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S40 CD changer

6K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  GrecianVolvo 
#1 ·
I have a customer who just bought a 2002 S40 from me. He did not get the Volvo 10-disc changer as he did not want to spend the extra $$$. Now, he is having a hard time in finding a compatible changer for the car, he finally found an Alpine model but where he is getting it from they are telling him that he needs to purchase some kind of a wiring harness from us which, in my mind, is a bunch of baloney. The car is already CD-prewired from the factory. We do not sell anything that can make that CD changer compatible to our end of wiring. Any ideas? Any CD changers out there that may be compatible for the 2002 S40?

Thanks,

Yannis
 
#2 ·
quote:

Originally posted by GrecianVolvo:
I have a customer who just bought a 2002 S40 from me. He did not get the Volvo 10-disc changer as he did not want to spend the extra $$$. Now, he is having a hard time in finding a compatible changer for the car, he finally found an Alpine model but where he is getting it from they are telling him that he needs to purchase some kind of a wiring harness from us which, in my mind, is a bunch of baloney. The car is already CD-prewired from the factory. We do not sell anything that can make that CD changer compatible to our end of wiring. Any ideas? Any CD changers out there that may be compatible for the 2002 S40?

Thanks,

Yannis

I think the wiring harness is a plug adapter. The CD changer might be compatible but the plugs might not match. I had to get an adapter to plug in the Alpine CHMS620 CD-changer to my C70. You can always do a rewire yourself. It's like $20 or something like that.
 
#3 ·
quote:

Originally posted by GrecianVolvo:
We do not sell anything that can make that CD changer compatible to our end of wiring. Any ideas? Any CD changers out there that may be compatible for the 2002 S40?
You're correct, there is no aftermarket CD changers that are compatible with the Volvo head units. In the 2002 S40 there's a head unit manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric (Melco) who uses a proprietary bus called the MELBUS to communicate between the head unit and the CD changer. This means that only the Volvo 10 disc CD changer manufactured by Melco will work with that head unit.
 
#4 ·
quote:

Originally posted by mike_c70:
I think the wiring harness is a plug adapter. The CD changer might be compatible but the plugs might not match. I had to get an adapter to plug in the Alpine CHMS620 CD-changer to my C70. You can always do a rewire yourself. It's like $20 or something like that.

The C70 has a head unit manufactured by Alpine so it is possible you can cheat the head unit to work with an aftermarket Alpine CD changer, but I'm not sure how you did that. Can you control the CD changer from the Volvo radio, too?

Anyway, this won't work in the S40 unless you find a CD changer that is compatible with Mitsubishi Electrics MELBUS.
 
#5 ·
Audioguy,
For the longest time, I've been trying to find a cd changer for my 2001 S40. I was told that the factory radio was indeed an Alpine so therefore I had to find a changer that was Alpine. But the catch is that I had to find an adaptor like what mike_c70 said to make it work.

Can you or anyone confirm?
 
#7 ·
quote:

Originally posted by volvo5spd:
Audioguy,
For the longest time, I've been trying to find a cd changer for my 2001 S40. I was told that the factory radio was indeed an Alpine so therefore I had to find a changer that was Alpine. But the catch is that I had to find an adaptor like what mike_c70 said to make it work.

Can you or anyone confirm?
As far as I know there has never been an Alpine radio factory installed in an S40 or V40 (if we exclude the old SC-810/811). But the SC-815 and SC-813 manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Co (Melco) has the same CD changer interface as the Alpine radios since we use Alpine CD changers for both Alpine radios and Melco radios. I've learned that there are accessory manufacturers like Blitz who work around Volvos software block so that also Alpines aftermarket changers can be used with the SC-XXX radios.

But if you have a newer S40 or V40 with the HU-XX5 radios from Melco the CD changer interface is no longer Alpine, it's Melcos MELBUS and then the Blitz converter won't work. In that case you need to get a MELBUS compatible changer and I think the only place you can get that is at your Volvo dealer.
 
#9 ·
audioguy,
When you say newer or older S40, would it be possible to give years? Being in the US, S40 has only been around for a few years and pretty much all are relatively new!


I have a 2001 and I peeked into a 2000 S40 the other day and I noticed the radio was different. Obviously, I can't just go and rip out my radio or another's and look at the back so I guess that's why I was wondering if someone can break down specifics of year of car and model.
 
#10 ·
quote:

Originally posted by volvo5spd:
audioguy,
When you say newer or older S40, would it be possible to give years? Being in the US, S40 has only been around for a few years and pretty much all are relatively new!


I have a 2001 and I peeked into a 2000 S40 the other day and I noticed the radio was different. Obviously, I can't just go and rip out my radio or another's and look at the back so I guess that's why I was wondering if someone can break down specifics of year of car and model.
The easiest way to tell if you have an "old" or a "new" radio is to look at the face plate. If the radio is called SC-XXX, it's an "old" radio (inherited from the 70 series). If the radio is called HU-XXX, it's a "new" radio (inherited from S80/V70/S60). The "new" radios also lack preset buttons, they are replaced by a knob. I think that the change from "old" to "new" radios was done for the 2001 model year, when the whole interior was reworked.

The "old" radios work with Alpine CD changers from Volvo, the "new" radios work with Mitsubishi CD changers with the MELBUS interface, also from Volvo.

Some clever people have found a way to work around Volvos protocol so they can connect some of Alpines aftermarket CD changers to the Volvo radio, but only to the "old" (SC-XXX) radios that use Alpine changers from Volvo in the normal case.

[This message has been edited by Audioguy (edited 06-28-2002).]
 
#11 ·
So when you are saying "old" HU-XXX units, take for example the 2001 S40, an Alpine cd changer "will" or "should" or "might" work. Is there anyone who has already tried and been successful with it, and if so, which cd changer model did you purchase?
 
#12 ·
quote:

Originally posted by asian01:
So when you are saying "old" HU-XXX units, take for example the 2001 S40, an Alpine cd changer "will" or "should" or "might" work. Is there anyone who has already tried and been successful with it, and if so, which cd changer model did you purchase?

I have called at least 10 different electronics wholesalers around the country and they all tell me that there is nothing for 2001 and 2002 x40s because of the multiplex electronics involved. They told me that Mercedes has the same problem with their radios. There are no aftermarket CD changers for them, either.

Yannis
 
#13 ·
quote:

Originally posted by asian01:
So when you are saying "old" HU-XXX units, take for example the 2001 S40, an Alpine cd changer "will" or "should" or "might" work. Is there anyone who has already tried and been successful with it, and if so, which cd changer model did you purchase?

Whoops! Of course I mean the SC-XXX radios when I said "old" in my previous post (it is corrected now). Sorry for the confusion!


Yannis is partially right when he says that it is the electrical systems multiplex bus (CAN-bus) that makes it impossible to connect an aftermarket CD changer to the HU-XXX radios. It is actually Mitsubishis proprietary MELBUS that handles the communication between radio, navi unit, CD changer and TV tuner and also makes it impossible to use any other CD changer than Mitsubishis Volvo version.
 
#14 ·
...So...it pretty much means if you are a X40 owner with a car that's 2001+, you are pretty much screwed and have to give in to the Volvo dealership and shell out ~$1K plus just to have a CD changer installed if you have not done so already. Either that or replace your whole system!


[This message has been edited by volvo5spd (edited 06-28-2002).]
 
#15 ·
I went to check out this place in San Leandro, CA. I asked the guy for a cd changer that would work with the factory radio. He pointed me to the Alpine CHM-S630 with 2 individual adapters that should work. I would need to understand these adapters a bit more, but he was on the right foot with telling me that it would work with an Alpine. I say, as a group, we all find out what can work with the factory radio, and I mean right down to the adapter models, cd changer brand and model, everything. Because I'm tired of searching different places and asking too many questions.

So you heard it from me, the Alpine CHM-S630 ($250), with 2 individual adapters ($100+$50), total is $400 estimation.

Throw in your own personal input, and not something you haven't went out and checked yourself. I think when we found the perfect cd changer and adapters, we will start a new thread, but until then, let's work this out as a group!
 
#16 ·
quote:

Originally posted by asian01:
Throw in your own personal input, and not something you haven't went out and checked yourself. I think when we found the perfect cd changer and adapters, we will start a new thread, but until then, let's work this out as a group!
The Alpine CD changer with adapters you mention in your post will probably work with the SC-XXX radios. It will not work with the HU-XX5 radios. The radios were upgraded from SC-XXX to HU-XX5 in the S/V40 cars in MY 2001.
 
#22 ·
If MELBUS is designed by Mitsubishi and Volvo did not add anything to it, a Mitsubishi CD changer such as the CD-5852C (http://www.carnavi.melco.co.jp/audio/products/changer/cd5852c.html) should theorectically work with the HU-xxx series head units. Would that be a safe assumption? Of course, the car will still need a software download from Volvo in order to recognize the changer.
 
#23 ·
i want to hear all this.... I am very interested and extremely surprised to see the absolute incompatibility with anything on the market.

I would love for someone to go ahead and attempt an install.... one main reason... your not going to pay if it doesn't work...

and this will DEFINITELY end the question of compatibility with Alpine changers.

-mark
 
#26 ·
quote:

Originally posted by cschmelz:
I just bought a volvo original changer for my 2002 s60 on eBay for less than $300...Hope it actually works!

You will still have to your Volvo Retailer to activate the CD changer with the appropriate software but I am sure that it will still be cheaper.

Yannis
 
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