2006 Z4 stereo gut/rewire

[Z4nick2]

Hi, I just bought a 2006 Z4 3.0i with the 10 speaker hifi system without nav and dsp. I’m a little disappointed with the stereo system. The head unit is partially broken and the rear speakers are shot. I have spent many hours online and on the forums trying to figure out how to replace the head unit. I have come to the realization that I need to gut the system and completely rewire new speakers, new amp and new head unit. I’m ok going this route but I’m still not crystal clear on what wires in the car to tie into.

My questions are:
1) What wires in the bmw do I connect the head unit battery/power wire (red/white I think) ground wire (Brown I think) and ignition/ accessory wire to?
2) what in the bmw do I connect the amplifier(s) remote turn on wire to?

[StickMon]

See if this is any help.

Look under:
Complete vehicle
..body
....Audio, video and navigation
......Radio
........Voltage supply
..........Radio supply

F50 is always on, F47 is on with ignition

Here's a fuse card and a link to a German-English wire color translation.

[VindieselJetta]

Good luck my friend. I am going to undertake the same project soon. Not looking forward to running all the new wire 😬

[Z4nick2]

Thanks for the info. Does this mean I just need to add a fuse tap to F-47 and run a wire from that to my head unit?

[Yapakanichi]

Why not get a Harness adapter??? I'm confused why you are running new wires too.

[Z4nick2]

Crutchfield sent me a harness adapter but it doesn’t connect to anything. I believe it is only intended for the basic Z4 stereo system (6 speaker system I think) that doesn’t have a factory amp. For my system I need to bypass the factory amp and run all new wiring.

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by Z4nick2

Thanks for the info. Does this mean I just need to add a fuse tap to F-47 and run a wire from that to my head unit?

Well, you could, but I would look at the WDS and connect to pin 16 of connector X18126.
Rather than run a wire, use the one that's already there.

[Yapakanichi]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong....

but I'm pretty sure the wiring goes

Headunit --> amp --> speakers.

so why not use the factory wiring, take the wiring before the amp and connect it to the wiring after the amp (cutting and joining wires)?

[StickMon]

Indeed it does. Check the WDS.

Complete vehicle
..body
....Audio, video and navigation
......Radio
........Sound output

Easy peezy.

[nate96]

I did this through the winter this year. I had the 10 speaker with the factory subs and DSP. With the harnesses below you can utilize the factory wiring and steering wheel control. I ran RCA cables for the amps but you can request to have the harness built with RCA cables then you do not need to run any.

Radio harness with steering wheel controls.
https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/ctsb...k-adaptor.html

Harness to connect to factory wiring of where the factory amp would connect. If you order this send him the pinout image that has the pin number, what it is for and the color of wire to use.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-E90-F10-...IAAOSwgQ9V4UKR

[tominizer]

Any pictures of that double Din installation in your dash? Curious as to how that was installed and if you put it where the NAV was (assuming you had NAV) or if you put it in the dash........... and how you dealt with the vents.

[nate96]

I did not have NAV from the factory. In order to get the double din to fit I had to cut the vent behind the deck to give it enough room (see second pic). I then sealed it up with expanding foam. I considered trying to build something as I have seen others keep the vents but I didn't like the look and didn't feel losing the vents is that big of a deal. Especially once I saw how much the room double din takes up, doesn't leave much for anything there.

I used a single din kit to get the mounting brackets to mount the deck in the right spot. For the face plate I purchased a 1/4" ABS plastic sheet. I heated it up and formed it to the dash. I then glued it to the face plate that came with the mounting kit so it always goes in to the same spot and sits there with a friction fit. It sits pretty flush with the rest of the dash. I'll get you a pic this weekend with the face plate.

[Z4nick2]

Ok, so instead of trying to tie into the fuse box I cut the red/yellow wire, brown wire, and violet/white wire and spliced those directly to my new head unit. The violet/white is supposedly the signal wire. The head unit has a blue signal output wire that I will route to the amps

[Z4nick2]

Does anyone know where the best place is to route my rca cables and speaker wires to limit interference? I think I remember seeing a post about that but can’t find it

[tominizer]

Nice!! Usually you can get a Metra kit or similar to tie into the factory wiring and not have to cut.

I had started a complete system overhaul with a double DIN and was going to move the vents up into the area where the factory NAV is (mine has NAV). Then I lost interest. I couldn't get the center vents mounted so that I liked the look. Never thought of just plugging them up. Project got junked. But I think I will replace the radio with a single DIN this spring and at some point do something with that factory NAV as it's absolute garbage. Would be nice to bury in there a non-pop up screen that ties to my phone and has a much more modern NAV setup.

[nate96]

Originally Posted by Z4nick2

Does anyone know where the best place is to route my rca cables and speaker wires to limit interference? I think I remember seeing a post about that but can’t find it

I routed mine beside the center tunnel. Just had to remove the knee pads and couple of screws. Then I ran them beside where the factory subs are and then into the back. See the video below. Just keep them away from the battery (red) cable that you see them going next to. You can also take them straight back through the storage area if you want more separation.

Not 100% finished but gives you an idea of the double DIN. I need to fill in around the deck and probably change it to Alcantara once I get the fabric from my upholsterer.

[tominizer]

nice !!

[VindieselJetta]

Originally Posted by nate96

I did this through the winter this year. I had the 10 speaker with the factory subs and DSP. With the harnesses below you can utilize the factory wiring and steering wheel control. I ran RCA cables for the amps but you can request to have the harness built with RCA cables then you do not need to run any.

Radio harness with steering wheel controls.
https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/ctsb...k-adaptor.html

Harness to connect to factory wiring of where the factory amp would connect. If you order this send him the pinout image that has the pin number, what it is for and the color of wire to use.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-E90-F10-...IAAOSwgQ9V4UKR

Hi Nate,

Thanks for the info. I too have a 2006 Z4 (M) with 10 speaker system, factory subs, and DSP. If i wanted to retain the factory amps, is there a receiver harness adaptor that would enable me to that? Essentially can i replace the receiver alone without rewiring? I am not concerned with retaining the steering wheel controls.

- Pascal

[nate96]

Originally Posted by VindieselJetta

Hi Nate,

Thanks for the info. I too have a 2006 Z4 (M) with 10 speaker system, factory subs, and DSP. If i wanted to retain the factory amps, is there a receiver harness adaptor that would enable me to that? Essentially can i replace the receiver alone without rewiring? I am not concerned with retaining the steering wheel controls.

- Pascal

You cannot retain the factor amp with an aftermarket stereo. The factory amp takes a digital input from the factory head unit. The factory subs are a different ohm than what most aftermarket amps can handle so they need to go with an aftermarket amp. With the DSP the only solution is a complete overall of the system. I retained the factory speakers and wiring up front using a crossover and the wiring harness from the guy on Ebay.

[VindieselJetta]

Originally Posted by nate96

You cannot retain the factor amp with an aftermarket stereo. The factory amp takes a digital input from the factory head unit. The factory subs are a different ohm than what most aftermarket amps can handle so they need to go with an aftermarket amp. With the DSP the only solution is a complete overall of the system. I retained the factory speakers and wiring up front using a crossover and the wiring harness from the guy on Ebay.

Understood, thanks Nate. Can you elaborate on which amp and crossovers you used as shown in your schematic? How did the front stock speakers end up sounding with aftermarket amplification?

[nate96]

The front speakers sound much better than they did with the factory amp. Seems like you can push them a little more. Adding the the 6x8 in where the factory sub was made the biggest overall sound improvement. I did not hook up the 3 1/2" behind the drivers. The cerwin vega sub sounds pretty good in the coupe as there is little volume in our cars.



List of items:

Speakers 6x8: Had these in the garage
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Amp: Found this cheap on Ebay but it had great reviews
https://www.crutchfield.ca/S-QoutCw1...11DX400-4.html

Sub: Got this on Ebay. Sits where the factory bluetooth module was.
https://www.amazon.com/Cerwin-Vega-V.../dp/B0756PPQMH

Crossovers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[pcube]

Originally Posted by nate96

I did this through the winter this year. I had the 10 speaker with the factory subs and DSP. With the harnesses below you can utilize the factory wiring and steering wheel control. I ran RCA cables for the amps but you can request to have the harness built with RCA cables then you do not need to run any.

Radio harness with steering wheel controls.
https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/ctsb...k-adaptor.html

Hi Nate,

Can you confirm that the connects2 part number you shared in the earlier post is correct? It states on their website that the CTSBM007.2 is not compatible with cars equipped with DSP. Thanks!