Telephones & Bluetooth

[Flyerman]

Hi

Have just taken the plunge and swapped my much-loved Sea-Frost XJ8 (still the best-looking Jag ever!) for a beautiful British Racing Green X350 3.0SE, first registered March 04. I am hooked already - she's great. Lots of new toys to play with, but not a hands-free telephone system.

My 308 had a Parrot Bluetooth gadget (which "paired" with my Mobile phone) wired into the sound system so that the audio cut out automatically during a call, and I miss the safety and convenience of it. Would like to fit something similar to the 350, but before I do, has anyone got any experience of fitting a Bluetooth system to these cars? If so, any advice / tips etc?

Car has Satnav, so there is a Telephone button beside the glass screen, also a telephone button on the steering wheel which doesn't appear to do anything. When you press the button by the screen, you get a message saying "no telephone fitted to this car."

There is a microphone fitted up near the sun visor, and an old receipt amongst the Service History bills covering the cost of fitting a Nokia telephone - which is long gone, but it may be that some bits of that system are still there, hence the microphone.

Any advice/guidance or even suggestions re telephones in X 350's would be very much appreciated - especially if it keeps the costs down. Halfords are quoting around £200 to fit a mid-range-quality system.

Many thanks

[almcl]

What year is the car?

I am no expert, but my X350 has Bluetooth built in and pairing a mobile phone with it is not a job that you need to pay someone else to do. This gives control via the touch screen or Jaguar Voice and the noise cancelling is pretty reasonable.

However, this arrangement may not have come as standard or been available on the earlier cars.

There's a chap here http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/f32/acm-bl ... 48182.html who has converted his X350 to the later standard but it doesn't sound a simple job.

[ptjs1]

Flyerman,

I've got an 04 SE as well. My car came with a Nokia hard-wired phone built in under the armrest. When I got my car last year, I thought that I might want to install both Bluetooth capability for my own mobile plus Voice Control for phone, audio & heater controls. I had a chat with Ian at XJK Services, the clubs technical representative, and as a result, decided not to bother.

UK 04 cars do not have Bluetooth capability but US cars do have it. In order to enable it for your car, you would have to install the PSE from an 04 US car and then install the corresponding Bluetooth module as well. Even then it seemed that there might be an issue on which phones the early US setup would recognise.

After scouring US ebay for both an early US PSE plus an early Bluetooth module, I realised that it was going to cost me 000's of pounds for a setup that still might not work with my android smartphone. So i have continued with my Nexus Solar Bluetooth hands-free module which I move from car to car. I do use the hard-wired car phone as a PAYG emergency phone and I sometimes just redirect my own mobile to the car phone when I know that I will be receiving important incoming calls whilst on the move. This arrangement works quite well for me.

If you've got the wiring in place, I would suggest that the cheapest way would be for you to source the right in-built car phone via ebay or classifieds and go down the same route as me. You might want to ring Ian and see if he's found a cheaper way around the original problem.

As regards the Voice Control, every X350 owner that I've spoken to has said that it's quicker to press the buttons, so I didn't bother with that either!

Good luck with your choice

Paul

[barrywi]

I agree about the voice control , I do not use mine at all and I even reach over to the volume knob rather than using the on wheel control....I just forget it is there.
The things I love are:-
The electric seats and the fact you can adjust them on the move
Cruise control
Sat Nav( though not the best on the market)
The leather and wood interior, it always feels special
Performance and economy ( from the diesel)
The rarity of the car on the road compared with the usual German suspects, though my Rover 2000 gets more eyeballs and strikes up endless conversations when parked up.
Sorry to go off topic, I should know better!!

[ptjs1]

Flyerman,

After reading the thread on the useful link that Al posted, I'm wondering if one does have to use an early US PSE & BTUM on an eraly X350. Perhaps it is possible even on an early car to use a later PSE & BTUM? The basic touchscreen module is common to similar era X- & S-Types, so perhaps modules from those cars may work?

A call to Ian at XJK may clarify things.

Let us know what you do!

Paul

[Flyerman]

Thanks for the comments, chaps.

Al, I followed that link but that procedure as proposed just scared the hell out of me - not that I understood it anyway after the first couple of lines.

Next step: visit local main dealer ( I'm in Preston) to see whether a Jag system could be added. Very helpful chap looked up my car on his system and said yes, there was a module which could be fitted which would then allow the further addition of Bluetooth or a phone. Cost: £900 - and that was just for starters! Conversation terminated ... abruptly.

So ... back to Plan A. The very helpful, friendly and efficient staff at Base Systems Ltd, Fylde Rd, Preston, talked me through the options; we settled on a Parrott CK3100 system; fitted it during a 3-hour pre-booked appointment; set it up with my phone; and gave me a quick "conversion course."

I now have a very neat and unobtrusive control module, no bigger than a credit card (in length and width, anyway,) fitted on the walnut trim at the lower right corner of the air flow louvres, and a microphone I had to search to find, hidden away up by the mirror, with no wires in sight anywhere.

System pairs automatically to my phone the moment I get in the car, without me doing a thing. Synchronisation with my phone's contacts list happened automatically on first "pairing." Calls can be made manually using either the phone or the control module, but are much more easily and efficiently made using the best voice activation system I've yet come across anywhere. Car's audio automatically mutes during calls.

So, I have an efficient, simple, updateable, elegant and unobtrusive hands-free system, with which I am very pleased indeed, supplied and fully fitted for something just north of £200 incl. VAT ( would be cheaper on cars without a premium audio system, which requires extra wiring).

The telephone buttons beside the screen and on the steering wheel remain redundant. I can live with that.