E30 Stereo Wiring for Dummies

[R32toE30]

I did.

On the way to work I noticed that the speakers seem to crackle at even moderate volume levels.

Im not looking to go crazy with my system but should I:

Replace the speakers?

Run new wiring (speakers are using a common ground)

Run a 5 channel amp to the speakers (so I can do a sub later).

Thanks

[StereoInstaller1]

Did you follow the chart I made on that other thread? Good to hear happiness abounds!

[R32toE30]

Ok so I hooked mine up just like this. Nothing turns on until I turn on my head lights. Seems the constant is only on when the lights are one. Also my OBC is now off. Need some help!

NVM, I found a different constant. Then removed the stock amp. Sounds amazing!

[R32toE30]

OK:

Car Deck
Red/Green (fuse 21) Yellow (constant power)
Violet/Grey (fuse 12) Red (switched power)
Brown or BR/BK Black (Ground)
Grey/Red (from light switch) Orange (dimmer)
White (yes there are 2)Blue (antenna remote)
White (still 2) Blue/white (amp remote)

Ok so I hooked mine up just like this. Nothing turns on until I turn on my head lights. Seems the constant is only on when the lights are one. Also my OBC is now off. Need some help!

[StereoInstaller1]

Horizontal roller "knob" in the dash directly above the radio. Controls front to rear "fade" (both left and right simultaneously) and has a 10 pin (?) plug. Ended generally in '90, but I have seen it on '90s as well.

[graffeedy5]

This is going to sound like a really dumb question, but I've never done car audio before. What is the fader?

[StereoInstaller1]

87 325e p/o put 4 alpine speakers in it. Coming out of the oe headunit was 4 wires. I followed them back as far as I could and they end up in a bundle with the power, ground, and antenna wires.

OK, so now you need to follow them to the fader. Unwrap about a foot of harness, which you will only get out after you disconnect the fader.

You should find a splice with brown wires, after which you will find the speaker wires as twisted pairs.

[graffeedy5]

as I said before:

1. POST what CAR you have, and what level stereo.

2. IF you have an indash fader, you will only see either 2 or 4 wires. You MUST unwrap your fader harness to get to the main wires, all you see is the input to the fader.

3. ONLY a late model (no fader) car without premium sound will have 8 wires.

87 325e p/o put 4 alpine speakers in it. Coming out of the oe headunit was 4 wires. I followed them back as far as I could and they end up in a bundle with the power, ground, and antenna wires.

[StereoInstaller1]

Im gonna listen to the guy with the username "stereoinstaller1" with 15k posts lol
this helped me out alot thanks!

15K posts means you spend WAY too much time on the PC.

[StereoInstaller1]

can someone take a picture of the 8 speaker wires I'm supposed to have? I can't figure out where they're hiding, the 4 speakerwires that I have don't pull out.

as I said before:

1. POST what CAR you have, and what level stereo.

2. IF you have an indash fader, you will only see either 2 or 4 wires. You MUST unwrap your fader harness to get to the main wires, all you see is the input to the fader.

3. ONLY a late model (no fader) car without premium sound will have 8 wires.

[graffeedy5]

can someone take a picture of the 8 speaker wires I'm supposed to have? I can't figure out where they're hiding, the 4 speakerwires that I have don't pull out.

[mRodiek]

Im gonna listen to the guy with the username "stereoinstaller1" with 15k posts lol
this helped me out alot thanks!

[MaxBell]

The things going to or coming from the amp are these.

RCA cables
Power cable direct from battery (30A fuse)
Ground to negative battery terminal
Remote On from headunit

Sub is wired into one channel
Rear speakers are each wired into their own channels.

Amp is mounted into the back of a wood Bassworx (sp?) box, with the sub cut into the front.
The sub faces out, with the back of the box near the ski pass hole in the trunk. The box is held down with brackets to stop it from moving at all. All the wires are expertly soldiered and heat shrinked and tucked/wrapped out of the way.

I not going to be able to rewire the headunit constant like you said, until probably tomorrow. I'll let you know if that fixes everything once I'm done.

[StereoInstaller1]

OK:

Car Deck
Red/Green (fuse 21) Yellow (constant power)
Violet/Grey (fuse 12) Red (switched power)
Brown or BR/BK Black (Ground)
Grey/Red (from light switch) Orange (dimmer)
White (yes there are 2)Blue (antenna remote)
White (still 2) Blue/white (amp remote)

Now, I told you to get me some detail on your amp install. If you wanna fix that issue, do as I tell you and we can get your shit 100%. Pics would help too, but that Sony is a decent amp, there is absolutely something wrong with your install.

[MaxBell]

I tested all the sources in the stereo wiring harness, and I was told that red green (i think) was 12V constant, but when I wired it to that one, nothing turned on. When I looked on the internet again I saw one forum where the guy used the 12V constant of the hazards cuz he said you have to go hunting for one. It all worked once I plugged it in there.

And ok, I'll rewire the amp to the front and sub and deck to rear. The amp has it's own power and ground and is connected to the headunit only by the remote on thing.

I'll go take some pictures later as I'm just off to work.