S40 (New) Trim : Rear bottle holder / tunnel console removal

[froggyted]

Hi all

The bottle holder on the rear consoe (08 S40) has broken. I have had it in the up position most of the time i've owned the car (18 months) as a frame for an improvised bin by (wrapping a small black bag around the rim bottle holder rim). I tried to close the bottle holder today and met with more resistance than usual, and rather foolishly forced it. Something obviously broke inside because it will not stay in the open position any longer (45 degrees to console) and doesn't spring back into a closed postion either, but simply hangs loosely down and will obviously bang to and fro against the console with every move of the car.

Does anybody know if this can be replaced? I suspect it's an integral part of the rear console. Additionally, can anyone point me to a pdf. manual to remove the tunnel console? Volvo seem to have removed some of the pdf. manuals from their Accessories site: there is still one for removal of the front floating console but not the tunnel console.

[Daim]

http://accessories.volvocars.com/Acc...72-1/C30,_2008

[froggyted]

Originally Posted by Daim

http://accessories.volvocars.com/Acc...72-1/C30,_2008

Thanks very much, Daim. How did you access that information? I looked on the Volvo Accessories Web last night and couldn't find it, and have just been back and tried entering both S40 and C30 and still can't find that information.

It's a great relief that i don't have to order an entire tunnel console base unit. I'd had a look at the back of my console and it looked as if the bottle holder might prise out but didn't want to force it, so was going to visit a main dealer to see what their exploded diagrams suggested first.

One proviso at the moment though: my rear power socket is at the bottom of that panel, below the bottle holder rather than above. That surprises me, since i assumed the C30 and S40 units would be exactly the same. Still likely that mine will be removable though.

[froggyted]

UPDATE:

Daim, i've now discovered how to access the information that you provided, via the Installation Instructions tab at the top of the page.

However, rather strangely, this information is only available for the C30, not the S40, and as mentioned in my previous message there seems to be a difference in the two panels.

As an amendment to my original post, i did of course mean that the bottle holder would not open 90 degrees to the back of the console, not 45. D'oh!

FOR OTHER USERS:

If you click on your model number on the Volvo Accessory Website and then hit the Search button WITHOUT entering any item in the Search Window, you will get a list of ALL the items available. The Search Window isn't totally reliable because, for example, if you enter 'Bottle Holder' in the C30 page you will get nothing but if you just enter 'Bottle' you will. It's best, therefore, to pull up the whole list of available items and then search alphabetically.

For some strange reason, as mentioned before, the pdf. file for the S40 tunnel console is no longer available on this site. HOWEVER, you can access the information from another of the pdf. files, viz. the one for the USB/i-Pod interface. Here is the link (NOTE: this is for the 2008 model S40, so if not relevant to your model, search by entering your model number into the drop-down box on the Accessory Website. (The Accessory Website is accessed via the left-hand menu of the Accessories page. If you search directly from the Accessories page you will only get a very limited number of after-sales optional accessories listed)):

http://accessories.volvocars.com/Acc...40_(04-),_2008

You will also note that in steps 24 and 28 it explains how to remove the REAR BOTTLE HOLDER PANEL, which for some reason seems to differ from the C30 panel, in that the power socket is located beneath rather than above the bottle holder. I'm assuming that you don't have to go through all the console removal steps to remove this panel but will confirm this later.

Interestingly, i notice that the bottle holder on the S60 is a bit better thought out than that on the S40/C30, in that it also doubles as a waste bin holder. The literature for the S40 actually describes the holder as a waste bin / bottle holder, but it lacks the drop down insert to do this - you will see what i mean if you search for bottle holder without specifying a model and then view the S60 document. (This confused me when i got my S40, and i spent some while puzzling how it could possibly be used as a waste bin holder, and ended up securing a waste bag to it with an elastic band, which isn't ideal because, apart from looking a bit tacky, there is nothing to keep the band secured in position). This indicates a lack of communication between various departments of Volvo; furthermore, it's a shame that this component has been 'dumbed-down' for the S40 for what i would think is a very minimal cost saving.

[froggyted]

SECOND UPDATE: I've tried to remove the rear panel and can't get it free. Certainly, the aformentioned pdf. document seems to imply that you need to remove the lead to the power socket first, and i suspect that this may be the case, i.e. there is insufficient slack in the lead to remove the panel. If this is so, it's ridiculous that you have to remove the entire floating cosole and tunnel console just to get at this panel!!!

Does anybody have any experience of this? I don't want to force the panel and do damage to the wiring, but would rather not have to remove the consoles if i can avoid it. I need to know whether or not the damage is in the rear bottle holder panel or a moulding within the tunnel console itself, so it would be nice to get a look at it before spending any money.

Incidentally, i've also found a pdf. document for replacing the tunnel console decor trim, which for some reason seems to have been removed from the Volvo site but is available elsewhere via a Google search:

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/In...er_console.pdf

[Metblackrat]

Certainly on mine the panel was just held on with rather stubborn metal clips. Haynes just suggests prising it off with a trim removal tool which I did.

I took mine off to wire in the kids DVD players and there is loads of space behind the panel.

[froggyted]

Originally Posted by Metblackrat

Certainly on mine the panel was just held on with rather stubborn metal clips. Haynes just suggests prising it off with a trim removal tool which I did.

I took mine off to wire in the kids DVD players and there is loads of space behind the panel.

Hi Metblackrat, what model and year do you have? It seems as though the panel was modified around 2008 facelift when the i-pod connectivity was added, and on these later models, including mine, the power outlet is below the bottle holder, not above as shown in the pdf. document that Daim linked to (i've checked on the Volvo website and this document does not show for C30s for 2009 onwards, and if you look at the tunnel removal pdf. for the C30 for 2009 it then has the same panel as the S40 with the power outlet at the bottom. If you have this arrangement too, was there enough slack in the power outlet wiring to remove the panel without removing the tunnel console first, and are the clips near the bottom of the panel? I can't see metal in mine, i've shone a torch through the gap and it looked like just plastic struts but i may be wrong.

[Daim]

Hi Froggyted,

there are two different consoles. -2007 & 2008-

Both vary from position of the cig-lighter... Mine is at the top (my car is -2007). It can be that they used the same picture. Principle is the same though...

[froggyted]

Originally Posted by Daim

Hi Froggyted,

there are two different consoles. -2007 & 2008-

Both vary from position of the cig-lighter... Mine is at the top (my car is -2007). It can be that they used the same picture. Principle is the same though...

What worries me though, Daim, is that not only is it not listed as an accessory for the 2008 S40 (and for C30 from 2009 on), but additionally the pdf. document listed above for i-Pod interface fitting specifically states removing the power socket wiring before removing the panel, and that this is done with the console removed. In view of the problem i'm having removing the panel i don't want to force it off and find i've damaged the wiring loom because the lead had no slack. If anybody's had either the updated panel out or the updated tunnel console off (e.g. for changing decor panel) and can comment on this issue i'd be grateful. It's possible that when the tunnel console was updated and the wire re-routed the existing slack in the lead was lost (unless of course an update was also done to the loom).

[Daim]

As the cover has to be changed, you can press the cig-lighter inwards and force it out of the plastic mounting. These are stuck in from behind... Not glued, but clipped.