Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[Heyrr]

Alright I found out what a fader is and I don't have it. So, do I cut these wires off about this black harness/plugin, and splice those into there appropriate speaker according to your guide?

[Heyrr]

Alright, I don't know if this is the fader or what, but I'm having trouble figuring out what is what for each speaker/ground. All of the aftermarket headunit colors from your guide matched up, but I couldn't quite figure out the stock wire coloring. So I went based off of where they where hooked up on the stock deck, and tried splicing them accordingly to the new deck. I got sound, but not in all the speakers. I then found wires that were the correct colors as you described for the dash wires, but they weren't hooked directly to the head unit. If this is the fader, then your description makes sense, but... in that case I don't know where the grounds are for each speaker. I wanted to check in before I made the cuts to these wires and went too far. Help!

[StereoInstaller1]

ok so if I use the stock wiring and it goes through the stock amp with a kenwood radio cd player it will work?

Sure! Assuming your stock amp works....it isnt as good as a bypass, but it will work fine.

[luckydog2]

ok so if I use the stock wiring and it goes through the stock amp with a kenwood radio cd player it will work?

[StereoInstaller1]

cheers luke

Success?

I have to say, the new head unit and almost 30 year old paper speakers sound SOOOOO much better than the same exact head unit, OEM amp and BSW speakers in my e36. Pretty sad to compare the two actually...

All I am gonna say is unless you have one of our subwoofers in that car, you have not heard them yet.

Just a cheap 8" woofer and a $100 4 channel amp can make them come alive.

Hope you get to hear one soon!

Luke

[e30blitz]

First, let me say this is NOT applicable to all E30s. Generally, Late Model (88+) will have this wiring on premium sound cars. IF you have a fader in the dash, this MAY work: you need to unwrap about 8" of fader harness to see if you have 4 pairs of speaker wires, as some cars have only 6 wires, not 4 pairs (8 total) so if this chart does not apply PERFECTLY to your car, don't use it.

Quick disclaimer: this is not idiot proof. You mess it up, don't whine at me, I do not care.

If this saves you countless hours of hassle or you are just feeling generous, feel free to paypal me a tip. Add "@gmail.com" to Stereoinstaller1 and I promise to only use the money for projects on my car.


OK, here is the info.

Obviously, what you do here is simple: connect the "deck" wire to the "dash" wire, then back at the trunk, connect that "dash" wire to the "speaker" wire.

This is not rocket surgery, boys. Get it done.



Aftermarket-----------Dash Wires-----------Speaker Wires

RF+ Grey--------------Blue/Red-------------Grey/White
RF- Grey/Black--------Brown/Orange--------Grey/Brown

LF+ White------------Yellow/Red------------Grey/Red
LF- White/Black-------Brown/Orange--------Grey/Violet

RR+ Violet------------Blue/Black------------Black/White
RR- Violet/Black-------Brown/Orange--------Black/Brown

LR+ Green------------Yellow/Black----------Black/Red
LR- Green/Black-------Brown/Orange--------Black/Violet


(+12V Unswitched) Yellow----Red/Green (Changes to Yellow at C302)

(+12V ACC) Red-------------Violet/White (Changes to Voilet/Grey at C302)

(Ground) Black---------------Brown (may also be Brown/Black)

(ILL) Orange-----------------Grey/Red (Changes to White at C302)

(P ANT) Blue-----------------White (this is one of 2 white wires)

(AMP REM) Blue/White--------White (this is the one in the same harness as the speakers)

Luke

cheers luke

[Spyke]

I have to say, the new head unit and almost 30 year old paper speakers sound SOOOOO much better than the same exact head unit, OEM amp and BSW speakers in my e36. Pretty sad to compare the two actually...

[Zreberlcoe]

So I put my Violet/White wire to my Red power wire and a no go on power:/

Edit: I had to turn the key on... Hahahhahahahaahha

[Ukko]

Just to add a me too. I just did this with a 1990 convertible, and it worked great. First I tried the method mentioned in the other thread where you keep the old amp. It sort of worked but the sound crackled and would cut out under middle volume. So tonight I gave up on the low damage approach. I unraveled the harness back to the Y behind the radio and about 6 inches in the trunk. The twisted pairs were there as promised!

It sounds wonderful!

Thanks!

[Spyke]

1987 325e (10-1986 build date)

-NO tweeters
-NO amp in the trunk
-Fader switch in the dash***

***Fader does NOT have twisted pairs along the wiring path AT ALL. Fader wires DO NOT change colors, there are NO additional wires in the bundle. I followed them all the way behind the speedo to make sure. There's only the 4 striped and 2 solid wires going to the fader switch.

Photos of my head unit, fader switch and wiring to the head unit:


IMG_20130210_103441 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


IMG_20130210_092643 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


IMG_20130210_092814 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


IMG_20130210_092929 by Spyke e36/e30, on Flickr


Got all my new radio wiring done, this might help Early model guys. I was super confused at how the OEM wiring was done, but once I had it all out the rewiring made perfect sense. I re-purposed all the OEM wire as it's in good shape, retained the previous wiring colors as to not confuse anyone else who MIGHT get the car after me and as mentioned in here very good quality high copper content.

I now have a permanent e36 female plug so that wiring will never have to be messed with again in the future, easy upgrades. This is for my 87 ETA, fader in dash, no amp in trunk, standard speakers. Wiring colors followed a fairly consistent pattern to my surprise. Here's what I did:

e30 ETA OEM wiring <> e36 female radio plug <> Metra 70-8590 plug

12v ignition/acc
Violet/Grey <> Violet/(White) <> Red
12v batt/constant
Red/Green <> Red/(White) <> Yellow
Ground
Brown <> Brown <> Black
Power antenna
(White) <> (White) <> Blue
Illumination
Red/Grey <> Red/Grey <> Orange

Right Front +
Blue/Red <> Blue/Red <> Grey
Right Front -
Blue/Brown <> Brown/Orange <> Grey/Black
Left Front +
Yellow/Red <> Yellow/Red <> (White)
Left Front -
Yellow/Brown <> Brown/Orange <> (White)/Black

Right Rear +
Blue/Black <> Blue/Black <> Violet
Right Rear -
Blue/Brown <> Brown/Orange <> Violet/Black
Left Rear +
Yellow/Black <> Yellow/Black <> Green
Left Rear -
Yellow/Brown <> Brown/Orange <> Green/Black

***The e36 female plug will have the speaker + and - as a twisted pair. I highly recommend connecting only ONE pair at a time to keep from getting confused, since all speaker negatives on the e36 plug have the same color wire.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do yourself a favor and double-check the power/acc/illumination wire colors with a TEST LIGHT BEFORE making final connections. It's the only way to know for sure. Speaker wires are straight forward, but you're a moron if you don't test the important wires before starting.

[StereoInstaller1]

Seems the people, who wired the E30 could not make their minds up

[FasterSoonerNow]

Got the rear speakers going just fine.

BUT the green/red in the dash is not giving me any power to the head unit so I used the grey/red instead and it's fine. The last aftermarket head unit was also using grey/red for power so I am guessing they knew something that I don't about the power source.

[StereoInstaller1]

Using an aftermarket 4 channel amp is a great idea IMO.

Most are looking to simply do a bypass, as most modern decks make more power than the stock E30 amp.

Adding an amp really won't help performance much when using the stock speaker locations, BTW. All that bullshit about "better power sounds better" is just about pure bullshit. If it sounds like crap at 2 watts, it is just gonna be louder crap at 200 watts.

Luke

[FasterSoonerNow]

Quick question as it relates to the 5-wire setup on my '87 IS...

Is there a reason why most people don't just replace the premium amp with a modern 4 channel amp? Would there be any issues with having only 4 "positive" inputs going from the new head unit to the new 4 channel amp and then wire up the pos and negatives of the speakers to the new amp?

The main benefit is not having to use any new wire, also if the amp is setup for a sub then you can easily put it in the trunk.

Thoughts?

[Chigga]

Luke thank you for telling me to get a test light!

Update: found the cause, one of the door light wire's insulation was cut/loose and was touching the body, fixed that and put in the boston accoustic and sounds better than ever.