<Pics> How To Hook Up New Headunit?

[Flamewerks]

The old unit with the adapter I bought at BestBuy which I was told would work.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/Flamewerks/IMG_0038-1.jpg

The new unit. Is there supposed to be a little plug that connects the new unit to the old harness at the right bottom?
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/Flamewerks/IMG_0039.jpg

[moroza]

You bought the wrong wiring. Return the big black male plug, get a plug for the new headunit, find some wire cutters and electrical tape, and get to work splicing.

[atl530i]

Where is the harness for the head unit??? If you have it, it is color for color and make sure you hook up the illumination wire. I learned the hard way, all my lights came on except the head lights, lol.

[Flamewerks]

Alright, I'll get the new plug tomrrow. Sorry for the dumb question, again...:)

[atl530i]

Take a pic of the harness that came with the head unit plz.

[attack eagle]

no, you mis understand.

THERE IS NO ADAPTER PLUG FOR YOUR FACTORY WIRING.


Return the one they sold you to get your money back.


your RADIO is supposed to have a plug with wires, it is useless otherwise.

You have to "hardwire" that aftermarket radio wiring to the original BMW wiring.

[boone.msi]

You have to "hardwire" that aftermarket radio wiring to the original BMW wiring.

Thats one way of doing it, a safer(for resell also) and easier way to do it, is keep the harness they gave you, buy the harness that goes to your headunit(you have to have this) and splice those two together, all you have to do is match color to color then plug it in. MAKE SURE YOU DISCONECT THE POSSITIVE CABLE TO YOUR BATTERY before you plug it in, or you will have a nice useless fried headunit.

Make sure you understand this before you start cutting wires, how much knowedge do you have of audio installation?

Please tell me thats not a sony........:kb

[attack eagle]

Umm boone, he'd have a headunit wiht a nice 91+ BMW plug on the other end... and nothign in the dash to plug it into.

They don't sell reverse BMW harnesses.

He could buy a harness anda reverse harness for something else and wire the reverse into the dash and the radio one to the Aftermarket radio harness...

Butit would be easier to just leave at least an inch off wire attached to the radio's various plugs and color match them when it was time to sell... There is not much room to be adding a lot of extra bulky harnesses and wires back there.

[boone.msi]

Umm boone, he'd have a headunit wiht a nice 91+ BMW plug on the other end... and nothign in the dash to plug it into.

Attack Eagle, im about to tell you something thats gonna make you very depressed... They do in fact have harnesses that plug into the factory bmw harness, i actually have two, one is conected to my alpine, the other is cut laying in a garage, actually heres a pic:


http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o226/disgustipated13/IMG_2735.jpg

Sorry for the size and blurriness, it was sent to me from another user. But yea, they do sell them, makes a complicated job easy as hell. Or maybe im missing something? lemme know if im misunderstanding you.

EDIT: resized;)

[Gunslinger]

Metra makes a harness; I used it on my install.

Please hold for part number.

EDIT: Metra 70-8590

Should be available at Best Buy - check the install bay.

You're just going to use crimp connectors to connect this to the supplied harness from your new deck, and you're good to go.

[boone.msi]

There is not much room to be adding a lot of extra bulky harnesses and wires back there.


ok, now i understand what your saying. I was under the impression that the factory wires didnt match in color, and yes SPACE IS VERY TIGHT, i had to push my extra lump of wires behind the steering colum so mine would fit. OP's choice i guess, but both options have been cleary explained.

[attack eagle]

Attack Eagle, im about to tell you something thats gonna make you very depressed... They do in fact have harnesses that plug into the factory bmw harness:


But yea, they do sell them, makes a complicated job easy as hell. Or maybe im missing something? lemme know if im misunderstanding you.



I (and forgive me if I am dense) was looking at that picture of his head unit and it kind of looked like one of the <91 units that doesn't have a large black single plug but instead has multiple connectors.

I am aware there is a harness for the 91+. It is Metra 70-8590... I also use it in my e34, and also had to scoot it over behind the fog switch to get the head fully seated. That one he has is NOT for pre 91's with multiconnector Factory head units, despite saying 90 and up. It is `91 and up for e34s.


I am NOT aware there is one for the multiple connectored pre `91 head.

Am I misident'ing the OEM head from the pictures as being pre-91? His e34 is also listed as pre 91. I don't think so.

He needs the one for the radio itself... and then he needs to hardwire it and return the Best buy sourced balck one. I wish there was a harness he could buy, but there is not, unless metra has created one in the last couple of years.

[attack eagle]

BTW thought these pics on

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/Upgrade/Stereo_radio.htm

might help you

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/Upgrade/Data/Stereo/Old_big.jpg


http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/Upgrade/Data/Stereo/OldWire_big.jpg


now look again at his head... and the harness adapter he was sold...
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/Flamewerks/IMG_0038-1.jpg


:D

Is ok, it's a common mistake. 91+ e34 use the harness, but not 90. The application guide is wrong.

[robmpulse]

SO.....

Applications: BMW 1990 - 2001 3 SERIES 1997 - 2001 323 1997 - 2001 328 1990 - 2001 5 SERIES 1990 - 2001 7 SERIES 1997 - 2002 Z3
MEANS THAT MY 89 COULD NOT USE THAT HARNESS EITHER?

DID THEY MAKE ONE FOR THE E28 THAT MIGHT BE THE SAME AS OUT 89 AND 90'S?

AND IS THIS THE APPLICATION GUIDE THAT YOU SAID WAS WRONG?

[X Mon]

No harness for anything before the 1991 E32 and E34. All BMW radios prior to that used the separate connectors with common ground as pictured in AttackEagle's post.

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/Upgrade/Data/Stereo/OldWire_big.jpg

As suggested, just hardwire the radio in, leaving enough length on the original connectors that you could always put them back in.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT USE CRIP CONNECTORS. Rather solder and heat shrink/tape all of the connectors together to ensure solid connections and preservation of audio quality. Run the new head unit's positive speaker wires to the current speaker wires in the car, and run all of the negative wires to chassis ground. Make sure you transfer over the grounding stud on the back of the original head unit onto the new head unit, as it helps support the weight of the head unit when it is installed in the car. It would also not be a bad idea to twist the speaker wire pairs from the head unit harness together.

[attack eagle]

well unless you can't solder worth a damn...
a crimp is far better than bad soldering... but good soldering is better than both.
this probably isn't something you want to learn on either.

[moroza]

What are crimp connectors? I just intertwine two bare wires and wrap that up in electrical tape.

[attack eagle]

To use youth speak:

:roofles:

Good one moroza. Sadly that question has actually been asked in seriousness.

[moroza]

To use youth speak:

:roofles:

Good one moroza. Sadly that question has actually been asked in seriousness.

[glare]

Roofies? Are you propositioning me?

(Yes, my question was serious)

[attack eagle]

butt connectors.

[moroza]

I still have no idea what you're talking about.

[X Mon]

http://order.waytekwire.com/IMAGES/M37/items/32560FL.GIFhttp://order.waytekwire.com/IMAGES/M37/items/30760FL.GIF

[moroza]

Never seen those before.

[teufel530]

Guys,

Once he connects the commercial radio to the car's wiring harness will the system operate the factory amp or will he have to also bypass the factory amp?

[moroza]

You can operate the factory amp, but you'll have to fade full front or back for it to sound properly. And you won't be able to actually fade. Some headunits overdrive the amp, it seems.

[X Mon]

You can operate the factory amp, but you'll have to fade full front or back for it to sound properly. And you won't be able to actually fade. Some headunits overdrive the amp, it seems.

Sorry, but that's just not true. The E34's had separate leads for each of the four corners of the car, even the early style radio connections. Thus you can hook up any aftermarket radio via the stock amplifier and still use normal imaging to place the sound where you want it.

[teufel530]

Guys,

Once he connects the commercial radio to the car's wiring harness will the system operate the factory amp or will he have to also bypass the factory amp?


Can some else chime in on this question?:eyecrazy

[russelcq]

While your right, it doesn't work that way. For some reason the input circuitry in the amp is not standard, and the fading control won't work with aftermarket amps. Mine didn't. I had to go full fade forward/rear for the amp to work properly also.

RussC


Sorry, but that's just not true. The E34's had separate leads for each of the four corners of the car, even the early style radio connections. Thus you can hook up any aftermarket radio via the stock amplifier and still use normal imaging to place the sound where you want it.

[Flamewerks]

Sorry for not saying something for the last week. I've been very busy. I do have the plug for the aftermarket harness, it just fell out of the box and I didn't see it until I cleaned out the trunk. :) It's a panasonic, btw, not a sony. I can post a pic of the aftermarket harness tomorrow. From what I read on e34.net, I just coneect the same colors and leave out the negatives?

[teufel530]

While your right, it doesn't work that way. For some reason the input circuitry in the amp is not standard, and the fading control won't work with aftermarket amps. Mine didn't. I had to go full fade forward/rear for the amp to work properly also.

RussC


Well the argument is over. Just installed a Blaupunkt Bahamas MP46 and everything worked fine. No need for a PAC harness. What a difference in sound!!!

I'm going to post pics in another thread.

[attack eagle]

Well the argument is over. Just installed a Blaupunkt Bahamas MP46 and everything worked fine. No need for a PAC harness. What a difference in sound!!!

I'm going to post pics in another thread.

you have a 95, he has a 90... yours is 2 generations later.

[dovstar]

So I have an 1989 witht stock head unit and I'm planning on installing the Blaupunkt Bahamas unit. I understand that I have to wire my non-harness wires directly to the blaupunkt wires. I'm not a audio specialist or electrician in the slightest so here is my silly question. Where do all the negative speaker wires on the Blaupunkt harness go? It seems that I only have one wire for each speaker and I believe this is the positive. Is this because of the common ground? Also any wires for functions I don't have bmw wires for should be capped right?

[attack eagle]

www.bmwe34.net (http://www.bmwe34.net)

also yahoo search e34 +common ground+ radio