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Thread: The Great Car Stereo Game

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv

    Cool The Great Car Stereo Game

    Ok, So, I have looked at many Forums, Many Photos, Many Diagrams and Many Stories, about different Car Audio Systems in the E36 Convertible. No Amp, An Amp behind the Seat, Split System Speakers Blah Blah Blah. Everytime I go to look at something it aint there.
    So Far, I removed the original Head Unit and replaced it with a Double Din Android Unit, Moving the Computer above the Fan Control.
    Interior First Changes.jpg
    Lovely, Then connected it to the speaker wires, as I have Nokia (Nokia?) Speakers. The Rear Speakers sound like listening to a phone also, but the front. Pretty Good. Regardless, Connecting a head unit speakers out to the car, ahh well there must not be an amp. Working ok in the front. No good in the rear.
    So listened to it like that for a few weeks. But got tired of it, So Worked out how to remove the rear speaker covers on Saturday, pulled out those silly little 4" cradle things and replaced the speakers with Pioneer 3way 5.25". Lovely Fit
    speaker switch.jpg speaker replacement.jpg

    Beautiful, nice sound from the left, nothing from the right. Pull everything apart and check wiring. All OK. HMMMM.
    Go for a drive, listening to music 5 minutes from home. No Bass. No Bass anywhere. Now What???? A look around the Forums, and, oh, there may be an amp, with a high impeadance input, which will probably stop working feeding high power speakers into it.
    So I guess thats whats happened. So where is this Mythical Amp. Wow, Many Many stories about that. Its in the Boot. Not that I can See, Its Under the Seat, nope. Its behind the back seat.
    no amp.jpg
    Ahhhh, no its not. The only box I have found so far is in the Rear Passenger Side Well behind the speaker. (Note Right Hand Drive in Australia for our USA Brothers). Yeah, so Box.
    amp maybe.jpg
    But hey, don't touch things you know nothing about, Knowing BMW this is the Steering Control Module and the Amplifier is in the Sun-visor. (I Exaggerate to Clarify).
    Anyhow, Any Ideas, Wiring Diagrams, Locations of things, would be greatly appreciated. Will update as I go so this may help someone in the future.
    Cheers All, OzDrDj.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    Posts
    372
    My Cars
    '99 M3 vert, '07 X3
    You are SO close in your 4th photo!
    Behind the rubber sound insulation mats are compartments. In my LHD the amp is behind the passenger side and the roll-over protection spring box is behind the driver...

    Hope this helps,

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv

    Thumbs up

    Ah Ha! Correct you are Jamrobin, So right, The amplifier behind that rubber matting, directly behind the Driver. The Passenger side box, contains nothing.
    009 Amp1.jpg
    So I guess now we check the wiring and see if we can wire up the new amps in these two boxes, and jump into the original wires.
    008 Amp Wiring.jpg 4b90113943582579f2788700959248e0 (1).gif
    So, theres the wiring. We'll see what we can do.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    Posts
    372
    My Cars
    '99 M3 vert, '07 X3
    Yup! That's what I did! I used exactly that same diagram to find the speaker wires from the amp and used them as high level inputs for six channel (front), four channel (rear), and monoblock (sub) amplifiers... I was going to just remove it but I like the speed sensitive volume control... It's the white wire but I haven't figured out a way to make use of it without the factory amp...

    You are well on your way, keep us updated!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    Trying to get the Amps Mounted or in a place i was happy with was tricky. But with a slight..... Modification to the vehicle, In they go.
    147024272_360807851679065_7273096871380164009_n.jpg147233122_725576374988582_4162874004866386350_n.jpg
    Now to the scaryish part, the wiring. Remove the original plugs and Begin.
    147652729_246714680258656_1122648327031319351_n.jpg
    Disconnected these 3 Way Crossovers from some almighty speakers long ago. So Will try them with the so labelled 2000w Amplifier, lmao. More likely 200w if that.
    I don't know whether I should bother with these cheap amps I have, and go get new ones, or wether they will do with the original front speakers and the Pioneer 3ways I have put in the back.
    Time will tell, we press on......

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    Ok, Today I finally got all the wires Connected. Not put in properly but, all just sitting together for a test.
    150785941_3773938772667674_7097678169764046470_n.jpg
    Powered it all up, Nothing, not a beep. Check the fuses, Fuse 9(?) Radio Fuse Blown, lol. So I pop in a new fuse.
    Scream - Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
    Thump - Thump - Thump - Thump - Thump - Thump - Thump - Thump.
    Just what sounds like some unearthly electrical feedback. But No Music.
    I turn off the power. The Radio and Graphic turn off, However the Amps Remain on. The Acc power being fed from the original amp leads, still has power. Why Why Why. Why would this lead still keep the amp on. A check of the acc power lead, shows me a voltage level of 1.002 Volts, but the power still triggers the amp.
    Disconnect the trigger wires from the amp. Feedback Stops. HMMMMMMMMM. Fault finding begins.
    First Check the audio out from the Radio. Nothing. No Audio out from my Android radio. OMG. How do you get anything done when the first part of your stereo is stuffed.
    Oh well, Ordering a new Radio today. See where we go from there.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
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    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    WEll, New radio still hasn't arrived, but got in and did some more work. Amplifiers were a bit tricky, But with a small Vehicular modification, I can fit the Amps behind the Seats.
    151220577_2902375153364770_910617308034306407_n.jpg 147233122_725576374988582_4162874004866386350_n.jpg
    Small piece of unwanted metal removed and the amps fit in nicely upright. I was thinking maybe to put some soundproof speaker insulation stuff, in and around the amps when i'm finished wiring to perhaps help the Subwoofer. I don;t know, but they seem to jam those insulation bats inside the home speakers so it must do something.
    So then we move on to front of house. With the wiring connected from the Graphic to the amps, I connected an mp3 player to the graphic and powered up. Still nothing...... Bloody Lovely. Check this wire, check that wire, yada yada. Low and behold, My brand new Graphic is dead. So I ordered a new one of them. Unbelievable luck here so far.
    So anyway, while connecting the new EQ, I decide to remove the plug and the adapter for a cleaner install.
    151388162_456438809099899_8017647773910973130_n.jpg
    So now, To wait on the Subwoofer Cable and the Radio to arrive for the next test. Had this car since November and driven it twice. UnReal.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
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    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    Well, Subwoofer cable and New Headunit Arrived, Cable Worked Fine. Head unit however. Has all these RCA connections on the back of it, but not one works. Fantastic.
    Returned that one, Ordered another unit, almost twice the price, But a better android unit. It however was a bit longer and wouldnt fit in the downstairs hole.
    Readjusted the Computer and Fan Controls, moved them to the bottom, where they dont quite fit by about 5mm. FFS. So then the Radio and Graphic wont fit up the top, unless I cut out some of the dash.
    Well, before I went cutting the Dash, I though I would just wire up the new unit withput the graphic first, a bit of a test run. Wired it up and pushed him into the dash, where i find it wont fit because of the RCAs plugged into to he back. FML.
    Anyway, its connected and close and i want to see something bloody work, so, switch it on. BRRRRR Thump thump thump. No damned audio out of these rcas either. Someone at eBay needs to kick some butts of these sellers that sell crap that doesnt work.
    So, here it is March, Cars interior still in pieces and I havent driven it yet in 2021 !!!! Im just about ready to put the car back together and sell it.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    Well, One Month On.... Finally Got somewhere today, Still waiting on a new Head Unit !!! 3 Now, 3 Friggin things from EBay with RCA Outputs, and 3 units where the RCAs DO NOT WORK. Ebay should be held accountable for letting these idiots sell crap that doesn't work. I know, Go to a reputable dealer, but I can't find one that sells an Android Head unit. I have one in my Territory and It's Great. I even went out and bought exactly the same model on ebay, only to find not only did it not fit, as it was too long, but the RCAs didnt work anyway. I was ready to start cutting into Air Vents back there to make it fit too. Anyway. Still no head unit, but I thought I could at least finish the speakers. So.
    169192220_3855387387876931_3576785132194669214_n.jpgGot scared of the little 8" Subwoofer, Tested it without mounting, I know thats silly, but there was just nothing, just a little vibration. So, Switched to a Pioneer 12" Sub. Juuuuuuusssstttttt Fits. The Two amplifiers, The one on the left, Drives the Fron and Rear speakers. The Rears still, running Pioneer 5 1/4" 3 ways direct from the amp, The fronts, the original Nokias I guess, haven't even looked at them, but they sound great running through the original wiring connected to the 3 ways crossvers that came from a set of Tandy Realisitc Mach Twos. The Amp on the Right, Bridged, Mono, purely for the Sub.
    All cennected via Seperate RCAs to the Passive Graphic in the front, Waiting, just waiting for a head unit that will connect.
    But anyway.....
    169127425_594222314867801_5621760847723147391_n.jpgLook, Look at that, It's back together, after 3 Months. HOOOORRRRRAAAHHHHHHH!
    I was just about to go for a drive with the top down. But it started raining. Go Figure, hahahaha.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2021
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    1997 328i Convertible
    Great work, what double din kit are you using to mount the head and relocate the Computer above the climate controls?

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
    89
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    GDay Brovelli,
    After removing the radio, climate controls and computer, the wires for the computer and climate just needed to be removed from their tie down points. Pop the wires up the top, Plug in the computer as the wires just make it, then the climate control and pop it in. Perfect fit.
    As for the radio, well well well, thats tricky and i still dont have it just right. You have to use one of those really shallow head units.
    shallow.PNGas such.
    Anything deeper will interfere with the Air Con Ducts behind. My current one sits at 120mm deep and doesn't quite fit.
    i am still toying with the mounting of the radio, Cutting the top of the pocket below, The Radio and the half height passive graphic eq, just fit, so it all just sits there very tight. But i will post again when i get a better mounting system.
    Cheers

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Grafton, Australia
    Posts
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    My Cars
    1998 BMW E36 328i Cnv
    Well, after much deliberation, Testing, Mounting of different speakers in different ways and much much mucking around, The Simplest way out has got to be the best. The Big 12" Pioneer Subwoofer just won't work. Can't get a good enough seal mounted in the centre of the rear seat. No matter what i tried, it just wouldn't work.
    Tried building a wooden enclosure but again, the 12" doesnt fit. Tried the 8" in a box. Again, No good. I'm thinking the box is too small for the speaker. But, as I said, Simple is best.
    Subwoofer JBL 8in.jpg
    Reverse mount the sub into the boot. 8" JBL Stage 800watt. Brilliant Bass.

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