Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[StereoInstaller1]

I want to thank Stereoinstaller1 and other members who posted their setup. Followed the instructions (90 M3 w/ premium sound system) as noted. Removed the stock alpine CM5908 and installed a CD43 (M logo) using the OEM amp and speaker system. Followed the instructions to the T and it woked out great. Used the CD43 BMW factory 4 channel harness from ECS tuning and did not connect the 4 negative speaker wires to the CD43. Connected all negative speakers to ground chasis and it worked out great. So happy that no wire hacking was needed. all stock wires used. Again, THANK YOU!!!!

Awesome! Good to hear, for sure

[thmpr464]

I want to thank Stereoinstaller1 and other members who posted their setup. Followed the instructions (90 M3 w/ premium sound system) as noted. Removed the stock alpine CM5908 and installed a CD43 (M logo) using the OEM amp and speaker system. Followed the instructions to the T and it woked out great. Used the CD43 BMW factory 4 channel harness from ECS tuning and did not connect the 4 negative speaker wires to the CD43. Connected all negative speakers to ground chasis and it worked out great. So happy that no wire hacking was needed. all stock wires used. Again, THANK YOU!!!!

[StereoInstaller1]

You must have a very late 89, thats usually non-premium wiring with all 8 wires

[Corsair89]

Yeah I figured as much. I'm gonna bypass the amp when it stops raining, if it ever does, but I've an '88 with the fader in the dash. This is the mess that I did.
I will also take the alpine Stype speakers from my '84 then. I've got a nice kenwood amp but I'm waiting till I can afford your box and a sub. I'm also in the middle of a 2.7i swap so yeah. Lol. I really appreciate your help and knowledge.

[StereoInstaller1]

Need some help. I'll start by saying that I'm electricity dumb. I wired my alpine per the first post as all the wires matched but I didn't and haven't bypassed my old BMW Blaupunkt amp. The headunit works however there is more feed back and static then people living in China. It also gets worse when the car is running. The PO put in JBL speakers up front and I am unsure about the back deck. I know asking what I did wrong prob won't get an answer but any help and guidance would be awesome.

If you have that kind of racket, it's not wired right.

Your car is an 89, correct? The wiring on an 89 only has 6 wires going to the amp, to do this it is required that you have 8 wires...

Lets point out that the goal of this thread is to bypass the old, noisy, weak OE amp...but, in the interest of making the job much easier, I will tell you how to wire your aftermarket deck to the OE amp.

Here is the speaker wiring:

Deck side > car side

White > yellow/red
Gray > blue/red
Green > yellow/black
Purple > blue black

Black> brown/black + all brown/orange

First, those color wires are on the back of the fader (89's came with a fader) and second, the deck will have 4 speaker wires that arent shown here, that being the "black stripe" wires, those will not be used, so insulate the ends somehow (electrical tape is fine, use Scotch Super 33 or regret it later) and do not allow any of them to touch each other or anything else.

Other than that, there is another way to bypass the amp, but you will need to run new wires to the front speakers, which can be a little confusing...so maybe give it a shot with the OE amp, and if you want better sound, stop messing around and buy a decent amp to run the speakers.

oh, and get those JBLs out of there, put them in a Chevy or Ford, they sound like crap in an E30. You will get a full octave or even two lower, with more output and a smoother midrange out of a set of Premiums.

Luke

[StereoInstaller1]

Luke, you are a stereo GOD. Thanks for your wisdom.

I have a problem hopefully you can help with. My 91 325iX with Premium Sound (stock head unit, 6 speaker with CD changer in trunk - currently disconnected) is noisey, pops/squeals when braking or turn signaling, and sound only comes out of DS rear speaker. What is going on?

I bought a new Kenwood deck and glad I found this thread. Will that solve my issues and get me back to rocking the Stones? Thanks in advance!

Your 91 should have 8 wires from the deck to the amp, then another 8 going from the amp to the 4 speakers, so I would recommend you do the bypass, it will sound much better than the lame old OE amp.

[Corsair89]

Need some help. I'll start by saying that I'm electricity dumb. I wired my alpine per the first post as all the wires matched but I didn't and haven't bypassed my old BMW Blaupunkt amp. The headunit works however there is more feed back and static then people living in China. It also gets worse when the car is running. The PO put in JBL speakers up front and I am unsure about the back deck. I know asking what I did wrong prob won't get an answer but any help and guidance would be awesome.

[WiE30]

91 325iX Premium Sound Noise..want to upgrade

Luke, you are a stereo GOD. Thanks for your wisdom.

I have a problem hopefully you can help with. My 91 325iX with Premium Sound (stock head unit, 6 speaker with CD changer in trunk - currently disconnected) is noisey, pops/squeals when braking or turn signaling, and sound only comes out of DS rear speaker. What is going on?

I bought a new Kenwood deck and glad I found this thread. Will that solve my issues and get me back to rocking the Stones? Thanks in advance!

[actletpone]

I believe they're inputs for the right and left side.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

Thanks, that is what I thought. My setup is a little different as I have a New Zealand only factory radio which only has line level outputs and amp under the ecu. I have the booster amp in the boot as well which has been bypassed.

The blue wire going to my fader is eventually connected to and ignition switched 12v violet/white wire. The left and right channels outputs of the fader are also joined, basically joining the blue wire to the yellow. The yellow wire is connected to an unlisted pin on my radio. A strange method of obtaining a switched 12v.

How many watts does the booster amp in the boot put out?

[15Michaeljoseph]

What are the solid yellow and solid blue wires for on the fader plug?
I am currently trying to figure out what has been cut and why.

I believe they're inputs for the right and left side.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

[actletpone]

What are the solid yellow and solid blue wires for on the fader plug?
I am currently trying to figure out what has been cut and why.

[StereoInstaller1]

Wiring on my series 2 325is has been hacked up. I think this was the plug for the fader, no premium sound.



Can someone confirm this is the fader wiring? and it looks like i only have 2 twisted pairs and a solid yellow and solid blue.

Yes, that is fader wiring

[twenty318is]

Wiring on my series 2 325is has been hacked up. I think this was the plug for the fader, no premium sound.



Can someone confirm this is the fader wiring? and it looks like i only have 2 twisted pairs and a solid yellow and solid blue.

[dadsbmw]

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) s

In the midst or redoing my stereo and looking at some of these threads and ran across the quote and couldnt help but laugh to myself. My uncle has been preaching to me about the benefits of Kimber Kable as being "the only speaker cable that actually makes a difference" since I was in my teens! Glad to see someone else shares this opinion!

[HarukoE30]

That particular amp is a pile of shit. Go return it, I can recommend half a dozen that sound 10x better

I haven't picked it up yet, it's just what they suggested would be of better use. I just want to run the speakers possibly off an AMP instead of the Deck if possible, with an option for a Sub-woofer later on.