&#$%ing cd data cable... Also radio swap write up.

[Dan in NZ]

Just spent a couple of hours wiring in a 1991-onwards radio to my pre-universal harness car, then even more time routing the cd data cable exactly as bmw reccomends. And the f-ing cable is too short. I routed it from the radio, behind the glovebox, behind the kick-panel speaker, along the wiring channel in the door sills (hard to believe how much copper is in there), under the back seat, through the rubber grommet, then it finished about 30cm from the cd changer.

I think I may have been supplied with a 3-series cable.

It took me a really long time, removing and reinstalling half the interior as I went. I think I'll just move the cd changer further back. It will look a little strange not having the front of the changer level with the top edge of the opening, but I don't care.



Also with the wiring, I may need to re-visit the speaker wires. My car had negative and positive speaker wires, but the new radio did not, so I wired all the negative wires together and grounded them. I'm sure this is wrong. Even worse, the harness I had only had two positive outputs, FR and FL, so I wired the front and rear speakers together.

Unfortunatly bmw changed the antenna inputs at some stage, so I need to get an adaptor, and I can't even test the system since I don't have any tapes...

[winfred]

i allways run a cd changer wire under the back seat and under the center console along the driveshaft tunnel, it's easy to fish it up into the radio area with a wire from there, you don't need to take much apart just fish it under the carpet in front of the back seat

[Martin in Bellevue]

You can also stuff the changer in the rear armrest, if you're not afraid of cutting up the rear armrest. I did this in my 535, it came out pretty decent. This would help with the shorter data cable.


i allways run a cd changer wire under the back seat and under the center console along the driveshaft tunnel, it's easy to fish it up into the radio area with a wire from there, you don't need to take much apart just fish it under the carpet in front of the back seat

[Dan in NZ]

I thouught about running it that way, but seemed like getting it up past the heater could be tricky. Also wasn't sure about the center peice, how to get it running the length of the center console, and was worried it would leave a bump in the carpet.

My car is RHD, so I had the cd changer on the RHS of the trunk so it was next to the pre-cut hole for the cables. As my glovebox is on the LHS, the data cable had to run across under the back seat. I just moved the cd changer to the LHS and found a hole suitable for a cable covered with a hard plastic plug further down the metal behind the seat back.

Now if my bmw-pio/m would just hurry up and arrive, I would have cd audio.

[winfred]

our changers come on the left side and the cable goes through the same bung with the rest of the wiring


My car is RHD, so I had the cd changer on the RHS of the trunk so it was next to the pre-cut hole for the cables. As my glovebox is on the LHS, the data cable had to run across under the back seat. I just moved the cd changer to the LHS and found a hole suitable for a cable covered with a hard plastic plug further down the metal behind the seat back.

[Dan in NZ]

our changers come on the left side and the cable goes through the same bung with the rest of the wiring

How strange... My bung is on the right hand side. Oh well, it's sorted now. The radio the parts place sent me wont accept tapes, so I have to exchange it. Not that I'd even play tapes, but I just want it all to work.

Hopefully the new radio they send me will have wires in the harness for rear channels too, I'm sure the sound woule be shite with front and rear channels wired together.

[rommel]

....I'm looking into installing a 97 head unit into my 1990 which has the old, separate wiring. I've ordered the newer female and newer male harness from eBay for a total of about $20, the square type connector. I will not need the male adapter but it was only $8 shipped in case I wanted an aftermarket head unit later on. The newer female adapter will allow me to install newer factory stereos in my car. I'm also receiving the cd changer data cable. The reason I'm doing this is to install XM radio using BlitzSafe adapters so that the XM will come through the cd inputs, data cable,(cd quality sound) instead of the wired FM modulator(ok on sound quality). The BlitzSafe adapter will also allow me to use an aftermarket Alpine changer as the BlitzSafe will not work with factory changers even though they are Alpine branded. I can't wait until all is installed. I'm also using Dephi SkyFi2 because of the large display even though the BlitzSafe adapter will allow me to control a Pioneer XM Direct through the factory BMW controls but limited display. I'll let you know how everything turns out upon completion.

rommel
1990 535i 5spd
(362,000 Miles and Still gives me chills when I drive it!!)
JC Chip
Sachs Kit
E31 Polished Turbines






How strange... My bung is on the right hand side. Oh well, it's sorted now. The radio the parts place sent me wont accept tapes, so I have to exchange it. Not that I'd even play tapes, but I just want it all to work.

Hopefully the new radio they send me will have wires in the harness for rear channels too, I'm sure the sound woule be shite with front and rear channels wired together.

[Dan in NZ]

Sounds like a sweet setup. I just wanted cd sound cheaply, hence the cdx-m30 and 1991-onwards combination. I hope you don't get any surprises on the way!

[Paul in NZ]

for what it is wort dan my car has the changer on the lhs of the boot.It looks like the cable comes down the lhs side of the car too.

[SamB]

Mine also had the CD changer on the LHS of the boot and the cable definitely runs down the left side also.

Why don't you put in an aftermarket head unit??? you can get good units for NZ$299 and they're easy to wire in, plus it will solve your speaker issues and out perform any BMW unit you can put it. Also if you get one with an aux input you can plug in a mp3 player at a later date - muwwaahhhhh

[winfred]

around here that's a invitation to have a window batted out


Why don't you put in an aftermarket head unit??? you can get good units for NZ$299 and they're easy to wire in, plus it will solve your speaker issues and out perform any BMW unit you can put it. Also if you get one with an aux input you can plug in a mp3 player at a later date - muwwaahhhhh

[Dan in NZ]

Why don't you put in an aftermarket head unit??? you can get good units for NZ$299......

Because I got a cdx-m30 changer for $50. Plus about another $100 worth of parts to make the damn thing compatible. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.