Retrofit - a head-up display for the Saab 9-5 NG
A rockfall is a nasty and annoying story - on the one hand! On the other hand, there is the possibility of retrofitting a head-up display in the Saab 9-5 NG.
What my Saab 9-5 is missing is the HUD. You don't really have to have it - you think. And until a rock chip killed my windshield, it wasn't an issue either. However, if it's a new disc, why not one that's fit for a head-up display? In Kiel you do a little persuasion, the initial skepticism disappears, the way is clear!
Head-up display retrofit for the Saab 9-5 NG
The original parts for the HUD retrofit are almost all available. Only a small cable is missing at the time of the rebuild, and that is from another source. The whole action takes some effort. The dashboard has to come out; an opening is cut at the intended location using a template. The original cover frame is fitted. There is no discernible difference between factory installation and retrofitting.
This sounds easy, but takes a lot of time. And requires experience.
It is exciting to see the Saab 9-5 NG naked. The difference between the first and second 9-5 generation is significant. Saab has done more than just a generational change. Where there is quite a bit of air in the old 9-5, the new one has electronic elements grouped around an impressive stiffener. A strut bar in XXL format crouches behind the dashboard panel and makes it clear why the 9-5 NG is a moving safety cage from Sweden.
How does the Saab drive with HUD?
After installing the projection device, the 9-5 is completed, the HUD is activated via software and via the helpdesk. A day's work, done by the Saab Center in Kiel (Link), so goes into the project.
I like the HUD, just because of the Saab plane, which projects it into the disk every time I greet it. The thing is just nicely done and good for the automotive soul.
What counts more are the values when driving at night. Head-up display and night panel form a perfect symbiosis. It seems like the panel has been waiting for the 1993 HUD since its inception in 2010.
If the night panel is activated, the Saab dashboard mutates into a cockpit. It's almost completely dark - the HUD is used to fly through the night. There is no better and more relaxed way to travel; the green lighting is easy on the eyes and much more soothing than the reds of some competitors.
Retrofit the head-up display - or not?
Where there are strengths, there are also weaknesses. Two things stand out. The matt black cover frame reflects slightly in the pane when you are out and about during the day. It's not intrusive and after a few days you don't notice it anymore. When driving through tunnels, the projection unit occasionally reflects the tunnel lighting, which is a bit irritating with small flashes at the beginning.
However, other brands also have these or other oddities.
You could say the head-up display is a luxury. You could refuse it because you can get anywhere without it. Could you! But things change, and it's tragic enough that in 2011 the clocks stopped in Trollhättan.
After a few months on the road with the HUD, the conclusion is positive. In the dark season, you love the head-up display in the Saab. It relaxes the eyes, contributes to a relaxed driving style and is a piece of active safety. In addition, there is a portion of cockpit feeling in the Saab. That alone can make you happy.
Sorry
with me the comments came only after I had given my cheese, I will ask in Kiel.
Hi Tom,
what does this fun cost?
Impressive inner workings, never seen like this before. The desire in me to swap the 9-3 for a 9-5 NG grows more and more. Has something of construction for the ages ...
But only if there is the 9-5 as a convertible
HUD is just great and once drove with it always drive with it.
I can not live without it.
Compliment ... That's what I call a strut 🙂 and insulation.
My first HUD experience was in a car of another (French) manufacturer a few weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised. So far, I have always thought it was a gimmick, but it was really pleasant, the presentation contrasted and well legible even in the light.
Although it is the simpler version of technology, then the aircraft feeling was in the case also given. Instead of projecting onto the windshield, the data was mirrored onto a kind of (electrically) deployable reflex sight. Almost had something of hunter 😉
Have in my car also such a HUD, better than none and that really has something of a fighter plane.
But it can also have an advantage: Such a device has its projection surface and is therefore more “integral” than a windshield projector, so it is cheaper to retrofit. In addition, the projection onto a flat surface is easier than onto the windshield, which is usually curved in different directions, which also simplifies the optics.
And despite top-Gun-Feeling (fits somehow to SAAB;)), the windshield projector is of course already the elegant version.
I also have it in my 9-5 NG. Since I drive a US 9-5 he shows me in the Hud the right speed and on the clock only a wrong value. I enjoy the Hud every day and have it always on.
Since I do not see so well at night anyway, the windscreen bothers me some things and I'm confused. You can see cars partly double .. But ok! I can live with and find it in conjunction with night panel just succeeded and great
I didn't / I didn't have the phenomenon of “doubling”, I was able to test the before and after effect of the different types of discs. I have the impression that the HUD panels tend to reflect a little more than the non-HUD panels. However, only minimally and so that you no longer notice it after a few days.
What is the cost of installation?
Please ask Markus Lafrentz for pricing details.
He did not respond to e-mails
I didn't got any?
Hello, Markus!
This is your email address? Or am I wrong
... and how much €?
Torgeir call Markus, who can say the current prices. See you at the Saab Festival?
Unfortunately, we are not coming to the SAAB Festival
Certainly not bad the original solution, but with your description and the pictures inevitably the cost factor pushes itself into the brain - a whole day of work + parts - for that a decent bundle was necessary, right?
I know you don't talk about money ...
No, you do not talk about it. At least not where everyone can read. Prices are individual and depend mainly on the current availability. That's why I dare not call a sum.