Good gawd... please help me with wiring!

[tempest993]

Alright, I'm trying to install a new headunit in my 325e and am having a little trouble hooking up the stock speakers.

I have the premium system, and am VERY unclear which post on the speakers is what. There's 4, so logicly 2 would be -/+ for the woofer, and the other two would go to the tweeter. Trouble is, the car was rewired at one point I think (poorly) so I have NO idea what is what. Can anyone tell me what is what and how I would go about hooking up a new headunit to these speakers.

(This is not my first install, nor my first one on an E30, so I am not a total noob, but these have me stumped.)

Thanks

[AdironRider]

There is a factory amp that you will need to bypass. Do a search there are several writeups, including questions I posted on this same topic 2 weeks ago.

[AdironRider]

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14625

[ptownTSI]

what is the point in wasting time bypassing. hook up a small 4 channel amp in your trunk with RCA's to your deck and rewire everything with 14-16 wire. it isnt hard in an e30.

[tempest993]

I did/am doing that. The issue I have is what is what on the speakers.

Oh, thank you for the links Fife. :)

[jht3]

i too would like to know this info. i want to wire up ONLY the mid's in the rear shelf, but the tweeters are wired through the crossovers and onto the posts on the mids. I think i've figured out which two are for JUST the mid, but if someone has a pic that would be best

[kylebes1]

Step #1 Disregard all stock wiring for speakers

Step #2 Run new wire to the tweeters, and mids seperately

You can check phase for the mids with a 9v, you want them all to push out, so check polarity based on that.

[jht3]

Step #1 Disregard all stock wiring for speakers

Step #2 Run new wire to the tweeters, and mids seperately

You can check phase for the mids with a 9v, you want them all to push out, so check polarity based on that.

i don't know why i didnt think of the battery test. i have a 1.5v "D" cell i use for just this. stupid me

[DSchultz325e]

Step #1 Disregard all stock wiring for speakers

Step #2 Run new wire to the tweeters, and mids seperately

You can check phase for the mids with a 9v, you want them all to push out, so check polarity based on that.

That's not entirely true...sometimes having certain speakers out of phase will correct the discrepancies regarding the different distances the sound travels to reach your ear (to an extent).

If you want to fiddle with this, what you need is either a mono pink noise track or a well-recorded track with a centered vocalist. Disconnect everything but the midranges, and listen to the track. Flip the polarity of one speaker (driver and passenger will yield different results, so try both) and listen to the track again. If the vocalist/pink noise sounds very centered, then remember how you have it wired because you have to disconnect the midranges to test the tweeters. If the vocalist/pink noise sounds smeared and less localized, you'd flip the polarity back to how it was.

Disconnect everything but the tweeters and perform the same test. After you have found the best-sounding wiring configurations, hook all the speakers up in that manner.

Now what you want to do is play a track with a good bass track. Listen to the song, and this time you flip both speaker's polarity at the same time (ie both woofers or both tweeters) instead of just one. Flip the woofers first, and if the track has a more defined bass presence, keep it that way. If the bass turns hollow and weak, flip them back to how they were. Do the same test to the tweeters and you will then have found your optimum phase settings.

If you follow this procedure, your imaging should improve greatly, and your stereo should require very little (if any) equalization to achieve desired response. Tune the EQ, then adjust time-alignment if your gear lets you.

[ptownTSI]

i agree with kyle. get a cheapie external crossover for your rear deck components. 10x better than oem.