A bit off topic but I've heard that cars fitted with CANBUS electrics are a bit of a no go area for fitting accessories like hands free car kits etc.

Can anyone in the know confirm this or otherwise?

Also when did it come in and is it just VW/Audi etc or is it a common standard?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Mark

just run a live fused wire from the battery and bypass all the fancy control stuff

If the car had an "option" for that particular device you can plug into the management system using VAG-Com (assuming its a VAG car)....

Once you are plugged in you could enable the module etc and plug in...

I have to use VAG-COM to adjust the headlight aim on my polo.... PITA!

I believe can buses are fitted to most modern cars, think they started to come in around 2002 on the more expensive models, not heard anything about wireless hand free kits, There would be a massive warning on the box of the device if it were a problem as everything runs off the can bus, e.g. throttle by wire etc etc. so it would be very dangerous if suspectible.

oh how I miss all this modern sh$t....NOT!

It would need a permanent live and a ignition controlled live - which I would normally take from the supplies for the radio when I am connecting in the muting wire.

I'm just a bit worried about F***ing it up as it's not my car!

Cheers

Mark

i bought the correct cable from Vauxhall for mine at the cost of £12.... no messing with wires just plug and play

CAN is used on most modern cars. It is used for one ECU to communicate to other ECUs. It doesn't stop you from adding things to your car. It does stop you from using parts on a kit car, or in other cars.

ABS systems transmit wheel speeds to the rest of the car. The electric steering and engine management use this data, as well as the instrument pack. The engine management sends data to the rev counter and warning lamps and so on. Security codes are often sent between ECUs to prevent cars being stolen and broken for parts sold on the black market. CAN is not a bad thing but the security element of it can be a PITA.

As for hands free kits, I don't know. I don't phone whilst driving, hands free or otherwise.

The chances are if it is a CAN bus system it will have provision for a phone, either wired or bluetooth. I'd start by checking with a main dealer/phone dealer if there's a kit available for the particular car.

I recently had a Parrott bluetooth device fitted to my 57 reg Passat. I paid an auto electrician to do it as it's a co. car, but having watched him do it I would have no qualms doing it myself in future. Works very well BTW.

If you're looking for bits that have some documentation & backup, a few work-mates have used this co. and speak highly of them:
Connects2

It really depends on the car, spec and age. you can wire anything in if you do it properly. Can is only 2 wires but you cant wire anything to these wires as you'd interrupt the signal sent from the control units.

Make sure you can replace the stereo without causing any problems as some radio's are wired into CAN whilst others may be wired into a similar single wire or fiber optic system.

I’ve come across these systems before as they have a habit of getting confused and you’ll get the wipers just coming on for no reason etc I certainly wouldn’t start splicing into the loom as you could end up knocking out quite a few systems if the new device sent noise back down the wires. It was just to save the manufactures money once modern cars wiring got so complex it was just a disaster waiting to happen. My last Volvo obviously didn’t have such a system as the main loom had bundles of something like 40 wires in it, just crazy.

Thanks Guys,

I found a connector loom which connects it all up without breaking into the vehicle wiring

Cheers

Mark