e34 stereo woes

[adashio]

ive connected up the e34 stereo and im not getting constant power, when i press the reset button on the headunit the display lights up and i hear the fan going but as soon as i let go nothing happens. the fuses are all ok and ive rechecked all the wires. so i have no idea whats wrong. god i need some help on this, thanks for ANYTHING you could provide me with.

[pingu]

What do you mean nothing happens? Does the display go off?

Try connecting a multimeter to the wires of the stereo to confirm that it is getting proper +12V (and to confirm that it's properly grounded).

Also, try disconnecting the speakers from the stero to see if the stero then works (OK, it'll be quiet but the display should light up and function normally). Once that's working, try reconnecting the speakers.

[adashio]

What do you mean nothing happens? Does the display go off?

Try connecting a multimeter to the wires of the stereo to confirm that it is getting proper +12V (and to confirm that it's properly grounded).

Also, try disconnecting the speakers from the stero to see if the stero then works (OK, it'll be quiet but the display should light up and function normally). Once that's working, try reconnecting the speakers.

yeah the display goes off and the fan stops. at the moment im sick of disconnecting the negative terminal to play with the wires, is it safe to disconnect the power cables speaker cables etc without disconnecting the battery, (obviously the ignition/accessories wont be on) then ill mutlimeter everything

[Ferret]

yeah the display goes off and the fan stops. at the moment im sick of disconnecting the negative terminal to play with the wires, is it safe to disconnect the power cables speaker cables etc without disconnecting the battery, (obviously the ignition/accessories wont be on) then ill mutlimeter everything

Yeah, you're safe to fiddle with the connectors without pulling the battery - just there's a 1 in 1000 shot of blowing the fuse while you do it. (I've never had it happen yet.)

What stereo are you installing, and how are you installing it?

IE are you using a loom convertor or have you cut the cables and soldered in a new ISO connector?

[adashio]

Yeah, you're safe to fiddle with the connectors without pulling the battery - just there's a 1 in 1000 shot of blowing the fuse while you do it. (I've never had it happen yet.)

What stereo are you installing, and how are you installing it?

IE are you using a loom convertor or have you cut the cables and soldered in a new ISO connector?

the owner who installed the previous stereo cut the wires and spliced them, no harness, so ive had to copy what they did, removing each wire and replacing it with the new one for my head unit.

ive just multimetered everything and im getting 12v. so dont think thats the problem, its grounding perfectly as well 2 i think

its a soundstorm dvd/mp3/cd dunno wat model

so yeah im only getting power when i press the reset button

[Ferret]

the owner who installed the previous stereo cut the wires and spliced them, no harness, so ive had to copy what they did, removing each wire and replacing it with the new one for my head unit.

ive just multimetered everything and im getting 12v. so dont think thats the problem, its grounding perfectly as well 2 i think

its a soundstorm dvd/mp3/cd dunno wat model

so yeah im only getting power when i press the reset button

This might sound like a silly question, but are the +12v memory and +12 ignition the correct way around?

Furthermore is the +12v memory working correctly as most headunits wont start up without it being present...

[adashio]

This might sound like a silly question, but are the +12v memory and +12 ignition the correct way around?

Furthermore is the +12v memory working correctly as most headunits wont start up without it being present...

well from what i know they the 12+ memory is almost certainly in the correct position but the 12v ignition im not as sure about, there wasnt a wire on the bmw diagram to connect this wire to BUT the previous stereo had the accessory wire connected to this so this is what i connected it to.

its completly out of the car atm, there wouldnt be a switch which would make it not work unless its slid into the car would it? (long shot)

[Ferret]

well from what i know they the 12+ memory is almost certainly in the correct position but the 12v ignition im not as sure about, there wasnt a wire on the bmw diagram to connect this wire to BUT the previous stereo had the accessory wire connected to this so this is what i connected it to.

its completly out of the car atm, there wouldnt be a switch which would make it not work unless its slid into the car would it? (long shot)

Nah, nothing silly like that, have you got a bench psu to see if it works out of the car?

btw, +12 ignition and +12 accessory are the same things when talking about stereo looms.

Can you post a photo of the wiring?

[adashio]

Nah, nothing silly like that, have you got a bench psu to see if it works out of the car?

btw, +12 ignition and +12 accessory are the same things when talking about stereo looms.

Can you post a photo of the wiring?

this is a picture of the power thingamagig, the yellow is the 12v memory and the black is the ground
4911
picture 2 is what is shown when i hold down the reset button (the whole lot lights up, nothing readable.
4912
picture 3 is just all the speaker conections etc
4913
picture 4 is the 12v memory and brown/black ground cable (bmw has weird colour combinations, but i got a bmw diagram explainging what goes where)
4914

[Ross]

Looks to be wired wrong. The red lead from the stereo is typically the ign., the yellow to battery for memory, black is ground.
Looks like the red is connected to a brown, that's a ground on German cars.
Connect your black there and the red to a violet with wht stripe. The yellow to the red with wht stripe.

[adashio]

Looks to be wired wrong. The red lead from the stereo is typically the ign., the yellow to battery for memory, black is ground.
Looks like the red is connected to a brown, that's a ground on German cars.
Connect your black there and the red to a violet with wht stripe. The yellow to the red with wht stripe.

yep thats how ive got it wired, maybe those pictures are hiding it.

i completly disconeccted the lot and reconnected the previous (not orginal) cd player, it worked fine....reconnected just the power cords of the one i want in there, and still nothing......it only gets power when i press the reset button....

[Ross]

Perhaps the radio is "knackered"? Use a big piece of duct tape to hold the button down then. Try running a seperate ground to the chassis.

[Ferret]

Perhaps the radio is "knackered"? Use a big piece of duct tape to hold the button down then. Try running a seperate ground to the chassis.

Fuse in the back of the unit intact... if it's got one?

Might be time to get a new headunit...

[attack eagle]

BTW, that big plug there?

that is the OEM radio plug, you could just get the proper adapter plug and do it right. And then your colors will match too.

I still think you should bench test the radio by twisting the red adn yellwo together and applying 12+ and grounding the black... then at least you know you aren't chasing your tail with a bad head.

[adashio]

BTW, that big plug there?

that is the OEM radio plug, you could just get the proper adapter plug and do it right. And then your colors will match too.

I still think you should bench test the radio by twisting the red adn yellwo together and applying 12+ and grounding the black... then at least you know you aren't chasing your tail with a bad head.

yeah i did try that today and yes...no repsonse, just the same, only get power when i press the reset button oh well, new cd player it is then!

i myself would have liked to have bought a proper harness but since the person before me already hacked the wires i suppose it would be better to use them. will be going upto sydney tomorrow so i guess ill get a head unit while im up there. thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it, no other car owner is commited as bmw owners.

[Ferret]

yeah i did try that today and yes...no repsonse, just the same, only get power when i press the reset button oh well, new cd player it is then!

i myself would have liked to have bought a proper harness but since the person before me already hacked the wires i suppose it would be better to use them. will be going upto sydney tomorrow so i guess ill get a head unit while im up there. thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it, no other car owner is commited as bmw owners.

I wonder why its fizzled then, there's probably an internal fuse or something that's gone pop :/

It's behaving like some of my old ones used to when there was no +12ign/acc

[attack eagle]

yep. and since you have the plug you would be better served in the long run to fix the wiring and use an adapter.