Installing new amp and components with factory head unit?

DanFromTucson · 09-25-2011, 05:19 PM

I'm a fairly new member here with an '07 Z4M Coupe in Austin. My couple has the factory "Premium Hi-Fi" sound system without Nav. Like many others, I'm not very impressed with the sound system.

I would like to keep the factory head unit, but add an amp to run some better component speakers and eventually a better sub. There is a lot of conflicting information about what is possible and references to "digital" and "optical" inputs in these cars.

My basic questions:

1. Is it possible to get a speaker level input signal so I can add an RCA adapter? If so, it should be simple to run the signal to an amp that accepts a balanced differential input. I have heard that the Top Hi-Fi systems may not have that option, which is why people have used the DQL-8 or similar multi-channel LOCs. I'm not sure about my "Premium Hi-Fi" though. The post by GV from Belgium states that we can use "2 high level input/low level output adapters to convert the amplified signal from the headunit (speaker out connections) to a low level input signal for the amp", so I'm not positive.

2. Assuming I can easily add an amp, I haven't found much good information about which component speakers will easily fit in our cars. I'd like to maybe pick up some of the CDT 3-way components that are on sale this month, but I have no idea how easy or hard it will be to fit them. I'm looking at these:
http://cdtstore.com/hd_series/hd_632.htm
- or possibly even these -
http://www.cdtaudio.com/series/es_series/es632i.htm
Does anyone have any experience with these? Or has anyone found detailed dimensions/photos of our speaker mounts to know what might fit?

Thanks in advance!

VitaminT · 09-25-2011, 10:19 PM

You might search on this over on e46fanatics. I believe with the E46 factory head unit they disconnect the harness from the factory amp in the trunk and then wire in RCA plugs onto the wires from the head unit. They are at pre-amp voltage and balanced differential straight out of the head unit. That is if the E85/86 follows the same standards as the E46.

Some of the guys even bought the molded connector and pins so they could make a plug-n-play unit. You can get your amp trigger wire there too. The only thing to be aware of is I believe the head unit only outputs 4 channels and then the factory amp breaks out the sub channel. So in my case I bought a 5ch amp that allowed for 4ch input and it would used those to comprise the output for the 5th channel (with a low pass filter of course).

DanFromTucson · 09-26-2011, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VitaminT

You might search on this over on e46fanatics. I believe with the E46 factory head unit they disconnect the harness from the factory amp in the trunk and then wire in RCA plugs onto the wires from the head unit. They are at pre-amp voltage and balanced differential straight out of the head unit. That is if the E85/86 follows the same standards as the E46.

I did this on my previous E46 as well (I even have a thread in the DIY section on E46fanatics

). I have found several posts indicating that the E86 may have a different setup though where there isn't a signal from the head unit with the Premium HiFi and Top Hifi units.

VitaminT · 09-27-2011, 12:08 AM

Haha, ok then. I looked at the wiring diagram and if I am seeing this right there are two connectors on the head unit. One of course has the K-bus but it appears that there are some signal sources from the radio to the amp.

A18 Amplifier
Plug connector overview
Number X-pin, colour Description
X10266 42-pin, black Plug connector Amplifier

Pin assignments at plug connector X10266
Pin Type Description / Signal type Connection / Measuring notes
1 A Signal, rear left speaker - Subwoofer, left
2 A Signal, rear left speaker + Subwoofer, left
3 A Signal, front left woofer - Woofer, front left
4 A Signal, front left woofer + Woofer, front left
5 E Terminal 30 Fuse F102
6 Not used
7 Not used
8 Not used
9 E Signal, AF radio, front right + Radio
10 A Aerial switching signal Aerial diversity
11 A Signal, front right tweeter + Tweeter, front right
12 A Signal, front right tweeter - Tweeter, front right
13 A Signal, rear right mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, rear right
14 Not used
15 Not used
16 Not used
17 E Signal, AF radio, front right - Radio
18 E/A K-bus signal K-bus connector
19 Not used
20 Not used
21 A Signal, rear right mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, rear right
22 A Signal, front right woofer - Woofer, front right
23 A Signal, front right woofer + Woofer, front right
24 A Signal, rear right speaker - Subwoofer, right
25 A Signal, rear right speaker + Subwoofer, right
26 M Ground Ground point
27 Not used
28 E Mute Cellular telephone
29 E Signal, telephone AF + Cellular telephone
30 E Signal, AF radio, front left - Radio
31 A Signal, rear left mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, rear left
32 A Signal, rear left mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, rear left
33 A Signal, front left tweeter + Tweeter, front left
34 A Signal, front left tweeter - Tweeter, front left
35 Not used
36 Not used
37 E Signal, terminal 50 via vehicle immoblizer Cellular telephone
38 E Signal, terminal 50 via vehicle immoblizer Radio
39 A Signal, front left mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, front left
40 A Signal, front left mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, front left
41 A Signal, front right mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, front right
42 A Signal, front right mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, front right

This was from the "top hifi system". Sorry the table didn't come through real well.

VitaminT · 09-27-2011, 12:31 AM

Here is the AMP pin order.

VitaminT · 09-27-2011, 12:32 AM

Info was gathered from here: http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/r.../e85/index.htm

You have to have a SVG viewer, I downloaded the Adobe SVG viewer that has been discontinued for quite a while.

Let me know if you run into any snags and how it goes.

DanFromTucson · 10-02-2011, 04:38 PM

VitaminT - thanks for the info. Which are the signal sources from the head unit to the amp? I'm not sure what pin #s in the list you're referring to.

VitaminT · 10-02-2011, 07:19 PM

Yeah sorry that list/pinout should be at the amplifier from the head unit.

I can provide the pinout at the head unit if needed but I figured your amp would go in the trunk so that is where you would need to tap into.

09-25-2011, 05:19 PM	#1
DanFromTucson Private First Class 11 Rep 195 Posts Drives: Z4 M Coupe Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (0)	Installing new amp and components with factory head unit? I'm a fairly new member here with an '07 Z4M Coupe in Austin. My couple has the factory "Premium Hi-Fi" sound system without Nav. Like many others, I'm not very impressed with the sound system. I would like to keep the factory head unit, but add an amp to run some better component speakers and eventually a better sub. There is a lot of conflicting information about what is possible and references to "digital" and "optical" inputs in these cars. My basic questions: 1. Is it possible to get a speaker level input signal so I can add an RCA adapter? If so, it should be simple to run the signal to an amp that accepts a balanced differential input. I have heard that the Top Hi-Fi systems may not have that option, which is why people have used the DQL-8 or similar multi-channel LOCs. I'm not sure about my "Premium Hi-Fi" though. The post by GV from Belgium states that we can use "2 high level input/low level output adapters to convert the amplified signal from the headunit (speaker out connections) to a low level input signal for the amp", so I'm not positive. 2. Assuming I can easily add an amp, I haven't found much good information about which component speakers will easily fit in our cars. I'd like to maybe pick up some of the CDT 3-way components that are on sale this month, but I have no idea how easy or hard it will be to fit them. I'm looking at these: http://cdtstore.com/hd_series/hd_632.htm - or possibly even these - http://www.cdtaudio.com/series/es_series/es632i.htm Does anyone have any experience with these? Or has anyone found detailed dimensions/photos of our speaker mounts to know what might fit? Thanks in advance!
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09-25-2011, 10:19 PM	#2
VitaminT First Lieutenant 11 Rep 304 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Alabama iTrader: (0)	You might search on this over on e46fanatics. I believe with the E46 factory head unit they disconnect the harness from the factory amp in the trunk and then wire in RCA plugs onto the wires from the head unit. They are at pre-amp voltage and balanced differential straight out of the head unit. That is if the E85/86 follows the same standards as the E46. Some of the guys even bought the molded connector and pins so they could make a plug-n-play unit. You can get your amp trigger wire there too. The only thing to be aware of is I believe the head unit only outputs 4 channels and then the factory amp breaks out the sub channel. So in my case I bought a 5ch amp that allowed for 4ch input and it would used those to comprise the output for the 5th channel (with a low pass filter of course).
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09-27-2011, 12:08 AM	#4
VitaminT First Lieutenant 11 Rep 304 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Alabama iTrader: (0)	Haha, ok then. I looked at the wiring diagram and if I am seeing this right there are two connectors on the head unit. One of course has the K-bus but it appears that there are some signal sources from the radio to the amp. A18 Amplifier Plug connector overview Number X-pin, colour Description X10266 42-pin, black Plug connector Amplifier Pin assignments at plug connector X10266 Pin Type Description / Signal type Connection / Measuring notes 1 A Signal, rear left speaker - Subwoofer, left 2 A Signal, rear left speaker + Subwoofer, left 3 A Signal, front left woofer - Woofer, front left 4 A Signal, front left woofer + Woofer, front left 5 E Terminal 30 Fuse F102 6 Not used 7 Not used 8 Not used 9 E Signal, AF radio, front right + Radio 10 A Aerial switching signal Aerial diversity 11 A Signal, front right tweeter + Tweeter, front right 12 A Signal, front right tweeter - Tweeter, front right 13 A Signal, rear right mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, rear right 14 Not used 15 Not used 16 Not used 17 E Signal, AF radio, front right - Radio 18 E/A K-bus signal K-bus connector 19 Not used 20 Not used 21 A Signal, rear right mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, rear right 22 A Signal, front right woofer - Woofer, front right 23 A Signal, front right woofer + Woofer, front right 24 A Signal, rear right speaker - Subwoofer, right 25 A Signal, rear right speaker + Subwoofer, right 26 M Ground Ground point 27 Not used 28 E Mute Cellular telephone 29 E Signal, telephone AF + Cellular telephone 30 E Signal, AF radio, front left - Radio 31 A Signal, rear left mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, rear left 32 A Signal, rear left mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, rear left 33 A Signal, front left tweeter + Tweeter, front left 34 A Signal, front left tweeter - Tweeter, front left 35 Not used 36 Not used 37 E Signal, terminal 50 via vehicle immoblizer Cellular telephone 38 E Signal, terminal 50 via vehicle immoblizer Radio 39 A Signal, front left mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, front left 40 A Signal, front left mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, front left 41 A Signal, front right mid-range speaker - Mid-range speaker, front right 42 A Signal, front right mid-range speaker + Mid-range speaker, front right This was from the "top hifi system". Sorry the table didn't come through real well.
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09-27-2011, 12:31 AM	#5
VitaminT First Lieutenant 11 Rep 304 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Alabama iTrader: (0)	Here is the AMP pin order.
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09-27-2011, 12:32 AM	#6
VitaminT First Lieutenant 11 Rep 304 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Alabama iTrader: (0)	Info was gathered from here: http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/r.../e85/index.htm You have to have a SVG viewer, I downloaded the Adobe SVG viewer that has been discontinued for quite a while. Let me know if you run into any snags and how it goes.
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10-02-2011, 04:38 PM	#7
DanFromTucson Private First Class 11 Rep 195 Posts Drives: Z4 M Coupe Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (0)	VitaminT - thanks for the info. Which are the signal sources from the head unit to the amp? I'm not sure what pin #s in the list you're referring to.
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10-02-2011, 07:19 PM	#8
VitaminT First Lieutenant 11 Rep 304 Posts Drives: 2006 M Roadster Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Alabama iTrader: (0)	Yeah sorry that list/pinout should be at the amplifier from the head unit. I can provide the pinout at the head unit if needed but I figured your amp would go in the trunk so that is where you would need to tap into.
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