Aftermarket head unit install; all speakers work except for the subwoofer

[kornfeld]

I just installed an aftermarket head unit in my coupe which has the Harman Kardon system, and everything works 100% (radio, CD player, blue tooth, front and rear speakers), except for the subwoofer. I can adjust the fader all the way to the rear, and the rear speakers work, but again, no subwoofer.

Is there special wiring that needs to be hooked up for the subwoofer to work, or does it just get its signal from the other speaker lines? I'm pretty sure I avoided the common issue of hooking up the antenna wiring incorrectly, because everything works when I use an audio source other than the radio...except for the subwoofer. Thoughts?

The head unit is a Pioneer DEH-X8700BH, and I used a Metra 70-8590 Radio Wiring Harness.

Thanks in advance for any help or pointers.

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I should add that while researching, I was under the impression that I would have to wire the speakers to the RCA outputs on the back of the new head unit, because it seemed like that signal needed to be line level. However, I found this thread:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...rca+line+level

Which suggested that you can just wire the speaker output from the head unit to the speaker wires on the harness that head of to the amp. This is how I wired it up, and the speakers sound normal and don't sound like the signal is clipping or anything. I'm not sure if this is of any relevance, so I figured I'd add it.

[ZoO]

I bought my coupe with an aftermarket radio and it too only powers the speakers, no sub. I have since then changed out the headunit but did not have time to pull everything apart to see how it was actually wired.

If someone has input on this it would be great to know the correct way to wire headunit to power speakers and sub with factory amp.

[kornfeld]

Another potential source of the problem could be the extra plug that's underneath the main plug that goes to the stock head unit. There's the big main plug, and under it is a small white plug. That now has nothing going to it. Maybe that's the feed to the subwoofer?

[kornfeld]

I keep searching for as many different terms as possible (harman kardon wiring, harman kardon diagram, harman kardon subwoofer, subwoofer not working, head unit subwoofer, subwoofer wiring, etc...and then add "Z3" to each of those for google searches), but I'm not finding an explanation.

I keep coming across this diagram, which closely matches what I have in my car. On the radio connector diagram at lower left, the difference is that both pins 4 and 7 have wires in my car, and they are not currently wired to anything from the new head unit:





Pins 4 and 7 and connected to the white/brown and white/gray wires toward the left in this photo:




Does anyone know if these are connected to the subwoofer? I'm currently wading through thread after thread that just tells people to search for an answer...I hope the more knowledgeable people here will take some pity and offer up some guidance. Thanks again.

[spacecowboy]

IIRC, with the proper adapter plug it should all work.

[kornfeld]

Is this the wrong adapter?

http://www.amazon.com/Metra-70-8590-.../dp/B0002BG6CI

It's mentioned in several threads:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...=Metra+70-8590

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...=Metra+70-8590

[Terry F.]

Maybe a dumb question but is the subwoofer "on"? There is an on-off-phase setting on the unit. Sub has to be set to on.

Just something to rule out.

Terry

[kornfeld]

Good question...I went through and cycled all subwoofer settings, and it had no effect. I think (but am not positive) that all of those settings are only applied to the subwoofer RCA outputs, which is why it's not changing anything. Which is what I'm still trying to figure out...does the stock BMW headunit have a subwoofer out, or is the subwoofer fed from a regular speaker output that has a low-pass filter on it?

[ZoO]

wow korn, you have been busy this morning, i went through all the searching too and never found one where it specified our exact situation. nice to see you going through all this. since my car came like this i have no idea how the previous owner installed it. so i have no idea where to start on seeing my my sub isnt working.

[kornfeld]

Yeah....I had done all of this research prior to starting, and was surprised to see this subwoofer issue come up in my car because I hadn't seen anything about it before. I'm new to this forum, so I would hate to get stereotyped as the guy that wants to be spoon-fed help without doing any work of their own.

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I'm wondering if I should have used this instead:

http://www.amazon.com/Metra-70-8591-Wiring-Harness-Integration/dp/B0007WTF66/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426876459&sr=8-1&keywords=metra+bmw+harness

I read in several places that this adapter didn't work well, but I wonder if the RCA connectors will get the sub to work.

[ZoO]

did you have the factory CD player in there previously? and im assuming it worked? how did you wire up the headunit? radio > radio harness > metra harness > car harness?


did you do anything else?

[kornfeld]

I did have the factory CD player, and everything worked fine (aside from the volume knob being finicky, which isn't relevant). I have it wired up exactly like you describe.

[Terry F.]

Pins 4 and 7 and connected to the white/brown and white/gray wires toward the left in this photo:




Does anyone know if these are connected to the subwoofer? I'm currently wading through thread after thread that just tells people to search for an answer...I hope the more knowledgeable people here will take some pity and offer up some guidance. Thanks again.

So if you look at the radio connector pin-out, there's no signal for subwoofer. So no subwoofer signal is generated by the stock head unit. The only other way to get a sub output is if the (stock) amp does all the crossovers.

Amp Connector 1 says subwoofer connections but should be labeled woofer connections. These wires go to the large speaker in a component system, not a sub-woofer.

Amp Connector 2 are the inputs from the head unit and the mid+tweeter or tweeter outputs that go to the smaller speakers. Nothing here about subwoofers.

You mentioned extra wires. Maybe a sub, who knows.

Not sure if any of that helps....

Terry

[kornfeld]

Looking at Amp connector 2, the other speaker connections (the connector at top right): It says where all of the inputs are. Those colors labeled "From Radio" correspond to the colors on the Radio Connector (at bottom left).

Now, looking at Amp connector 1, the subwoofer connections (the connector in the top left): It doesn't say anything about an input. It has battery, remote turn on, and ground, but no input. Weird.

[Terry F.]

Again, think of Amp Conn1 as woofer, not subwoofer outputs. So Conn 1 supplies the power, gnd and switched-on to the amp. Conn 1 outputs the main speaker signals, the larger speakers of the four coaxial or component speakers. Conn 2 has inputs for the 4 channels of tweeters and 2 channels of mid-range, plus, the four input channels coming from the head unit.

No where in there is any discussion of a subwoofer. With your new unit manual, find the output pin of the head unit that goes to your sub, actually sub amplifier input. So, after saying that, I guess there isn't a sub input on that amp. To do it right, consider a small, separate mono amp just to drive the subwoofer and wire it direct. That way you can use the subwoofer output on the new head unit and also, the subwoofer controls on the new unit. Find an inexpensive 2-channel amp that will bridge to a single channel. 80W-100W bridged will be fine, more is a plus.

Terry

[ZoO]

i have a feeling that wiring diagram is for a system without a subwoofer. And all the other diagrams i see on here are for the HK system with 2 amps.... not one amp powering the speakers and sub like we have.

[Mr Bingley]

See post # 2 in this thread:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...hlight=diagram

[Terry F.]

Would you consider spending another $150-200 for a 5-channel amp? It will sound better and wire-up with ease. Most of us ditch the stock amps, I know I did. Just a suggestion.

T

[kornfeld]

--Are there six speakers at the front of the car? I thought there was only the speaker in the kick panel and the tweeter in the door...is there a third speaker on each side at front?




--When looking at post 2 on the thread that Mr Bingley linked to, the only connector that looks like something going to the subwoofer is this one:

J3 6-pin AMP connector

pin function wire color
--- -------- ----------
1 GAL IN black/white
2 SPATIAL n/c
3 SUB LO n/c
4 GAL OUT n/c
5 SUB OW n/c
6 SUB HI n/c

But everything is labeled n/c, which stands for not connected. Am I missing something else from that post, or does anyone have any guesses about the physical location of this connector in the car so I can take a look at it?



--I have considered just buying another amp...I'm hesitant to do it because I've already dumped a ton of money into the car since purchasing it a month or so ago. I'll probably eventually end up buying an amp, so I can spend the money now or spend it later. Maybe just do it now.

[ashevillez3]

My wife has a 2.8 with Harman Kardon system. Several years ago she had Best Buy install Sony aftermarket head unit. I recall that the install required a wiring adapter but never looked at it. Funny thing is the installer said he did not know how to install aftermarket head in the Z3. After an argument with the manager they got another installer to do the job. End result is that the subwoofer works but is not controlled by the the subwoofer function of the head unit. Sub is controlled by the basic speaker settings such as treble, midrange and base functions.

[kornfeld]

I have wires going to pins 4 and 7; in this diagram, they're labeled "Tel Mute" and "DAC":





I assume "Tel Mute" is if you have the factory/dealer installed telephone, and no clue what "DAC" is, but doesn't sound like a subwoofer. Hmm.

[ZoO]

i found this if you havent seen it, its the wiring diagram for coupes

[deni2s]

I am quite sure you need to set up your Pioneer head unit to use subwoofer. I have older DEH-P77something and there are regular audio settings normally available (like treble and bass adjustments) and there are additional special setup functions which you can access only by pressing on one button while the unit is off (don't have the manual to look at at the moment which button). Check the manual for your head unit. There should be functions to change the settings including if you have the subwoofer at all, if you are using internal crossover or not, it's filter settings, subwoofer phase, automatic sound level control and many others. And at least on my head unit there were 2 different options where to connect front/rear speakers depending on if you have additional subwoofer, so it may not sound good with current setup if you will turn on subwoofer in settings.

[kornfeld]

Cool, I hadn't seen that. Looks like 6 speakers up front, which answers the follow up question I had for Terry about his point that "subwoofer" means "speaker in the kick panel" in the above diagrams.

I also found these wiring diagrams:







So pin 4 is indeed for the telephone, pin 7 is for the CD changer. The bizarre thing is that I still don't see a wire for the subwoofer coming from the head unit. Everything should be hooked up. It's bizarre that it was working fine before, and it isn't working at all now.

[deni2s]

To conclude check page 7 in this manual: https://www.manualowl.com/m/Pioneer/.../Manual/431841 for S/W Control and page 21 for different connections (depending on if you subwoofer is connected to outputs to rear speakers or not.