So how screwed am I? (aka the chewed rats nest that is my stereo wiring harness)

[kts]

I bought my E30 several months back from a guy who did a lot of restoration work and built it up to be a pretty sweet track car. He removed whatever stereo might have been in the car and replaced it with a metal stereo delete panel. Speakers, antenna, etc have also all been removed.

I was going to leave it this way but I have been enjoying the car a lot on drives and I would like to add in a simple stereo back into the car so I have something to listen to on the 1.5-4+ hour drives from the track back to my house. When I removed the stereo delete planel I found this:











What looks like bits of the stock harness (connecting back to itself?), butt splices, and exposed wire. What a mess. :(

Wiring where the speakers go. Looks like wiring was upgraded at some point so I won't have to deal with the common ground thing I've read about in here a little bit.


So stereo wiring gurus, how screwed am I going to be trying to put a stereo back into this thing? I know pretty much nothing when it comes to stereo wiring. :(

My goal is just a simple head unit and 4 speakers. Not looking for an oontzy system, just something I can listen to the radio in, play CDs/iPod, etc. No amp/subs/etc.

Larger photos: http://solberg.umd.edu/E30/WTF-stereo/

Thanks in advance!

[yert315]

Wiring up a head unit is very easy. I threw one in my 2002 (which did not have ANY stereo wiring when I got it).

Essentially you have:
-ground wire
-12v constant power (battery)
-12v switched power (ignition)
-speaker wires

You can bypass the entire factory wiring harness if you want to avoid the headache.

[QUiKSR20]

Alot of these E30's had a stock amp in the trunk to the left side of the trunk. Im new to these cars but I am doing the same thing so I figured I would share what I have learned.

From reading to by pass the amp you connect a bunch of wires behind the radio to other wires that head to the amp and this maybe what the prior owner did before the radio delete.

Check out this document for removing the amp it has diagrams and pictures that may assist with your install and is what I will follow when doing mine.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=191119

[kts]

Thanks for the link. I need to check the box of parts I received with the car as this amp (or something that looks like an amp) I think was in there.

The car is a 91.

I'll have to talk to my friend at a dealership to see if he can help me decode the VIN to figure out if the car came optioned with the Premium Sound or not.

[QUiKSR20]

Easy just check the left side of the trunk and see if there's an amp or wiring for the amp.
Its on the left next to the antenna ( towards front ) and hides well behind some metal.



Just did my stereo last night and once you finally get into it , its not bad. When I first saw all the wires I was like oh dear god lol.

[kts]

Easy just check the left side of the trunk and see if there's an amp or wiring for the amp.
Its on the left next to the antenna ( towards front ) and hides well behind some metal.



Just did my stereo last night and once you finally get into it , its not bad. When I first saw all the wires I was like oh dear god lol.

The trunk has been totally gutted so I know there is no amp in there. :) I'll have to look at the wiring in the trunk and the box of parts that came with the car. From the photo you posted I think there was an amp in the box o' parts.

The antenna is gone, that will be replaced with one from a junkyard.

[QUiKSR20]

Cool hope the pics / info helped.. Shit if your gonna re-add an antenna mines well go the Z3 route - http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23843

[freeride53]

You can work with that...
Wiring the antenna cable really isn't hard at all.
If you have a replacement cable, it's really a day's affair.
Also, if you plan on adding an aftermarket antenna, you're going to need an adapter from the bmw style connector, which are pretty hard to find actually.

[kts]

Cool hope the pics / info helped.. Shit if your gonna re-add an antenna mines well go the Z3 route - http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23843

It did, thanks!

I do have a stock amp (made by Blaupunkt) in my box o' parts and the wiring harness for it is still in the car.

I think I will have to see if I can find a Z3 at the yard, that looks slick.

You can work with that...
Wiring the antenna cable really isn't hard at all.
If you have a replacement cable, it's really a day's affair.
Also, if you plan on adding an aftermarket antenna, you're going to need an adapter from the bmw style connector, which are pretty hard to find actually.

The wiring for the antenna is still there, the previous owner only removed the antenna, so that should be very easy one I get one from a junkyard.

[QUiKSR20]

Cool best of luck, Follow my previous link to bypass the amp and you will be off to some good tunes.

[StereoInstaller1]

Just remember that the twisted pairs go somewhere, and black stripe is speaker negative...

The easy way to tell if your car is Premium Sound is see if you have door tweeters. It is not absolute, but ge4nerally if you see tweeters, you have PS.

BTW, just to let you know that mess of yours is not all that scary. I have seen far far worse. Get that shitty aftermarket wire out of there, get it back to all stock: the stock wire is far better quality. Pull the speakers first, make sure that the stock wire is connected.

GL!
Luke

[kts]

The easy way to tell if your car is Premium Sound is see if you have door tweeters. It is not absolute, but ge4nerally if you see tweeters, you have PS.

The car does have tweeters installed. Sounds more and more like it used to have Premium Sound.

BTW, just to let you know that mess of yours is not all that scary. I have seen far far worse. Get that shitty aftermarket wire out of there, get it back to all stock: the stock wire is far better quality. Pull the speakers first, make sure that the stock wire is connected.

GL!
Luke

I know *nothing* when it comes to stereo wiring so it's scary to me! ;)

I'll dig around to see if the stock wire is still hiding in there.

The speakers have all been removed (besides the tweeters which were left) by the previous owner.