Reversing a hackjob - RMT 200 DIY - the stereo portion of my E30 M3 restoration

[StereoInstaller1]

You got it, but use 360-BMW-4840 instead

[StereoInstaller1]

BTW, IMO, that deck looks awesome in that bezel. Is that modded yet?

[CurrusDei]

Thanks, no that's just rip out the trim piece and slap in the deck. I ordered the Metra surrounds you posted from amazon, going to try for a completely flush mount. It sticks out 4mm without modification.


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[CurrusDei]

Reversing a hackjob - the stereo portion of my E30 M3 restoration

Getting ready! I think I need to move the mounting face back 4mm




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[CurrusDei]

Reversing a hackjob - the stereo portion of my E30 M3 restoration

Update time! Decided to go after the electrical part first. I got a ratcheting crimping tool and some heat shrink connectors (haven't heated them yet). I did a few practice crimps and found that crimping twice gave me a good strong hold.











A couple of the crimps on the harness side show a tiny bit if copper wire inside the connector outside the metal sleeve (less than 1mm) I assume this is ok since they will still be within the heat shrink wrap?

Anyways, I connected the battery back. Drumroll aaaand! Nothing happened. I tinkered around for a bit with it and somehow got the thing to turn on.

First it said 1000, so for some reason I pushed the keys below the 1,0,0,0 and it said 01 SAFE, so I then hit the same keys again, and it is now stuck on 02 SAFE.

I'm thinking I should have hit the button under the 1 until it changed to 8 (the first number of my radio code, I think, 4 digits on a sticker on top of the radio right?) then proceeded from there. I hope I'm not stuck here. I'll try to pull and reconnect the battery tomorrow and see if it goes back to 1000.



This brings me to my question. The jumper wire. Geno you jumped the radio antenna to the switched power. The VW Vortex guys are jumping the antenna to the constant power (yellow cable instead of red).

1) which jump should I make?

2) any advice on how to make a safe, permanent jump? I really don't want to just jam a piece of spare wire into the two slots and fry something... Or be paranoid that my dash is going to catch on fire.

Thanks guys!


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[accident]

You'll want to wire a relay to push 12V to the antenna. Switched power will work, but with it properly on the antenna remote the antenna will retract when using the CD player or one of the other AUX inputs.

[Navarone]

EDIT: I just reread the thread, are you talking about the jumper that "BlackSpeed66" mentioned about the "safe" mode? If you hook up the constant power to a constant power source you shouldn't need a jumper. He mentioned that because he mixed up the constant and switched 12v and it kept forgetting it's settings and going to safe mode. And I found this online...

Perform the steps in exactly the following order:
1. Turn on the Radio. "Safe" will appear in the display.
2. After 3 seconds, the number "1000" will appear in the display.
3. Use the radio station preset buttons 1 to 4 to enter the code number found on your Radio Card. (which was in the first page of Sound manual :-) )
Use preset button 1 to enter the first digit in the code number. Use button 2 to enter the second digit, etc. The value range for each of the 4 digits is "0-9". The digit will increase by 1 each time you tap the preset button. The number returns to "0" after 9".
4. After you finish entering the code, press the right side (">") of the SEEK button for longer than 2 seconds until you hear an audible signal.
5. If you have entered the code number corectly, "LSM" wll appear in the display. (I just was the radio channel indicator and then everything was working as usual).

If you enter the wrong code by mistake:


If you've accidnetally entered a wrong code number, "SAFE" will appear in the display. Initially it'll flash, then stay on.

You can repat the procedure again one time.
(So, 2 attempts then 1 hour locked)
If the wrong code number is entered again, the unit will be disabled for about 1 hour. Leave the unit on and the key in the ignition swithch for this hour.

Your harness looks just fine the way it is. One thing though, if your white wire is wrapped up with the antenna it's for antenna power. If the white wire is wrapped up with the speaker wires it's for the factory amp. If the white wire is from anywhere else it's probably part of the headlight dimmer, going to the OBC or a few hard to mess up spots like fuel door power lock or criuse control stuff at clutch pedal. I see no reason to have the antenna on constant power unless you like parking hella hard with it up. (m3 doesn't get it up?) Some cars have power antenna signal boosters that are not the same as the power antenna motor. VW might be one, my toyota matrix has one. No idea why that would need constant power either.

Constant 12v (red/green factory or yellow aftermarket) will keep the antenna up even when parked and everything off, ignition accessory/run switched would be next best (violet/white factory or red aftermarket), radio remote amp/antenna turn on (white factory or blue or blue/white aftermarket) would be best so it's only up while radio is on. I just did this with a after market head unit that only had 1 remote wire, ie. for a sub, and it would leave the antenna up even when not using the AM/FM tuner. I wired up a switch rear defogger switch and a relay and using constant 12v. If your stereo remote line is only 5v it may not work and you will need a relay.

A safe, permanent jump would be a solder connection with heat shrink or butt connector. I prefer solder and heatshrink, but it's stinky work and harder to do inside a dash.

[CurrusDei]

Reversing a hackjob - the stereo portion of my E30 M3 restoration

Thanks for the replies!

When I went out to the car this morning and turned the key to position one the unit wouldn't turn on. I jumped the switched power to the antenna and it powered up, and made some static from the speakers. So it looks like I'll have to do the jump if I don't want to have to pull the unit out every time I start the car.

This time I entered the code correctly and it beeped then turned to fm (which was static from the front passenger speaker, I figured this was because I don't have the antenna cable in yet). However, when I tried AUX there was no sound until I turned it WAY up and then it was just very faint music that didn't sound like it was coming from any of the speakers, and the front passenger speaker was playing light static in time with the base line.

Does this sound like a issue the amp bypass would solve? I'm probably going to do it regardless but any insight would be helpful.

Also, one thing that differs for my install is the M3 antenna is fixed. It does not telescope - always up.








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[accident]

Derp, I forgot this was an M3 lol

[Navarone]

You shouldn't have to do any weird jumps with power, as long as switched and constant 12v are wired up correctly. That doesn't make sense that jumping switched to the antenna will turn the deck on I think you have a short or a bad component somewhere. That previous wire job was very shitty and totally suspect. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more hackery somewhere else or something got shorted and burned up.

You need to isolate each component and test them one at a time with known working units to find the suspect part or fault. Bypass the premium amp and test the speakers without it. Do you have another stereo to test each speaker individually? I use a Lepai 2020a+ to test speakers, it's cheap if it blows and small yet powerful enough to be convenient and get good sound. Run a temporary brand new freshy fresh constant 12v and ground directly from the battery to the radio to isolate all the cars power wiring and switches. (Be safe, fuse it) Do you have a multimeter? I would test all the wires out of circuit (totally cut out the stereo) for proper voltages or ground shorts, test the white wire for voltage with the key, radio, and headlight dimmer in different positions, test to make sure each speaker is isolated from another and from ground, and have proper impedance, make sure all the wires in the harness do what they're supposed to.

The static in the bass sounds like a low 12v source voltage or current, a bad premium amp if there is one or a bad amp in the head unit. You could also try a different aux cable, or wiggle this one around and the sound might cut in and out. It could also be blown speakers which may be static, but more likely be scratchy because the voice coil is physically rubbing inside the speaker magnet.

With a low source voltage/current the unit may power up but there's not enough power to run the amp inside, some units just shutdown, some try and play and sound like shit. The white May not even be to an amp or antenna. I was looking through the Bentley manual and a few other white wires could have been used (with a bit of trouble) and one of them comes from the "headlight dimmer" which I think is high beam / low beam switch, and another goes to the illumination dimmer and turns gray/red near the steering column then to the stereo.

[StereoInstaller1]

You shouldn't have to do any weird jumps with power, as long as switched and constant 12v are wired up correctly.

This is not correct, and this deck does NOT have any sort of "power antenna output". I went through the exact same thing on the E24 I installed one of these in, you must power that SAFE jumper.

The blue wire of the Metra harness is the classic DIN "remote" connection, but it is supposed to see a 12V signal to turn the deck on, it is part of the VW security system. Remember that this is NOT the correct harness for this deck, you would have to have a VW for that.

There is an amp turn on signal in the "pre-amp" plug (albeit without pre amp signals...bastards!) but it is 5V. It powers up when the deck is on and stays on a few seconds after the deck shuts off.

You will not need this on the M3 though, as the antenna is not powered and you should not be using the stock amp. If you decide to use an amp with this, PM me and I will show you how to connect a micro-relay from Radio Shack to safely use this feature.

I STRONGLY suggest you bypass the stock amp in this install, the beeps and volume control absolutely suck when amplified in any way, I would not recommend using this deck with any amp, aftermarket or not.

Luke

[StereoInstaller1]

BTW, since you have the later M3 harness, you could easily bypass the stock amp without cutting anything, just a series of short jumpers with the correct pins would do the trick.

[Navarone]

Yeah this deck is silly, I can't find a pinout or anything so I'm assuming the "'safe' jumper" is just constant 12v so that it doesn't lose its radio code. Is there a "safe" pin and a switched 12v pin and a constant 12v pin?

Here's how I read what you're saying.

Switched 12v goes to blue on the metra harness. The wire colors don't match, shame on you metra, but that's where it goes.

The 5v pin is the remote "power antenna output" [sic] and goes to a relay to signal antenna or amp if he wants it.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yeah this deck is silly, I can't find a pinout or anything so I'm assuming the "'safe' jumper" is just constant 12v so that it doesn't lose its radio code. Is there a "safe" pin and a switched 12v pin and a constant 12v pin?

Here's how I read what you're saying.

Switched 12v goes to blue on the metra harness. The wire colors don't match, shame on you metra, but that's where it goes.

The 5v pin is the remote "power antenna output" [sic] and goes to a relay to signal antenna or amp if he wants it.

Yes, exactly, only the pre-amp output plug has a true amp turn on, it stays live on USB, AUX, CD, etc.

[Navarone]

Ok, cool. One last thing, are there three power inputs needed? "safe", constant 12v, and switched 12v on three separate pins?