Update - Sony head unit issue

[muskietwo]

Hello all. The garage where I recently bought my Z3 have fitted my Sony radio/cd that I had from a previous car. The fade function, ie, balance between front and rear speakers does not seem to work, which means that only the front speakers produce sound. They did mention something about blown amps and incompatability but frankly it was a bit over my head! Do I assume that there is an amplifier somewhere in the vehicle which is inoperative and would replacing this bring the rear speakers into operation. The rear console between the seats is not a storage compartment. Would an amp be in there? Thanks for advice. J.K.

 

[zedonist]

The amps should be in the boot

 

[t-tony]

When I replaced my original cassette head unit with my Sony head unit last year, I bought an adapter cable from the local Halfords to connect the original BMW plug to the ISO? connectors.( about £12.00) Everything works as it should. HTH.

Tony

 

[GazHyde]

Have a read through this post...

https://zroadster.org/threads/sony-mex-bt3900u-phone-problem.350/#post-3290

 

[Lee]

The rear speakers are well known to blow and crackle like crazy. Might be worth having a peak behind and seeing if the previous owner has disconnected them.

Lee

 

[muskietwo]

The rear speakers are well known to blow and crackle like crazy. Might be worth having a peak behind and seeing if the previous owner has disconnected them.

Lee

Thanks Lee J.K.

 

[muskietwo]

When I replaced my original cassette head unit with my Sony head unit last year, I bought an adapter cable from the local Halfords to connect the original BMW plug to the ISO? connectors.( about £12.00) Everything works as it should. HTH.

Tony

Thanks for info. Tony J.K.

 

[GazHyde]

Have a read through this post...

https://zroadster.org/threads/sony-mex-bt3900u-phone-problem.350/#post-3290

Not meaning to bump my own post but did you read the post I linked to?

 

[David Cullen]

did they hard wire or use a block? were the speakers working before? they may have mixed wires if they didn't use the block, should be just plug and play without anything blowing...

 

[nachos23]

When i bought my Z3 the sub was blown and made a horrific crackling noise when played. I'd check that first. No sound though? Id bet they connected it wrong. BMW wiring diagrams are easily obtained online or Crutchfield has them available for download for free if you can't find it elsewhere. I replaced my head unit with a JVC and it works perfectly. For crackling check the sub located between the seats. The sub amp is located on the left side of the trunk and the main amp is located on the right side. I ended-up replacing the Sub amp and sub itself with aftermarket parts and it soundsgreat now. I do have a crackle in my drivers side tweeter which I'm going to be replacng this winter... previous owner must have blown them and I didn't notice during the test drive as i kept the stereo low. I also ran new wiring from the sub output on the head unit to the new sub amp (that was a royal PITA as you disasemble most of the interior to run the wiring). Id get your hands on the wiring diagram and go over the connections. Probably bad wiring.

 

[vintage42]

... Do I assume that there is an amplifier somewhere in the vehicle which is inoperative and would replacing this bring the rear speakers into operation...

My 1997 1.9 only has speakers in the foot well kick panels and in the upper doors. I am told it has an amp in the trunk, high on the right side, next to the CD changer. I have not removed the carpet to look for it.

I am now considering replacing the factory radio with a Kenwood, and the kick panel speakers with stronger component speakers:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDC...ml?showAll=N&search=Kenwood_KDC-X598&skipvs=T
The Kenwood has a "built-in MOSFET amplifier (22 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels)".

I am not sure that my car has an amp in the trunk, as I thought it was common in a simple system for an amp to be contained within the radio. If my car does have an amp, what happens when the amp in the new radio is added?

 

[nachos23]

The amp is buried behind the trunk liner on the right side. Not visible unless you pull the liner. If you run new head unit and amp, your old one will be rendered useless, but you'll need to find to tap into the speaker wires. With a little luck and some minor mods you should be able to use the original mounting hardware (assuming you have the amp). When I had to replace the sub amp (it blew and was draining my battery overnight as it wouldnt shut off when the car was shut off), I was able to use the original sub amp mounting hardware. I'd remove the stock amp if not being used...

 

[vintage42]

... If you run new head unit and amp, your old one will be rendered useless, but you'll need to find to tap into the speaker wires...

What does rendered useless mean? I guess you mean the old amp in the trunk gets unplugged from the head unit and abandoned.

The new head unit contains a more powerful amp, and comes with adapters that receive wiring from the speakers in the footwell and door. According to Crutchfield, the vendor, the installation is like: insert head unit, connect cables into it, and play, with no modding or tapping into.

 

[t-tony]

That is what I did with my Sony one. Every thing works ok as far as I'm concerned, but I am not a hi-fi afficianado by any means.

Tony.

 

[oldcarman]

Where are you @zedonist? Did you miss the beacon over the USA? JIM

 

[t-tony]

Jim, he's been busy this week with Orion.

Tony.

 

[oldcarman]

I have what I believe is the same unit as my Dad Hyde and barely get any sound and only from the front. It also talks to me at random about the net and other things. Will need to get a manual because this is wayyy over my head and even my son has thrown up his hands for now.

 

[GazHyde]

OK, I'm going to try something different as I've pasted a link in to a possible solution twice which seems to have been missed.

If you aren't getting sound from all your speakers, and have a Sony head unit read on.

"The problem I had was that the stereo wouldn't play through all the speakers unless I had Traffic Announcements turned on - not sure if this covers the Bluetooth or not. It says below it doesn't happen on CD or iPod but It did on mine! This isn't really a problem unless you don't want the TA switching on all the time!

Background: The head unit is being too clever and sending a signal to raise an auto antenna when you want to listen to the radio, but not CD or iPOD as the antenna is not needed. If you set the head unit to break in with traffic information it needs the antenna, so the remote signal is there.

The issue you have is that the ISO to BMW adapter you are using connects the BMW remote wire (used by both antenna and amplifier) to the auto antenna wire on your new head unit and not the amp remote power lead.

The manual for your radio will show you which is the amp remote lead and you need to splice this into the ISO adapter so it connects to the white wire on the BMW radio connector."

Extra pictures to help out.

The head unit panel from the MEX BT-3800U unit. Button 14 is AF/TA

How to use button 15 to turn the Traffic Announcements on