Over the weekend I successfully completed the installation of Apple Carplay and a reverse camera onto the built-in RTI navigation screen in my girlfriend’s 2011 C70. See results here:
I first realized this would be possible thanks to a post by user “liseur” back in 2020 which mentioned that a company called NAVIKS makes a device they call their Video Interface which acts as a middleman between the RTI navigation screen and the GPS DVD player in the glove box, allowing you to send a backup camera, plus an analog AV source, plus an HDMI source to the built-in navigation display in the P1 platform cars. I can’t link to the old post because this is my first post on Swedespeed, but you can find it by googling or maybe someone can link it in the comments. NAVIKS also makes a Universal Apple Carplay/Android Auto device which runs Carplay and has an RCA video out that can be routed into the analog input of the video interface. These two boxes together, then, allow you to put Carplay on the built-in RTI navigation display. You switch between input sources using a small button that you mount on the dash wherever you like, and you control the carplay using a small dial/clicker controller, also mounted on the dash wherever you like. Both NAVIKS devices are stashed between the firewall and the back of the glove box, just above the fuse box/central electronic module:
My intent with this post is to build on liseur’s earlier post by discussing the additional Carplay device, as well as filling in some details that I wish I had known before going for the installation. I don’t intend for this to be a true step-by-step guide, but I will include details of how I completed the job, some of what to expect if you want to do this job yourself, and tips that I would have found useful along the way. I did this on a C70, but I figure most of the information should apply to other P1 platform cars as well.
First, let’s talk about wiring all of this up. You should be comfortable with soldering as there are a lot of splices that need to be made for the powers and grounds. I suppose this might be possible with just crimp connectors and those wire taps that pierce through the insulation, but I didn’t want to hack up any of the car’s original wiring, and I have always felt that crimp connections, while fast and easy, are just not as secure as soldered connections.
The two NAVIKS boxes each require switched power and chassis ground. The Carplay box also requires constant power. I called NAVIKS and they told me this is required to preserve the memory of the device. So you could run it off of switched power alone, but if the car sat for a few days the carplay box would lose all settings and any stored phone connections. Lastly, the Video Interface requires a 12V reverse trigger so it can switch automatically to the backup camera when you put the car in reverse. I was able to use fuse taps in the fuse box under the dash for constant power, switched power, and the reverser trigger. I also tied in the camera’s power with the reverse trigger, so the camera only receives power when the car is in reverse. Below is a diagram I made of the entire setup:
Note that the audio from the carplay box bypasses the video interface and goes straight through to the car’s 3.5mm AUX jack. This is fine if you, like me, never intend to use the HDMI feature on the video interface. If you do plan to use HDMI, then you need to route all audio into the Naviks video interface and then out to the aux jack. That way the video interface will switch the audio along with the video when you change sources. If you want to match my setup, you can disable the HDMI source on the video interface, so it gets ignored when you toggle between sources.
Switched power comes from Fuse 45, which is the fuse for the cigarette lighter 12V outlet. I got constant power from Fuse 84, which is the fuse for the passenger seat motor and module. Lastly, I got the 12V reverse trigger from Fuse 79, which is the fuse for the reverse lights. I used fuse taps for all of these, so I didn’t have to damage any of the car’s factory wiring. For grounding of the two Naviks boxes and the camera, I joined all 3 ground wires together and soldered them to a ring terminal. I attached this to an existing ground under the carpet on the right hand side of the passenger foot well:
Now some notes on the reverse camera. If you go on amazon and search “Volvo C70 Reverse Camera” you’ll find several cameras that are made to replace one of the license plate lamps on any of the P1 platform cars. I used one of these cameras, and so did liseur in his post from 2020. What I didn’t realize until I started the installation is that the license plate lamps don’t plug directly into any wires. Instead, they make electrical contact using contact pads that are overmolded into the plastic pockets where they screw in. Therefore, when you go to install the camera, there won’t be a hole anywhere for you to run the wires. You’ll need to remove the part (I’ll call it the “license plate lamp bracket”) and make your own hole. It’s one part that has pockets for both license plate lamps and also holds the microswitch for the trunk release button. See here:
To remove the license plate lamp bracket, first unscrew the license plate lamps and the cover for the trunk release button. You can do this from the outside just like if you were changing out a bulb. Then you need to remove the body panel on the trunk lid that has the Volvo badge and the center brake light. From here on, I’ll call this piece the “Volvo panel”. You’ll also need to remove the upper tail lamp pieces before the Volvo panel can come off. See here:
To remove these, I started to retract the convertible top just until the trunk lid flipped up backwards. See here:
Then I removed the cloth trim piece on the inside of the trunk lid and that revealed holes where you can access the screws you’ll need to remove to get the Volvo panel off the car.
Once you have the Volvo panel off, you can slide out the license plate lamp bracket from its slot in the Volvo panel. Decide which side you want to mount the camera, then make your hole for the camera wire. I removed the rubber seal from the rim of the chosen license plate lamp pocket, filed a notch for the camera wire, passed the camera wire through the opening in the Volvo panel and then into the notch, placed the rubber seal back on the face of the pocket, then slid the license plate lamp bracket back into place in the Volvo panel. See here:
Be careful when modifying the license plate lamp bracket. Since there are electrical conductors embedded into the plastic, you could cause a short if you try to file or drill through the wrong spot.
For camera wire routing I followed the other wiring from the trunk lid down the arm on the driver’s side of the trunk. There was extra space next to the existing wires, and the new wires even fit under the metal clips that hold the original wiring to the arm. Once at the end of the arm, I did a U-turn around the big complicated hinge mechanism for the trunk and convertible top, and then went toward the center of the trunk, passed the through the ski passthrough, under the back seat (had to remove the back seat to do this), and then along the passenger door sill under the plastic trim all the way to the passenger footwell where all of the equipment is installed. I’m at the image limit for this post, so I’ll include wire routing pics in a comment.
Some other general notes:
- To do this job, you’ll obviously need to remove the glove box, navigation DVD player, and several other interior panels and trim pieces. There are youtube videos out there to help with most of that. I did not end up needing to remove the waterfall. Lots of torx screws are used in the interior of the car, so good idea to have torx screwdrivers or sockets.
- I snaked the audio output cable from the carplay box to the 3.5mm AUX jack by going under the center console. I had to remove lots of panels from the center console to get access to pull the cable through, but I did not need to remove the big main center console piece. For routing the wires for the microphone, source button, and carplay controller, I followed the audio cable under the center console, but then came immediately upwards through the storage pocket behind the waterfall. That storage pocket already has a notch big enough for all those wires to pass through.
Hopefully this is helpful to anyone who wants to do the same installation. Happy to answer any questions.