corsa e intellilink bt 3.0 / r3.0 to intellilink r4.0 swap

this is a guide on retrofitting the intellilink r4.0 infotainment system into an opel corsa e originally equipped with bt 3.0 or intellilink r3.0. i'll cover the parts needed, wiring changes, making the adapter, and reprogramming the radio to match the car's vin.

the swap isn't completely plug and play, and some cutting and soldering is required. i'll also cover how to connect an ntsc reverse camera, although i haven't figured out how to enable the camera option through programming.

car parts

r4.0 radio itself: 42554704
radio decor: 39050456
front decor my16: 13476791
left dashboard trim: 39050126 (not sure if swapping this is necessary. i did it to match the color.)

rather than buying everything individually, try finding a salvaged car with the parts. it'll be much cheaper (i personally got everything for 350 pln).

additional parts

programmer: ch341a with clip (can be bought pretty much anywhere)
first plug — goes into the car
second plug listing — buy two plugs:
- brown female, 15 cm
- black female, 15 cm
these go into the radio.

making the adapter

you need to solder the wires from the old plugs to the corresponding pins on the new plugs according to the tables below.

brown connector

old pin	color	new pin
31	yellow/black	16
32	blue/brown	18
33	blue/black	12
34	green/black	14
38	black	10
39	yellow	15
40	blue	17
41	white	11
42	green	13
44	red/blue	20

gray connector

old pin	color	new pin
28	green	4
18	blue	7
4	brown/black	6

reverse camera

if you want to connect an ntsc camera:

gray connector, pin 14: camera signal (-)
gray connector, pin 15: camera signal (+)

programming the radio

eeprom on the radio circuit board

attach the clip to the eeprom and dump the firmware.

the vin information is at offset 000010D0. it's the vin without the first character (see screenshot).

hex editor showing the vin in the eeprom dump

replace it with your own vin, then write the modified firmware back to the eeprom.

i don't know how to enable the camera option through programming. i bought a radio from a car that already had a reverse camera, so it was already enabled.

installation

install the radio and optionally the camera using the following video guide:

this isn't a completely non-invasive install, so some cutting is required.

you might need to cut some plastic off the usb plug with pliers to make it fit. i went with the janky solution of gluing it in place so it wouldn't come loose.

thanks

thanks to damian0708 from klubcorsa.pl for providing the connector mappings: forum thread.