i am preplacing the stereo in my z4 with aftermarket stereo need help.

[stodog123]

i am going to replace the stereo in my 2003 bmw z4 2.5i and i know i need a faceplate adapter and wiring harness adapter but what else and will it be difficult to wire?

ebay.com/itm/Radio-Stereo-Install-Mount-Dash-Kit-w-Wire-Harness-Plug-/220749013883?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &hash=item3365aaa37b&vxp=mtr

amazon.com/Power-Acoustik-PD-718NB-Multimedia-iPod-Certified/dp/B0071NEZGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354413259&sr=8-1&keywords=PD-718NB

[Bmwha]

The wiring is not difficult at all- just follow the guide on the harness you get. I literally just got that unit and love it. Do note however, that the power acoustik model is an oversize din and you will have to slightly enlarge the faceplate to get the unit to fit. Let me know when you start wiring; I'll show you how to wire the power to the antenna so you don't lose all of your stations. Check out my photos under my mods post if you want an idea of how the unit looks. Also, do you have an iPhone/iPod? If so, you can buy the cable IC-3 I think and it will mirror your phone to the head unit with a jailbreak app. I use it to mirror my gps apps, Netflix, Hulu, browser etc. Also, make sure to attach the brake wire to the ground so you can get video in motion. Let me know if you need anything else.

Jet Black 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Atlanta Blue 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Maldives Blue '97 Z3

Wait, I also assumed you had the regular audio. Do you have dsp?

Jet Black 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Atlanta Blue 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Maldives Blue '97 Z3

[stodog123]

thanks for the response and i checked out your mods post it looks great man. i was wondering, i do have a ipod, and so do i have to get the ic-3 cable or could i get two separate cables that do the same thing?

[stodog123]

thanks for the response and i checked out your mods post it looks great man. i was wondering, i do have a ipod, and so do i have to get the ic-3 cable or could i get two separate cables that do the same thing?

[V8Z4]

Get this faceplate!
http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/conne...im-p-9890.html

It's a reproduction (ish) of the factory Euro BMW Z4 faceplate and looks infinitely better than the lame US versions. Sadly you have to buy it from England (so shipping is a bit crazy) but it IS WORTH THE COST!

I'll snap some pictures tomorrow of how I did my iphone cable. I have a center console/arm rest and routed my USB cable into the console/arm rest. I then got a 1.5' ipod cable connected and inside the console/arm rest. I open the console up, plug my phone in, and off I go. I had one of the little spec docs (home made but same thing) and it was very flimsy (phone moved around/swayed/bounced going down the road). My setup is reliable, simple, inexpensive, 100% stealth, and keep my phone out of the sun. My headunit has bluetooth so the handsfree and google maps app even works through it.

[Bmwha]

Nice faceplate! I'm going to order that. As far as the cable, I think only IC-3 will work as it splits from a standard iPod cable to a special USB and av input (you can however find copies cheaper on eBay). Also, our 718 doesn't have a rear iPod input. It's in the side of the faceplate. Thus, there's no eloquent solution to running the cable. I find my 32gb sd card very sufficient though--I only use my iPhone for calls (sometimes I Bluetooth pandora).

Jet Black 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Atlanta Blue 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Maldives Blue '97 Z3

[stodog123]

ahhh gotcha on the cable and ya that faceplate looks sick i wish i woulda seen that before i ordered mine.

[V8Z4]

ahhh gotcha on the cable and ya that faceplate looks sick i wish i woulda seen that before i ordered mine.

Don't feel bad.... I went through 2 different "US" versions before I finally found the euro version (so I have 2 face plates laying around the house).

[Shipkiller]

If you need the pinouts of the existing BMW wiring, go here: http://www.shipkiller.com/AudioSystem.html


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[TestShoot]

Get this faceplate!
http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/conne...im-p-9890.html

It's a reproduction (ish) of the factory Euro BMW Z4 faceplate and looks infinitely better than the lame US versions. Sadly you have to buy it from England (so shipping is a bit crazy) but it IS WORTH THE COST!

Awesome, bro! Just ordered it

[stodog123]

i just wired everything together and left the mutes out i didnt know what they were for and put the brake onto the ground and i went to play it and could get no sound any ideas?

also on the head unit wires the ill, reverse, amp rem and , motorized antennae are all left by themselves do i need to wire them to something maybe the "mutes"?

i dont need to buy a new amp do i?

what/where does the blue with a white stripe wire go to?

[Bmwha]

Hi,

What sound do you have? DSP or regular? REM is for your amp to turn on. I had DSP so I had to buy another amp. I bought the power acoustik gt5-2500 5 channel amp and I'm thrilled with it.

Jet Black 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Atlanta Blue 6 Speed '03 Z4 3.0i, Maldives Blue '97 Z3

[Shipkiller]

The OEM amps used in the Z4 are connected to the cars 'K-bus' and that K-bus signal is how it is powered up. You cannot use an aftermarket head unit with an OEM amplifier.
I have heard but not seen of a head unit that will tie into the K-bus, but 99% of them do not.

The pinouts to all the OEM connectors are in the link I posted above.


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[stodog123]

i dont believe i have dsp there wasnt an off swithch on the old stereo and i looked at the amp and it did have any dsp looking wire.

should the AMP REM be connected to something? if so what? and do i need a new amp?

[stodog123]

it works!!! i attached the amp rem to the remote antennae

[Irish4562]

Hey guys, I am totally new here so forgive me if I hijacked this thread. I'm beyond tired of splicing into wires and dealing with morons and autozone and even more morons at the bmw dealership (no offense to any dealer lovers). I just personally don't appreciate the high margins. Anyways I bought a 2006 bmw 24 3.0i 4 months ago. Since then I have been gutting it, I replaced everything from the vanos solenoids to intake, gaskets,battery, alternator, coolant lines and also the oil filter gaskets. I have went ape shit crazy replacing everything with the mentality of "preventative maintenance". So the final and last thing was installing a aftermarket radio. I have read every single thread on this and no one I mean no one has the answer to this other than replacing the amplifier and replacing all new speakers which I really don't want to do. Right now after all my efforts I went to frys electronics and just bought a bluetooth adapater (my car already has favtory bluetooth) but it's not capable of bluetooth streaming. So that's working right now minus the fact the sound quality isint as good as it should be but I dont care that much. The only pain is having to turn the dang thing in and connect each time because I wired it into the glove box. My point here is I had a pioneer single din ready to go and all of its hardware ordered a Cruz steering wheel control module to retain the volume buttons on wheel and installed everything the to my suprise... no sound. Which I then figured out the amp is getting no power. I took it to a radio installation place and they said the stock head until must be a "computer". So for now everything is stock but I really just want a single din unit installed with the stock amp and speakers. This is insanely hard to figure out PLEASE someone help me lol its driving me crazy I think about it when I wake up and go to sleep. There has to be some wire on the back if that amplifier that I can tap into for the amp to turn on??? Or do I really have to replace everything?

Any help guys I would really appreciate it. It's the last thing on my list and I cannot pay anymore "professionals" to tell me what I already know. There has to be something. I also understand I could wire both radios and run the stock head unit to the truck but that silly and really a stupid idea so I wont be doing that I just want a clean install. Can anyone shed some light on this topic? Ite suck a pita.

[fredwhitford]

I was told by my Audio shop that I could not use an after market head unit but that I needed to change all the speakers (2 Ohm vs 10 Ohm) and get a new amp and head unit. Does this sound correct?
2003 3.0i Z4

[Clearancediver]

Sounds like you have the high end BMW radio set up.... Carver 10 spkr system.

They would be right.


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