V50 R-Design Towbar NO Bumper Cut
 

Picked up my Red 2010 V50 R-Design a couple of weeks back and wanted a tow bar with no bumper cut and specific electrics. Searched for pictures and a straight answer and struggled to find one so here for all who are looking too..

I got a Witter swan neck detachable from ebay for £179, the electrics £81 for genuine Volvo module, fuse, 13 pin wire with plugs and finally £56 labour and software from Volvo dealer.

No bumper cut on V50 R-Design and electrics took up out of the way, but need to be fixed at a angle, they just clear bottom edge of bumper when you pull them down.

Fitted it myself in less than 1.5 hour, hour for the tow bar and half hour for electrics.

No need to remove interior trim in boot for electrics like it says in the Volvo instructions, I managed to do it through the access cover for the rear bulb changing, the two plugs on the loom are taped up just below this on the right, can't miss them. When you have the bumper off you can pull the rear vent cover off above the rubber grommet and feed the wire up easily. The hardest bit was getting the plugs through the grommet.

I had quotes for supply and fit ranging from £480 to £635, Joke!
Volvo electrics worked out cheaper all in than other car specific electric kits too.

The electrics will not work without the software installed first.

Hope this helps

FoxeyLoxey,

Thanks so much for your post. I purchased my V50 r-design back in May 2012 and I have had the same issues with lack of available information regarding towing options. Had ordered a Curtis hitch from a local specialist who had promised that there was a no cut solution. On installation he says he has to cut the bumper :-( (I cancelled the job before damage was done).

Q: How far does the mount extend below your bumper when the swan neck is installed? Do you have a parts number?

Thanks in Advance!

Very tidy

The cut is in the bumper cover, not the bumper. There is nothing wrong with that. The design of the North American trailer hitch is totally different from the UK hitch. You do not want the UK design--it may not even conform to US standards. The US devices you would want to use in the receiver would not fit on the UK swan-neck hitch.

I installed the North American Volvo hitch on my V70 and made a cut on the bottom of the bumper cover. The square end of the receiver is in this cut and it does not look hacked up.

V50 towbar on an R model
 

Hi Foxyloxey

I have just seen your post re the V50 tow bar and want to do the same. Can you tell me where you get the software from and how do you install it. Thanks for a helpful post. Geoff

the software is Dealer only.:thumbs_up:

Resurrecting this thread in the hope that foxyloxey can remember where to get the genuine Volvo electrics kit for £81?

I am considering options for fitting a towbar to a 2006 sport model. Probably a Witter detachable (VL44q or VL48QF) with an after market bypass-rely wiring kit (around £20 for a PCT Logicon ZR2500).

I would prefer the genuine Volvo wiring kit but it is more than £180 plus software and labour.

31346058 13 pin terminal
31407108 tow bar control module
8698479 VIDA Software install

Anyone have any better options?

Ok so I've looked around and found a dealer that does the following electrics:

13 Pin wiring kit 31414907 £38.41
Trailer module 31407108 £52.51

Then I would just need the software which I believe can be done using my grey-market DICE & a cheap (£27) one day VIDA subscription from http://tis.volvocars.biz/ and buy the towing module software (£20). Although I haven't done this before so it would mean more time setting up and learning the process which from what I have read means buying the update from a Volvo dealer and using VIDA to find/download and install the purchased software.

Hardly seems worth it unless there are any other software updates that are worth having?

Just completed an entire DIY towbar fit on my MY06 Volvo V50 Sport SE so I thought I would give an update for anyone looking for info.

I purchased the following which will fit all models including sport and r-design. All prices includes VAT and delivery:

• £106.03 Witter VL48S from eBay

  fixed swan neck

  go for VL48QF if you want a detachable

  The VL48 series is easy to fit and does not require any bumper modifications at all

• £93.80 Genuine Volvo Electrics from volvopartsstore

  13-pin harness 31414907

  40amp fuse to fit in location 14 - my car already had one fitted for some reason

  Trailer control module 31407108

• £22 for a 1 day VIDA subscription from Volvo Technical Information Shop

  You need to go through the screens and give all the required information including a VAT number

• £19.02 for the trailer control module firmware 8698479

  This was my first time downloading software with VIDA and I found it hard to convince the dealers they could do this. When I eventually found a dealer that was willing to try he said afterward "i've been working here for 18years and didn't know this was possible". You may find this hard.

  As for running VIDA, probably best to wait until the DVD arrives and install the latest version to avoid problems. I was too eager to crack-on and went with a torrented version of VIDA 2013A (unpatched) but had an issue with SSL certificates only after I kicked off the 1 day subscription and had to spend time fixing the underlying software against the clock.

  The actual software installation takes a couple of minutes and as long as you have a semi-decent battery you will not need a charger to maintain voltage.

No need to take the boot apart to plug the trailer module into the CAN bus; everything can be done just by taking off the rear bumper. So a couple of hours fitting the bar and electrics and a couple of days trying to convince a Volvo dealer to order your software.

£240.85 all in and no time spent buzzing out a hacked up wiring loom.

v50 "08" 2.4 D5 tow bar
 

Scubasteve.
Thanks for finding out all the above.
Q I don't have a great deal of IT experience would you recommend a novice with club hammer fingers attempting to do the software update?
last time I fitted a tow bar to my old S60 2.4 D5 (07), I had to buy a module and just plugged it in and all worked great.