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Thread: No Sound from Aftermarket Head Unit with DSP Amp

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    No Sound from Aftermarket Head Unit with DSP Amp

    I have a 2003 BMW X5 E53 with Lear DSP NAV unit. I purchaced an aftermarket head unit similar to a Hualingan from AutoCarPlaza.

    I removed the MID/ Nav unit and disconnected the 2 flat pin Connectors (blue and white). These were not used with new head unit.

    I installed the new DSP Adapter Wiring Harness included with unit and antenna extension wire from the new head unit to the DSP connector in battery compartment per the instructions.

    Everything on the new head unit seems to be working good but there is no sound. The amp was working fine before I removed the MID unit. The DSP amp seems like it is not turning on. I have read in other forums that you have to reconnect the MID unit to turn on/ keep on the DSP amp.

    Has anyone been able to make the DSP amp turn on with an aftermarket head unit? I dont want to re-install the old MID unit.

    I'm desperate...please help!

  2. #2
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    I don't think there is any aftermarket headunit that will work with the BMW DSP system. Sound like if you want music you need to reinstall the old radio. Or rewire the car with a new amp and wires running from the amp to new speakers.
    Quote Originally Posted by GarrettSR5 View Post
    Hate to admit it but attack_eagle is right.
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    ............. then upallnight has probably got it right
    Spirit

  3. #3
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    I have definitely figured out that if you relocate the MID unit into the glovebox and keep it hooked up, that DSP amp turns on and everything works.

    What I would like to figure out is how the MID unit tells the amp to turn on and bypass it. I have heard that Pin 4 on the DSP amp is +12V on/off input. But I don't know if I can just wire this to the Head Unit Power antenna or some other switched 12V supply and do the trick.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by wowghoast View Post
    I have definitely figured out that if you relocate the MID unit into the glovebox and keep it hooked up, that DSP amp turns on and everything works.

    What I would like to figure out is how the MID unit tells the amp to turn on and bypass it. I have heard that Pin 4 on the DSP amp is +12V on/off input. But I don't know if I can just wire this to the Head Unit Power antenna or some other switched 12V supply and do the trick.
    did anyone get this working I've tried with no success.with the mid unit connected and also tried it disconnected.
    i've measured the 12v at the factory dsp amp and it is recieving the 12v just won't switch on eeems to me it is looking for some other digital inputs. help does anyone hsve a clue

  5. #5
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    Sorry to bring back to life an old thread. I am hoping to update the premium sound in my 2006 x3 with a more modern headunit. Has anyone been able to do this without running new wires from the headunit to the speakers?

    Quote Originally Posted by cpeachey View Post
    did anyone get this working I've tried with no success.with the mid unit connected and also tried it disconnected.
    i've measured the 12v at the factory dsp amp and it is recieving the 12v just won't switch on eeems to me it is looking for some other digital inputs. help does anyone hsve a clue

  6. #6
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    Getting closer, still waiting for one of the metra plugs that crutchfield forgot to send to me. I have relocated the old headunit into the vacant area in the back of the car where a cd changer would reside, and connected it to the ground wire (brown), 12V positive constant (red) and ibus wires (wire with yellow dots to pin 9) from the cd changer plug. I think I will also need to find a way to connect it to the ignition/acc wire, if i can find one. Would be great if someone could send me a link to a wiring diagram for a 2006 E83. I am pretty sure I need to tap into the purple/white wire for ignition/acc but would like to make sure before destroying something.

  7. #7
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    Success!

    After scouring the internet and much trial and error, I finally got my new setup to work. I removed the OEM bluetooth unit and placed the MID/headunit in its place in the back of the car and ran a wire to trigger the amplifier from the old headunit to the new clarion headunit. There was a lot of trial and error and frustration but all is good now. I am still having trouble with the ASWC-1 steering wheel controller. It only functions to raise/lower the volume on the oem headunit and does not control the clarion unit, which is probably OK, since I can reach the clarion more easily, anyway.

  8. #8
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    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by brick8 View Post
    After scouring the internet and much trial and error, I finally got my new setup to work. I removed the OEM bluetooth unit and placed the MID/headunit in its place in the back of the car and ran a wire to trigger the amplifier from the old headunit to the new clarion headunit. There was a lot of trial and error and frustration but all is good now. I am still having trouble with the ASWC-1 steering wheel controller. It only functions to raise/lower the volume on the oem headunit and does not control the clarion unit, which is probably OK, since I can reach the clarion more easily, anyway.
    Hello and sorry that its 5 years later, but I just bought an X5 E53 with factory Navi, Big screen and DSP amp and I'm trying to install an android screen. I can't seem to find the correct combo of patched cables to turn on the amp (and keep it on). If I understand it correctly you kept the whole factory system in the trunk of the car but without connecting the audio cables to the old tuner so you can piggyback the sound with the new HeadUnit. Any chance you have kept pictures of what you did?

    Thanx a lot,
    Filippos

  9. #9
    richardodn's Avatar
    richardodn is offline Old Guy BMW CCA Member
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    Most of the Android head unit installs I've seen basically piggyback on the existing system. Essentially you keep the entire existing system except the display. The Android unit then acts as both a new display for the original system as well as an alternate display with a new audio source piped in via the original aux input. All the connections between the original system and the screen are through a breakout harness with a few exceptions. I did a 2008 E83 X3 which is a bit more modern than yours, but is very similar.

    Video display is connected through a direct LVDS input into the screen
    If you have the fiber optic connection between the in-dash unit and the amps, you have to transfer those over to the breakout harness.
    Depending on exactly how your factory system is constructed, the audio out from the new screen is either through the breakout harness (leave the aux out and aux in connection in the harness connected) or through the factory aux input (disconnect the aux in/aux out and use an extension cable to the original aux in).
    Power on to the screen can be a bit odd. There's two ways this can work. The preferred way is an always hot connection for the screen power. Turn on/off signal is via one of the I-bus connections or perhaps it's the LVDS video connection. In my case I had no Nav system and only one I-bus line so I had to use switched power.

    The bottom line is you should not need to switch on the amp. The whole original system should already be booting up when you switch on the car. If you have no audio, it's possible you didn't swap over the fiber optic connections. You can check this by switching the Android screen to display the factory system and using the radio function. Do you have sound now? If not, you likely messed up the fiber optics.

    If the radio plays sound but switching the system to aux and using the screen audio gives nothing, your aux input is probably messed up.
    Last edited by richardodn; 02-20-2022 at 10:31 AM.
    "Howdy, Folks!"

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  10. #10
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    Thanx for the reply. My model does not have an optical line to the dash screen (as far as i can tell). UU r just supposed to use an extension harness for the Android in the front with a splice where it clips in the factory plug so it can power up the factory tuner too. My car came with the factory nav, dsp amp, tuner in the boot (below the spare tyre), 6 cd changer and tv reception for the dash monitor. It does not seem to have LVDS cable and also no true CANBUS just 1 cable iBus. Apparently the model was like that until 2006 and then the model changed.
    I wired the harness with the splice, I got sound for about 30-40 seconds and then the amp shuts off. From what I figured by the various forums, i might have to splice one more cable to a big 54pin plug that has to do either with the navi unit or the bluetooth module and also maybe check the tel mute line that has a low resistor (from what I read) and might be needing a +12V to stay open.
    This the type of harness and the android has an iso plug in the back. no optical stuff i believe.

    https://www.tradewheel.com/p/*****-a...tended-278358/

    The alternative is to plug into the system the original big screen from the dash as well, without the audio cables though (now with the patched cables I just give +12V,Grnd, Acc and iBus to the tuner), but install it in the trunk area somewhere so it is out of the way (if I can hide it) with maybe the added advantage of beeing able to do EQualizer adjustmens from the factory screen in the back.
    The problem with all these patched systems is that the sound has a tendency to degrade and, especially, with two separate volume controls. Ideally I would replace everything with new speakers and crossovers etc. just keeping the wiring, but it raises the cost a lot.
    I need to unplug the factory mobile phone as well if I understand it correctly, because it might be causing problems too.
    Thanx for your help. The question to you was more in the lines of do i have to relocate the screen as well or just keep the tuner without screen?
    Also maybe some mystical (or mythical) BMW cable that I missed :-)
    Thanx again
    Filippos

  11. #11
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    I am thinking of replacing my existing nav/pop up display with a newer system. I have a 2010 x3 30i e83 There is one on ebay that is android. Is this easy to do. Mine hasn’t opened or worked for a couple of years and besides the nav was so outdated it wasn’t worth it.

  12. #12
    richardodn's Avatar
    richardodn is offline Old Guy BMW CCA Member
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    I did one on a 2008 without factory NAV. In this scenario it adds a new screen. It retains the entire factory system. The supplied breakout adapter cable goes between the head unit/MID in the dash. Physical installation was pretty straightforward, but the wiring hookup took a bit of work.

    I placed the new NAV and 4G antennas right in the pocket the screen sits in. You can use a splitter on the built in NAV antenna, but that would require running new cables all the way back to where the units are. I didn't feel it was worth the extra effort. If the 2010 NAV system has either of them in the dash, it's something to consider.

    Audio from the new screen to the existing system was setup to run an aux cable from the breakout harness to the external aux in on the back of the center console. I didn't like that arrangement, so I rewired things to do it internally and retain the external aux.

    Power on was also a bit tricky. The typical way is to supply unswitched power to the head unit. The screen turns on in response to activity on the information bus (I-bus). I had to change mine to switched power which has some drawbacks. Yours being 2 years newer and with NAV may make that a non-issue.

    My best advice is to buy it from somewhere you can get ongoing support. Although the screen itself is custom fit, the wiring harness supports many configurations so it's not completely plug and play. I got mine from avinusa. Be aware that although that vendor offers live chat support, that support is only available during business hours in China. Most likely you'll be getting email support, but they are responsive.
    "Howdy, Folks!"

    1986 Delphin 528e - Roof rack equipped lumber hauler.
    1989 Zinnoberrot 325iX Sedan - I miss this car. (Deceased)
    1998 Avus Blau 328iC - Someone else's project now
    2008 Platinum-Beige X3 3.0si - Current project
    2012 Alpine White X3 xDrive35i - My new snowmobile.
    2020 Estoril Blue 440i xDrive cabrio - This car is a blast to drive.

  13. #13
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    Once looked into redoing the radio in an older Bmw, but decided against it. Did research the issue though, and discovered that others had run into problems such as the above as well. For some, the solution was that when unplugging the old radio, the power switch on it had to be on, and the volume at half, to the best of my recollection.

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