Volvo V40 upgrades, generation by generation.

Almost all V40 work is the 2012–2019 hatch, mostly for wireless CarPlay on the 7-inch Sensus screen and for reversing cameras. The 1995–2004 estate turns up now and then for a new radio or an Android screen. If you are not sure which screen your car has, the 7-inch one sits high in the dash with the navigation menu; the 5-inch one is a smaller display above the buttons.

Yes. The CarPlay box sits behind the Sensus unit and is driven from the original buttons, so nothing is removed from the dash. An Android screen on 5-inch cars plugs into the car's wiring with an adapter that keeps the steering-wheel buttons, the climate display and the parking sensor tone. Nothing is cut and the car can go back to standard.

It has a stop-start system with an AGM battery, so we set the hardwire kit's cut-off voltage a little higher than usual to protect it, and take power from the fuse panel under the glovebox. The cable runs behind the A-pillar trim and along the headliner, so nothing hangs down. A rear camera runs through the tailgate grommet to the glass.

Mk1 — 1995–2004 (Estate only (the saloon was the S40)): Volvo cassette or CD radio in a single slot, no screen. P1 — 2012–2019 (Five-door hatch and Cross Country): Sensus with a 5-inch screen on base cars or a 7-inch screen with Sensus Navigation; Sensus Connect from 2015 on most cars; no CarPlay on any of them. Not sure? Send the reg on WhatsApp and we tell you the generation and the route.

CarPlay: A wireless CarPlay box on the 7-inch Sensus screen, an Android screen on 5-inch cars and the old estate. Reversing camera: Camera in the tailgate handle on the Sensus screen through the box or an interface, or on the Android screen. Car radio: 8.8-inch Android screen in the Sensus position on the P1, a radio or screen in the slot on the old estate. Dash cam: Hardwired from the fuse panel with a cut-off set for the V40's stop-start battery. Parking sensors: Front sensors added to cars with rear park assist, or a full set colour-matched to the bumper. Ambient lighting: Ambient LED strips in the doors and footwells, matched to the factory theatre lighting where fitted. Speakers: Plug-in door speakers and tweeters, factory head unit and amplifier kept, no cutting. Subwoofer: Under-seat or boot subwoofer on a DSP amplifier fed from the factory unit, boot space kept. Soundproofing: Doors and floor treated with butyl and foam, trim refitted without marks.

CarPlay: under an hour for activation, two to four hours for a box or a screen. Reversing camera: two to three hours. Car radio: two to three hours, usually the same day. Dash cam: one to two hours for a front camera, about two with a rear camera. Most V40 owners wait at the workshop or drop the car in the morning and collect it the same day.

Mk1: the Volvo cassette or CD radio in a single slot, no screen stays and we add to it. P1: the Sensus with a 5-inch screen on base cars or a 7-inch screen with Sensus Navigation; Sensus Connect from 2015 on most cars; no CarPlay on any of them stays and we add to it. Steering-wheel buttons, factory amplifiers and cameras are carried over on every route; the only route that changes what you see is an Android screen, and even then the controls are kept.

Send the reg or the year on WhatsApp or the form below and we confirm the generation, the route, the price and the next free slot. Every job carries a one-year warranty on the work, done at our workshop in Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 11, Monday to Saturday.