C70 D5 SE Lux - headunit/bluetooth/nav etc

[HerC70]

Hi all,

Newbie here.

My wife has purchased a C70 P1 (2008) D5 SE Lux and is very pleased with it. However, I have a question about upgrading the head unit.

The car lacks bluetooth/nav/iPhone integration.

It has the DynAudio(sp?) system but I don't seem to be able to find much of a solution to change the upper part of the waterfall console (i.e. the headunit/display) without the loss of some reasonably important functions being visible (i.e. the aircon settings, menu options etc).

I have looked at the Bluepower BLP-990 unit but I'm concerned at many of the reviews I've seen, delays on delivery and some of the comments elsewhere on here. This isn't something I'd attempt to fit myself anyway (I'd get it professionally installed by a car audio electrician) but I'd be interested if anyone has been running the system for a while and has any further views on it?

The Nav is important, she plays a lot of iPhone music for which we'd like steering/display controls (i.e. not just on the iPhone itself) and I want wirefree connectivity for calls etc.

I have been looking at alternatives from more mainstream manufacturers such as Alpine, Clarion, Pioneer etc, but, unless someone can tell me otherwise, it looks as if there is no way around the loss of things such as those mentioned earlier (fan settings, aircon, menu options, blah, blah?).

I don't really want to have to go down the route of seperate and stuck-on bluetooth/handsfree systems (such as Parrot) and the same for Nav. I've ran BMW's for years and like the integrated solutions that I've got used to in them, but she was determined to get the C70 and it does seem like a very capable and well made car - just lacking in the tech stakes by comparison.

Any assistance/advice would be much appreciated.

[dme123]

I find myself in the same boat and have been similarly unimpressed with the bluepower headunit - it looks and seems to function like a cheap aftermarket chinese headunit. Volvo built this Premium Audio / Dynaudio system for audio quality and it delivers in spades, but it seems impossible to add to the system in any sensible way. Bluepower seem a bit vague about how their head unit communicates with the amp in the boot for the premium audio, and if the various EQ settings the stock system automatically applies to compensate for speed and roof up/down are retained. These are one of the key components of how good the system sounds.

Curse the original purchaser for not ticking the bluetooth and Navigation boxes and saving himself a couple of grand.

[HerC70]

I have wondered about the Volvo OEM unit in respect of trying to find one in the same way that Audi owners often have OEM kit fitted to their cars even if it wasn't specced when new. There's a big aftermarket for that with Audi but I don't know if it exists, or if the kit is even available or at what cost for Volvo.

Has anyone ever had any experience of taking original Volvo kit such as Nav enabled pop-up gear (perhaps on the likes of eBay?) and upgrading a lesser specified car?

The whole head unit system is clever in some respects because of the proprietary nature and how it locks you down to their product, but ten times as frustrating in other respects when you want to add Nav/bluetooth etc.

Initially I thought the controls for fan/aircon etc would show their settings in LED style or some other form on the controls themselves, but no. I don't really want to have to guess what temperature it is inside the car or what the fan speed is, etc (not to mention the fact that I think the clock setting, home-lights etc is managed from the menu too).

[Mcpx]

Apart from the very specific Bluepower unit you have the choice of, well, nothing really. The sound system is integrated with pretty much the rest of the cars systems and it is not possible to add 'off the shelf' upgrades like days of old. This is really the way manufacturers have been going for some time, culminating in modern cars having full smartphone integration but unfortunately leaving earlier models stuck in the no mans land between integration and viable uprgrade options.

If you want full iPhone integration with operability from the steering wheel/car controls then the only way to do that is to sell the C70 and buy something with a 14/15 or 16 plate on it. Or buy the Bluepower, and you MIGHT get one in 6 to 8 weeks and you MIGHT be able to find someone willing to fit it for less than it actually cost to buy and you MIGHT be lucky enough to get one of the ones that works.

If however that is not an option then you will have to start making compromise. Your car appears to have the top of the range Dynaudio system, which happens to be very good acrually, and it should have an aux in so thats a good start. My 2007 V50 had an integrated (aftermarket) Bluetooth hands free already fitted and I have added a Bluetooth reciever to the aux in (which cost £25!) for music streaming. Google maps takes car of navigation with audio through the car system. All music and nav is controlled through the phone but apart from that, it does everything I could possibly need it too.

If you get something like a Parrot hands free fitted that also allows music streaming just be aware that all it does is mute the cars own sound system and sends the music it receives directly to the car speakers via it own built in amp, while this does do the job it also means that it is by-passing that wonderful pro-logic sound system you have, so quality will suffer.

[HerC70]

You're spot on in pointing out that the car has an AUX port (in the centre armrest lower section, I believe).

May I ask which Bluetooth receiver you bought?

Is it similar to this model on Amazon? I wonder if the price is too good to be true but the reviews seem okay.

That, if it works, would at least give the streamed music functionality from her iPhone 6.

Are you saying that if the iPhone 6 hooked to the receiver and was, say, held in a dashboard/vent mount, that the instructions from a Nav app (such as Google Maps or HERE Maps) would come through the DynAudio system and automatically mute/lower the volume of any streamed music? I know that wouldn't happen if it was radio music through the main head unit.

If that works then I may well just buy a Parrot handsfree bluetooth kit (I don't think two concurrent connections would be an issue?) for voice calls through the iPhone (although the i9200 was the kit I'd seen that allowed you to scroll through contacts and that's what she'd like to be able to do - and of course that lets you stream music too but I wasn't aware that it bypassed the car audio system).

To be honest, the quality of the music will be largely lost on her anyway. She listens to music but if you asked her to spot the difference between a DynAudio system and a Parrot in-built amp system, I think she'd sit there and say "They sound the same". We've been here before with a Lexus RX400 and an 11-speaker Mark Levinson system that was a complete waste of money in terms of appreciation of what it sounded like.

[Mcpx]

Originally Posted by HerC70

I have wondered about the Volvo OEM unit in respect of trying to find one in the same way that Audi owners often have OEM kit fitted to their cars even if it wasn't specced when new. There's a big aftermarket for that with Audi but I don't know if it exists, or if the kit is even available or at what cost for Volvo.

Has anyone ever had any experience of taking original Volvo kit such as Nav enabled pop-up gear (perhaps on the likes of eBay?) and upgrading a lesser specified car?

It is theoretically possible, although any additions would require a trip to the dealer to have the software added and enabled, after which there would still be no guarantee that it would work. Adding the pop up nav option would also mean replacing the whole dash.

Such parts are extremely rare on eBay and the dealer option is frightening, even if they do have any stock. I recently researched adding the subwoofer from the top of the range Dynaudio system to my mid range High Performance system, a neat little triangular shaped unit that fits into the boot floor around the spare wheel, but I believe it came to just a shade under £800 in parts alone, plus shipping from the US because there is no stock left in the UK, which means it would also be plus import tax of about 20%.

I decided to leave it.

[Mcpx]

Originally Posted by HerC70

You're spot on in pointing out that the car has an AUX port (in the centre armrest lower section, I believe).

May I ask which Bluetooth receiver you bought?

Is it similar to this model on Amazon? I wonder if the price is too good to be true but the reviews seem okay.

That, if it works, would at least give the streamed music functionality from her iPhone 6.

Are you saying that if the iPhone 6 hooked to the receiver and was, say, held in a dashboard/vent mount, that the instructions from a Nav app (such as Google Maps or HERE Maps) would come through the DynAudio system and automatically mute/lower the volume of any streamed music? I know that wouldn't happen if it was radio music through the main head unit.

If that works then I may well just buy a Parrot handsfree bluetooth kit (I don't think two concurrent connections would be an issue?) for voice calls through the iPhone (although the i9200 was the kit I'd seen that allowed you to scroll through contacts and that's what she'd like to be able to do - and of course that lets you stream music too but I wasn't aware that it bypassed the car audio system).

To be honest, the quality of the music will be largely lost on her anyway. She listens to music but if you asked her to spot the difference between a DynAudio system and a Parrot in-built amp system, I think she'd sit there and say "They sound the same". We've been here before with a Lexus RX400 and an 11-speaker Mark Levinson system that was a complete waste of money in terms of appreciation of what it sounded like.

Same kind of thing yes. All it does is replace the wired aux connection with a wireless blutooth one. Mine is under the console, hardwired to power and plugged into a headphone splitter so other people can still plug in to the system with a normal aux cable. All stashed away, all invisible, all works seamlessly, including the two Bluetooth connections, one to the hands free system and one to the bt reciever. Car controls for volume, including the steering wheel controls, work normally.

With the phone connected and the car system turned to aux, whatever sound comes out of the phone will come out of the car system. That means that nav instructions and any other notifications will mute music played from the phone, the only drawback to the system is that the car system has to be switched to aux, so if she switches over to the radio or a cd, she won't hear anything from the phone.

If the quality is not such an issue then something like the Parrot would work for calls and music, but I'm not sure if it would give the notifications and nav messages.

BTW my wife connects her iPhone to her Mini with one of those tape adapters, the sort of cassette with a wire hanging out of it, so yeah, feeling you there.

[HerC70]

The other thing I'd seen was something like this for the iPhone music and handsfree.

Yatour adaptor

I've seen it mentioned elsewhere on these forums but was trying to find a better solution initially (and that sounds highly unlikely now).

[Mcpx]

I got this one but that was 18 months ago so there may be better alternatives available now. Bit more expensive than most but it has performed flawlessly and still does.

Simple tip, adding a wireless audio connection in a car can give you a low level background hum, usually only noticeable between songs or in quiet passages. It comes from interference from the cars electrical systems but is easily fixed with the addition of a ground loop isolator, simple plug and play installation between the Bluetooth unit and the aux socket, costs between £5-10. No more hum.

[HerC70]

Okay, another question (sorry) then....

We've always used the Kenu Airframe clips for holding iPhone's (they clip onto the car dash air vents).

However, the rake of the C70 dash means a Kenu doesn't fit properly (not without the phone being very prominent, at a silly angle and high up on the dash out of reach for her).

How are you guys with C70's (or other models with the same rake of dash) affixing your phones? Any specific holders you recommend?