04 bmw x3 audio wires
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Vehicle Wiring Information & File Requests
Forum Discription: Request Car Alarm, Car Stereo, Cruise Control, Remote Starter, Navigation, Mobile Video, and Other Vehicle Specific Wiring Info, Manuals, Tech Tips
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=115052
Printed Date: May 16, 2024 at 11:33 AM
Topic: 04 bmw x3 audio wires
Posted By: ucmj313
Subject: 04 bmw x3 audio wires
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 6:36 PM
does anyone know what each of the main 16 wires for the audio system are. Its an 04 x3 non nav/non dsp with factory amp. 8 i know are for the speaker outputs to the factory amp, the rest are not as clear. I am constructing my own wiring harness for an aftermarket stereo while trying to maintain function of the factory amp. I am assuming that the other 2 sets of connections to the factory system are the aux in and steering wheel controls. if I am wrong in this please notify me thanks for the help
chris
Replies:
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 7:28 PM
| WIRE | | COLOR | | POLARITY | | LOCATION | |  |  | Battery | | RED / GREEN | | (+) | | RADIO HARNESS | | | | Accesory | | VIOLET/WHITE | | (+) | | RADIO HARNESS | | | | Ground | | BROWN | | (-) | | RADIO HARNESS | | | | Illumination | | GRAY/RED | | (+) | | RADIO HARNESS | | | | Power Antenna | | WHITE | | (+) | | RADIO HARNESS | | | | Amp Turn On | | WHITE | | (+) | | RADIO HARNESS | | | | LF Speaker (+) | | YELLOW/RED | | | | LF Speaker (-) | | YELLOW/BROWN | | | | RF Speaker (+) | | BLUE/RED | | | | RF Speaker (-) | | BLUE/BROWN | | | | LR Speaker (+) | | YELLOW/BLACK | | | | LR Speaker (-) | | YELLOW/BROWN | | | | RR Speaker (+) | | YELLOW/VIOLET | | | | RR Speaker (-) | | YELLOW/GRAY | | | | Amp Location | | BEHIND TRIM ON LEFT SIDE OF CARGO AREA | | | | Steering Cntrls | | YES | | | | Speed Cntrl | | YES | | | | Radio Security | | YES |
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 7:42 PM
awesome that only leaves 2 more wired to id. also what does the acessory wire do?
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 7:49 PM
The accessory wire is what turns the radio on and off with the key. Key off = no voltage on said wire. Key in acc or on position = 12 volts on said wire.
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 7:55 PM
ok that makes sense. This vehicle had the option of blue tooth and has an sos call button, neither of which i will be using could one of the additional wire be for this? I have also read else where that the factory amp has a ground connected to the radio...black wire. there is a smaller black wire what do you think? or would it be for the speed controlled volume. i will get the other wires colors maybe this will help
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 8:03 PM
one wire is WHITE/ red stripe and has yellow marks down the visible length, the other is gray/red stripe, and the thin black wire
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 8:10 PM
that is the harness i bought 2 of, 1 to use and the other to take pins out of to engage the factory amp. i just want to ensure every wire is correct before i plug it in.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 8:13 PM
There should be a wire on the harness that turns the amp on. Have you checked the white wire of the factory harness to see if it has a mating wire in the harness you purchased? It should be blue or blue/white.
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 8:37 PM
i bought the metra 70-9003 it has power, ground, constant, and power ant. that is why i bought 2, the second is to add pins for amp turn on and illumination. im not sure what the other wires are but i hope running without them wont throw up error codes, which is why im pestering yall so much. thanks for all the help
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 8:44 PM
I do not think that vehicle will throw any codes. Even without a radio at all, it will be fine.
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 11:04 PM
so it works, no warning lights. everything is great except the volume is much lower than factory...ideas?
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 11:19 PM
Are you able to achieve your desired listening level? I understand you may have to turn the volume up louder on the aftermarket deck, but can you get it loud enough without the deck introducing distortion into the sound?
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 13, 2009 at 11:49 PM
I can achieve decent volume when the radio is turned up full volume, distortion is limited if any. everything sounds very good but im guessing full volume is 10db lower than factory. I was expecting to have to limit volume to not distort the speakers, so I was not expecting i would not reach that volume.
Posted By: yimke
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 9:38 AM
What kind of radio did you buy?
Some radios actually have a distortion point lower than max volume, usually around 3/4 volume. So all you are doing is sending a distorted audio signal to your amp to be amplified. That is the drawback on factory stuff that it does not have gain control.
Posted By: howie ll
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 1:48 PM
I haven't dabbled in audio for some time but WHITE/ red with yellow stripes is audio mute, the grey red has to be illumination, there shouldn't be an analogue VSS lead by then unles it were BLACK/ white, it's CAN behind the instrument panel.
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 4:27 PM
its an older alpine cda-9830, im wondering if the fact that it doesnt have high output pre-outs. but over all like i said everything sounds great just needs more volume, something ill upgrade later on when i feel like swapping out the factory amp.
note: I usually expect alot out of my system, i dont drive with a/c so windows are down and tx speed limit is 70 so i expect my system to be heard clearly at 70+ with all the wind. just saying my complaints are relative to that, the music is completely within normal volume i just want more...dont we all
Posted By: howie ll
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Naught wrong with ANY Alpine over 2 years old, much better quality than the current stuff.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 6:42 PM
Are you using the RCA jacks of the radio?
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 6:46 PM
yeah there are 3 sets of pre outs. so that is what im using, do you think i need something between the pre outs and the wiring harness
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 7:26 PM
That is why you have no level. That factory amp is designed to work with speaker level outputs. Does that radio have speaker level outputs? If so, connect one channel to the speaker wires of the radio and see if you have any unwanted noises. Pops when you change stations, engine noise, etc. Also notice if that one speaker is now playing at an acceptable level. If there is any noises, do not panic, they are easy to get rid of. If the level is much louder than stock, there is a fix for that too.
-------------
Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 14, 2009 at 8:03 PM
right on ill give that a try this weekend. I was worried that running things like that would...um double amp the signal resulting in alot of distortion and or damage the factory speakers and amp, but if you think it won't ill give it a try and report back.
thanks again to everyone that has offered advice on this topic. it has been a major help.
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 12:37 AM
so i rewired the harness as sugested using speaker outs instead of RCA pre outs. the result is about what i expected, more than enough volume. far more distortion. in the alpine 35 is max volume. with this current set up anything over 17 is highly distorted. lower volume sounds good though. I will leave this set up over the weekend at least, am still looking for a happy medium
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 1:21 AM
Cut the negative speaker wires, insulate the wires that come from the radio. Ground all 4 of the wires of the harness. This may be the Medium you are speaking of. Do not ground the speaker wires that come from the radio, only the negative wires of the harness. ------------- Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 1:38 AM
im not sure i follow that, your saying cut speaker negatives from the the vehicle harness running to the amp, or combinine the speaker negatives from the radio and ground them so they do not send signal to the factory amp. btw the ground wires on the vehicle harness are all the same color so i am assuming at some point in the harness they do combine to one wire
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 4:53 AM
The negative speaker wires from the radio, the ones you just connected to the harness that you purchased. Cut them where you connected them. INSULATE the 4 wires that go to the radio. Now you have 4 wires that go to the factory amp via the harness you purchased. strip the ends of these 4 wires. connect them together and ground them. Make sure you do not ground the wires that go to the radio. Ground the wires of the harness. The ones that go to the factory amplifier.
-------------
Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 12:28 PM
ok tonight(explaining so you can stop me if im wrong) i will be cutting the negative speaker wires from the radio to the harness where i had just connected them. the negative's from the radio will be trimmed, insulated and not connected to anything. the negative wires from the harness will be combined and grounded behind the dash and this should give me the happy medium volume and limit distortion. do i have that right?
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Yes that is the plan. On the speaker wires of the radio, there is signal on both the positive and negative wires. With both of the signals, it is overdriving the amplifier. If you ground the negative input wires, this will eliminate half of the power going into the amplifier. It depends on what is distorting, if the inputs of the amp are being overdriven, this will fix the distortion problem. If the distortion is being introduced to the amp by the radio, it will not help your distortion problem. I am banking on the inputs of the amp are being overdriven. If there is a pop when you change the radio stations after you do this, do not panic. less than 8 dollars at radio shack and we are done. ------------- Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: ucmj313
Date Posted: July 18, 2009 at 12:28 AM
so i rewired...much happier with the sound. I do have some low volume static...It is present whenever the radio is on. The volume of the static does not increase with radio volume so at listening volume so its simply a mild irritant. the harness negatives i have running to an external ground. do you think it would be better to run them to the ground of the harness? or is it more likely the radio grounds dont arent insulated enough... currently they are just taped off.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 18, 2009 at 3:14 AM
It is very critical to have the negative wires of the harness grounded properly. Any lack of integrity of this ground will produce an audible noise just as you are describing. With the radio on but volume really low, touch move and tap all of the connections made to the harness' negative wires. If any of these actions change the static noise, that connection needs to be dealt with. If those actions do not change the static, you may have to try the 8 dollar Radio Shack repair. I can not give you a percentage of chance that this will help you but I think it is worth a try. Purchase 1 or 4 of either of the following. Larger value is preffered. All should be the same, they may have only 2 of each in stock. You may have to hit a couple stores. https://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatid=&kw=non%20polarized%20capacitor&origkw=non%20polarized%20capacitor&sr=1 Take some speaker wire and strip enough insulation off of the wire to use the insulation to slide over the legs of the capacitors. Cut the radio's positive wire from it's connection point at the harness. connect the cap in series with that speaker wire. There is no positive or negative end on the capacitor, you can not connect it backwards. Try this on one speaker, you will have to put your ear in the speaker to see if it gets rid of the noise. If it works proceed to the rest of the wires. That is why I said 1 or 4. 1 because I am not sure it is going to fix this problem. 4 if it is a hassle to get to the radio shack and will cost more in fuel to go back. ------------- Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: mpdano
Date Posted: May 22, 2010 at 9:29 PM
ucmj313 wrote:
i bought the metra 70-9003 it has power, ground, constant, and power ant. that is why i bought 2, the second is to add pins for amp turn on and illumination. im not sure what the other wires are but i hope running without them wont throw up error codes, which is why im pestering yall so much. thanks for all the help
Can you please tell me how you got your stock amp to turn on using that metra adapter? I also bought just 1 of the adapters, but I see you bought 2.
What exactly did you do to get your stock amp to turn on?
Thanks in advance.
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