Poll: People With Aftermarket Head Units

[Fetch]

I will be installing the headunit & subwoofer from my previous car which somebody rear ended, and then the body shop did such an awful job with repairs (car was unsafe to drive after they 'fixed' it, etc), it was totaled (That's a story for another day).

I have installed a headunit & subwoofer in my friend's E36, and we decided to take the pre-amp outs of the headunit and dump those into the BMW amp. This resulted in great sounding audio, but the volume really has to be turned up a lot to get volume, which results in more noise(which isn't noticeable with music playing).

I have read some people take the amplified speaker outputs on their headunits and dump those into the BMW amp.

How is volume adjustment, and more importantly how is the audio quality in this situation, especially with higher volumes?

I'm only interested in people's experiences with HU Preout --> BMW amp, and people with HU Speaker out --> BMW amp

:)
Thanks!

[gmannino]

Most of the time, I run the high level outputs into factory bmw amps. This will yield more output from the speakers. Sometimes, it will overdrive the amps and you will get high volume from the speakers by only turning the new deck up less than halfway, and of course distortion. In that case, I will wire the preouts to the amp.

[Fetch]

Most of the time, I run the high level outputs into factory bmw amps. This will yield more output from the speakers. Sometimes, it will overdrive the amps and you will get high volume from the speakers by only turning the new deck up less than halfway, and of course distortion. In that case, I will wire the preouts to the amp.

So you would recommend to try it both ways before permanently wiring it up?
I guess this would be the smart thing to do, wouldn't take long at all

[acidfire52]

I have not looked close at mine yet, car came with an Alpine already in it,
But, I have to turn my deack up pretty loud to get high levels out of my deck.

It seems to me, that the stock amp is not acutally amplifying the signal. Will bec testing it all out this weekend.

Oh yeah.. Mine Pioneer is hooked up to the high outputs.

[zman-95-540i]

I'll show my ignorance. I just put a new hu in this past weekend. I basically soldered the wires from the hu into the appropriate wires on the wiring harness supplied by the vendor and then plugged that in. So, I'm not sure which option to select... :~

[kev535i]

i have no BMW amp so the choice was easy for me :)

[tnt525i]

head unit------> crossover----->rockford fosgate amp----->boston acoustics speakers.
i got rid of the bmw head unit, amp and speakers they sound like crap to me

[Fetch]

I'll show my ignorance. I just put a new hu in this past weekend. I basically soldered the wires from the hu into the appropriate wires on the wiring harness supplied by the vendor and then plugged that in. So, I'm not sure which option to select... :~

Means you're going speaker outs into the BMW amp, how's she sound? :)

[Fetch]

head unit------> crossover----->rockford fosgate amp----->boston acoustics speakers.
i got rid of the bmw head unit, amp and speakers they sound like crap to me

I'd love to completely rework the system, but as of now this mostly free upgrade will have to do :)

[zman-95-540i]

Sound is much better than the stock HU. I also replaced the front speakers with some Polk 5 1/4". I definitely need something for the low end but this will work for now.

I ended up with a Blaupunkt Bahamas HU which looks pretty good (color adjustable display that you can get to color match almost perfectly.)

[DABLACK]

i replaced my o.e amp cause I f****d it up wiring a Sony HU to stock amp...and to be honest it sounds alot better with the after market amp running and thats with o.e speakers

[Atl530i]

I had my setup like in option 2 but I changed everything out with a new HU, AMP, component speakers/tweeters, and a 12" sub in a custom box.

[Felixdacat]

I agree. Got rid of mine also. All new wire, speakers, amps, crossovers, and headunit.

[Atl530i]

I agree. Got rid of mine also. All new wire, speakers, amps, crossovers, and headunit.

FTW :)

The stock system was good for about a month then it all got ripped out.

[VentoGT]

Who is Winfred?

[attack eagle]

hu speaker out-> amp


(pioneer h/u for now)

Limiting factors at this time are the factory speakers... definately could be cleaner with better (read newer/replacement) speakers. Volume adjustment range is very good

[Chipper]

OK,

How do i know if I have a factory amp, I just installed a new Pioneer head unit but i just plugged it into the ISO plugs that the previous HU used. Most euro cars use them now so fitting new HU's is a doddle

Sound is a lot better than the sony i replaced but the factory speakers arn't up to much, there is a lot of Air to move round in these tourers!

[attack eagle]

left hand large storage cubby.
ON the back wall of it a section is removeable, and the amp is mounted to the backside of that.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/AttackEagle/bimmer/100_0748.jpg


http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/AttackEagle/bimmer/100_0749.jpg


http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/AttackEagle/bimmer/100_0775.jpg


I dismounted mine, broke off the mounting tabs and it fits snugly in the bottom of the cubby... I eventually plan on pulling the amp wiring back to where I can relocate it under the rear seat and use that entire area for a single sub.

It was just too late at night when i relocated everything else from the cubby.

[DanQ]

I wired mine up High level output to the factory amp. This results in popping and distortion at level 15+ on my head-units volume control but wiring it up low-level didn't give me much volume.

Alpine 7894

[brosher]

I wired mine up High level output to the factory amp. This results in popping and distortion at level 15+ on my head-units volume control but wiring it up low-level didn't give me much volume.

Alpine 7894

This is what I have experienced as well. Mine sounded like garbage connected to the high-levels. Now connected to low-levels it sounds great, but isn't really that loud when turned all the way up. It's plenty loud normally but if I roll down the windows I can't get it loud enough to hear. I plan to replace the amp with a bargain aftermarket one.

[Fetch]

Here's the follow up guys,
Everything is all installed.
I hooked up the headunit high-level outs into the bmw amp. It sounds decent, but not really an improvement over the bmw radio at all.
It's just nice to be able to play CDs, and have a direct input for my iPod for free.

I don't think I'll change it to use the pre-amp outs until I replace the bmw amp in the trunk, which won't happen until I've got some spare cash.

Even after opening up the ski hole it's still really hard to get much use out of my 10" sub.....I'm amazed how well the e34 kills sound from the trunk, because that same sub in my Jeep Cherokee was crazy loud to me!!

Even out driving around testing the new sound system, I just couldn't listen to music the whole time, I killed the tunes & listened to the real sound system.....the BMW M60 :)

thanks for the input everone

[Felixdacat]

Good to see you back in business.

[Fetch]

RAWR.....

I couldn't stand the quality etc of using the line-level outs....I pulled the headunit today and soldered on some rca cables to connect to the headunit's preamp outs....

The sound difference is amazing!!!
It sounds awesome!

Next on the list....replace bmw amp & maybe sub upgrade....those probably won't happen for awhile

:D :D