top lowering but this looks challenging. Again, thanks for posting this info.
I agree Luke. Haters gonna hate. They have nothing better to do. Angry little people. Moving on; this is one of the best posts I’ve ever seen on here. I have been trying to find a way to do this exact thing to my 2001 xk8 since I bought it. Obviously, this still doesn’t help me with my car but I love the look and functionality of it. Great job!
Originally Posted by Luke Martin
I referenced the Nav tool as an alternative solution to what I actually did and that I was considering it at the start of my post . I also mentioned that the navtool allows you to keep your original head unit but adds the additional car play features to it. I posted a link so people could read about how the navtool works . I mentioned this as I know some people are not keen on changing the look of the dash with a large screen .
Yes the picture is probably of a Porsche on the navtool link but if you read the info you will understand how it works with a Jag.
I thought people here are supposed to help others not criticise or rip into people who are simply trying to share experiences and help others who are apprehensive or can’t find solutions. ( It certainly makes me wonder why I bothered now to take the time to write up the experience).
I personally gain info from the forums when looking for solutions to problems with the car and when I looked to find info on the stereo, nobody seemed to have taken the plunge .... Hence I decided to write up on it and post pictures.
I hope this clears up the confusion as I believed I made it clear in my original post.
In my case I weSnt for a complete upgrade and removed the factory head unit and explained this in detail, including the issues that I faced and at the end of the post I mentioned Aliexpress / Alibaba in relation to the Large Android screen I had installed for people who want to look for it . These two solutions are completely different .
The Navtool is something you add to you’re existing stereo to add CarPlay.
The android system is a full replacement of the original head unit and available on Alibaba or Aliexpress .
... Now having said that, I guess this is the issue of these Chinese units, but what’s with the “Average Oil” consumption figure? Suspect you have some serious car issues or it may be one of many glitches in this Chinese attempt?
Cheers;
John.
I assume it is gas consumption labeled incorrectly.