Dsp radio/ cd

[Mighty1]

Hi eventually got someone to fit my alpine radio to my 2.5 2003 zed all went well till the audio technician came to replace the old original head unit.No noise at all changed and put brand new head in still no sound.I told him I’d read on the forum where there’s some kind of problem when fitting with the dsp with 10 speakers but as an old git who knows nowt about these things I’m looking for either any advice for the fitter or wether you can fit something to the original unit
Thanks in advance I know there’s some knowledge people out there
Geoff

[Magicarcher]

I am not an expert on the 10 speaker audio system, but I know a reasonable amount about car audio in general and I notice you are not getting any answers.

In the 10 speaker HiFi system, each speaker is driven by an independent channel from an amplifier in the boot. Looking at the wiring diagrams https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e85- ... =amplifier, the amp in the boot receives signals from the head unit in the dash. The wiring diagrams for the interface for the various radio wiring configurations can bee seen here: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e85- ... o/q-X18805 I don't have the technical spec for the z4 amplifier, but generally amplifiers receive low level signals which are either analogue or digital (aftermarket analogue amplifiers generally receive either 2V or 4V signals).

If your audio technician has simply replaced the existing head unit with an aftermarket head unit and expected it to work with your amplifier, at best it is unlikely to work, at worst it may damage your amplifier.

The standard 6 speaker audio system can have the head unit replaced by an aftermarket one fairly easily (new facia and adapter cable, then plug and play), but the same is not true for the 10 speaker setup. It could be done but it would need wiring changes and a fair bit of knowledge of the Z4 audio wiring and unless you spend a fair bit of money, it may not sound as good as the factory 10 speaker setup.

I hope that helps although I fear it may not.

[Ducklakeview]

The Carver DSP system, is actually very good. Yes the headunit looks a bit dated, as in every other Zed, BUT the system itself sounds great.

As said above, the amp in the boot is designed to work only with the factory HU. It get's it's power on signal from this, and although it's just fed at line level from the HU, I think you'll have a job getting it to work at all with an aftermarket HU.

The OEM speakers in the DSP setup are also a bit unusual, especially the 4 subs, which have a non-std impedance.

Mike

[markplant]

Doesn't the head unit send the signal to the amp on a digital coaxial cable on DSP system, I'm sure one of systems does

[rally-chris]

Not sure the E85/E86 uses an optical bus, even on the 'top hifi' / Carver system, as it's all just E46 electrical architecture. Later BMWs from E8x 1 series and E9x 3 series use the MOST fibre optic bus to connect the higher spec audio modules together.

Chris

[Ducklakeview]

Doesn't the head unit send the signal to the amp on a digital coaxial cable on DSP system, I'm sure one of systems does

No, it's an analogue feed to the amp.

Mike

[Mighty1]

Thanks for the replies I eventually spoke to the parts department manager at my local bmw dealer coopers Durham
He put the vin number in computer and has ordered me an auxiliary switch that fits into the glove box and back into the left side of the original HU he was extremely helpful also said that it did not need anything doing like setting up via car memory or similar but may affect single cd use that doesn’t bother me in the slightest Assurred me it will work £62 pound pick it up tomorrow Wednesday
Thanks hopefully it will work but as the technician said you’ve still got one of the best sound systems going just have to carry a haversack to put cds in.
Let you know the good or bad news later I’m sure if it works this will be of use to other forum users
Geoff

[Magicarcher]

.. ordered me an auxiliary switch that fits into the glove box and back into the left side of the original HU

I assume he means a 3.5mm auxilliary input, can't think why the CD player wouldn't work.

just have to carry a haversack to put cds in.

That depends how exacting you are on audio sound quality. If he is providing you with an auxiliary input, you have lots of options to play your music on, personally I use a bluetooth receiver in to my aux socket and stream FLAC files directly from my phone which has a 128Gb SD card. Sure audio purists (used to be one before my ears got too old ) will tell you the analogue input isn't as good as playing CDs and that bluetooth is also not so good. But this is a Z4, not a Bentley in which you can hear a pin drop in, so I prefer the convenience of streaming from my phone over audio perfection (it also give me handsfree phone). You could also have a dedicated music player connected directly to the aux input cable via a 3.5mm stereo jack lead.

sticking with the 10 speaker system is definitely the best option, if I had a 10 speaker setup I wouldn't consider changing the head unit. Too much hard work and expense to do it properly and probably not a great deal to gain and the possibility it will sound worse if you don't do it well.

[Mighty1]

Thanks majicarcher I’m hoping that once fitted I can use a jack plug to my iPhone 8s think it’s a 3.5 mm jack plug rather than a usb connection.however if that doesn’t work I’ll buy an mp3/4 or something similar my abilities stop when I plug the machine in
Still haven’t heard from bmw yet
Geoff

[Ducklakeview]

I fitted a parrot ck9000 to mine, it streams music via Bluetooth from my phone directly into the the system, using the headunits volume controls and the DSP amp and speakers, rather than the parrot amp. This is due to the fact that it connects to the line feed from the hu to the amp. Music quality is a good as, if not better than cds played in the hu/changer.

Mike

[jamie_z4]

Thanks majicarcher I’m hoping that once fitted I can use a jack plug to my iPhone 8s think it’s a 3.5 mm jack plug rather than a usb connection.however if that doesn’t work I’ll buy an mp3/4 or something similar my abilities stop when I plug the machine in
Still haven’t heard from bmw yet
Geoff

Ahh if you haven't paid, I'd sack that off and get a 3.5mm aux off ebay! Ive got one on my std headunit and it was £5 off ebay, and is exactly the same!

[Mighty1]

Wish I’d known Jamie I would have ordered that
Too late was the cry these are the pitfalls of not knowing how to do anything with electric or gas or water or......
Cheers Geoff

[jamie_z4]

Wish I’d known Jamie I would have ordered that
Too late was the cry these are the pitfalls of not knowing how to do anything with electric or gas or water or......
Cheers Geoff

can you not cancel the order if its not come in yet and get your money back? Ebay one will save you 60 quid!

[Mighty1]

Sorry to say ordered and collected waiting for a call from the bloke that’s going to hopefully fit and make it work I’ll be a happy bunny then Whet cds came out I thought they were the dogs now nobody wants them

[Magicarcher]

..When cds came out I thought they were the dogs..

They are still good and on a decent system if your ears are good they will sound much better than MP3. But they are just not so convenient, I tend to play FLAC files rather than MP3, my ears can't tell the difference between CD and FLAC.