Technical New radio(Blue & Me / Interscope)

[bl4desman]

Hi, I have a 2009 Abarth 500. A change of circumstances means that I'll be doing a lot longer distances in my car. I'm looking at swapping my standard radio for an Android single DIN radio. I have a Youtube Music account and I would like to be able to listen to my music in the car. I have looked into getting an aux cable, but I have blue and me and this won't work. I would like to keep my steering wheel controls and interscope sub/speakers. Is this a case of buying a new head unit and adaptor cable? I've been reading up and I'm not sure that it's as easy as it should be. I'm wondering if someone has swapped their radio and kept the steering wheel controls and interscope system. Is there a specific radio feature I need to look for?

Thanks, Matthew

 

[Baglady1990]

Hey I have delved into some of this myself though I decided to ditch my blue & me in favour of a pioneer double din touch screen with apple carplay
I loved the blue & me though obviously it’s a bit billy basic!
If your planning on swapping for a single din the blue & me will become obsolete this will then render your steering wheel controls useless too....

The good news is you can install a connects2 steering wheel interface.. this will enable you to retain your steering wheel controls but will only let you:
Answer calls (Bluetooth)
Hang up
Choose input
Track skip
Volume control
And this is all dependent on what head unit you choose... Android ... Bluetooth ect...

As for your speakers & sub just check the connections/compatibility before you buy....

It’s a bit of work but if your confident & good at DIY like myself then your good to go! I’ve added a pic of mine so you can see what I’ve done!

 

[bl4desman]

Hiya, thanks for your reply. That's a great help. You've done a great job with your install ?. So, am I correct to say that I would lose the track/phone info from my instrument cluster? To make a phone call I would need to use the buttons on the radio, rather than the steering wheel. However, I can answer calls via the steering wheel. I'm guessing that I'd also lose the voice command button?

Do you have the Interscope system?

Thanks, Matthew

 

[Baglady1990]

Hiya, thanks for your reply. That's a great help. You've done a great job with your install [emoji106]. So, am I correct to say that I would lose the track/phone info from my instrument cluster? To make a phone call I would need to use the buttons on the radio, rather than the steering wheel. However, I can answer calls via the steering wheel. I'm guessing that I'd also lose the voice command button?



Do you have the Interscope system?



Thanks, Matthew

Any upgraded head unit should work fine with the original interscope system as the head unit will or should come with a new wiring harness
Yes mine worked fine with my original speakers but of course me being me! Has since upgraded all my speakers and sub[emoji23]

Yeah the voice control will disappear along with seeing anything on your cluster! As obvious it’s only compatible with the original blue n me system.... which is a shame as I must admit I miss that!

But hay ho it’s much better now! My system has Siri voice control so I just shout at her if I need to make a call!
If you get a Bluetooth system it will have a mic button on the radio so you could just press that and talk....

Bear in mind if you do swap over you will need to feed a new mic into the original via the A pillar & roof lining it’s a faff but quite easy