Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[StereoInstaller1]

This is driving me nuts. I have a JBL Arsenal that I'm trying to install in place of the 1996 crappy aftermarket CD player that someone put into my car.

It is a premium sound 1988 325is with 4 pairs of wires into the fader and an amp in the trunk, but the wires aren't the same colors as the ones mentioned in the OP. To complicate matters the previous owner cut 4 of the wires coming from the fader and connected them to the old head unit. The fader oddly still worked with the new head unit installed. The wires in the trunk are the right color for the speaker wires but there are some other randomly colored wires just hanging out. I might need to seek professional help with this...

Nah, there is an easier way on your car.

Pull the left kick panel, look for a 4 pin plug with yellow and blue wires on it. Those are your rear speaker wires. Cut them and run new wire the 3' or so to your deck. That should have the rears up and running in about 4 minutes.

Beware, the black stripes (from the car, not your deck) are positives!

Now, to do your fronts: use the 4 wires in the dash (they were connected to the fader originally) that are yellow/red, yellow/black and blue/red and blue/black. Those were the 4 positive wires that ran to the amp.

You will need to re-purpose those wires by connecting them to the front speaker wires that are connected to your amp, the 2 grey pairs. Look up the colors on the chart at the top of this post. Cut them near the connector and connect them to the 4 you will be re-purposing, and then the fronts are done.

[mikeb23ft]

This is driving me nuts. I have a JBL Arsenal that I'm trying to install in place of the 1996 crappy aftermarket CD player that someone put into my car.

It is a premium sound 1988 325is with 4 pairs of wires into the fader and an amp in the trunk, but the wires aren't the same colors as the ones mentioned in the OP. To complicate matters the previous owner cut 4 of the wires coming from the fader and connected them to the old head unit. The fader oddly still worked with the new head unit installed. The wires in the trunk are the right color for the speaker wires but there are some other randomly colored wires just hanging out. I might need to seek professional help with this...

[StereoInstaller1]

89i model with non premium sound no fader and never jacked with bone stock HU. Wired via Luke's synopsis. The 9v battery and testing the speaker leads did the trick. Pulled kickpanel on left side and voila the twisted pairs for rears and left side were there. Had to strip back factory harness behind HU and found the twisted pair leads. Snip,snip,snip and snip. Confirmed with the 9v before hookup. Job done in 1hour. 9v battery tool removes any question before going to the crimpers.

Good to hear it!

Luke

[bernzpeed]

[ATTACH]42910[/ATTACH]

LOL @ wire connectors for house wiring

I take it this is the amp?:
[ATTACH]42911[/ATTACH]

I laughed.

I just wish I had the skills to draw a diagram and show it on the computer...you guys kill me.

I feel for you. It seems like it's the same questions over and over again. LOL. Thanks for helping me retrofit my non premium sound system to premium. Also, I'm getting ready for my Luke Box to be installed.

What year/model is your car? Do you have "Premium Sound"?

Seems like this has been asked like hundreds of times. You should have a button preset with this question.

Yes, you sure can.

you don't have to be a genius to fix these cars, you just have to be patient, curious about how things work, and have a certain mindset. It's a good car to learn on. And you're spot-on about making a thread to help other people out if you find something interesting, weird, or helpful.

[Eddie Haskell]

89i model with non premium sound no fader and never jacked with bone stock HU. Wired via Luke's synopsis. The 9v battery and testing the speaker leads did the trick. Pulled kickpanel on left side and voila the twisted pairs for rears and left side were there. Had to strip back factory harness behind HU and found the twisted pair leads. Snip,snip,snip and snip. Confirmed with the 9v before hookup. Job done in 1hour. 9v battery tool removes any question before going to the crimpers.

[StereoInstaller1]

Hey thanks for all the info you posted up about the car audio for the e30, I have a question about this, what can I do since I have an aftermarket stereo in my car and aftermarket speakers and it seems to me as if all stock wiring was pulled for aftermarket wiring, I pulled my stereo a few months ago and it seems theres no real harness behind the deck, just wires twisted together and covered with electrical tape.

Same goes for the speakers, all connections are just twisted wires with elec tape around them

Sounds 100% factory!

Go look at the stock color charts for reference. Depending on the car (earlier cars are different, again, depending on model) you should have the same colors.

As far as what to do, that kind of depends on what you are looking to accomplish, right? I have helped literally hundreds of guys (and girls) get decent sound in their car, so we can get you set up too. Shoot me a PM wiuth what budget you have, or even post a thread about what it is you want to accomplish with your stereo install.

Thanks!
Luke

[siazul]

Absolutely, yes. Thanks for bringing this up.

My reasoning is simple: no one who uses a diagram like this even knows who Bruce Brisson or Noel Lee are, much less Ray Kimber (who sells wire that ISN'T snake oil) so the quality of the wire you are gonna get at Monoprice or Home Depot (or get 1000X screwed on at your local car stereo whore shop) is WAY worse than what is already in your car: twisted pair, high copper content, generally excellent condition, neatly ran, no noise, etc...the stock BMW wires kick that shit out of 99.999% of the professionals out there, much less the neophyte installer.

Another advantage is that should you decide to add am amplifier to your system, you can simply connect in the trunk. Run your RCAs and all else is done!

Guys, again: please use the stock wire wherever possible.

Luke

Hey thanks for all the info you posted up about the car audio for the e30, I have a question about this, what can I do since I have an aftermarket stereo in my car and aftermarket speakers and it seems to me as if all stock wiring was pulled for aftermarket wiring, I pulled my stereo a few months ago and it seems theres no real harness behind the deck, just wires twisted together and covered with electrical tape.

Same goes for the speakers, all connections are just twisted wires with elec tape around them

[camip]

I re-read what I wrote and I hope you didn't take that last bit the wrong way (it sounds like you got what I was trying to say) - you don't have to be a genius to fix these cars, you just have to be patient, curious about how things work, and have a certain mindset. It's a good car to learn on. And you're spot-on about making a thread to help other people out if you find something interesting, weird, or helpful.

dont worry i wasnt offended i get what you were saying this is my first car and at first i was worried i couldnt handle it but it seems like everyday im outide fixing or making something better and when i get funds for the stereo instal ill definatly make a thread.

[alloydix]

I have a 88 325ix. It has tweeters and a fader in the dash.

The wires back at the amp.


The wires up front. This is back a little ways so all the loops are eliminated. I believe the green and red wire is a hot battery wire, and thus it is not showing in the back.


From what I see it looks like I need to re-wire, but bimmer630 seems to have done it with a situation that originally looked like mine (no orange and brown wires). I went back on the amp wires about a foot and a half looking for the individual grounds for the each speaker. I didn't see any. Should I go back further, or do I just not have them? Just Scott doesn't say anything about tying in negatives to the speaker wires, but from what Luke is saying that seems necessary. Thanks for the help guys.

I'm a noob to forums and had an issue last time posting pics. In case those didn't work, here are the links

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71254823@N05/6443620731/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71254823@N05/6443622887/

[Gubernaculum]

I re-read what I wrote and I hope you didn't take that last bit the wrong way (it sounds like you got what I was trying to say) - you don't have to be a genius to fix these cars, you just have to be patient, curious about how things work, and have a certain mindset. It's a good car to learn on. And you're spot-on about making a thread to help other people out if you find something interesting, weird, or helpful.

[camip]

Will do I'll get started on it sometime after Christmas and make a thread and hopefully help some other people out. And when I got there wasnt a deck just a hole with cut wires thanks for the info.

[StereoInstaller1]

(^wisdom!)

Pull out the deck and make a thread with pictures showing what and how it was wired.

[Gubernaculum]

There is no telling what the previous owner did - hopefully he did it right, but you'll have to figure that out. Think hard about how a stereo needs to be wired and what you have in your car. Get a volt/ohm meter, the bentley, and the electronic troubleshooting manual. Go to town. The community will help you out somewhat, but you have to try to figure it out yourself first so you can present a logical and intelligent question. You'll get it. And if you can't get it, you might need to reconsider owning a 27 year old car. Have fun.

[camip]

No tweeters just the speakers by the floor which were replaced with some infinitys. And PO had a after market receiver (no longer in car) should I just go off of those wires?

[StereoInstaller1]

If you have front tweeters, you likely have premium sound.