Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[FastAndLight]

Well, not sure what took the last 5 hours of my day, but:



Sorry for the blurry-cam, but the new head unit is in and sounds amazing.

Luke, I know you get this all the time, but you were so incredibly right. About everything.

Getting rid of the amp and fader made everything better. I don't think my previous HU was that bad (it was really badly setup and connected), but just connecting the speakers directly to the HU fixed everything.

I thought my tweeters were bad. They weren't, they sound awesome.

I thought in general my stereo was weak and my car just got bad radio reception. False. Stock amp was filled with sand (from when I had the car stripped, sandblasted, and re-painted). The stock amp also has been made obsolete by modern technology.

I added a ground cable directly to the back of the headunit and my radio reception seems to be amazing (after writing this I remembered that I also ran a new antenna cable, so that probably had something to do with it). That said, I haven't tested it too much. I haven't driven anywhere and my new HU has HD radio, so of course everything I was listening to sounded better (lots of HD radio in the DC area). Thinking about it, I was able to get in stations that I usually don't get from the house, so I am cautiously optimistic.

Anyway, I am so glad I did this. It isn't that hard, and it was a Sunday well spent, even if the lawn didn't get mowed.

I still have to get some blanks to fill in where I pulled the fader and I'm going to pull that dumb window switch the PO put in there that is wired to the locks. I'm going to copy the mic-in-the-blank mod that someone did.

Next up, putting in my e36 window switches and vaders.

Ooh yeah. Vaders. After that is done I might never leave my car.

[StereoInstaller1]

Well, not sure what took the last 5 hours of my day, but:



Sorry for the blurry-cam, but the new head unit is in and sounds amazing.

Luke, I know you get this all the time, but you were so incredibly right. About everything.

Getting rid of the amp and fader made everything better. I don't think my previous HU was that bad (it was really badly setup and connected), but just connecting the speakers directly to the HU fixed everything.

I thought my tweeters were bad. They weren't, they sound awesome.

I thought in general my stereo was weak and my car just got bad radio reception. False. Stock amp was filled with sand (from when I had the car stripped, sandblasted, and re-painted). The stock amp also has been made obsolete by modern technology.

I added a ground cable directly to the back of the headunit and my radio reception seems to be amazing (after writing this I remembered that I also ran a new antenna cable, so that probably had something to do with it). That said, I haven't tested it too much. I haven't driven anywhere and my new HU has HD radio, so of course everything I was listening to sounded better (lots of HD radio in the DC area). Thinking about it, I was able to get in stations that I usually don't get from the house, so I am cautiously optimistic.

Anyway, I am so glad I did this. It isn't that hard, and it was a Sunday well spent, even if the lawn didn't get mowed.

I still have to get some blanks to fill in where I pulled the fader and I'm going to pull that dumb window switch the PO put in there that is wired to the locks. I'm going to copy the mic-in-the-blank mod that someone did.

Next up, putting in my e36 window switches and vaders.

Ooh yeah. Vaders. After that is done I might never leave my car.

Well hot damn...first, thanks!

Second, I don't ever get tired of hearing I got to help someone, thanks again.

Third, sounds like you are almost ready for a subwoofer!

Congrats, man, good job.

Luke

[DaKine]

Finally I have a head unit hooked up. I bought my 87 325i with premium sound but no head unit. I figured out how to hook up the speaker wires thanks to this thread. I ran new speaker wire to my fronts and used the fadder wires for the rears. I really don't think I'd of done it as clean and frustration free as I did without this thread.

I was really surprised by how well the stock rear speakers sounded. The left front is shot and the other is alright. Didn't get the tweeters to work but I'm planning on buying new speakers to set that up properly.

I am very pleased and just wanted to say thanks!

[luckydog2]

thanks for the wiring tried and worked but on a kenwood with blue tooth I used the amp and it works yes it does thx again

[NeedaE30]

questions..

I am starting this project after the previous owner has hacked all the wiring.. i I have removed the oil covered aftermarket amp from the trunk tons and tons of wires just dangling around it and it certainly did not work.. the HU powered up but never had any sound... Fader switch has nothing at all connected to it missing left rear speaker. Pulled head unit out of car and found 2 wiring harnesses.. the factory harness hacked up and the aftermarket harness also hacked up... thick gauge aftermarket speaker/sub wires inside the dash but not connected to anything.. i dont even know where to start... I'm pretty sure since the fader is not connected and there was an aftermarket amp in the trunk, that the factory amp has already been bypassed.. I'm literally about to tear out my entire interior and start to try and figure this out ill take pictures as i go but if anyone has any suggestions please chime in.. i'm a newb when it comes to car audio

Printed first post to use as reference


couple pics of what im working with

Found this dangling inside the dash with only 1 wire connected it's heavy and looks to be from 1983 lol






also can i solder and heat shrink my connections without issues? or is it recommended to use crimp connections? which i dont have lol

[e30blitz]

Crimp is far the easiest

Solder and heat shrink
Is cool and thin. When installed

But get a pack of butt connectors
And crimp away :)


OO ||| OO + O w O

[ScottSneed]

Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

Ok. Was hoping to not have to do all that due my limited time, but sounds like I have no choice. Based on what I've read so far, it looks like if I do what BlueBMW did I should be good.

Since he had what I have (4 wires with no twisted pairs), it seems that his setup is what I need to do:

Deck Connections:
Car ---> Deck
Red/Green ---> Yellow (12V Const)
Violet/White ---> Red (12V ACC)
Brown/Black x2 ---> Black (Ground)
Gray/Red ---> Orange (Illumination)
White ---> Blue (Antenna On)
White ---> Blue/White (Amp On)

Left Rear Speaker:
(+) Radio: Yellow/Red ===> Amp: Black/Red
(-) Radio: Yellow/Black ===> Amp: Black/Violet

Right Rear Speaker:
(+) Radio: Blue/Red ===> Amp: Black/White
(-) Radio: Blue/Black ===> Amp: Black/Brown

Speaker Connections:
L/F + R/F speakers: New Wire directly from deck to speakers

L/R:
Speaker + ---> Black/Red ---> Yellow/Red ---> Green (L/R +)
Speaker - ---> Black/Violet ---> Yellow/Black ---> Green/Black (L/R -)

R/R:
Speaker + ---> Black/White ---> Blue/Red ---> Violet (R/R +)
Speaker - ---> Black/Brown ---> Blue/Black ---> Violet/Black (R/R -)

If I understand this all correctly, basically, all the wires I have connected to the deck's speaker wires right now will become the pos/neg rear speaker wires, and I run new ones to the fronts. Assuming that this is correct, my only other question involves the door tweeters. Do these simply go away, do I run a pos/neg from the front speaker stereo wires to both the footwell speakers AND the tweeters, or do they get powered somehow through all the magic involved in the new connections in the trunk? I've seen a lot of reference to them with regard to determining what type of system people have, but nothing so far with regard to powering them once the bypass is done; only re-wiring the kickpanel speakers. Maybe I missed something?

I have followed this and got my rears To work perfectly (88 cabrio as well). However, my question is do I NEED to run wire to the front speakers or can I do the same with the front speakers? Also what wires would I need to tap into?

[StereoInstaller1]

I am not 100% sure with early 'verts.

The big trick is you have to have 4 pairs from the deck to the speakers.

Check your amp input plug, see if you have 5, 6 or 8 wires from the deck to the amp.

[ScottSneed]

Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

I am not 100% sure with early 'verts.

The big trick is you have to have 4 pairs from the deck to the speakers.

Check your amp input plug, see if you have 5, 6 or 8 wires from the deck to the amp.

Got 5 wires from the car to the deck and 8 pairs from the car to the amp

[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.

[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?

[dr.gonzo]

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

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[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.

[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.

[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