OK - I'm thoroughly confused.

[DaveSmed]

Give this a try:

Yellow - Red/Green
Red - Violet/Gray
Black - Brown
Blue - White
Orange - Gray/Red

Following wires found at the fader:

Green - Yellow/Red
Green/Black - Yellow/Black
Purple - Blue/Red
Purple/Black - Blue/Black


Now, look in your trunk for the amplifier. Find these wires in the connector and connect them as shown:

(Note: There are two Black/Brown wires listed. They do not connect together. Connect them temporarily to test. If you have no sound out of your rear speakers, swap them and make your connection permanent.)

Black/Brown - Yellow/Red
Black/Violet - Yellow/Black
Black/White - Blue/Red
Black/Brown - Blue/Black

Finally, the front speakers. You need to run new wires to the front speakers from the headunit. (easier than rewiring the whole car, remember that) I will give you the wire colors at the back of the speakers to cut and connect to your new wire from the headunit.

Left:
White - Gray/Red
White/Black - Gray/Violet

Right:
Gray - Gray/White
Gray/Black - Gray/Brown

[E30 Cabrio]

Ugly HU, but that's a matter of my taste, i put in Panasonic just for the red back lighting that matched interior lights. But to each it's own.

Replace all the wires with 16g wires. The way i did it was, pull out your seats and door seals. Remove center console. Lift up carpet run cables from the HU under carpet toward parking brake, from the split the wires with already existing harrnes to each speaker through old clips and brackets. Run rear wires all the way to rear speaker under rear seat. Took me more time to figure this out, then to actually do it. Probably would take only 1-2 hours to get the whole car rewired.

Good Luck.

Thanks.

BTW, I think you'll change your mind once the HU is installed and the lights match the BMW Amber, but to each his own...

[Aptyp]

Ugly HU, but that's a matter of my taste, i put in Panasonic just for the red back lighting that matched interior lights. But to each it's own.

Replace all the wires with 16g wires. The way i did it was, pull out your seats and door seals. Remove center console. Lift up carpet run cables from the HU under carpet toward parking brake, from the split the wires with already existing harrnes to each speaker through old clips and brackets. Run rear wires all the way to rear speaker under rear seat. Took me more time to figure this out, then to actually do it. Probably would take only 1-2 hours to get the whole car rewired.

Good Luck.

[E30 Cabrio]

I've already started in on bypassing the factory amp, so there's no going back now.

BTW, I believe the HU has built-in crossovers. Is that good or bad?

Like I said, I don't know a damn thing about this subject, so I'm trying to learn.

Edit:

Features from the HU:


Audio features:
# Digital Z-enhancer (3-band parametric EQ with three adjustable tone settings)
# Magna Bass EX bass boost
# digital time-alignment
# 24-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC)
# high-and low-pass filters

If I remember right, high and low pass filters are the same as crossovers?

[SamE30e]

I finally ordered my new HU, a Clarion DXZ785USB (BTW, $150.00 at frys.com)

I have the "Premium" sound and from past reading, I would have to bypass the factory amp and the factory fader.

Can I use the factory wiring, or do I need to replace that as well.

And what about the tweeters? What do I do with those?

I'm a complete newb so if I act retarded, it's because I am when it comes to this stuff.

I found a post on bypassing the factory amp, and I can do that, but am kind of lost as how to proceed from there.

Thanks.

Ok...


Get crossovers to power the Mids and tweeters front and back, so you need 4 in total. And run new wire to all the speakers..

It sounds like a pain in the ass, but trust me, you don't want to try and bypass the amp because it's a fucking pain in the ass.

[DaveSmed]

Late models use a 4 channel amp, and have the fader in the deck.

My '87 had the dash mount fader, two channel headunit and the four channel amp.

I think the fader had to do with what deck you had.

[StereoInstaller1]

I really wish I could make shit that sounds like mine but only weighed like 40 pounds...

[clavinZERO]

The highs are pretty piercing right now, I need to turn them down some but damn I'm feeling lazy. lol

You've been saying that for years now right? LOL get to it!

[Justin B]

Whoever wrote that chart for Crutchfield has no eyeballs. There is plenty of room in the rear side panels for most 5.25" speakers, another chart I've seen shows a 3" mounting depth. The fronts are the same as any other E30.

Rears, I seriously doubt there's 3" at the minimum depth behind the speaker mounting area, maybe at the max, and for the front I'm 99% sure there's more shit behind the magnet than on a non-cabrio. I've dealt with it myself, but its been a while. I bought 6.5" CDT NEO's (thin) for my front and have nothing in the rear. Now to finally (someday) tune the x-over in my amp and figure out some small sub solution inside the cab. The highs are pretty piercing right now, I need to turn them down some but damn I'm feeling lazy. lol

[StereoInstaller1]

Late models use a 4 channel amp, and have the fader in the deck.

[Sam Cogley]

Another thing is that Cabrio owners don't have a lot of speaker choices for their cars as there aren't a lot of speakers that will fit.

Whoever wrote that chart for Crutchfield has no eyeballs. There is plenty of room in the rear side panels for most 5.25" speakers, another chart I've seen shows a 3" mounting depth. The fronts are the same as any other E30.

So, yeah, I have no clue on the cabrio...but on most E30s that have a fader, there is a common ground point behind the instrument panel which connects the 2 left grounds and the 2 right grounds so the fader will work.

For some reason my Cabrio doesn't have the external fader, even though it has the premium system.

[StereoInstaller1]

So, yeah, I have no clue on the cabrio...but on most E30s that have a fader, there is a common ground point behind the instrument panel which connects the 2 left grounds and the 2 right grounds so the fader will work.

I like to connect the rear speakers at the 4 pin molex that is near/behind the left front speaker, then run new wires to the 2 fronts.

If you can find a pair of decent quality aftermarket crossovers and make sure your tweeters do NOT have the built in capacitor, you will be impressed by the sound.

My wifes car has the stock front speakers with modded stock crossovers...unbelievable sound powerd by an Alpine 4 channel, with a single 12 on bass.

[twothrees]

Pics would be great when installed. I am having a hard time finding something that looks good, without the bling, and has a usb port.

Nice cabrio, btw.

[E30 Cabrio]

Unfortunately, I don't have the time or the means to do a complete swap.

First the HU, then maybe later the speakers and wires. I found a writeup on doing the bypass/rewiring and my HU arrives next week, so I'm going to bypass the amp first, rewire the front speakers and then bypass the fader.

I'm going to run the stock speakers and rewire the front speakers while using the stock rear speaker wires.

Another thing is that Cabrio owners don't have a lot of speaker choices for their cars as there aren't a lot of speakers that will fit.

Also, I drive about 4K miles per year, so dropping a lot of coin on a sound system just isn't practical.

The new HU (Clarion DXZ785USB) should be a major upgrade to the factory HU and amp and it has iPod intergration, USB, Aux-in, Sat ready, etc...plus it has 728 adjustable colors, so I can match the BMW Amber lighting on both the LEDs and the buttons on the HU

Here's a pic of the HU:



Instead of blue, that will be BMW Amber once it's in my car.

I'll be sure to post pics once it's installed. Should look nice. None of that Silver and Red and all that other bling bling BS that are on aftermarket HU's nowadays. That shit pisses me off.

This HU retails for $220-300 and I got mine on sale for $150

I don't know if Frys.com made a pricing error or what, but the day after I ordered mine, they raised the price from $150 to $250

Either it was on sale or someone messed up on the pricing.

Regardless, my CC has been charged an it's on a DHL truck on the way to my office.

[Sam Cogley]

Luke aka Stereoinstaller1 actually has good things to say about the stock speakers... you just gotta mod them a wee bit.

"Luke? Luuuuuuke!?" </Aunt Beru voice>

My fear is that after 16+ years, things are going to be worn out, no matter how good they started. When I pulled the rear side panels from my Cabrio to examine the speaker mounts, they didn't look to be in the best of shape.