Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[Ervin87]

Hi everyone,

It seems that most of this thread is tailored for cars with premium system and an amp.

My 1989 325i coupe does not have the premium system (no amp in the back) but does have a fader.

With the wires that I see, there are 4 sets of wires (white and white/red), totalling to 8 wires.. 3 sets of wires are routed from the driver side and one set is from the passenger side.

Then I have the standard wires, black, blue, yellow, white, blue/white.

While I was reading this thread, my friend used the white and white/red wire sets and connected them to the stereo harness. Surprisingly all the speakers work. He didn't do anything with the wires that go to the fader! Even though the speakers work, I am not convinced that its wired correctly.

What are the fader wires for then?
what are the white and white/red wires ? (+/-) for eatch speaker?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Sorry for all the questions. This is all new to me.

[StereoInstaller1]

Hi everyone,

It seems that most of this thread is tailored for cars with premium system and an amp.

My 1989 325i coupe does not have the premium system (no amp in the back) but does have a fader.

With the wires that I see, there are 4 sets of wires (white and white/red), totalling to 8 wires.. 3 sets of wires are routed from the driver side and one set is from the passenger side.

Then I have the standard wires, black, blue, yellow, white, blue/white.

While I was reading this thread, my friend used the white and white/red wire sets and connected them to the stereo harness. Surprisingly all the speakers work. He didn't do anything with the wires that go to the fader! Even though the speakers work, I am not convinced that its wired correctly.

What are the fader wires for then?
what are the white and white/red wires ? (+/-) for eatch speaker?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Sorry for all the questions. This is all new to me.

The white/red wires you refer to are not the factory wires, someone else has re-wired your car.

[GunMetalGrey]

Alright, I just wanted to add that my ground wires were not the colors described in your first post and that caused me a tad bit of confusion. I think it would be beneficial to mention that your ground wire is whatever wire is twisted together with your power wire (if that makes sense). But regardless it is a good easy setup.
My only question now is that my right rear tweeter works, but not the right rear main speaker. I would assume this to be a si"gn of a bad speaker due to the fact that the tweeter is wired directly to the speaker, correct me if I am wrong on that.
My left rear speaker and tweeter seem alright, but they seem to be playing at "half volume", from time to time they kick in fully and it sounds awesome, but then it will go back to being quiet. Any ideas there? Or is it time to find some "new" premium speakers for the rear?

[StereoInstaller1]

Alright, I just wanted to add that my ground wires were not the colors described in your first post and that caused me a tad bit of confusion. I think it would be beneficial to mention that your ground wire is whatever wire is twisted together with your power wire (if that makes sense). But regardless it is a good easy setup.
My only question now is that my right rear tweeter works, but not the right rear main speaker. I would assume this to be a si"gn of a bad speaker due to the fact that the tweeter is wired directly to the speaker, correct me if I am wrong on that.
My left rear speaker and tweeter seem alright, but they seem to be playing at "half volume", from time to time they kick in fully and it sounds awesome, but then it will go back to being quiet. Any ideas there? Or is it time to find some "new" premium speakers for the rear?

Yes, sound like time for a fresher pair! Look for fronts, generally a nice dark black...they fade to yellow. You may want to solder on the leads as it was done at the factory.

[ruabel2]

Could this apply for an 88 e28?

[StereoInstaller1]

Could this apply for an 88 e28?

It does, and the Premium Sound on E28s and E24s too.

[ruabel2]

Thanks!

[StereoInstaller1]

and just so you know, we have some killer boxes for the E28 in stock and ready to ship

[achtunge30]

Luke - Thank you for this thread!

[thebonuslevel]

Amazing, just amazing. I took my car to 2 stereo places assuming that it would be a simple deck swap as I already had the head unit. Having no tools, since I just got reassigned to a new duty station and my household items are still being shipped, I decided to take my car to a stereo installation place. I figured the 40 dollar labor would be comparable to the tools I would require and not to mention the 1h vs 1 afternoon time frame of trying to figure it out myself. The first place said that I needed new speakers new wiring and basically an entirely new sound system. The 2nd place I took it to agreed to do a hardwire but they couldn't figure out the wiring and told me that I would need to rewire the car as well. I called bullshit and found my way here.

Luke your guide, once I found it, as well as the pictures in QUICKSR20's thread about his install (here:http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=219813) made this a snap. It sounds great and I am very pleased with the outcome.

[StereoInstaller1]

Amazing, just amazing. I took my car to 2 stereo places assuming that it would be a simple deck swap as I already had the head unit. Having no tools, since I just got reassigned to a new duty station and my household items are still being shipped, I decided to take my car to a stereo installation place. I figured the 40 dollar labor would be comparable to the tools I would require and not to mention the 1h vs 1 afternoon time frame of trying to figure it out myself. The first place said that I needed new speakers new wiring and basically an entirely new sound system. The 2nd place I took it to agreed to do a hardwire but they couldn't figure out the wiring and told me that I would need to rewire the car as well. I called bullshit and found my way here.

Luke your guide, once I found it, as well as the pictures in QUICKSR20's thread about his install (here:http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=219813) made this a snap. It sounds great and I am very pleased with the outcome.

Haha...you should have shown them this thread!

I mean, seriously, where else you gonna get a 32 year veteran installer (especially one who was working on these cars when they were new) telling you step by step how to do this shit?

R3V kicks ass, don't it?

Rock on, brother, and thank you for keeping all of us free!

Luke

[thebonuslevel]

Yeah I was looking for more resources on my car because I am very interested in keeping it maintained and improving the very small quirks it has. I am very happy I got to keep most of the stuff stock as it is not only cheaper but looks better imho. Photos can be found in my members gallery. Again, excellent resources here and I am very happy to be part of the e30 and r3v community.

[CB-M3]

so can you use the factory wires for this amp bypass with new head unit? whats the benefit of running new wire? is it going to a bigger awg wire?

how do i know if i have premium sound in my e30?

[StereoInstaller1]

so can you use the factory wires for this amp bypass with new head unit? whats the benefit of running new wire? is it going to a bigger awg wire?

how do i know if i have premium sound in my e30?

1. There is no wire on the market today that is as good as stock. Unless you are running HUGE power, use the stock stuff.

2. First, look for tweeter pods and rear speaker pods. Second, look just in front of your antenna, under the trunk liner, next to and on the same bracket as the check relay pack, that is your stock amplifier location.

Luke

[CB-M3]

Luke, can you check over my wiring labels? PM'ed ya.