Total Noob Question

[Werksmini]

Ok im a total noob to all of this stuff so I have a few questions. There pretty general and most of the stuff here isnt so bear with me.
Im looking into a new car with a stock stereo system (premium) and stock radio ect. My current car already had a cd player so that wasnt a problem. How easy is it to correctly wire up just a head unit into a car with the stock one? I dont really want to pay someone to do it but if I have to, to get it done correctly I will.
The head unit I have now is a pioneer, pretty nice but dosent have support MP3. How much do you think I could get for it on the bay? I could get the model # tomorrow but im looking for a ballpark figure. Then the question would be how much for a nice, nothing to flashy MP3 unit?
Anything else I should know? Thanks a bunch guys :D

[808BMW]

You really should rewire all the speakers, but even that isn't hard at all.

If you feel comfortable running about 20 ft. of speaker wire and about 3 ft. of power wire through your car, and then connecting 12 wires (and antenna) then go for it.

I vote for DIY. If you seriously cannot get through it, then take your car to a shop. You have nothing to lose by trying it yourself other than an afternoon.

[Werksmini]

Any general guides on installation?

Now Im just wondering if I should spend the 180 or so on an MP3 deck. Decisions decisions. :?:

[808BMW]

Any general guides on installation?

Now Im just wondering if I should spend the 180 or so on an MP3 deck. Decisions decisions. :?:

Depends what brand. I'm getting an alpine 9287 off the bay. It worth it for my budget IMO.

[Brew]

The problem with installing an aftermarket deck in an e30 w/ premium sound is that you really should re-wire all the speaker wires when you do it, or else they will still be running off of the ancient amp in the trunk. Its not really hard to do, just time consuming. Find yourself a diagram of the wiring for the stock stereo, get a voltmeter, and dive in!

[KDZROK]

The problem with installing an aftermarket deck in an e30 w/ premium sound is that you really should re-wire all the speaker wires when you do it, or else they will still be running off of the ancient amp in the trunk. Its not really hard to do, just time consuming. Find yourself a diagram of the wiring for the stock stereo, get a voltmeter, and dive in!

Is this going to be an issue for me? If so, I am COMPLETELY lost. I want to install a Nakamichi cd-400. I do have premium sound on my 89 325i.

What needs to be done if so?

Thanks much!

[colt325e]

Which e30s typically have premium sound? Or is it just random ones, I havnt found an amp, i think Im still going to rewire soon anyways though.

[DSchultz325e]

dude, it's really not that daunting of a task. it will be time-consuming, but definitely not hard. just make sure you buy plenty of speaker wire, because it sucks coming up short. anyway, i'm not familiar with how the "premium" system is wired, but in case you decide to bypass the amp and run aftermarket speakers, you'll want to do a couple things. pull up the rear seat bottom. it is only held in by 2 brackets and will come up. you should see on the passenger side the tubing where the battery cable comes through. pull off the back end of the trunk liner that is flush with the seat back, and you will see how the lines are routed. fish the wires through there and send them around to where the speaker connections are. since the seat bottom is pulled off, you can now start to remove the floor carpets, because they are held on by where the 2 brackets are. remove your door sills on both sides by gently pulling up, pull the carpet out a bit, and fish the wires through until you can access the kick panels. i'm not familiar with how the kick panels work, because mine are carpeted and just fold over with velcro, but it should be the same. the wires should fit through and come behind. now, depending on how you want to power the speakers, whether it be an external amp or the head unit itself, is up to you. if you want to access the head unit, you can route either through the center console from the ebrake up to the front, or just go behind the footwells. once that carpet is up, you can easily find your way around.

make SURE to mark every single wire so it will be an easier job at the harness. also, i don't think they make harness adaptors for E30s. I remember I had to cut my existing wiring for my head unit to work (it's all externally powered by an amp now, though). It really is worth it to get rid of all the noise you will deal with using stock wiring by rewiring your car. the fader is pretty bad about introducing noise into the signal.

I did this a while ago (2000), but it is pretty much the same principle for each car. you're not gonna blow anything up wiring speakers, but make sure you don't mess with the power/ground cables unless you KNOW what you are doing. hope this helps.