Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[c10seth]

Hey, steroinstaller.

I have a 1989 325ix and I'm having trouble with getting any sound out of my speakers. My goal is to just replace the head unit for right now. My car seems to have the 4 pairs of wires and I believe I have everything connected correctly. The head unit that I have turns on, lights up, sees my phone, and can select all of its functions, but no sound at all. Attached are some photos. If you can help me solve this I'll throw you a "tip" at your paypal.

Kindest Regards,

c10seth



No idea what these brown twisted with blue and brown twisted with yellow are for


And the blue twists are just TEMPORARY LOL

[elcoy]

Tweeter

Ok the end to this is near. trying to get the tweeters working. On the attached photo of rf speaker I have the gray white (+?) and the gray brown(-?) that I direct connected to my headunit to get the RF speaker to work which it does. as you can see in the photo the gray white side has some type of resister and a gray green wire that runs up to the tweeter. Out of the tweeter comes the Gray Grn and a Gray yellow(which disappears in the wire harness). When I connect the gray yellow direct to the gray brown tweeter still does not work. Also I have no continuity across the red thingy from Gray white to gray green. Am I an idiot? or is my tweeter shot. this scenario is the same on the left

[StereoInstaller1]

Well surprise! I got it to work. Repurposed the wires for rear speakers ran new to fronts. Cant seem to get the tweeters in the doors to work. Hav gray/green wire that runs from front speaker up to tweeter and a gray yellow one that I can find in wire harness but not sure where it goes. Can I just cut the gray yellow one and connect to it for I assume the negative side?

Yes, exactly that...so good to hear yet another E30 stereo is back up and running, congrats!

[elcoy]

update

Well surprise! I got it to work. Repurposed the wires for rear speakers ran new to fronts. Cant seem to get the tweeters in the doors to work. Hav gray/green wire that runs from front speaker up to tweeter and a gray yellow one that I can find in wire harness but not sure where it goes. Can I just cut the gray yellow one and connect to it for I assume the negative side?

[StereoInstaller1]

It is kinda kickin my ass. Guess I just gotta jump in and start cutting wires
Ill let you know how I do today

Hey, tell you what..I am working out of the shop today, doing a huge job in a garage queen E24. I will PM you my phone number so if you get all that stuck you can call. No text though, I use an old school dumbphone.

Luke

[elcoy]

It is kinda kickin my ass. Guess I just gotta jump in and start cutting wires
Ill let you know how I do today

[StereoInstaller1]

Your 88 Vert is the same as early Premium Sound.

Since this is clearly kicking your ass (not trying to be mean, sorry) what I would do if I were you is find the parts of this thread that have to do with "re-purposing" the rear wires.

[elcoy]

My brain hurts
So here is the plug from my fader. Don't see any twisted pairs. Are they behind the gauge cluster? This is a 88 vert. I have:
blue/red
solid blue
Blue /black
Brown black that has four connected together
yellow/red
Solid yellow
yellow/black
Gray/red that has four connected together
See pictures of wires
What do I do now

[accident]

Yes.

[elcoy]

Amp?

Want to make sure I am cutting the correct plug. this is the amp correct?

http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad27/elcoy/amp_zps0581b326.jpg

[ncsubowen]

Upon further review, post #314 has my exact same setup. I'll test all the wires to make sure but it looks as if I won't need to run any more wires.

Will report results as soon as I can get back into the car.

[ncsubowen]

Edit: 1987 325e

So, I spent my afternoon in the car and failed to do much more than get the fader harness cut off and the stock stereo removed. From here, I'm at something of a loss.

I was not able to find the amp in the trunk (the only thing that was attached behind the antenna was the lamp control). I do have a fader, as mentioned above, which I have removed.

Here's the picture of my setup as it stands. I don't really know where to go from here, as it appears that I only have 6 wires leaving the fader, and I can't locate the amp in the trunk.

[dr.gonzo]

Hahaha that was my very first bmw back in the day. Thanks for asking.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[StereoInstaller1]

I bought this receiver for my car, a 1986 BMW 325es. I bought it without a stereo.


http://i.imgur.com/XY5PrAS.jpg (click for huge)
This is what I'm working with, no idea how hacked up it is from the stock harness. Plug on the receiver is just a standard 16 pin Alpine.

Crutchfield says if I use this I can tap into the stock harness, for the speakers at least, but that appears to only connect two speakers, so would I buy two of those for the front and the rears? The big gray cable I know is for the antenna, and the white wire wrapped up with it raises up the antenna or something but I have no idea what everything else is supposed to plug into.

I've never installed a car stereo in my life before so I have no clue what I'm doing. What's the best way to proceed?

e: OK, it looks like I have the premium system, I have 6 speakers, the fader and what looks like an amp in the trunk but holy crap is it ever in an awkward location jammed up there behind antenna and all those brackets.

Hey...I see you posted this a while ago...did you get it all handled?

[rscott]

I bought this receiver for my car, a 1986 BMW 325es. I bought it without a stereo.


http://i.imgur.com/XY5PrAS.jpg (click for huge)
This is what I'm working with, no idea how hacked up it is from the stock harness. Plug on the receiver is just a standard 16 pin Alpine.

Crutchfield says if I use this I can tap into the stock harness, for the speakers at least, but that appears to only connect two speakers, so would I buy two of those for the front and the rears? The big gray cable I know is for the antenna, and the white wire wrapped up with it raises up the antenna or something but I have no idea what everything else is supposed to plug into.

I've never installed a car stereo in my life before so I have no clue what I'm doing. What's the best way to proceed?

e: OK, it looks like I have the premium system, I have 6 speakers, the fader and what looks like an amp in the trunk but holy crap is it ever in an awkward location jammed up there behind antenna and all those brackets.