petch41

Thanks in advance for putting up with yet another Newbie.

My car is a Jaguar X-Type 2.0d Sports Estate (05) and after looking at the cost (and the lack of functionality) of a OEM Jag touchscreen system I've decided to build my own. The challenge is that I don't really want to mess too much with the interior of the car as I only expect to keep it for another couple of years and I want a setup that I can transfer to the new car (will be another x-type).

I've already figured out how to fabricate/mount a removable "pod" on top of the dash which would contain the screen and all the bits that need radio access to the sky (GPS, mobile broadband, WiFi) and I've got space in the boot for a small form factor PC and power to these locations is not a problem.

The two main questions are:

1. How to connect the two together.
I'm loath to start dismantling the interior of the car as Jaguar do a very thorough job of fitting it in the first place and I'm not sure I could put it all back to the same standard. I'm currently looking at wireless VGA and Wireless USB Hubs and would be grateful for advice from anyone that's used these.

2. Connecting the PC to my cars sound system
I've been told that the Jag's sound system is a rebranded Alpine. I have the single CD slot in the dash with no mutichanger in the boot (that's where I'm proposing to mount the PC). Does anyone out there know how to connect the two together? It would be nice to retain the functionality of the steering wheel controls.

Thanks again,
Petch..

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soundman98

thread was locked for a while, wierd...anyways...

for the sound system, i would recommend going to a local stereo shop, or talking to a someone more familiar with your car on how to add a ipod to the audio system-- the signal will be very similar, so it will be easy to adapt it to the carputer.

as for the wireless solutions, i would highly recomend that you try to hard wire the entire system-- there is alot of electrical interferance in certain areas that could overtake the signal to make the entire system useless. if you are not comfortable hardwiring it in the car, try to locate someone in your area that would be willing to install it for you, or with you. most panels snap into place, so fitment should be just as good before and after the install, you simply must take the extra time to install them properly...

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