Pure Highway 300Di DAB, USB stereo upgrade

[iep]

Not yet, I'm in the middle of building an extension so it was probably a bit optimistic to hope to get it done any time soon! I might try to find a bit of time over the next couple of weeks though and, rest assured, I'll report back.

Cheers,

iep

[iep]

Just to say I finally managed to get the Pure 300DI fitted yesterday. Took about 4 hours with lots of tea drinking and a but of help from a mate (useful when removing larger items like the centre console).

Medium tricky job simply because so much trim has to be removed (and I hate that) but ultimately worked perfectly as soon as the battery was reconnected.

Basic sequence for installation:

1. Move front seats fully back
2. Disconnect battery
3. Remove the side panel plastic trim below the centre console on passenger side. This is the long trim that sits above the floor mat along the transmission/exhaust tunnel.
4. Next few steps involve removal of centre console. A good guide for this is presented in the Haynes manual.
5. Remove the plastic trim around the front of the CD player/stereo (unclips from top) to expose two T30 screws. Fiddl but not too hard is unclipped from top.
6. Remove gear gaiter to expose four T30 screws.
7. Remove the two rubber bump stops from the centre console lid (those that sit below the folding lid when closed). Behind these are another two T30 screws.
8. Remove all the T30 screws and lift out the centre console (being careful to remove all the wiring connectors as you go).
9. Remove the car stereo unit (two T30 screws at front) and discinnect the connectors at the back.
10. Remove glove box (6x T30 screws and 2x 8mm bolts)
11. You can now plug in the the wiring loom that came with the volvo fitting kit and route it through the the space behind the glovebox (where we cable tied the PURE unit to one of the metal beams that run across the car (the higher one above the glove box)
12. We then routed a USB extension cable from the PURE unit all the way back to the centre console cubby (where the 3.5mm jack line input lives) and installed it there for connection to iphones USB sticks etc)
13. Next was to reinstall the stereo head unit. Just hook up the old and new cables and gently slide back into place (you may have to try this a couple of times to get the wiring to rest properly behind it). Reinstall the screws.
14. route the PURE areail from the space behind the glove box out through the side of the dash by removing the little plastic panel with the airbag/childseat sticker on it.
15. Remove the A pillar trim (Torx screw behind plastic clip with airbag written on it).
16. Install aerial as per PURE instructions. I put mine right at the top of the windscreen 7cm in from the A pillar and attached the GND screen (weird sticky thing) to the Apillar behind the airbag.
17. After this we reinstalled the centre console and attached the control unit mount (as per instructions). Cable from control unit mount fitted easily in gap between dash and back panel of the centre console.
18. Reinstall glovebox and other plastics.
19. Reconnect battery.
20. Enjoy Radio 6 music funk and soul show on way home from borrowing my mate's double garage.

All in, a bit fiddly and time consuming but I have done far worse jobs on cars in the past.

Only issue with the unit so far is that the little control unit itself rattles at certain RPM. Suspect some judicious use of blu tak will fix this.

Cheers,

iep

[berrymanuk]

does anyone have any pics of one fitted to their dash?

[nibotg]

Slightly off topic but out of interest I've fitted an alternative DAB product to my XC60. DAB Motion provide a radio unit, remote control and powered aerial. Cost £122 on Amazon but was also available at a discount on the MX5 forum. I've only had it for a few weeks but so far it seems to work fine. The radio unit is in the boot (temporarily powered from the accessory socket until I find the right fuse to run it from) with the aerial attached to the rear side cargo window. The remote unit is just blue tacked to the console so only the aerial is permanently stuck to the car. The remote unit doesn't have a screen as this setup transmits a FM signal to the existing stereo and details are displayed on the sensus screen. May not be the most technically advanced solution but it's working for me at a reasonable price.

[Vainona70]

Pure Highway fitted by Volvo dealer to my MY13 V70. Apologies for the quality & orientation of photo, but hopefully it gives you an idea of how it looks (in Australia).

[iep]

Nibotg, just checked that out, looks like a good product for DAB. The three additional things that the Pure kit provides that I am a big fan of are:

1. Wired direct into line input to the existing stereo so no FM tuning issues (also still allows normal line-in through the Pure unit so no standard feature loss)

2. USB connection to any memory stick or drive allows it to play ME/AAC etc. This is my favourite feature as I can have thousands of songs in the car with me stored on a simple thumbdrive,

3. Iphone connectivity

If you just want DAB though, the DAB motion looks pretty good. for about 2/3 the price of the full Pure kit.

Cheers,

iep

[PEGE63]

Originally Posted by Vainona70

Pure Highway fitted by Volvo dealer to my MY13 V70. Apologies for the quality & orientation of photo, but hopefully it gives you an idea of how it looks (in Australia).

did the dealer fit the brodit proclip aswell (plate that the remote is attached too), ie did they make it part of the installation?

[Vainona70]

Yes the clip / bracket is part of the Volvo installation kit.

[1stRaven]

I tried to get one of these installed when buying my 2007 S80 Exec but the dealer was unable to get the kit installed. Only thing I could think of is that the car has the premium audio kit as well as the nav so the wiring could be a bit more difficult.

Dealer has gone back to Volvo for further instructions but I'm not holding my breath. My main reason was to get usb input and without the Pure or Grom units being available, i'm starting to struggle for ideas.

[andyg]

The DAB Motion is a fine solution. Easy to fit (for me in the boot with antenna on rear window). Thoroughly recommended.