V50 General : Fitting a towbar

[ichivers]

I have a witter towbar that I'd like to fit to my 2004 V50 2.0D SE. I phoned up the local dealer who said they only fit Volvo towbars and put me through to the parts department. The parts department told me 2 bits...

1 main bit which costs about £30
A control unit that costs about £50
Software to make it work which costs about £30

Does anyone have any experience of fitting towbars they would be able to share with me ? I almost considered asking the service department if any of the mechanics fancied making a few extra quid out of hours !

Thanks,
Ian.

[Marmoset]

Fitting the bar itself is pretty straightforward - the electrics used to be hit and miss but one of the parts you require is a module that just plugs into the back of one of the light clusters to feed the signal to the socket - the software update can only be done by the dealer.

I paid £400 for mine to be fitted by the dealer when new as no-one else was making one then, so it;s probably worth asking a local fitting centre to slap the bar and electrics on and get the dealer to just do the update if you don't fancy fitting it yourself.

[iainmd]

Marmoset, is yours a fixed or removable towbar? My local dealer quoted £750 to fit a removable bar. I need to get one fitted in the next few months and I think I'll go to Indespension instead as they quote £450 for a removable bar.

Not sure if their kit uses the Volvo connector from the light clusters though? I'd guess not if a software update is required.

[RossT]

Try toys 4 cars. They do a wiring kit for the V50 which does not require a software upgrade - £117. Detachables can be had (depending on make) for less than £300 then say £100 fitting from a mobile fitter. Reckon £500 all in.

Be careful with which towbar you choose, many for the V50 (inc Volvos own) require a chunk to be cut out of the bumper!

Those like me with sports models have an even bigger issue as there is only one on the market I'm aware of that does not require a 'cut'.

[savage]

Hi I installed my bosal detachable towbar myself its not hard you only have to remove the bumper. the bar cost about £220 from Towequipe, then I got Volvo to do the electrics. Part Nos needed are 31257591 (cable harness) 31257593 (control unit) 8698758 (bracket) 30664225 (7-pin plug) then 3 softwhere updates. I got Stratstone to install for £229.99.There was no cut to the bumper and was about 1 1/2 hours to install it.I would highly recomend having the electrics done by volvo as it would invalidate your warranty on the car. And any manufacture likes to shrug there responsability(slippery eals).But please remember haggle hard and phone around because there prices do vary from one dealer to the next.

[RossT]

Savage

Were the electrics the plug in or wire in type? These days you can buy wiring kits which utilise the existing connectors and simply plug in thus avoiding warranty issues.

Guess your V50 does not have the sport bumper? There is only one towbar I am aware of that fits the sport bumper without the need for a cut.

[tanstair]

Do you happen to recall which one does not require modification to the bumper?

Alistair

[s40_kid]

Originally Posted by tanstair

Do you happen to recall which one does not require modification to the bumper?

Alistair

i think the witter vl44q does not require a cut but this is detachable and costs a bit more than standard and is for the sport bumper model. The bar is stated as being for a post 2007 but fitted it fine to my 2005 sport model.

[Marmoset]

Originally Posted by Tonto326

Marmoset, is yours a fixed or removable towbar? My local dealer quoted £750 to fit a removable bar. I need to get one fitted in the next few months and I think I'll go to Indespension instead as they quote £450 for a removable bar.

Not sure if their kit uses the Volvo connector from the light clusters though? I'd guess not if a software update is required.

Mine's a fixed (needed the higher nose weight capacity for a bike rack)- it was fitted 3 years ago so I'd expect prices to be lower, as the post above says.