I’m considering some updates for my 2001 Volvo V70. Since the car is a very basic Comfortline (but fortunately I have climate control and a HU-1205 radio with GPS-system) the car is limited in several options, like: no roofrails, simple 15-inch wheels with hub caps (now used for snow tires and for better circumstances I have nice 16-inch Volvo Mimas alloy wheels) and no speakers in the rear doors. The speaker-issue was solved earlier by installing rear speakers (see the how-to here).

But I think the missing roofrails is a big loss for a V70. It makes the car a bit too low on the rear side and without roofrails it seems the car has a worn rear suspension (which is not the case of course). I won’t use the roofrails, so installing a rear spoiler could also be a nice upgrade and could help to solve the “sagged look”. But I’m still not convinced yet.

Another upgrade is a MP3-module for the HU-1205. Listening to the radio isn’t bad, but the car hasn’t got a CD-changer and switching cd’s in the HU-1205 unit every time isn’t a very good option (especially since the HU-1205 needs the navigation cd-rom when you’re using GPS). In my other cars I always installed a Kenwood or Sony mp3-radio (except for my 850 T-5R which also had the original radio) and I still miss such option in my V70. Of course I can remove the HU-1205 and insert a doubledin aftermarket-radio but I think it would be ugly in a V70. The HU-1205 has the same color as the rest of the interior and almost the same display background color. I’m not a person who says cars should be in its original condition, but in this case the interior is on its best when the OEM-radio is installed.

Right now I’m using a FM-transmitter sometimes, but in most cases I forgot to use it (plugging the FM-transmitter, adding it to a MP3-player or my phone, adjusting the transmitter and radio to the right channel etc). It takes too much effort I guess. What I need is very simple: plugging in a USB-stick with a lot of music on it and go!

The companies Motrade and Volvotech both sells MP3-boxes which also works on the HU-1205. A friend of mine (who owns a Volvo V40) also had the same issue and also didn’t want to give up the OEM-look of his car. He installed the GROM-module (as sold by Motrade, but he bought it directly on Ebay). I think I’m going to do the same. The modules are pretty expensive (it costs as much as a good aftermarket MP3-radio with USB-support) but hey: you’ll keep the OEM-look but still have the profit of a MP3- and USB-interface! So I think I’ll order a GROM-module one of these days, but at the moment it’s too cold for fixing things in the car.

Of course I will post a how-to tutorial on Volvotips.com when I finished installing the module.