S70 Steering Wheel Radio Controls

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I've decided to completely upgrade my audio system on my 1998 Volvo s70 GLT; Head Unit, Speakers, Antenna, maybe even a sub .

Now my question to you guys is, will a s60 steering wheel with controls fit on an s70 steering rack?

What I'm looking to do is have the functions on the steering wheel work with my Head unit. Before you say, "The OEM head unit will require reprogramming or modifications..". I know, I'm ditching out the old unit and replacing it with a 2 DIN Touch screen that will have inputs for the steering controls..

[fazool]

The S60 (and similar) steering wheel controls all communicate over the MELbus network (Mitsubishi Electronics BUS).

This is not just a wiring change or a switch or plug in solution. Its a proprietary network communicaiton protocol to make the controls "talk" to the head unit. The reprogramming is basically taking two already-compatible devices and informing them of each other's addresses so they can talk their proprietary language,

There are companies like Dietz, Scosche, etc that make interfaces for just such an application. These are little electronic modules that act as a communication bridge between two devices. They run about $100 and they will interpret the steering-wheel-control-messages and translate them into something the head unit understands.

The problem is that Volvo's (and only Volvos) are unique. All the manufacturers stopped supporting Volvos because their modules didn't work. Some will not communicate at all, others suddenly start changing channels on you etc.

I was in the middle of such a project. I bought all the wiring harness adaptors, scosche double din HU adaptor and everything. Then I found out that these companies no longer carry the Volvo interface.

I scoured and searched and found no solution. Some folks might claim they have a solution but after digging into it I found out its always a generic interface module or resistor network and those are never reliable (if you can ever get them to work in the first place).

I still have all my brand new parts in a box.

I'd love to know of any solution you find. All the info I have gathered so far tells me that you can not make the S60 steering wheel controls (or other similar models) communicate with an aftermarket HU. No matter what.

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Ahh, now that's where everything hits a brick wall. So the steering rack has a micro controller (MELbus) that's no longer supported by aftermarket HU's... As a computer science engineer my idea would be ditch the whole micro controller in the steering wheel and some how grab a supported interface and route that... Not sure if its possible, but from what I know the buttons are only sending unique bits of data, most likely in this example (brace yourself, nerdy thoughts ahead):

Name : On or Off : Unique data code after controller recognizes if either on or off..

Vol + : 0 : 0001
Vol - : 1 :0010
Next Track : 0 : 0011
Previous Track : 1 : 0101
etc...

Which could be sent and interpret into an aftermarket Head Unit with some programing...

Or in lazy American modding, try to rewire into the Head Unit's push buttons by soldering the wires from the steering wheel all the way to the head units buttons... I remember removing the steering wheel once, but I totally forgot if there's enough room to route cables, hidden of course, down into the dashboard...

Im going to tackle this project no matter, if I do succeed, I will definitely report back.
So far I ordered an s60 steering wheel with the airbag, i guess an open sourced Head Unit, and an After Market wire harness. Not sure if i need anything else, but hopefully I can figure this out!

[fazool]

Well, I'm in league with you on this one. I have all the requisite parts I need to do a (second) major audio upgrade on my second S60 and the steering wheel controls are the only reason I stopped. As you said, I hit a brick wall.

Like you, the engineer in me started thinking of ways to just use the steering wheel switches and dump the whole bus system. I wasn't sure how invasive that would be and I wasn't sure of the rotating connector pin-outs.

This car's steering wheel feels worn and I am intending to head to my favorite pick-n-pull once they resume spring hours. Then Ill have an extra steering wheel to dissect.

Where did you get your S60 steering wheel from?

And (just curious) why replace the steering wheel? Is it specifically because you want steering wheel controls?

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I bought mine from Ebay about 100 bucks. Unlike you, my pick n pull never seen an s60, I barely get parts for my s70 at the junk yard!

My steering wheel is also going bad and I do like having controls on it. So I came to thought that why not purchase an s60 and some how modify it to work with the radio..

Once My HU comes in and the steering wheel, I will first try to set everything up inside before going ape Sh** on my car
Hopefully signals can travel far enough to reach both points..

[fazool]

This looks promising:

http://www.volvotech.eu/download/manual ... p-v1.0.pdf

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Ha! Thats extacly what i was saying with the 0's and 1's.. But now I wonder how after market radios are able to comprehend it...Most likely you'll need to get a compatible HU..

[fazool]

How is this project coming along?

[kennta]

Hi,
Did you solve it? I want to do the same thing....