Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[mikeb23ft]

Finally got this figured out, sounding great now. Thanks for all of the help everybody.

[uglyveedub]

:up:2 big thumbs up to Luke for this write up, just finished, its pretty freakin easy, just dont be afraid to pull back the factory wrap and look for the speaker pairs. When you do this, color is not an issue!!!
Amazing how much those premium speakers sound even with just head unit power on them. :up:

Sounding so good I need to save up for a LukeBox to top it off.

Thanks again Luke!!!

[ethorpe]

First I'd like to say thanks for writing this up. I was afraid to tackle this myself but after some careful reading and attempting to figure out exactly what system I have, I've now got a plan of attack which I'll be attempting tonight.

I'm just looking for confirmation that I'm on the right track here.

The car is a 1987 325e, Premium Sound system w/ Fader in the dash. As my colors don't match up to yours and my fader has 6 wires instead of 8, I assume that I get to do new wiring (yay!). I will be removing the stock amp as it doesn't function.

From this thread, I guess my best bet would be to re-run the wiring to the front speakers, and re-use the four positive wires from the Fader -> Amp as rear speaker wiring, ensuring that I match up the correct colors from one side of the amp to the other.

The other option I see is simply run 4 pairs (8 wires) from the deck all the way to the back, and hook them up to the corresponding speaker wires where they output from the amp...

Just want to make sure I've got this all figured out correctly before I really dive into it. I've consulted the ETM to figure out power/gnd/ant for the deck.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[German Audio Specialties]

First I'd like to say thanks for writing this up. I was afraid to tackle this myself but after some careful reading and attempting to figure out exactly what system I have, I've now got a plan of attack which I'll be attempting tonight.

I'm just looking for confirmation that I'm on the right track here.

The car is a 1987 325e, Premium Sound system w/ Fader in the dash. As my colors don't match up to yours and my fader has 6 wires instead of 8, I assume that I get to do new wiring (yay!). I will be removing the stock amp as it doesn't function.

From this thread, I guess my best bet would be to re-run the wiring to the front speakers, and re-use the four positive wires from the Fader -> Amp as rear speaker wiring, ensuring that I match up the correct colors from one side of the amp to the other.

The other option I see is simply run 4 pairs (8 wires) from the deck all the way to the back, and hook them up to the corresponding speaker wires where they output from the amp...

Just want to make sure I've got this all figured out correctly before I really dive into it. I've consulted the ETM to figure out power/gnd/ant for the deck.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Now there is a first post!

So sorry I did not see this before.

I hope you "re-purposed" the stock input wires to the rear speakers and just ran new wires to the front. I know it has been covered somewhere, but searching my posts is frustrating for me, and its was my damn thread!

So, welcome to R3V, we will get your stereo rockin'. Are you thinking of doing the "$500 stereo"? I know I will be starting way higher production runs shortly, so if you do plan on getting one of our subwoofer boxes, watch for a sale thread soon.

Luke

[greentalks43]

Now there is a first post!

So sorry I did not see this before.

I hope you "re-purposed" the stock input wires to the rear speakers and just ran new wires to the front. I know it has been covered somewhere, but searching my posts is frustrating for me, and its was my damn thread!

So, welcome to R3V, we will get your stereo rockin'. Are you thinking of doing the "$500 stereo"? I know I will be starting way higher production runs shortly, so if you do plan on getting one of our subwoofer boxes, watch for a sale thread soon.

Luke

Here is the post you're looking for http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...0&postcount=91 I used it to wire up my sisters 87 325e last weekend.

_William

[JGE30]

85 325e it has sound all 4 fader still works

[German Audio Specialties]

That is very wrong. It will work for a bit, but will likely run very hot.

I cannot see the colors very well on that pic, please type out what connects to what so we can get you connected properly...it will sound much better and last longer.

Luke

[JGE30]

Blue/Blue Brown Right Channel
Yellow/Yellow Brown Left Channel

[Afredo]

1989 325i coupe

hey man, will this tutorial work for this car? I've got an Alpine head unit to hook up in my 1989 325i coupe. Also, I was told by my local audio install shop that I will have to replace all the stock speakers because they are grounded out seperately and not through the radio or something, and also that there is no radio harness adaptor; are these things both true? thanks! please PM me.

[German Audio Specialties]

Blue/Blue Brown Right Channel
Yellow/Yellow Brown Left Channel
[ATTACH]53970[/ATTACH]

laaaaaame...

OK, you are going to need to do some work on that.

Now that I see your codes properly, you are in no danger of blowing anything up, but you are only using 1/2 the power your deck actually makes.

Read every stupid post on this thread and I bet you figure out what to do.

BTW, the easy test for the moron move your PO/installer did is that the fader on the deck does not work. If you fade to the rear, you have no sound at all, right?

hey man, will this tutorial work for this car? I've got an Alpine head unit to hook up in my 1989 325i coupe. Also, I was told by my local audio install shop that I will have to replace all the stock speakers because they are grounded out seperately and not through the radio or something, and also that there is no radio harness adaptor; are these things both true? thanks! please PM me.

As is typical of the idiots at car stereo shops, they are talking out their ass.

I know, I worked with other shitty installers for over 25 years in those same kinds of shops...pure and simple, most installers suck, they are wrong.

You too need to read ALL of this thread, maybe even download the electrical troubleshooting manual from www.wedophones.com so you can see the actual BMW wiring diagrams.

Pay specific attention to the color codes that go into the amp and into the fader, you will see a continuity of design. Complex is a nice word for it, but once you understand, it really does make sense.

Everyone repeat after me: BMW radios are common ground but the speakers are not, especially if they are amplified. They share a negative, but it is not chassis ground. The deck is what makes it look like common ground. Change decks and "unshare" the speaker negatives and all is good.

And, no, there is no "plug and play" option. If you want quality sound in your E30 plan on doing some work, plain and simple.

Good luck, guys!

Luke

[German Audio Specialties]

Luke my car isn't using a hersche motor antenna. I'm using the z3/318ti stationary antenna where the WHITE wire isn't hooked up to it by design. Do I still need to utilize both white wires from the dash to my aftermarket harness?

Also what is (AMP REM) Blue/White do?

Only some aftermarket decks have blue/white: it is a dedicated power amp remote. Use it to turn on your amps.

Solid blue lights up whenever the deck is in "tuner" mode, or if you have a higher-end Kenwood and have turned on "SYNC" or T.I. (traffic info), sending your antenna up whenever the fuck the stupid pile of shit decides it needs to check the non-existent traffic reports, or set your clock..again.

[Badgtho]

The car is a 92 Mtechnic2 appearance
It has no dash fader
It has door tweeters so i assume an amp.

When i got the car it had some really crappy sony radio in it. the guy used miles of wire and some sketchy OEM interface and it only made sound from 2 speakers.

i tore it all out and got my new pioneer to power up, operate the antenna, retain power for the clock.

There was a harness (don't know if it was aftermarket) that plugged into the speaker harness in the car. it jumped a few pins and gave me one yellow and one blueish wire. i thought great, this jumps everything so i have 2 inputs for all speakers. wrong! i was getting sound from the tweeters only; just like the sony that was in there with the rats nest.

I eliminated this jumper deal and i got all to work without using any of the speaker grounds off the new deck. i just clipped and capped them. I sent each speaker positive from the deck to a wire on the car's speaker harness.

it works well and i get sound from all speakers. sounds awesome but i get a little pop when i shut the key off... no big deal.

i was wondering if what i'm saying sounds OK to you and if you can confirm that pop is the stock amp. any way to elminate the pop?

[Badgtho]

Nvm my above post. When I took a look at the amp it was obvious that 'ol boy that owned my car was not an electrician More like a butcher of copper.

I ohmed out the wires, bypassed the amp and did this properly.

The original post here got me started but my wire colors differed a little. The front speakers seem to use a common ground. The rears did not.

Between the junk the PO used and the stock amp I removed a ton of crap from the car.

I have to say that 20 yr old premium sound is awesome!

[German Audio Specialties]

Nvm my above post. When I took a look at the amp it was obvious that 'ol boy that owned my car was not an electrician More like a butcher of copper.

I ohmed out the wires, bypassed the amp and did this properly.

The original post here got me started but my wire colors differed a little. The front speakers seem to use a common ground. The rears did not.

Between the junk the PO used and the stock amp I removed a ton of crap from the car.

I have to say that 20 yr old premium sound is awesome!

Good job! I have done several '93's. all had the same colors. In fact, I have a '93 in the shop right now, but I have not torn into it just yet, I will test and compare.

Again, this whole "common ground" thing is NOT true: no BMW with an amp has any form of common ground between the amp and the speakers.

Lets clarify this: common ground means there is a shared ground between a left speaker and a right speaker. Nothing else means "common" ground. Make sense?

Good to hear you have a good start on a real stereo...now lets get a decent sub in that thing!

Luke

[coat]

Addendum to the above: either the ETM and Luke were both wrong on the wire colors of the 12v+ versus headlight dimmer wire - or the germans who built my harness were a bit drunk that day. My "12V when the headlight is on" wire was actually red/green, and my "12v+ always on" was gray/red. Go figure.

This was also the case in my car, 1987 325i 4 door.

Also, my Left rear +: black/brown at connector position 7 was actually black/red in case anybody has the same issue. Thanks for the write-up, I got my back speakers working, now I just need to run new wire to the front speakers.