Connected the dimmer on an aftermarket headunit.

[Sean]

I did some searching, but no where did I found what I'm suppose to splice into to hook up my dimmer to.

My clarion deck has a dimmer lead, but I had no idea what it was supposed to be attached to. I know the stock deck dimmed, but I didn't see any extra wires laying around after hooking the rest up.

So, what wire do I hook my dimmer lead into?

Thanks!

-Sean

[smonkbmw]

in a e30 there is no designated dimmer wire.

[fretburnr]

i had no issues with my clarion; it switches to dim when i flip the headlights on. it doesn't do variable dimming with the rheostat.
[sidenote: i don't that any aftermarket decks do]

i'm at work and can't go look, so i just searched and found the diagram:

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=77941&highlight=radio+wiring

looks like the lights-on lead is white (look to the right of the diagram) from the factory harness. The clarion's dimmer lead should go to that. Also don't forget to enable dimming in the clarion's menu; it was defaulted to off when I installed mine.

[Sean]

Ohh, ok! So, essentially, when the Clarion deck gets a 12v signal to the dimmer input, the lights dim on the deck. As long as the 12v signal is coming from a wire that only has the 12v when the headlights are on, it'll dim when the lights are on.

It all makes sense now! :)

I kept thinkin that the deck would actually dim with the rheostat - guess I was wrong.

[fretburnr]

no problem man. I wouldn't mind having a match-dimming deck, but i don't know if that exists other than OEM.

[StereoInstaller1]

Sean, that dimmer (orange/white or orange) on your Clarion goes to the red/white (or white/red) on your E30.

As you figured, that will dim the face of the deck when your lights are on.

Way back in the day, that wire actually lit the deck up instead of dimming. I really liked that, but not one deck today does that.

Luke

[NomadE30]

Yea i was going to say i have only one wire that i couldn't figure out what it did, and it was white/red not just white. My plain white wire hooks to my stock amp and antenna. I just spliced a light wire going into my center console but that's just me, works great.