Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[StereoInstaller1]

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

[ruabel2]

Thanks!

[StereoInstaller1]

Could this apply for an 88 e28?

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

[ruabel2]

Could this apply for an 88 e28?

[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.

[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]

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.

[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]

Like the man says, ignore the weirdness at the amp/HU. Just follow the wire back to the twisted pairs and you are good to go.

Given the unholy mess someone made splicing a radar detector into harness, I doubt I would have even attempted it without this. But all of the crap was downstream from the twisted pairs, so I knew I could snip it, did, and the new HU works brilliantly with the old harness and speakers - Kenwood KDC-BT852HD. Ugly, but what the hell, they all are.

Good to hear people are still getting solid use of this info. Makes me so proud of you guys! <sniff>

Luke

[astiv43]

Brilliant - thanks to everyone on the thread

Like the man says, ignore the weirdness at the amp/HU. Just follow the wire back to the twisted pairs and you are good to go.

Given the unholy mess someone made splicing a radar detector into harness, I doubt I would have even attempted it without this. But all of the crap was downstream from the twisted pairs, so I knew I could snip it, did, and the new HU works brilliantly with the old harness and speakers - Kenwood KDC-BT852HD. Ugly, but what the hell, they all are.

[ProjectCab]

Installing my new deck. '88 with the fader and amp but with aftermarket deck already installed. Any idea why the PO would have spliced both white wires to the blue/white from the aftermarket harness? I'm guessing my amp is still running the speakers?

[Ngk325]

Looking to see if anyone has similar issues and/or suggestions - sound is horrible out of speakers (cracking/pop sounding) and engine noise speaker output ( I can hear the engine in my speakers - very loud).
90 325i premium sound with after market clarion HU. I plan to replace the HU but before I start I need to find out what might be causing speaker engine noise and hopefully resolving this issue might fix the horrible crack/poping sound. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[GunMetalGrey]

They had been good before so I would assume they are still fine, but I shall check them regardless.

[bernzpeed]

have you tried checking your speakers if it was blown? i just installed an Alpine amp on mine coz i was complaining bout the lack of bass on my premium speakers that i retrofitted and after trying out 3 speakers, finally we boiled it down to the speakers by the 3rd set of speakers. at first i thought it was my wiring because i didn't use the rca cable and instead used the speaker level input. it sounds great now coz i replaced my speakers with Polk Audio component speakers. Just need to install the sub for the final touches.

[GunMetalGrey]

I also have the crackling that other people have described, which was said to be ground related I believe. I have to check that again