Radio Wiring and Amp Bypass

[StereoInstaller1]

First, let me say this is NOT applicable to all E30s. Generally, Late Model (88+) will have this wiring on premium sound cars. IF you have a fader in the dash, this MAY work: you need to unwrap about 8" of fader harness to see if you have 4 pairs of speaker wires, as some cars have only 6 wires, not 4 pairs (8 total) so if this chart does not apply PERFECTLY to your car, don't use it.

Quick disclaimer: this is not idiot proof. You mess it up, don't whine at me, I do not care.

If this saves you countless hours of hassle or you are just feeling generous, feel free to paypal me a tip. Add "@gmail.com" to Stereoinstaller1 and I promise to only use the money for projects on my car.


OK, here is the info.

Obviously, what you do here is simple: connect the "deck" wire to the "dash" wire, then back at the trunk, connect that "dash" wire to the "speaker" wire.

This is not rocket surgery, boys. Get it done.



Aftermarket-----------Dash Wires-----------Speaker Wires

RF+ Grey--------------Blue/Red-------------Grey/White
RF- Grey/Black--------Brown/Orange--------Grey/Brown

LF+ White------------Yellow/Red------------Grey/Red
LF- White/Black-------Brown/Orange--------Grey/Violet

RR+ Violet------------Blue/Black------------Black/White
RR- Violet/Black-------Brown/Orange--------Black/Brown

LR+ Green------------Yellow/Black----------Black/Red
LR- Green/Black-------Brown/Orange--------Black/Violet


(+12V Unswitched) Yellow----Red/Green (Changes to Yellow at C302)

(+12V ACC) Red-------------Violet/White (Changes to Voilet/Grey at C302)

(Ground) Black---------------Brown (may also be Brown/Black)

(ILL) Orange-----------------Grey/Red (Changes to White at C302)

(P ANT) Blue-----------------White (this is one of 2 white wires)

(AMP REM) Blue/White--------White (this is the one in the same harness as the speakers)

Luke

[hurttech]

Are you a proponent of using the stock wiring instead of running new cable?

[StereoInstaller1]

Are you a proponent of using the stock wiring instead of running new cable?

Absolutely, yes. Thanks for bringing this up.

My reasoning is simple: no one who uses a diagram like this even knows who Bruce Brisson or Noel Lee are, much less Ray Kimber (who sells wire that ISN'T snake oil) so the quality of the wire you are gonna get at Monoprice or Home Depot (or get 1000X screwed on at your local car stereo whore shop) is WAY worse than what is already in your car: twisted pair, high copper content, generally excellent condition, neatly ran, no noise, etc...the stock BMW wires kick that shit out of 99.999% of the professionals out there, much less the neophyte installer.

Another advantage is that should you decide to add am amplifier to your system, you can simply connect in the trunk. Run your RCAs and all else is done!

Guys, again: please use the stock wire wherever possible.

Luke

[bmwstephen]

Luke, am I reading this correctly? there appears to be 2 black browns but one being positive and the other being negative?

[AbsorbantNut]

I wish this was here a few months ago;) Figured it out how to do it regardlessly with some reasearch & help from you.

Thanks again Luke!

[StereoInstaller1]

Luke, am I reading this correctly? there appears to be 2 black browns but one being positive and the other being negative?

Holy crap, great catch! THE ETM IS WRONG ON THE '87!

Fixed, and thanks!

LF

[IRON-E]

Very nice Luke, I did this when I installed my set up 4 years ago, makes the e30 wiring world so much easier.....

I got the diagram from the hanes manual. :D

[StereoInstaller1]

See, that's the thing...I don't use manuals, I just do it. I test every connection, quick and easy. People watch me do it and they always freak out, like "how the hell do you do that?" when it is just so damn simple to me...but there are LOTS of things I can't do, so kinda hard for me to criticize.

[accident]

for what it's worth, every E30 i've wired the two white wires were connected to each other and went out to a single white wire for the stock deck. apply 12v to each until your antenna moves would be my guess :)

[StereoInstaller1]

Or, just look at the antenna cable, the wire for the antenna is wrapped with it

[accident]

never noticed that before. will look out for this next time i wire an E30. thanks for the tits writeup luke :)

[bmwstephen]

helping Luke out a bit for helping me diagnosing my issues. Luke, can you take a look at my thread if you have time? I ran into something new with my wiring.

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=190893&page=2

[nando]

nice. I wish this was around 8 years ago - I hacked into my stock stereo wiring to add an aftermarket stereo. But I've got a virgin premium sound harness in the parts car I intend on putting in my car with a new deck. Haven't had a stereo since june. :p

[bmwstephen]

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?

[accident]

assuming you have premium sound, the AMP REM wire is the wire that tells the amplifier to turn on. it's also used for your boomy box to know when to power up as well.