Spare hot for Sirius XM receiver

[luthierwnc]

Hi again,

Sometime soon I'll be replacing the top half of my center console and also plan to add a Sirius Onyx receiver to match the aftermarket Kenwood stereo in the dash. The receiver is made to take a hot off the cigarette lighter. I'd rather have a switched supply. The receiver is really a preamp and only draws 500 mA so it shouldn't tax any of the lines under the console. I was thinking of just splicing into the stereo hot to keep the stereo wiring as hidden as possible. If someone has a better candidate, I'd love to hear it.

PS Extra credit; the Z3 wiring diagram shows a cigarette lighter lamp circuit. That would be a great donor candidate but the amber bezel around the socket doesn't light at all and only has a single, unswitched hot -- that and it looks like someone mixed guacamole inside. The heater element is long gone. There aren't any other bulbs in the vicinity. I'll be looking for the lighter light leads when I get the console pulled. Thanks, sh

[khammack]

There is a free plug under the center console, in the area just right of the ebrake pull. It was designed for a phone, but I have never seen anyone who used it for that. It is switched. I used it to add a switched power power socket.

[luthierwnc]

Thanks khammack. That should work fine. A word search of the wiring manual doesn't find 'phone' once, but my fuse box diagram (from another source) shows it could pull from either fuse 9 or 44. What color wires am I looking for? Also, what kind of relay did you use to use the switched hot to trigger the bigger one? Help is always appreciated, sh

[khammack]

It has been years since I did that work, so I can't recall the color wires. They were rolled up a bit out of the way, but still visible. It has a connector on the wires. I just used a splice connector which is squeezed onto the wire. Didn't use a relay.

Check out the link below. Post #4 is where I tell how to find the connector but the link in my post no longer works and I no longer recall to what it was pointing. Also check out some of the post following mine. They also have some good information.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...or-cell-phones

[luthierwnc]

Thanks again.

Redoing the stereo isn't as fully developed as it will be but right now I'm leaning on a nearly complete rehab of the system in there now. The kick-panel speakers sound like the drive-up at Sonic. The tweeters sound more like AM radio between stations. The less said about that subwoofer design the better. The previous owner disconnected sub and installed a fairly nice Kenwood stereo along with a pair of rears behind the seats which sound pretty good if the seats are forward. Those have to go too. I recently posted pictures of my effort at new seat-belt clips and I've attached one that shows the woofers which leave little circles on the backs of the seats.

Right now the plan is to use the Kenwood to power new kicks, tweeters and a more modest pair of rears. I'll take the remote and subwoofer RCA feeds back to the trunk and install a small sub amp using a fused hot from the battery, which is conveniently located. The Kenwood has independent sub controls so I won't need to fiddle with that remotely. A SiriusXM receiver gets plugged-in at the same time.

The real work will be building a custom box to replace the existing subwoofer arrangement. That plastic is rough so I don't know how much of the assemblies around the roll hoops will have to be replaced. I'm hoping ABS glue will work. It's the right color. Anyhow, there are some interesting sub designs on the web to drop in that hole. That rubber port tube to the grille would keep the look original with more thump.

One of my long-time hobbies is designing and building tube guitar amps so I have all the equipment to do a nice job. Maybe this my old age showing but I am absolutely baffled at the wattage claims of some of these amp manufacturers. A cheap class A/B or even class D can claim 2000 watts peak. I just replaced a couple caps on my 50-watt (RMS) head and in tests with a single ported 12" it reached ear-bleed levels. Now that's at considerably worse than 1% THD (on purpose), but still!

Enough ranting. Thanks for getting back to me. I might be back again on this. Cheers, sh

[khammack]

Sounds like an interesting project. I know others are also struggling with their stereo systems. Please keep everyone posted on your progress. I'm sure others will be happy to take advantage of your work.

I recently replaced my sub woofer (which was rattling) and was very surprised with the improvement.

[luthierwnc]

Right now the project looks something like the attached doodle. All of the peripheral wires depend on what the amplifier receives so that is the first decision. This will not be an expensive rig as these systems go. Part of that decision is that I don't think the oddsbin bay has enough air space for an 8" sub. I'm going with a 6.5" in a homebrewed box. I don't need a lot of bass but more than what's in there. The prior owner did replace the speakers in the sub and they might work for the rears. The existing stereo is fine. If my theory holds I'll only replace the tweeters in the doors and not the mids. Chances are I'll need that hole for the tweeter.

As I work on this or when it's done I'll post the results. Thanks, sh

[s8ilver]

In case your doodle contains a question, that blue wire should be your trigger wire to kick your amp on.

[luthierwnc]

Yes, that's the remote wire. Right now it is connected to something that I can't identify until I pull the console. The Kenwood was installed well with proper butt and crimp connectors.

Hanging-fire is what to do with the rears. The originals are 3" mid-range drivers. The previous owner put in a set of 5.5" coaxials directly behind the seats. They sound pretty good until you move the seats back so the tweeter leaves a round print in the fabric. They look like shallow-frame units that are just screwed to the back panel. I'll try a pair of 4" coaxials where the originals are so they shoot along the side of the seat. That should be pretty easy. Famous last words.

What I know will be a pain is replacing the tweeters. My door card fabric is peeling up along the window edge. What I hope happens is I pull the card and put the new tweeter where that 2" midrange speaker goes. Putting them back together will be part electronics and part upholstery repair. Component sets usually have the tweeter crossovers on the main driver. I was really helped by this video showing how to get around pulling wires through the door harness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGKVksqP_vg

This is one case where that trunk-mounted battery is really handy. The main hot and battery ground won't be more than a couple feet of cable. I'll need to get the right terminal lug. For now I'll do the preliminary ordering and hold-off on some of the accessories until I can fabricate the sub box using the rubber port directed to the grill below the oddsbin. The speaker itself will fire up but I like the idea that some of the reverse pressure will work forward too.

More soon, sh

[s8ilver]

They're not even 3".

20160527_124828.jpg

I grabbed one of BSW's last set of drop-in rears, but if I were to do it today I'd probably just swap in the lateral panels with the 4" grills and find something that fit. It's a personal thing; I just can't stand car speakers that look aftermarket, but I can stomach a good looking sub.

If you're going with aftermarket components you can handle the crossover in the trunk with existing wiring. That's what I did; the crossovers live where the OE amp did. Of course if they're built in then you do the dance behind the doors as you've stated.

[luthierwnc]

That's a dainty little thing!

I suppose I need to get the theoretical worked-through and then apply the practical. Not sure what BMW was thinking with that speaker behind the passengers and the 2" mid in the door. That's a lot of nuance for a loud, little car. The door gets the new tweeter but not a new 2". Next I need to disassemble the cowling around the seat-belt tensioner and roll-hoops to see what kind of speaker I can put in the original hole. It might need some bracing too. That plastic is pretty brittle. The add-on 5.5" coax looks like a shallow-frame screwed directly to the back. I think they are good speakers but positioned so the seat is up against the tweeter. Maybe those will work for the rears. Surgery first.

Practically; the prior owner installed a pretty good Kenwood head and removed the amp in the trunk. All the original wiring is still there. Not sure where he spliced in for the new rear drivers. That changes my diagram. As I understand it (dubious), I'll add RCA plugs to the leads from the fronts, sub and rears when they reach the trunk to fit the amp inputs. On the output side, if the components have crossovers, I'll park them there and split the frequencies from the fronts to the front woofers and tweeters respectively. If the components have built-in crossovers, I'll just combine them.

I see purchases in tranches. First comes the big stuff -- especially the subwoofer so I can build the box. The amp will need a bracket. I need to get a hot terminal for the battery and figure out the best chassis ground. I'll get the components at the same time. By then I'll have a decision on what size rears to buy.

It's coming together. Tomorrow I get the driver's side door straightened so the window sits tight against the top weatherstripping. That matters more than sound.

Cheers, sh

[s8ilver]

Stay the course! You have a plan, and you'll get there. As you've noticed, the 2" will be dead weight with a good set of components, so either just leave it there for looks and disconnect it or make it pretty some other way. When you get to the rear driver wiring out back, you should be able to figure out what the PO did. My guess it fresh wire was run from the amp since the run is so short.

I went through all this on my Coupe earlier this year and what seemed like a simple project turned into quite the undertaking. My goal was to fit a monster 6.5" sub in the existing box, but I gave up and just added an old 10" instead (retained an OE-size 6.5", but upgraded it). I have a hatch though, so no biggie. I searched long and hard for a tapered spacer that would fit behind the OE trim, but still no luck. No one makes one, and I'm no carpenter.

20211130_094714.jpg

CD changer slot was a nice place for a sub amp though.

20210604_002650.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

That's a dainty little thing!

Coupe's rears are worse! Fortunately, 5.25 bolt right in place.

coupecrap.JPG

[luthierwnc]

The main harness isn't in as such good shape. The PO ditched the amplifier and tied the fronts directly to the new head. I could sort the wires out over the next month or spend an afternoon running new ones. What I have in mind is pretty basic. I will keep the original wires to the front woofers and tweeters. That seems pretty straightforward and I really don't want to mess with the wire boot in the door jamb.

I ordered most of the stuff today. I'll wait until I can dissect the rears and evaluate what speakers will work/fit. Thanks for all the help and I'll stay in touch. sh

[luthierwnc]

Like so. Leaves existing power supply for the head alone. sh

[luthierwnc]

An entertaining day. I had a little time so I tried to assess replacing the rears. On my car those are small mids set in the main oddments assembly shown in the fifth post. You get at it through the trim for the roll hoop and seat-belt tensioner. Alas, there isn't any way to remove that without removing the oddments box. And there doesn't seem to be any to remove that without taking out the center console. The oddments box and the four plastic trim pieces along the edge are in rough shape and getting rougher by the minute but there still isn't enough give to slip an angled Phillips driver on the two screws between the oddments flange and the seat-belt cover.

I have to remove the center console to replace the upper portion of the wood-grain surround for the heater controls. I just didn't expect to have to do that first. I'll study-up on getting that out and assess from there. The preliminary speaker diagnosis is that nothing bigger than a 4" will fit in the oddments area and the hole will have to be enlarged. I'd rather take it off before guessing on new speakers and boring the hole.

So the car is in parts a little sooner than planned. Thanks for looking, sh

[z3forlife]

You can get the stock rear speakers out if you have a long flat head screw driver to turn the plastic nut that holds the grill in the roll hoop trim piece. That’s how I got mine out on my ‘99. Unless you know someone with small hands. You’re probably going to need a semi-flush mount speaker otherwise it’s going to impede the belt retractor.

[luthierwnc]

Thanks z3forlife. That's a cool way of fastening them. Mine are exactly as s8ilver posted above. I just loosened the center console enough to pry the oddsment bin out. The latter is badly cracked on the back side but in fairly good shape in the cab. I just glued the pieces I could find back on with ABS cement. Those parts are marked ABS > PC. It works great -- if a bit ugly. I'll have to stick parts back on the hoop shrouds as well. With the bin gone the shrouds came right off and I popped the speakers. There seems enough space to handle 4" drivers as long as the magnets aren't too deep. I'll make dummies out of 1" rigid foam to test before I order.

I also got the measurements for the sub box. I'll post that as a separate thread if/when it is worth seeing. Cheers, Skip

[s8ilver]

I didn't remove anything but the roll hoop access caps to get those speakers out. I had to recruit the wife to screw the speaker rings back on as my massive man hands didn't fit. I tightened them with a long fat flathead.

20160527_141407.jpg

[luthierwnc]

Couldn't figure it out from the peep-hole. I still needed to reconnoiter the piece for something other than a little accept speaker. What did you replace yours with? sh

[z3forlife]

0BC18470-8DF2-4298-8E00-6FD0A89D4CFA.jpg
here’s what you’re looking at. You got to get the nut loose enough to spin by hand and long screwdriver. It’s easy once it’s loose. I used a set of alpine 4” coax.

[luthierwnc]

They're out. s8ilver's are actually in better shape. I ordered a set of 4" coax's after dinner. Everything else is either here or on a truck. sh

[luthierwnc]

I've got the Z as torn-apart as it's going to get. The instrument panel is replaced and the center console is waiting for the wiring.

One curious thing: the right side woofer leads are reversed -- seemingly done at the factory since the wires running from the central hub behind the dash match the leads in the speaker hole. If I read the schematic right, hot should be the blue/red and ground should be the blue/brown. However, the blue/red has the small clip and the blue/brown has the big one. There is continuity all the way to the central hub so the guy who did the more recent install didn't cross them. That might go a long way in explaining why it sounds like ass -- although I didn't test it with the receiver on. Both wires have continuity to the tweeter leads. The left side woofer is wired according to the diagram.

The plan is for all new wires except in the doors so this is moot. Still, I wasn't expecting polarity issues in the harness. If anyone else has found this, or wondered why the fronts seem to cancel each other out, food for thought. sh