Hey guys
I'm new to this site and it looks great! I just purchased an 1991 BMW 535i (E34) and I'm changing out the whole audio system (new head, speakers, amp and 12' sub) The problem I'm having is that the car is a rather awkward one as far as the wiring harness goes. I bought a metra at bestbuy but it doesnt exactly fit. As I am installing a whole new head unit and planning to wire the speakers to the amp, I don't care much about the speaker wires that fit into the harness, but I'm having a tough time finding info on the color of the wires that are the constant 12v, acc. 12v, dimmer, illumination, etc. I'm fully capable of cutting the wires and reconnecting them with no harness, I just don't know what wires are what. Anybody know the wire colors for this type of car? Any help will be much appreciated!! GRIN
Replies (8)
swez on 07/6/2008 16:18:39
Welcome to CK Horus!
A simple 12 Volt DC test lamp probe will help you find the proper stock wires mentioned. (A few bucks at any good autoparts store)
The ACC/IGN is only powered when the key is in ACC/Run mode. One wire of the probe is connected to a known good ground and the other is pointed to probe the wires in question
The Constant line has power all the time between that wire and ground.
Most guys don't used the ILL/Dimmer line as the better HU's have better controls and do not create other problem like "ground loops" later. (Noise issue to fix later)
Speaker lines are easy to ID with a 9 volt DC battery. These wires are paired in most cases and the solid wire is Pos and the wire w/ the black stripe are Neg. In most cases, you will see 4 pairs of wires for the speakers in the factory harness. The trick is finding out which color wires match the speaker loacations: (RF/LF/RR/LR) The battery will help you figure out which is what.
Does this sedan have a power antenna? If yes, most Aftermarket HU's have a power antenna feed and an amp turn on REMote. The HU's manual will tell you which is what. They are similar in color, but do different things.
What is the make and model of the Aftermarket HU you are installing here? Knowing that we can help you move forward.
Finally, tell us more about the amps and speakers you plan to use in this upgrade. Knowing the long-range plans, we can help you build a solid system without fretting or regretting.
Swez
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 03:05:24
thanks for the advice! as far as the HU goes, its a Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X492. The car has a pair of midranges and tweeters in the front that I'm not changing. I am however changing the four 5.25" speakers, two in the front and two in the rear with four Kicker KS5250's. The Subwoofer is an alpine and the amp is a 4 channel Sony 800w. I'm not worried so much about finding the speaker wires from the factory harness because I plan to use RCA wires from the amp anyway. I just want to make sure that I wire the aftermarket head correctly the first time. Any other helpful suggestions? Thanks alot!
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 12:47:38
I was just wondering...Is it a possibility for me to wire the 10 speakers and the subwoofer all on a 4 channel amp, bridging the sub on the rear 2 channels?
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 13:20:10
Just a reassurance. I can wire those 4 new speakers and the 1 sub all on one 4 channel amp correct? I was thinking about bridging the sub on the rear channels. any suggestions?
swez on 07/7/2008 14:52:30
You came to CK, asked the right questions before moving forward on plans. Am glad we heard from you before doing this project, so we can guide, inform and help sort out the details that matter so much when doing this type of re-install.
OK, you mentioned 4 speakers, (all 5.25") and a 10" Alpine sub off a 4 channel amp. This is doable with careful attention to the details. However, there's a better approach. Keeping the front and rear stage door speakers reasonably balanced with the rest of the system is the trick. Adding the sub to bring up the deep lows, should fit the bill.
Q1. What model # is the Alpine sub mentioned?
Q2. Where are the mid/high speakers you intend to keep factory stock? (In the dash board?)
I barely recall the 1990, 320i sedan system but remember it really sucked for a car of that cost. It had a cheap Blaupunkt HU and small format speakers up front and in the rear. It was pretty bare bones and not up to par with the rest of the car. It was a breeze to work on, but the stock audio package was blah.
For now, answer the questions above and then I can get into the details and options you can use.
Swez
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 15:04:51
Thanks for all the help. The Sub is actually a 12inch alpine. You are right, the 535i I have has a rather boring system to say the least which is why I'm adding this decent system. The ones I plan to keep stock for now are two 1" tweeters in the doors and two 2" in the dash board. Somewhere along the line I'll spruce those up too but I'm just gonna start off small for now. I actually don't have model number for the sub. I'm getting it from a family member who doesn't need it anymore but it is in perfect condition as is the amp.
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 15:06:03
whats my battle plan here? all this technical talk is getting me excited HAPPY
swez on 07/7/2008 15:52:49
Ehhh, the Kicker 2-ways mentioned, may fill the bill nicely w/o the stock tweeters and mids you have now. The Sony 4 channel will give more power to all Kicker speakers mentioned, but we still need to consider the Alpine sub.
Since your Kenwood HU has several nice features, the only other piece of gear you may really need, is a sub amp to power this Alpine sub. The HU does the rest and you can forget the rest. (Nice HU btw)
If you can, find out the model number for this sub. Depending on the sub used, you may/may not need additional outboard amps. Upgrading the HU and stock speakers may be enough change the vanilla Blahpunkt system into something you can actuall enjoy.
Swez
I'm new to this site and it looks great! I just purchased an 1991 BMW 535i (E34) and I'm changing out the whole audio system (new head, speakers, amp and 12' sub) The problem I'm having is that the car is a rather awkward one as far as the wiring harness goes. I bought a metra at bestbuy but it doesnt exactly fit. As I am installing a whole new head unit and planning to wire the speakers to the amp, I don't care much about the speaker wires that fit into the harness, but I'm having a tough time finding info on the color of the wires that are the constant 12v, acc. 12v, dimmer, illumination, etc. I'm fully capable of cutting the wires and reconnecting them with no harness, I just don't know what wires are what. Anybody know the wire colors for this type of car? Any help will be much appreciated!! GRIN
Replies (8)
swez on 07/6/2008 16:18:39
Welcome to CK Horus!
A simple 12 Volt DC test lamp probe will help you find the proper stock wires mentioned. (A few bucks at any good autoparts store)
The ACC/IGN is only powered when the key is in ACC/Run mode. One wire of the probe is connected to a known good ground and the other is pointed to probe the wires in question
The Constant line has power all the time between that wire and ground.
Most guys don't used the ILL/Dimmer line as the better HU's have better controls and do not create other problem like "ground loops" later. (Noise issue to fix later)
Speaker lines are easy to ID with a 9 volt DC battery. These wires are paired in most cases and the solid wire is Pos and the wire w/ the black stripe are Neg. In most cases, you will see 4 pairs of wires for the speakers in the factory harness. The trick is finding out which color wires match the speaker loacations: (RF/LF/RR/LR) The battery will help you figure out which is what.
Does this sedan have a power antenna? If yes, most Aftermarket HU's have a power antenna feed and an amp turn on REMote. The HU's manual will tell you which is what. They are similar in color, but do different things.
What is the make and model of the Aftermarket HU you are installing here? Knowing that we can help you move forward.
Finally, tell us more about the amps and speakers you plan to use in this upgrade. Knowing the long-range plans, we can help you build a solid system without fretting or regretting.
Swez
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 03:05:24
thanks for the advice! as far as the HU goes, its a Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X492. The car has a pair of midranges and tweeters in the front that I'm not changing. I am however changing the four 5.25" speakers, two in the front and two in the rear with four Kicker KS5250's. The Subwoofer is an alpine and the amp is a 4 channel Sony 800w. I'm not worried so much about finding the speaker wires from the factory harness because I plan to use RCA wires from the amp anyway. I just want to make sure that I wire the aftermarket head correctly the first time. Any other helpful suggestions? Thanks alot!
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 12:47:38
I was just wondering...Is it a possibility for me to wire the 10 speakers and the subwoofer all on a 4 channel amp, bridging the sub on the rear 2 channels?
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 13:20:10
Just a reassurance. I can wire those 4 new speakers and the 1 sub all on one 4 channel amp correct? I was thinking about bridging the sub on the rear channels. any suggestions?
swez on 07/7/2008 14:52:30
You came to CK, asked the right questions before moving forward on plans. Am glad we heard from you before doing this project, so we can guide, inform and help sort out the details that matter so much when doing this type of re-install.
OK, you mentioned 4 speakers, (all 5.25") and a 10" Alpine sub off a 4 channel amp. This is doable with careful attention to the details. However, there's a better approach. Keeping the front and rear stage door speakers reasonably balanced with the rest of the system is the trick. Adding the sub to bring up the deep lows, should fit the bill.
Q1. What model # is the Alpine sub mentioned?
Q2. Where are the mid/high speakers you intend to keep factory stock? (In the dash board?)
I barely recall the 1990, 320i sedan system but remember it really sucked for a car of that cost. It had a cheap Blaupunkt HU and small format speakers up front and in the rear. It was pretty bare bones and not up to par with the rest of the car. It was a breeze to work on, but the stock audio package was blah.
For now, answer the questions above and then I can get into the details and options you can use.
Swez
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 15:04:51
Thanks for all the help. The Sub is actually a 12inch alpine. You are right, the 535i I have has a rather boring system to say the least which is why I'm adding this decent system. The ones I plan to keep stock for now are two 1" tweeters in the doors and two 2" in the dash board. Somewhere along the line I'll spruce those up too but I'm just gonna start off small for now. I actually don't have model number for the sub. I'm getting it from a family member who doesn't need it anymore but it is in perfect condition as is the amp.
Horus182@aol.com on 07/7/2008 15:06:03
whats my battle plan here? all this technical talk is getting me excited HAPPY
swez on 07/7/2008 15:52:49
Ehhh, the Kicker 2-ways mentioned, may fill the bill nicely w/o the stock tweeters and mids you have now. The Sony 4 channel will give more power to all Kicker speakers mentioned, but we still need to consider the Alpine sub.
Since your Kenwood HU has several nice features, the only other piece of gear you may really need, is a sub amp to power this Alpine sub. The HU does the rest and you can forget the rest. (Nice HU btw)
If you can, find out the model number for this sub. Depending on the sub used, you may/may not need additional outboard amps. Upgrading the HU and stock speakers may be enough change the vanilla Blahpunkt system into something you can actuall enjoy.
Swez
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