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Thread: CD43 into E32?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Richmond, Virginia
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    1,683
    My Cars
    '88 735i, '06 RSX

    CD43 into E32?

    Anybody have a wiring diagram on how to wire the CD43 into the E32? I have a 3rd party unit in there now that I want to replace with CD43. I have the harness for CD43 so I just need to know how/where to splice the wires. Also, recommendations for an ipod/iphone integration kit for the CD43? I've read there are some problems with DICE and GROM, not sure though. Thanks in advance for responses.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Japan
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    54,654
    My Cars
    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    colorado springs
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    43
    My Cars
    1993 740i build 11/92

    cd43 into e32 and nothing else needed?

    Shogun

    could I replace the stock radio/cassette player with a cd43 in either a '93 740 or '95 530i as a plug-in-play? if not, is it a hassle to install...like needing a harness etc.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Japan
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    54,654
    My Cars
    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3
    Searched on google for an offer and one ebay offer says: COMPATIBLE WITH THE FOLLOWING:
    1984 - 1992 E30 3 SERIES (325I, 325IS, 325IC, 318I, 318, 318IS, 318IC & M3) *WILL REQUIRE 17 PIN PLUG. CAN INCLUDE FREE WITH PURCHASE.
    1992 - 1999 E36 3 SERIES (318I, 318IS, 318IC, 318TI, 320, 320I, 320IS, 323I, 323IS, 323I, 325I, 325IS, 325IC, 328I, 328IS, 328IC & M3)
    1996 - 2003 Z3, M ROADSTER, M COUPE (1.7, 1.9, 2.5, 2.8, 3.0L COUPE & CONVERTIBLE)
    1991 - 1996 E34 5 SERIES (525, 525I, 535I, 535, 540, 540I & M5)
    1992 - 1994 E32 7 SERIES (735, 735I, 740, 740I, 750, 750I, 750IL)
    1995 - 2001 E38 7-SERIES (740I, 740IL, 750I, 750IL)
    1991 - 1997 E31 8 SERIES (840, 840I, 840CI, 850, 850I, 850CI, 850CSI)
    **ONCE AGAIN, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO DOUBLE CHECK COMPATIBILITY WITH YOUR BMW
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    Albuquerque, NM
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    1,206
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    way too many
    I put a 1996 e36 M3 C43 in my 1992 735i. Direct plug & play with the e32 factory plug. If you have the harness, you should be able to spice it into yours by matching the wire colors. I later added a Grom ipod adapter. Again, it came with the proper adapters and was a direct plug & play. The only thing the Grom needed was another switched +12V source which I found under the dash. Earlier e32's required a pin in the factory socket to be swapped, I forget the details but I think 91 or 92 and later were good as-is. At one time, George Mann did a write-up on the install of a CD43 in a 1990 e32 on Bimmernut.com or Roadfly. You might be able to find it via google and the wayback archive utility.
    ​"The US Olympics bobsled team has renamed their sled 'Biden' because nothing has taken America downhill faster"

    TheStigg (aka "gale")
    92 735i 5-spd, turbo pending
    89 535i 5-spd (may she rest in pieces)
    94 325ic 5-spd
    87 325is

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Japan
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    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3
    Found it on Bimmernut, from 2004, unfortunately the rf pics are no longer available http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showt...t-Installation
    copied from the long thread
    CD43 Business CD Head Unit Installation....
    Gents,
    I am pleased to report subject radio has been successfully installed. It wasn't easy but few things worth having ever are.
    Hope you enjoy the following write up:
    Fortunately the PO of the head unit had the original booklet and code card unmolested.
    Unraveling the wiring DNA code on the kitchen table. First effort to wire the radio was unsuccessful. This is what happened....
    The primary reason for this post is to help others with this conversion. The two people I talked to that performed the conversion really didn’t know how the radio was wired…both purchased an aftermarket plug with pre-assigned wires to splice to the car harness. I personally don't like to rely on aftermarket plugs which can many times be wrong or have an errant wire in the wrong place. I got to know where all the wires go. I didn’t want to go the aftermarke plug route and it almost cost me. I wanted a factory BMW plug and Rigmaster sent me one from his parted ’92 525i for a nominal cost…Thanks Bret. Here is the issue....I put together a wiring diagram above constructed from the radio booklet with a pic of the pin config. from Bentley for ’91 and later BMW’s. Winfred…I solved the reason why these plugs are not interchangeable to all year BMW’s after 1991. BMW didn’t change the pin configuration on the excellent sliding clasp common radio connector that didn’t change over the years but did change the damn convention of which pins pertain to what no. callout for each wire address. The picture shows conventionally marked nos. in black from Bentley for ’91 and later radios. The colored nos. represent the correct pin callout convention for the later CD43 business CD head unit offered on late model BMW’s. Go figure. I presume they did this to mitigate EMI but it sure caused a whole lot of confusion and anxiety for me…well at least as excited as I get these days. The first time I hooked up the radio, I attached it to the ’91 Bentley plug callout config. turned the radio on and nothing. I am grateful to a higher power that I didn’t fry the radio as many wires were attached to incorrect destinations.
    Next I removed the connector and checked the fuse…perfect so dodged a bullet there. My mind was reeling of course thinking that UPS abused the package in transit in spite of the radio being meticulously wrapped….Many Thanks Oscar…the radio was in perfect condition and I mean perfect. Next I didn’t know what to do so removed the connector and started fishing around only to find that the radio pin addresses were etched into the back radio plug adjacent to the pins. A quick comparison with Bentley and there is was. I was both relieved, agitated that BMW would change the pin destinations without changing the plug over time…and concerned that I fried my new radio at the same time. There was hope...but did I fry the radio by mis-wiring it? Had to wait until I pulled the car harness all apart again and resolder it correctly to the colored numbers above to find out. Note that pin nos. 1-6 are the same for all years. It seems ludicrous that BMW would throw this curve ball for the same design plug but they did. Other thing that no one would answer is could I isolate all the negative channel outputs from this factory radio and wire it successfully like I had my last Kenwood head unit and as the original factory radio is wired. The answer is yes which begs the question as to why BMW goes the trouble and added cost of running separate (-) channel outputs to the post amp after model year 1990 but they do…presume it is for incremental sound improvement versus sharing a common earth...but imperceptible to my ear. That is precisely how you wire this radio to pre-1991 BMW’s…connect only the (+) leads for the four channels respectively to the car harness/amp and do not connect the (-) channel outputs from the radio at all. Isolate the (-) leads independently with electrical tape and do not ground them. Do run a separate ground wire from the radio chassis to the car’s body however. Other thing you will need is a VW-20 antenna adapter to connect the conventional power rear window antenna co-ax from the car to this radio…Thanks Mike Holbrook for the tip.
    Straight on shot of radio…couldn’t be more pleased with the way it looks. The radio unlike any other radio I have seen in these cars looks like it belongs. Here is the kicker…it even sounds better than it looks. I am astounded by the sound. I never liked the factory head unit…thought it was a weak radio and it is. I upgraded to a Blaupunkt Toronto and it was better but there were many quirky un-BMW like qualities to that radio…I hated the credit card feature…thought it was gimmicky and believed it had a cheap amp and wasn’t impressed with the sound quality and so upgraded to a Kenwood 715S which sounded terrific. This radio however blows it out of the water. I had no idea the sound would be this good running through the factory amp and stock 10 speakers…couldn’t be more pleased. Heard more depth to some of the CD’s I tried that I hadn’t picked up in other systems…a very impressive stock head unit.
    Side shot of the radio. In summary, I highly recommend this upgrade to anyone considering an aftermarket head unit. You should be able to pick one up for around $300 or so or comparable to a replacement head unit. Your challenge will be to find a real nice one…I got lucky. Someone with a late model E-36 or Z3 that has to have an audiophile system will occasionally put a CD43 up for sale. I put a query on the Z3 board and got a response. Personally, I would never sell an original BMW factory radio out of a clean BMW but some do for the money. If I were ever to upgrade, I would always keep the original radio to sell with the car. A final note is…the tactile quality of the buttons, ergonomics and overall sturdiness this radio exudes is second to none. Also, the display is a perfect match for the rest of the lighting.
    Of course I had to throw in a pic of my car…what the radio is attached to.

    My post in thanks for all the great people on this forum that have the same passion for these cars.
    George
    90 735iL/149k
    P.S...will keep these pics up for a while on my webspace. If you are interested, save the pics into your hard drive before they are taken down.

    -------------------
    lad you guys like it. As with everything, it is a balance. With radios...the balance is aesthetics, fidelity and cost. Everybody has a different priority...with me, the afore mentioned are of equal weight. For some..nth degree sound quality rules and how the head unit looks doesn't factor in as much and are willing to pay $2K to install a killer system and tear out the old speakers and factory amp. Many people on this forum have that kind of system that will blow mine away in sound quality. With me I was looking for a balance of all these things trying to preserve the originality of the car a bit and yet still upgrade sound peformance at a reasonable price.
    Brandon....I didn't research the 6 disc changer compatibility as I currently don't have one in my E-32...one of the only options my car didn't come with.
    If I installed one, I would opt for a late model changer mostly for performance and reliability and run the factory co-ax from the CD43 back to the trunk. It is possible the original changer would work in these car but I don't have an answer for you. I know the plug itself is different on pre-91 cars but possibly compatible on '91 and later E-34's when the went to the later radio connector with integral changer co-ax. As to the illumination...it matchs perfectly with lights off in daylight or on in a dark garage...checked it both ways. The separate illumination wire compensates for light, reducing the illumination of the display and providing peripherial lighting to the knob etc when the lights are turned on. Scott...I honestly don't know if the center display will show radio function...a very good question. I used that feature so infrequently when I had my original radio in the car that it didn't occur to me to even try it. Will have to give it a go :-)
    Jr...many thanks for your comments. It is your car I covet of all the cars on this forum. I hang out here with "my sled" because of the people mostly.
    I do love my car but your M5 because of its rarity, condition and performance is really something to behold...and as you say the color ain't bad either.
    And Micah...glad you are still hanging out as with many who have moved out of the E-34 fold as the true car guy you are. As you know time marchs on and factory systems continue to improve so my modest system won't hold a candle to many of the high end late model cars out there not to mention some of the very trick aftermarket installations...but for what it is...sounds pretty darn good...especially at fun song with the windows down and roof open on a perfect sunny day on the expressway with the peddle down :-) Cheers to my homies out there. George
    --------------------------
    I did the same conversion a year ago (PIC)
    Very intresting reading your article, because I thought I would be the only person installing another OEM BMW headunit and not going towards the aftermarket way. I am pretty sure the CD 43 was a different internals to the radio I installed, but they have the same connections and asthetic design. I chose to install another OEM bmw radio because there were no HU out there that fitted the rest of the car like that radio.

    The radio I pulled out was a really old bugger was the poverty radio that came with E30's E28's and E34's had a tape drive lcd screen and no cd changer options....and the thing had only 2 channels left and right which was then split by the fader control switch.

    So got the radio out of my mates '99 M3 and got the code from the stealer. But the speakers in my car were pretty stuffed and they were 8ohm and the HU is designed to work with 4ohm speakers so I replaced all the speakers with some phillips 80w ones. I am not a person for cutting and splicing wires....I HATE IT so i was searching throgh the ETK one day and came upon an OEM adaptor that was a plug and play to convert the old plug system to the new "rectangular" plug system. So yeah it was fairly bolt in...except the harness i got was designed for the wireharness that had the HU that had fader control on it rather than having a fader switch. I tapped them in so the fader control switch still worked because its easier to use that going through the menu on the radio.

    So yeah everything plugged in fine. then i bought a stacker and got an E36 stacker harness and wired and bolted it all up per factory design...

    And yeah it does me quite nicely. Having your HU would have been really cool...but i sometimes plug my laptop in via the tape deck so yeah that has its advantages also.
    --------------------
    George mentions the pinout is shown on the new headunit.If the old headunit is also marked then hopefully it will be relatively painless.
    ---------------
    If you have a 91 or higher e34/e32 etc...the CD43's wiring harness hooks right up to your car's regular radio connector.

    The only thing that won't work is the CD changer cable...the CD43 communicates with the CD changer (CDC) over the I-Bus...and the e34/e32 communicates with the CDC over the M-bus. In order to use a CDC with the CD43 head unit...you need to update the data cable that runs from the head unit to your CDC location...and you must upgrade your CDC to one that operates on the I-Bus. It's sort of easy to tell because those changers will usually have "BMW 6 CD changer PI" written on the door.

    Or you can upgrade from outdated CDs and move up to an MP3 player. The CD43 will work with an iPod or MP3 player by connecting to the aux outlet in the back. You can run the MP3 player to your glove box, trunk, or mount a holder anywhere convenient for you.

    For info and links to info about upgrading using this radio click this link: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/433594/17

    As far as the redundant radio display in the instrument cluster display...you have to have a 1993 or higher e34.
    Q
    95 525iT / 97 740iL
    ---------------------
    In 2007 I asked: did someone download the pics George posted back in 2004? Gale just posted this info on BB and I wanted to see the pics too. "
    But no reply
    ----------------------------
    I recently sold my E36 M3 C33 radio to an 1992 E34 M5 owner, just got his feedback: arrived, Installed and works great. Thanks again.
    Last edited by shogun; 09-29-2017 at 10:18 AM.
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

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