Jaguar XK8 Navigation INSERT DISC
The XK8 navigation reads only its own Alpine-format Jaguar map disc — S-Type, X350 XJ and X-Type discs look the same but won't load. I'd read the disc label first; a newer genuine disc can take several minutes loading firmware, and the last disc ever issued carries 2002 map data.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive
Only the map is at stake. Keep a phone navigator handy until the disc question is settled.
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.
The wrong kind of map disc
Later Jaguar navigation (S-Type, X350 XJ, X-Type) came from another supplier and uses a different disc. The X100 system is Alpine and accepts only the Alpine-format Jaguar disc for its region; anything else is ignored. Map discs from other Alpine products are software-locked out too.
INSERT DISC with a disc in the drive, or the screen stuck at start-up; the disc came from a parts counter or another Jaguar.
Read the label. The later Alpine discs carry Jaguar number 4W83-10E898-GA (Alpine BM9JG91F); an earlier one is LJE2441GB (Alpine BM9JU91C). A wrong-region disc won't load either. Any Alpine BM9JU91 disc from suffix B to F should work, even in a 2004 car.
Fit a genuine Jaguar disc for the Alpine unit and your region; a used one is fine.
A newer disc is loading firmware — wait
The unit's software rides on the map disc. A newer disc updates the unit first, which takes minutes, with little or nothing on screen.
A genuine newer disc seems to do nothing, or the screen shows Loading Firmware.
Engine running so the battery isn't drained, disc in, and leave it for several minutes.
Let the load finish; the unit comes back with the newer analogue-clock idle screen instead of the leaping cat.
The map is simply the last one ever made
Jaguar changed supplier and stopped updating the Alpine discs. The final issue, released in 2003, carries 2002 map data. A later European disc may exist, so check your region before paying. Discs advertised by the map maker as newer aren't made for this system.
The disc works, but newer roads and houses are missing.
Compare your disc label with the numbers above. If you already have the last one, no new disc will help.
Worth doing: the final disc is still an improvement on 2001 data. Buy it from a dealer (around $240–310, 300 euros or more in Europe) or used (around $130–190). For anything newer, feed a separate navigator into the factory screen through a video adapter, or mount a phone.
A home-made copy the drive won't read
The drive was built for pressed discs. A burned copy only plays if it's written as a true DVD-ROM, and some units read copies worse than others.
The original disc works; the copy is refused or stalls.
Try the original disc.
Worth trying: a burner that can set the disc type to DVD-ROM on +R media makes copies that play. Otherwise use the original.
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.
Read the label on the disc
A Jaguar disc for the Alpine unit, for your region. Discs from later Jaguars won't load. A burned copy needs to be a true DVD-ROM.
freeGive a newer disc several minutes
Engine running. A firmware load looks like nothing happening.
freeA used genuine disc
Look for the final issue; earlier ones work too.
used discNewer maps: an add-on navigator, not a new system
Radio, navigation, changer and amplifier share one Alpine bus, so another factory navigation unit isn't a practical swap. A separate navigator fed into the screen, or a phone, is.
add-on unitWhat it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- XK8 2000–2006 radio pinout and wire colours
- Jaguar radio code generatorFree. For the XK8 factory radio, when it asks for its code after the battery has been off.
- 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.