DIY XC60 Front Parking Sensors

[RussJ759]

My car was specced by the first owner with just about every extra known to man, including front camera, but for some reason they omitted front parking sensors.
When I enquired at my local dealer how much it would cost to retro-fit them and was told £600 I thought it was a complete rip-off.
I ended up installing a set of matt black sensors off eBay for the princely sum of £15 and fitted a small rocker switch, to turn them on/off, into the hand brake surround. Whole job cost under £20 and a morning to fit.
I know its not as posh as the OEM version and can understand why they are desirable but I can live with the lack of display/integration for a saving of £500+!
Works brilliantly too...
Russ

[londor]

http://accessories.volvocars.com/Acc...5232-1/NOTHING

[Westyman]

Bloomin' heck!! Pull the car apart for parking sensors!!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Westyman

Bloomin' heck!! Pull the car apart for parking sensors!!

indeed ! they plug in to the already installed REAR parking sensor control module which is located behind the rear bumper , hence 3 hours of labour time which can account for at least £400 in london .
If you cant see the front of the car there is something wrong , Raise your seat ! It doesnt take long to get to know your new car you will soon be judging its front parking gap to the nearest inch without Parking sensors ..

[XCeed]

Originally Posted by Clan

If you cant see the front of the car there is something wrong , Raise your seat ! It doesnt take long to get to know your new car you will soon be judging its front parking gap to the nearest inch without Parking sensors ..

Definitely agree with that. I had front sensors on my two previous cars and just felt they only ever told me what I already knew!

In two years with the XC, I have never missed them...

[RussJ759]

Must be me then, I find front sensors really useful.
Paradoxically, I use them most when I'm reversing!
Our local supermarket has small parking spaces and not much distance between lines of cars. When I'm backing out of a space, avoiding abandoned trolleys and old dears too busy talking to watch where they're going, whilst having to turn sharply at the same time, I'm always worried I'm going to clout the car next door with the front corner of mine.
For me, 20 quid was worth it for peace of mind.
Russ

[Crockers]

Looks a nice job especially when one considers the savings....

[Mytholmroyd60]

Nice job, could you please add some more details? Where did you get your feed from, where did you route your wiring etc, I may attempt the same!

[RussJ759]

I accessed switched 12v via the fuse box next to the air cleaner using an "add a circuit" adaptor.
Sensor wires were taken across the car to the nearside and passed up toward the rear of the headlight.
I removed the front side trims before drilling the sensor holes but you could do them "in situ".
If you remove the nearside headlight, there is a space behind it where you can fit the sensor control unit.
I got wires through to the passenger compartment via a large rubber grommet, visible top right, after removing the glovebox.
You'll have to cut off the fitted plug on the sounder wire to get the wire through the grommet and then reconnect.
My sounder was very loud so I put a piece of insulating tape over the hole and then made small holes in it until the volume was about right. I stuck the sounder onto the center console lower trim panel in the footwell but tucked up where it wouldn't be kicked.
The parking brake switch is secured at the top by two torx bolts and then pulls out from the dash. I found it a real pain to get the screwdriver aligned with the bolt heads but persevere...
You need to fit a switch otherwise the damn thing goes off all the time as you're driving.
If you want to automate this, CanM8 do a park module that switches the sensors off over 6mph but it costs about £60 so, being tight, I decided just to use a rocker switch.
Hope this helps...
Russ

[RussJ759]

One other thing I ought to mention...
In order to get at the wires coming through the grommet, you'll need to remove or at least free up the plastic cover over the secondary bulkhead.
The push-pin fasteners are reasonably easy to extract but the wiper arms are usually corroded in place and really tight, unless they've already been removed and the splines greased.
I used a gadget from Machine Mart to pull them off but even with that tool it was a struggle until they finally popped off with a loud bang - I thought I'd broken something!
If you try and lever them off you run the risk of snapping the wiper spindles, so be warned.
Russ