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REWIRING not rewording (stupid autocorrect)
Thought this would be easy to run new wires from amp/crossover into door, but a plug takes up the whole space where I need to run the wires from the body into the door!
Now what?
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Last edited by M3 Pete; 11-03-2017 at 12:37 PM.
97 Estoril/Black M3/4/5
"Although we've experienced an M3 sedan with an automatic, our test car came fitted as God intended, with a 5-speed manual ..."
Road & Track May 1997, testing the M3 Sedan
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Why are you rewiring the speakers? The wire in the car is adequate to handle the power of most aftermarket amps.
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Because I thought it would be easier than trying to splice into the wiring from the old HK amp. I'm not aware of an aftermarket connector for that amp. Is there one? If not, where do you suggest tapping into those wires, and do you have a preferred method of doing it?
Something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Strippin...dp/B01N6EKSGK/
I assume that the wires from the stock radio go to the HK amp and not the speakers.
Last edited by M3 Pete; 10-30-2017 at 02:14 PM.
97 Estoril/Black M3/4/5
"Although we've experienced an M3 sedan with an automatic, our test car came fitted as God intended, with a 5-speed manual ..."
Road & Track May 1997, testing the M3 Sedan
Member
You are correct. The head unit wiring goes to the amp. If the car was built with the HK sound system it MAY not have individual wires for each speaker! I know that the E46 cars with HK use a single pair of wires for each door/panel. Then the sound is split into various frequencies via capacitors. My new 2018 M240i with HK is wired that way.
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It does have individual wires, you can see three of them (yellow) at the left side of the photo, same colors in the door (unless the capacitors are somewhere upstream). The E36 M3 guys tell me that the plug can be released with the thing on the right side of the photo, and then you can remove both sides of the part of the plug that holds the speaker wires, and run new wires through there.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...0#post29870460
I have not tried it yet, I'll let you know.
97 Estoril/Black M3/4/5
"Although we've experienced an M3 sedan with an automatic, our test car came fitted as God intended, with a 5-speed manual ..."
Road & Track May 1997, testing the M3 Sedan
Member
Sure enough, the plug comes apart. The first photo shows the latch closed, the second shows the latch pulled up, which allows the plug to come apart.
There is an open space next to the existing speaker wires, that has plenty of room for new wires, no need to modify or remove the old wires. Popped the hose off the door and ran the wires through the hose and into the door. Inside the door, I wrapped the wires in braided cable wrap to keep together and protect them. Used Sil-Glyde on the rubber seals while I had them open, which made it easier to put the hose back on the door.
97 Estoril/Black M3/4/5
"Although we've experienced an M3 sedan with an automatic, our test car came fitted as God intended, with a 5-speed manual ..."
Road & Track May 1997, testing the M3 Sedan
Member
All the E36 series have pairs going to each speaker in either the 6 or 10 speaker system regardless of the amp. The crazy wiring schemes used all happen in the trunk between the rear bulkhead and the amp, but all the wires are there. The color coding and pin positions in the 26pin and 12pin connectors change a little with different years and need to be checked before plugging. This includes the power, grounds and switching circuits. My '92 had all the wiring in place for a regular to HK upgrade but needed connector wiring mods to work. Never found any caps, the regular or HK amps do that function. There was a mention of connectors in here somewhere. All of the original locking type 26pin connectors are still available, but they are expensive. But, double row 26pin Dupont style connectors are the correct pitch and pin size and will fit, just need a dab of RTV or some other method to ensure holding in place.Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini
See ya later,
tony
'98 M3, '92 Dinan3, '05 R1100S BCR, '07 R1200S, Aprilia T
Member
BMW must have started the single pair wiring for the HK in the E46. My 2018 M240i with the HK has single pair wiring with a capacitor in the wiring pair going from each mid to each tweeter. Saves weight.
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Are you sure about that? The wiring diagrams for the E46 show separate pairs for each speaker going to the amp for the top hi-fi systems except the convertible, which has more speakers with a common grounds and less cabling.
See ya later,
tony
'98 M3, '92 Dinan3, '05 R1100S BCR, '07 R1200S, Aprilia T
Member
@tjm3, can you share where to buy the 26-pin connectors?
Member
The non-HK car’s have individual pairs going to each speaker. I owned a 2001 330Ci without HK, and the first thing I did to the car was replace the speakers. So, I know non-HK E46s are wired that way. However, an E46 with the HK option is wired with a single pair going to a component set, such as the 3 speakers in the door of a coupe. Weird BMW would have different wiring for the 2 audio set ups.
- - - Updated - - -
Try www.mouser.com. That company has everything.
- - - Updated - - -
Try www.mouser.com. That company has everything.
Member
Here's BMW part numbers for the pin housing, locking cover and the terminal ends for different sized wiring from realoem. BMW uses these exact plugs for lots of components.
The housings are relatively cheap but the actual terminal ends are somewhere around $3 or $4 EACH x 26 of them. When they're that expensive it usually means there's a pigtail attached.
If you really need one you can always cut one off your OBC.
I can't get the image to size properly so open it in an new tab for readability. Punch in one of the part numbers to realoem and the pics will be available there.
Or, do a search for '26 pin dupont connector' or '26 pin double row dupont connector' or variations of that. Mouser was mentioned. They only have the flat computer type cable end.
26PinHousingNumbers.jpg
Last edited by tjm3; 11-20-2017 at 11:03 AM.
See ya later,
tony
'98 M3, '92 Dinan3, '05 R1100S BCR, '07 R1200S, Aprilia T
Member
@tjm3, thank you for sharing these details. Have you ever seen the male end of this connector (the one that would usually be attached to the HK amp)? I just went and bought a spare amp to disassemble and use the male end of the connector, but it makes for some slightly tricky soldering and I wondered if there was a different way, and potentially cheaper than buying a used amplifier. I'm replacing the amp and speakers and leaving the deck and wiring factory.
Member
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/276/00108...ERS-129984.pdf
These come in all types of configurations. I think this is the correct size but you may need to match the pin and socket size to be sure. Pitch and pin size.
See ya later,
tony
'98 M3, '92 Dinan3, '05 R1100S BCR, '07 R1200S, Aprilia T
Member
Make sure you check the ohms and volts of the deck output. The older HK (1998 era) were incompatible with aftermarket amps. The speakers were a weird ohm set up too. I ended up replacing the entire system with aftermarket. Sure, I had to pull the seats and carpet out, pull panels off, and generally stand on my head in tight spots to do it, but the result was predictable and nothing caught fire. I also put dynamat in many areas that were tinny. Highly recommended!
Member
Yup! The E46s with the HK option have a single pair wire going to each component set. The non-HK set up has a wire pair for each speaker as the amp gas built in crossovers.
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