Jaguar S-Type Stereo Upgrade and Radio Replacement
An aftermarket radio fits the S-Type's double-DIN opening with a fascia and an adapter lead. The real work is keeping what the factory unit did: the steering-wheel buttons, the CD changer and, on Premium Sound, the subwoofer. I'd start by working out which system and which dash the car has.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive — a comfort job, not a repair
The risks are to the centre trim clips and to the car's wiring if it gets cut. An adapter lead keeps the job reversible.
Which one applies to yours depends on your symptoms, your model year and what has already been done to it.
Likely causes, most common first
Read the check cost before the odds: a free check that rules a cause out beats a likely guess that costs money.
A standard radio fits the double-DIN opening with a fascia and adapter lead
The S-Type radio sits in a double-DIN opening, and a double-DIN unit goes in even where retailer fitment guides say it won't. A single-DIN radio needs a fascia or blanking plates, and sometimes a small bracket. The car plugs are Ford-type connectors, so an adapter lead or the matching Ford plugs join them to the new radio.
The new radio is bought, but nothing on its harness meets the car's plug, or it sits loose in the opening.
Measure the opening against the new unit before you buy, and order the fascia and lead for the S-Type at the same time. The dash changed with the facelift, so buy parts for your year.
Worth trying: an S-Type adapter lead from a car-audio shop plus a fascia panel, both cheap. Splicing straight into the car loom works too, but the adapter keeps the job reversible.
Steering-wheel buttons go dead with the new radio
The factory head unit reads the wheel buttons itself, and a plain adapter lead has no wires for them. This is the main snag of any swap on these cars.
The new radio plays, but volume and track buttons on the wheel do nothing.
Check whether the lead you're buying carries the wheel-control wires. If not, pick an interface made for the new radio's brand.
Worth trying: fit a steering-wheel control interface between the car loom and the new radio. Some nav units also need their own remote-control module.
Premium Sound cars lose the subwoofer
There are six factory head units: standard and Premium Sound, each in three trim colours, and they aren't interchangeable. On Premium Sound the subwoofer has its own amplifier fed by a phono lead from the radio, which an ordinary adapter lead leaves unconnected. A standard car is the easier swap.
The new radio works through the door speakers, but the bass from the rear shelf is gone.
Look for the phono sub-out lead behind the old radio. If it's there, the car has Premium Sound.
Worth trying: connect the new radio's sub pre-out to the phono lead of the subwoofer amplifier. When buying a used factory radio instead, match Premium or standard and the trim colour.
Keeping a CD changer
The early factory changer is a Clarion unit that only talks to the factory radio. With a new head unit, the changer's control and signal wires have to be run to wherever it sits: easy in the glovebox, more work to the boot.
After the swap the changer is never seen, or you want a changer on a car that keeps its factory radio.
Decide first whether you need a changer at all; a new unit with USB may make it pointless.
Worth trying on early cars: keep the factory radio and add an aftermarket changer through an interface behind the head unit, which also works with the wheel buttons. A 12-disc changer on such an interface may only show discs 1-6. On some interfaces a disc the changer can't read drops the radio back to the tuner; reselect CD to carry on.
Keeping the factory radio and improving the sound
The Visteon head unit itself is fine; the Ford-sourced speakers hold the sound back, Premium or not. Keeping the factory radio also keeps the wheel buttons and the original look.
The radio does everything you need, but the sound is flat or muddy.
Listen for which speakers are poor before you change the radio.
Worth trying: replace the speakers and the thin factory speaker wire, and feed any new amplifier through a line-level converter from the factory head unit.
Adding sat-nav costs less aftermarket than as a factory retrofit
Retrofitting the early factory navigation is a big job, and the parts alone run to about £800 from breakers. The factory system is dated: even the later DVD nav mutes the radio for every instruction.
The car has no nav, or its factory nav is out of date.
Choose between a double-DIN nav head unit in the radio opening and a portable unit on a vent mount.
Worth trying: a double-DIN nav unit on the car's mating plugs with a wheel-control interface; even without the speed signal wired it can be accurate to about 50 ft. The car's speed signal doesn't suit every unit. A portable nav is the cheap route and works with the heated windscreen, though some are slow to get a fix and hard to read in glare.
Our product · Jagaux
Jagaux Android conversion kit
Keeps the factory screen and puts Android — maps, music, apps — on the NAV button. Climate, menus and audio stay as they were, nothing is cut, and the car can go back to stock at any time. Built to order.
cars with the factory touchscreen: XJ (X350/X358), S-Type, X-Type 2002–2009
Our product · Jagaux
Jagaux Bluetooth adapter for the XJ8, X-Type and S-Type
Bluetooth music on the factory audio system, without a new head unit. Check which system you have: press Mode on the radio — a 'Sub' setting means Premium Alpine.
later S-Type, X-Type and X350 XJ, Standard or Premium Alpine audio
The order to check them in
The point of the order is money: each step either rules a cause out or makes the next one worth doing. Green is free, amber costs a little, red is the one to arrive at last.
Work out which system and which dash you have
Up to 2002 the radio and climate control come out as one centre unit; the facelift dash from about 2003 is different. A phono lead to a subwoofer amplifier means Premium Sound. Cars with the factory touch screen are a separate job.
freeGet the radio code before you disconnect anything
The factory radio asks for it after power is lost, and you may refit it or sell it. The free generator is at https://jagaux.com/radio-code/.
freeTake the radio out
Early cars: prise off the small trim pieces either side of the radio and the blank below the temperature controls, then undo 4 screws with 8mm heads. The whole centre unit slides out only part way before the plugs behind it must come off. Facelift cars: pull the trim along the top of the radio to reach the screws.
freeWire the adapter lead on the bench
Colours on the factory plug, for example: memory 12V Brown/White, switched 12V Green/Orange, ground Black, aerial trigger Green. Check every wire against the pinout for your year: https://jagaux.com/radio-wiring/s-type-1999-2002/ or https://jagaux.com/radio-wiring/s-type-2002-2008/.
an adapter leadAdd the wheel-button interface, changer and sub leads
Wheel-control interface between loom and radio, changer wires run to the changer, and on Premium Sound the sub pre-out to the subwoofer amplifier's phono lead.
an interfaceTest before the trim goes back
Key off and on: the presets should survive. Try the wheel buttons, the aerial, the changer and the bass. No bass on a Premium car means the sub lead is missing.
freeSpeakers last
The factory speakers are the weak part. Replace them and the speaker wire before judging the new radio.
speakers and wireWhat it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- S-Type 1999-2002 radio pinout and wire coloursFor wiring the adapter lead on an early car.
- S-Type 2002-2008 radio pinout and wire coloursFor wiring the adapter lead on a facelift car.
- Jaguar radio code generatorFree. Get the factory radio's code before it comes out.
- S-Type radio codeWhen the factory radio shows CODE after the battery was off.
- S-Type CD changer stuck, CDC errorWhen the factory changer itself is at fault.
- S-Type Bluetooth not working, PHONE NOT FITTEDPhone and Bluetooth on the factory system.
- S-Type touch screen blank, 50 51 on displayCars with the factory touch screen.
- Jaguar VIN decoderConfirm your exact model year, engine and factory options before ordering parts — free.
Ratings, fuse numbers and torque figures vary by model year and market. Read the legend on your own car before pulling anything, and use the figures in the manual for your car, not the ones in a video.
Check your VIN: exactly which car you have and which bulletins apply to it.