Play music through bluetooth

[Delboy4000]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right section of the forum to post this but hopefully someone can help.

I have a volvo s40 with a head unit with only a CD player and bluetooth handsfree but I can't play music through the bluetooth.

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to be able to play music through bluetooth? Is it a firmware update? A different firmware altogether? Or do I need a different headunit and if so which head unit? I've attempted to speak to volvo about it but its too frustrating trying to get someone to call me back so any direction would be awesome.

Thanks in advance.
Del

[RPB]

Bluetooth audio isn't possible with the s40/v50/c30 range as standard. You need to get a Parrot/Pure Bluetooth adapter which connects to the HU and will act as a conduit. If you can fdo be the Volvo accessories brochure online for s40 then it's listed in there, but any half decent auto electrician could do it for much cheaper than a VMD

[phasesonix]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right section of the forum to post this but hopefully someone can help.

I have a volvo s40 with a head unit with only a CD player and bluetooth handsfree but I can't play music through the bluetooth.

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to be able to play music through bluetooth? Is it a firmware update? A different firmware altogether? Or do I need a different headunit and if so which head unit? I've attempted to speak to volvo about it but its too frustrating trying to get someone to call me back so any direction would be awesome.

Thanks in advance.
Del

get a £5 audio bluetooth adapter off ebay and stick it in the aux plug in the arm rest box

[scoobysn7x]

My 2012 C30 can stream music through the bluetooth, but has no aux in socket :-(, I think it depends on the bluetooth module installed some support streaming some don't, as other have said a bluetooth FM transmitter is probably the cheapest option, have one in my girlfriends car works fine, a parrot kit is an option but expensive

[MacV50]

Bluetooth audio isn't possible with the s40/v50/c30 range as standard. You need to get a Parrot/Pure Bluetooth adapter which connects to the HU and will act as a conduit. If you can fdo be the Volvo accessories brochure online for s40 then it's listed in there, but any half decent auto electrician could do it for much cheaper than a VMD

Depends on the model year. My 2012 V50 could play music through Bluetooth

Delboy4000, what year is your car as that will help folks out here

[kestuxx]

my 2012 C30 plays music via bluetooth from my android phone straight away and also comes with aux socket and usb socket. it is high performance head unit i believe but i think even on standart basic units you get aux socket under armrest or am i wrong?

[poiuytre111]

Early cars that don't have an aux socket are a real problem but, as has been said, if you have an aux-in, ebay can provide an adapter for a few pounds or you can spend a lot more if you want to....

[scoobysn7x]

my 2012 C30 plays music via bluetooth from my android phone straight away and also comes with aux socket and usb socket. it is high performance head unit i believe but i think even on standart basic units you get aux socket under armrest or am i wrong?

Yup most other C30's I saw had the aux in in the centre console arm rest but mine has none, yet plays music through the bluetooth, I think Volvo just did what they felt like

[Delboy4000]

its 2010 and doesn't have an aux plug either :(

does anyone know if the head unit can be replaced with a different volvo head unit that can stream music through bluetooth

If not, has anyone fitted a different head unit or a cheap chinese android head unit? my concern is that i'll lose the fan display or they will stop working all together.

Any information on this would be awesome, thanks

[Sysyphus]

No to almost all of the above... the headunit is married to the car so even updating to another Volvo involves a trip to the dealer for a software upgrade... and as you rightly observe, the head unit is interlinked with the climate controls so other options are very limted...

There's the bluepower head unit, (www.bluepower.se) not cheap, a bit challenging to install if you haven't done that kind of thing before, and although definitely a vast improvement it does have it's own limitations...

A cheap and cheerful bluetooth FM transmitter would be about your only affordable and easy option

[Bac2ba6]

Mines a 2009 BASIC 1.6 drive model v50 .
I just bought a very small Bluetooth connector of amazon I think it was about £6 and plugged it into the 3.5 mm headphone type socket in the arm rest paired my phone to it and can play stream through my phone using the aux on the head unit . Bluetooth box lasts about 30/40 playback hours between charges . simple cheap solution and is hidden in the armrest so carnt see it . mines a basic v50 so would of thought yours would have this . ?

Sorry just re read your post and you say you haven't got a socket . ignore all if the above :)

[Delboy4000]

Its very frustrating!!! Tempted to buy a new car.

Does anyone know if the standard headunits have rca connections??

[Sysyphus]

Nope... proprietary multi-pin connectors... even after you find out which pins are which it's still a visit to the dealer to flash the software to enable selection of the aux input.

[LizardOfBodom]

Unfortunately, as Sysyphus and other said, our cars give you extremely limited options as for media units. Partly its because of Volvo's design and no space on dash for standard DIN radio, partly because unit is connected with car trough optical cable, making any alterations or "patchings" almost impossible.
Except for very expensive but custom designed units (like bluepower or Gateway, both around 500eur), you can really do nothing as for replacing your standard one. You can gamble with getting different unit from higher specced car, but as it was said - you will have to visit dealership, pay a lot of money to have it coded to your car (not only upgrade the software but code new unit to even make it work with the car) so all in all you may get close to price of aftermarket solutions.
I went trough considering all options myself 1 year ago when bought the car and noticed I cant plug anything external to it NOR that my 6CD changer is working properly. Because of costs, I went with BT transmitter and music on micro-SD card. Plus it doubles as handsfree kit. It works surprisingly well, and I am fussy about sound quality (i listen to all sorts of metal so contrary to popular opinion you actually need decent quality to enjoy it so it doesnt sound like farting). Its not perfect by all means, CD quality is better (on rare occasions it works for me) but faced with no other choices under 500eur, I settled with this.

[gramsey438]

I purchased one of these for my S60 which interfaces via the CD changer port on the back of the head unit. I also purchased the Bluetooth dongle that attaches to it and have been streaming via Bluetooth on my Android for the last 3 yrs with no issues. The benefit of this unit is that my steering wheel controls will still operate volume and track up and down functions.

http://gromaudio.com/