Parrot kit installation (MKi9200)

[JimnyBobbins]

Firstly appologies for poor quality of photos. My phones camera is shocking!

This is my "how too" on how to fit a parrot MK19200 to a XC90 54 reg (MY 2004)

Firstly you will need a SOT cable to change the plugs from the Volvo loom to the parrot kit loom.

Move driver seat all the way back and underneath is the Radio Amp. Undo the 3 bolts and remove. You will need to remove the main power supply in the door side of the AMP to fully pull the amp out as the cable is short.

Once out remove the rest of the cable from the Amp.

Now plug in the SOT loom to the car harness. This looks horrendous but there are only 1 type of male and femal connector that will fit together so it's just a case of matching them all up. You will have 1 plug (grey in colour) that doesnt plug in anywhere. Then plug the PArrot kit into the relevent plugs. You will now see something like this

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/3689_10152158990130501_894330755_n.jpg

Now you need to remove the centre console! Under the rear pen holder you will find 2 torx bolts. Undo these. Open the cup holder flap and then that gives you space to lift up the trim around the gear lever. Mine is an auto and found it easier to turn ignition on and move gear lever to D to allow more room.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377359_10152158990845501_392824807_n.jpg

Now pull the gear lever surround back and you will fine 6 hex bolts. 2 for the centre trim at the bottom. Undo these to give you even more room. Be careful not to pull wires out from the gear lever area!

Now undo the 4 bolts holding the radio, heater controls etc out

These bolts

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/76835_10152158990390501_1486479021_n.jpg

and you will be able to pull the whole radio unit out. You should see this.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/527470_10152158990300501_1582640219_n.jpg

The cable on the parrot kit that is straight with red and black and a blue wire off it needs to be fed under the drivers seat into the gearbox tunnel towards the front then under the plastic and back up to the ciggy lighter socket. Disconect the power from lighter socket and put this piece in line, so it goes car power cable - new bit of cable - ciggy socket. This is your ignition feed for the kit. Whilst your here, run the screen cable and the iphone / aux / usb connection cable to the top of the radio too. If you dont do it now you will regret it. I learnt the hard way!

Now push the radio unit back in. Just do 1 bolt up for now and test the ciggy socket to make sure the wire hasnt fallen of the back. Happened to me a few times. Just plug your sat nav in or anything that shows power quickly rather than using a multimeter. The dash is soft so the cables mould around over the top of the radio unit. I mounted screen in the middle by the air vents and iphone cables on the top right corner. Looks like this.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/61436_10152158991130501_1877405794_n.jpg

Now get the microphone piece and push in the P clip looking part with a ball joint on the end. This then hooks onto the top of the head lining by the windscreen. The cable can then be run down behind the door rubber seal under the kick plate door trim and out under the seat by the join in the carpet. If your lucky 20p will pop out too! Did with me! :-)

Plug this into the Blue parrot box along with all the other cables you have plugged in.

You will now be left with some grey wires saying line in left line in right and line out right line out left. These dont get used. There will be a yellow mute wire. By the grey plug that doesnt get used is a mute 1 mute 2 mute 3. Dont use these but look on the SOT cable for a yellow mute wire. Use this.

Now check with a multi meter that the ignition live and permanent live are the correct way round. To do this, un do the inline fuse holder and check with a multimeter. I had to swap them over so the red wire then goes to orange and the orange to red. It's fine to do this as it is even in the trouble shooting part of the instructions if it doesnt power up.

Now turn the ignition on. The parrot kit "should" power up after about 5 -10 seconds. We thought it was instant and so didnt think it was working, but after alot of head scratching and by chance we found this out.

How long does it take to install? Well, Inearly went into double figures of hours (ie 10!!!) but I didnt have a guide like this and I found the instructions in the book and with SOT kit pretty useless. Wiring diagram just says these cables not used but doesnt say which ones arent used! 3 hours of my time was spent researching more info on the web last night. Also the power cables pulled out the plug so we had to take the plug appart and rebuild it which took time too.

The dash mount for the screen didnt stick to the dash so we drilled 2 tiny holes in the outer edges of the mount and screwed it to the dash with short but fat screws. Wont go anywhere no we hope!

So in reality I would say without the problems we had or if I were to do it again I would say a max of 5 hours and that is very jenerous. 2 hours should be achievable for a handy confident DIYer.

Hope this helps somebody out there.

James :-)

[In Reverse]

Great job James.

When you plug your ipod/iphone in to the Parrot 9200 and play the music on it, does the sound come through all the speakers via the Volvo amp without any reduction in quality?

If so I will definitely be giving this a go.

[JimnyBobbins]

Great job James.

When you plug your ipod/iphone in to the Parrot 9200 and play the music on it, does the sound come through all the speakers via the Volvo amp without any reduction in quality?

If so I will definitely be giving this a go.

Erm, I dont own an iphone, it's for the girl friend who has just come back from a weekend away with her parents. When she tries it, I will let you know!

Been told by a friend you can listen to music via bluetooth too. I'm a technophobe so dont know about this part either! Will get the g/f to test this out too!

[judgeman]

I had one of these fitted to my '05 XC90 3 years ago after buying the car. Was done by a local fitter, with a good reputation.

I had an Android phone, and now in the 'cult' and have an iPhone, and can confirm that both played music through the Parrot kit via Bluetooth. The phone needs to have the A2DP bluetooth format to do this, suffice to say most phones do nowadays.

For me the music only comes through the front speakers which is a pain. Fitters said this was restricted by the supplied/available cables - I guess they didn't want to mess about with splicing/linking cables and so screwing up the original sound system.

When I had mine fitted they put the screen near the left steering column stalk which was obscured by my had when driving, D'oh! I had discussed where it should have gone before they did the job, but they clearly forgot this. They managed to move it over a bit, and was better, but I wasn't happy so a few months ago I finally got round to removing the stereo facia and put in in the middle as per original post. Miles better.

I got the fitters to route the iPod/USB/Aux cable into the armrest storage compartment. This meant it is easy to connect devices without having to lean over to the glove box. It's worked a treat. In reality I've never removed this box as it is designed to do, so is not a problem. Either way I made sure there was a big enough hole so that if I wanted to all the connectors would come out easily and simply fall down next to one of the front seats.

All in all a great piece of kit, but would have liked sound from all speakers!

[JimnyBobbins]

Well I got the girlfriend to test sound today and for the time the parrot stayed on the sound was good she said and came through all speakers. Wierdly the parrot kit cancelled out the reversing sensor sound too but I think she isnt doing something right like close enough to set sensors off!

Anyway, as mentioned above (for the time the kit was on) it seems every time she goes over a bump the kit turns off then another bump it comes on. So an hour and a half of wiggling wires to find the fault and it seems to be in the blue main control box. She is going to call the company on the web she bought it off and hopefully get a replacement. I'm not prepared to send the whole kit back as that means stripping the dash again and taking out microphone etc, so fingers crossed they agre to change the blue box. If you squeeze the blue box the power comes on. Let go and kit goes off. I found this out literally by accident. Also the box rattles so I think there is a broken solder inside. I'm not taking it apart and risking them saying we messed with it! Will update on the progress!

[corbsxc90]

I have one in my 05 xc90 and the high performance stereo without centre speaker and all my speakers work. Had it fitted by local agent who comes to my place of work and he fitted it start to finish in about 15 minutes! Have all my music on an SD card so don't use cables in glove box. Have downloaded and upgraded software which seems to make it run faster, I did have a prob with my remote that was fitted near heater controls and intermittently wouldn't communicate with unit but after re-locating to centre console (bottom right hand corner of selector lever panel) it's been fine.

[corbsxc90]

Well I got the girlfriend to test sound today and for the time the parrot stayed on the sound was good she said and came through all speakers. Wierdly the parrot kit cancelled out the reversing sensor sound too but I think she isnt doing something right like close enough to set sensors off!


Reversing sensors don't work whilst parrot playing music as the parrot cuts out the reversing sensor signal as reversing sensors use the amp for the audible alarm. If reversing just press pause on the remote and reversing sensors can then beep.
HTH
chris

[autorev]

For those of us not brave ( or competent enough) to follow JimmyB's, can anyone recommend an Parrot installer in the Surrey / Hampshire area?

[JimnyBobbins]

For those of us not brave ( or competent enough) to follow JimmyB's, can anyone recommend an Parrot installer in the Surrey / Hampshire area?

Seriously it is dead easy once you know and with my guide you now know! lol There is no cutting of wires or anything like that, it is all simply find a plug that fits and push it in. I occasionally go to Mums house near the Hook junction of the M3. If you need a hand to fit it and your not in a rush to get it fitted I could help. Unsure when I am next visiting her though. I would also hope it goes smoothly too! lol

[JimnyBobbins]

Anyway, as mentioned above (for the time the kit was on) it seems every time she goes over a bump the kit turns off then another bump it comes on. So an hour and a half of wiggling wires to find the fault and it seems to be in the blue main control box. She is going to call the company on the web she bought it off and hopefully get a replacement. I'm not prepared to send the whole kit back as that means stripping the dash again and taking out microphone etc, so fingers crossed they agre to change the blue box. If you squeeze the blue box the power comes on. Let go and kit goes off. I found this out literally by accident. Also the box rattles so I think there is a broken solder inside. I'm not taking it apart and risking them saying we messed with it! Will update on the progress!

The mrs phoned up the company she bought the kit from and they are going to contact parrot directly to get a replacement out and they are going to pay for the returns postage. Good company so far. Fingers crossed it is the fix!

[JimnyBobbins]

new blue box installed. Sound is great through all 4 speakers and the company we dealt with was super. I can highly recomend them. I will get thier details off the mrs soon so you can all deal with a good supplier.

[petrolhead69]

the main connector on the blue box doesn't always lock in place too well so I usually secure them with a cabletie, another thing you can do is put the low level output from the blue box into an fm modulator, unselect mute on streaming and them you can stream music via your parrot but retain all the speakers, and your parking bongs etc. but phone calls still use parrots amp. others are investigating a means of using the am tuners audio path into the dsp so that will be a good place to wire the parrots low level outputs into to retain the volvo factory niceities. http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=163232

[Dharms]

I've just installed a Parrott Mki9200 in my 2006 D5 Volvo XC90 I bought some cables off eBay including the extension loom from the amp under the drivers seat and followed the instructions above. With the wires of eBay i didn't have to change or cut anything, the only thing that took me time was channeling the wiring loom from the amp to the head unit and the microphone. But, apart from that it was just plug and play, it took me exactly 2 hours to complete.
I attached the Parrot's blue box, under the head unit with some double sided tape.

Here's the link for the cable kit...http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MUSIC-SOT-8583-PM-d-Music-lead-for-Parrot-MKi9200-Volvo-XC90-Hi-Perf-seat-amp-/321049872144?pt=UK_Holders_Mounts&hash=item4ac0104710

[Peachey169]

Jimmy - which SOT lead did you use - the 044 or the 045?

[jeanmarie97]

I have this kit installed on MY 2005 Summum with premium sound


-needed a cable harness special from Volvo

Plus : works fine, sound phone or music from Iphone 4 bluetooth perfect

Minus : When parrot takes over the Bip from the parking sensors

so always take care when parking to have Parrot off, otherwise no BIP BIP warnings and it happens to me :(
meanwhile on the screen appears "parking active ", anyways no sound when parrots is On for music via aux or iphone or during call.

If anyone has a solution for this, he or she is welcome to post

[Ducklakeview]

I presume, with all of these, that they use their own amps for producing audio from both the phone and the music steam via a2dp?

Mike

[mikealder]

Minus : When parrot takes over the Bip from the parking sensors

so always take care when parking to have Parrot off, otherwise no BIP BIP warnings and it happens to me :(
meanwhile on the screen appears "parking active ", anyways no sound when parrots is On for music via aux or iphone or during call.

If anyone has a solution for this, he or she is welcome to post

Consider the iO-Play_2 as you can wire this up so the parking sensor audio is routed through to the speakers when it is activated, this is automatic and needs no user intervention - Mike

[jamesmcbay]

Would the parrot MK19200 work in a 2003 model ?

[Peachey169]

2005 XC90 SE
Install went well, just over 2 hours - complicated a little by having to remove an old Nokia kit too. Used the Sot 45 lead, all went to plan.

Point to note - when removing the heater section, cables do pop out, so be sure they are all back in!

[jamesmcbay]

Ive just bought a Parrot MKi9200 system which is the correct SOT lead to buy Thanks in advance

[Peachey169]

Ive just bought a Parrot MKi9200 system which is the correct SOT lead to buy Thanks in advance
Hi James
I used an SOT45 with my installation from Autoleads.co.uk - got it from ebay
All very simple, 2005 XC90 High Performance Stereo with amp beneath drivers seat.
Peachey169

[jamesmcbay]

Thanks got one from ebay and I have to say the company were very helpful they even went as far as to phone me and go through a check list of what my car had just to make sure I got the correct lead

[Nick 1975]

Hi, great post, I did mine last night in about 80 min.
Really easy and sounds good.
Thanks for the post

[Nick 1975]

The parts came from the following:

incarhandsfree.co.uk
1 x SOT-045 - ISO2CAR mute adaptor Volvo High Performance (SOT-045) =
£30.62

and Ebay
Seller ID - iceclearout - Parrot MKi9200 In Car Bluetooth Kit with iPod iPhone connection USB AUX SD card £132.99.

Give it a go, it is well worth the 160 quid.

[jplaut]

Dear all, after reading that some of you have full functionality over the Parrot, I want to ask your help.
I made the local installer to connect the Parrot (no additional harness or cables provided) on my XC90 with the Premium stereo and the guys told me that with this stereo the only possible connection was to connect it to the central speaker.
When I made the test call, the stereo didn´t turn off the music, so I have to turn the volume knob manually every time I receive a Phone Call (and afterwards pressing the Green button on the parrot control)
Could you guide me if I´m missing something or if the installer is right telling me that the only way to connect the parrot is using the central speaker ??

Regards,
John.

[jplaut]

Dear all, after reading that some of you have full functionality over the Parrot, I want to ask your help.
I made the local installer to connect the Parrot (no additional harness or cables provided) on my XC90 with the Premium stereo and the guys told me that with this stereo the only possible connection was to connect it to the central speaker.
When I made the test call, the stereo didn´t turn off the music, so I have to turn the volume knob manually every time I receive a Phone Call (and afterwards pressing the Green button on the parrot control)
Could you guide me if I´m missing something or if the installer is right telling me that the only way to connect the parrot is using the central speaker ??

Regards,
John.

[Nick 1975]

Its not wired up correctly.
Did they use the SOT lead mentioned above? If they did then I would lift the amp out from under the drivers seat and check the plugs are in the correct sockets as per the initial instructions.
My phone comes through all speakers and the stereo is muted automatically. The only down side is that you do not hear the parking sensors if on the phone or streaming music.

[jtrippe77]

I came upon this topic during an internet search and have a related question. I'm in the U.S. so i had a hard time finding the correct harness for my 2007 xc90 with High Performance Sound. I finally found an Autoleads sot-45 on ebay. I have that now plus the Parrot mki9200. I was going for a diy install this weekend. However, I've had my eye on the Parrot asteroid mini. It has a more powerful amp and, I think, a better way to connect with an iPhone 6+. So my question is whether the SOT-45 will also work with the mini? I know they have different boxes but are the ends that connect to the sot-45 the same? Thank you in advance!

[diro]

I came upon this topic during an internet search and have a related question. I'm in the U.S. so i had a hard time finding the correct harness for my 2007 xc90 with High Performance Sound. I finally found an Autoleads sot-45 on ebay. I have that now plus the Parrot mki9200. I was going for a diy install this weekend. However, I've had my eye on the Parrot asteroid mini. It has a more powerful amp and, I think, a better way to connect with an iPhone 6+. So my question is whether the SOT-45 will also work with the mini? I know they have different boxes but are the ends that connect to the sot-45 the same? Thank you in advance!

I would go for another option instead of you. Better invest some more bucks and get OASI interface which connects to cars optic fibre MOST system
Please read this thread page 6
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=163441&page=3

[jtrippe77]

I would go for another option instead of you. Better invest some more bucks and get OASI interface which connects to cars optic fibre MOST system
Please read this thread page 6
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=163441&page=3

Thanks for the reply. I've alread got the SOT-45 and dont have funds to go OASI. I was hoping the 45 lead would work with the Asteroid Mini. I read that it does work with the 9200 I already have. I would exchange my 9200 for the mini if I knew the 45 would do the job.

[jtrippe77]

Thanks to the posts in this thread I was able to fit an Asteroid Mini into my 2007 xc90 using an autoleads SOT-45. The mini sounds great!

[Simiewimie]

Thanks to the posts in this thread I was able to fit an Asteroid Mini into my 2007 xc90 using an autoleads SOT-45. The mini sounds great!


Hi.
How are you finding the Asteroid Mini?
I'm thinking of getting one to fit to my XC90 and would be interested in your views.
Will probably fit with the OASI though, unless you can convince me otherwise. 😀

Thanks in advance.
Simon

[Stekelly]

I've got the Asteroid Tablet, same as the mini i think but with the larger screen. It's in my work Caddy at the minute but I'm going to swap it to the XC90 next week when I get the harness. I find it really good tbh.

[jtrippe77]

Hi.
How are you finding the Asteroid Mini?
I'm thinking of getting one to fit to my XC90 and would be interested in your views.
Will probably fit with the OASI though, unless you can convince me otherwise. 😀

Thanks in advance.
Simon

I've been fairly happy with the Mini so far. It has a few hiccups and is not really supported by Parrot any more. The sound is good and it has a bunch of features. The bluetooth calling is great and sound quality is decent. I recommend hooking devices up directly through USB rather than BT for better sound quality. However, if I could do it over again, I would just put in a new stereo. I didn't know that could be done when I installed the Parrot. Incartec makes a harness and other parts necessary for install. It will cost more but is worth it. You would then be able to add Carplay/Android Auto, backup camera, satellite radio, etc.

[Simiewimie]

I've been fairly happy with the Mini so far. It has a few hiccups and is not really supported by Parrot any more. The sound is good and it has a bunch of features. The bluetooth calling is great and sound quality is decent. I recommend hooking devices up directly through USB rather than BT for better sound quality. However, if I could do it over again, I would just put in a new stereo. I didn't know that could be done when I installed the Parrot. Incartec makes a harness and other parts necessary for install. It will cost more but is worth it. You would then be able to add Carplay/Android Auto, backup camera, satellite radio, etc.

Thanks for that. This is what concerns me, the seemingly withdrawn support for the mini/tablet Parrot devices.
Very interested in sticking in a Pioneer CarPlay unit in place of the stock solution. Is it just a case of purchasing the Incartec bundle, and the head unit? No need for the OASI box I've been reading about?

[jtrippe77]

Thanks for that. This is what concerns me, the seemingly withdrawn support for the mini/tablet Parrot devices.
Very interested in sticking in a Pioneer CarPlay unit in place of the stock solution. Is it just a case of purchasing the Incartec bundle, and the head unit? No need for the OASI box I've been reading about?

Yes, just get the incartec kit and the radio of your choice. They will send you instructions. No need for the OASI. I'll PM you a link to an installation thread. I really should have done the Pioneer from the beginning.

Here is the InCarTec kit link:
https://incartec.co.uk/volvo/2258/1036/2072/radio/Browser.aspx

[jtrippe77]

Ok, so I see I don't have enough posts to send you a PM. Here is a link to the install thread (hope it is ok to post it here):

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?199862-Aftermarket-In-Dash-GPS-DVD-on-XC90-Solved

[Simiewimie]

Ok, so I see I don't have enough posts to send you a PM. Here is a link to the install thread (hope it is ok to post it here):

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?199862-Aftermarket-In-Dash-GPS-DVD-on-XC90-Solved

Thank you so much for that.
Did I read it that it doesn't utilise the standard amp, and also doesn't use the sub?
If so I'm assuming the amp in the Pioneer is more than suitable for the job, but does it lack noticeable punch without the sub being employed?

Thank you again!

[jtrippe77]

Thank you so much for that.
Did I read it that it doesn't utilise the standard amp, and also doesn't use the sub?
If so I'm assuming the amp in the Pioneer is more than suitable for the job, but does it lack noticeable punch without the sub being employed?

Thank you again!

I would think that the amp in the Pioneer is sufficient. I have one in another car (non-Volvo) and it sounds awesome. My sub in the other car is aftermarket on its own amp. You are correct, the kit bypasses the Volvo amp. I'm not sure how this affects the sub. I have a High Per. radio in a 2007 with third row so no sub. If and when I add a Pioneer I will add an aftermarket sub and amp running off of the Pioneer. The thread I posted may have the answer about the sub already or you could pose your question there.

[jtrippe77]

You should be able to get the parts for an install much cheaper where you are. I'm in the States and will have the conversion to dollars and pricey shipping. That's really what's holding me back now. I've already mounted and run an antenna for the satellite radio. Also, mine is a US model so I'll have to get an aftermarket antenna that may not be as good as stock. In Europe I believe the adapter works just fine.

[Simiewimie]

You should be able to get the parts for an install much cheaper where you are. I'm in the States and will have the conversion to dollars and pricey shipping. That's really what's holding me back now. I've already mounted and run an antenna for the satellite radio. Also, mine is a US model so I'll have to get an aftermarket antenna that may not be as good as stock. In Europe I believe the adapter works just fine.

Thank you again. You've been so helpful.
After some hunting around for the 'right one', I pick up my 2007 SE Sport - so I think actually the sub is not an issue, as there isn't one(?) - on Monday and I'm scoping out what I need/want to do with it. Things like the stereo, side steps, load cover. It's great fun!

[jtrippe77]

Glad to help. Good luck with everything!