retrofit from stereo to s676a

[MaxSheperd]

Hello there,

I would like to retrofit the s676 system, and was thinking of doing the following:

1. Power - Using the 2 pin connector for power, positive 12V fused was wired off battery and grounded at a ground point in the boot. Pin 1 is positive, pin 2 is negative.
2. replace speakers - and add the wire those that are not there (front, woofers and tweeters)
3. Coding - Remove your old audio system option number from the vehicle order and replace with $676 and recode CIC


however I have doubts on the following:
1) if the amplifier I am using does have the MOST, I do not really see it but can you confirm. attached pictures
2) how I would connect the amplifier it to the head unit CIC.
3) also if you can give more clarity as to how you change the $676 code for the order, and what is the recoding you do on the CIC?

[B21]

That’s a 676 amp…

You will probably have to run a harness to the boot to support the retrofit…unless they’ve wired both simple stereo and 676 cars using the same loom..I’ve no idea,,certainly 676 cars have a different loom to 677 cars..

You just have re-code the head unit for Hi-Fi which gives you a flat response on the two rear channels rather than severely chopped frequency wise..

I’m not aware of any 3rd party support to retrofit 676 but there are several folks who sell their amps with appropriate looms…

[AnubisZed]

Wow, that is a huge undertaking, depending if you've done retrofitting before and altered original looms/coding.

You'd need the correct plug for the amp as well as the new wiring to the speakers from the boot area and connectors. You'd also need the correct bracket to mount the amp in the boot and the extended boot bulkhead carpet panel that allows for the amp etc to fit (unless you already have bluetooth, then it'll already be the correct one). As for your powering options, if you do have the bluetooth already then you can jumper off the power supply for that. Certainly do not power off the battery as you'll drain it overnight, using the cars original systems will shut it down properly.
* A point to note - You don't need any extra wiring for the tweeters as they jumper off the second connection on the door speaker.

As for coding you'd have code $676 to the VO with FA_WRITE to CAS and NFRM and then SG_CODEIREN to CIC.

I can supply you with the correct wiring diagrams if you like

[MaxSheperd]

Hello Dave,
Thanks you SO MUCH for getting back to me. I really do appreciate and found your videos extremely helpful.

Wow, that is a huge undertaking, depending if you've done retrofitting before and altered original looms/coding.

>> I followed a few of your videos! If I am told I can find my way round it and figure things out. Recently I repaired the wiring of the left microswitch as it had broken. I placed a post but nobody answers; eventually I figured I did everything ok and everything was working, just had to reset the CTM_89 with tool32.

You'd need the correct plug for the amp as well as the new wiring to the speakers from the boot area and connectors.

>> I am having the feeling it’s a bit complicated but I am hopeful. I have been looking at my partner’s z4, that one has the 676; pictures below. I assume that my z4 will not have those. But I could not find any schematics so if you have schematics to share that would be pretty much appreciated! Though it will have to be for the 676, but if you have also the one for the basic system I have then that would be even better (see below).

system 676 (2).jpg (119.37 KiB) Viewed 1167 times

(1)
My understanding is that currently the head unit is supplying power to the speakers, therefore there must be wiring going to the speakers from there (at least for the speakers in blue in the diagram from my previous post); for these I was thinking I could remove the speaker connection from the head unit and extend these wires all the way to the amplifier (cut and solder properly extension wires which will then go to the boot). the subs will need brand new wiring obviously.
(2)
The thing I do not know whether there is a low level audio output from my head unit, because probably the amplifier will have a low level input before it amplifies to the speaker. So if the head unit does not have that, I need to learn how to connect the audio coming out from the head unit to the amplifier. Maybe I could use a high to low level adapter, but I still need to identify the channels. I just do not know the meaning of the pins on the amplifier. So it’s all Ifs at the moment. You know anything?
(3)
This brings me to the next issue; from my partner’s z4, it looks like that the wires from the amplifier to the speakers in the front of the car are passing through the passenger side, but without schematics, I will have to butcher the car at random until I find them.
However, once this has been achieved, I was thinking of using this plug I found (see the picture below; it is the black one which goes into the amp). I could cut the existing wires in this plug and join the relevant to them, plus adding those missing. At this point I can tag the cable using needles and a multimeter, to run a continuity test end-to-end (from the amplifier plug to the terminal of the speakers to identify them; when I hear the sound I know which one is.

adapter.jpg (43.73 KiB) Viewed 1167 times

You'd also need the correct bracket to mount the amp in the boot and the extended boot bulkhead carpet panel that allows for the amp etc to fit (unless you already have bluetooth, then it'll already be the correct one).
(4)
>> I bought the brackets and fittings for the amplifier so no problem on that. The main problem was the bulkhead to fit the subwoofer which cannot be found anywhere and it is anyway cheaper to cut out two circles in the existing one and fit the subwoofer grids.



As for your powering options, if you do have the bluetooth already then you can jumper off the power supply for that. Certainly do not power off the battery as you'll drain it overnight, using the cars original systems will shut it down properly.
>> thanks I was already thinking about putting a manual switch or something, but yes I have the Bluetooth but there are two modules and I cannot figure out the power supply. See picture. So once I have identified this, I can cut the supply cable and solder a second wire to create a Y section, and get one branch to supply the amplifier (which will go into the black plug). Will there be enough power for both? This goes beyond my understanding of electrics.
(5)
This thing about the power supply is also connected to the audio input of the amplifier –see point (2) above , if my system is the basic one, I think there might not be an audio out put since the head unit does supply the power, no? if so the high to low level adapter would be the solution I guess. But again I have not seen the head unit yet and I have no schematics of my current system or the 676 for that matter.

basic system.jpg (97.37 KiB) Viewed 1167 times

* A point to note - You don't need any extra wiring for the tweeters as they jumper off the second connection on the door speaker.
>> that is a great thing to know, and if I can jump them off the door speaker then it is a fairly easy job to do. I will still have to figure how to connect, the speaker behind the computer screen. There should be an easy way there.



As for coding you'd have code $676 to the VO with FA_WRITE to CAS and NFRM and then SG_CODEIREN to CIC.
>> I will watch your video about the cruise control, as there are similarities in the procedure though different modules, it s still about adding something and coding. Maybe I will ask about this once I have fitted everything in place.

I can supply you with the correct wiring diagrams if you like

>> yes please!

[AnubisZed]

…
>> I followed a few of your videos! If I am told I can find my way round it and figure things out. Recently I repaired the wiring of the left microswitch as it had broken. I placed a post but nobody answers; eventually I figured I did everything ok and everything was working, just had to reset the CTM_89 with tool32.
Excellent
…
>> I am having the feeling it’s a bit complicated but I am hopeful. I have been looking at my partner’s z4, that one has the 676; pictures below. I assume that my z4 will not have those. But I could not find any schematics so if you have schematics to share that would be pretty much appreciated! Though it will have to be for the 676, but if you have also the one for the basic system I have then that would be even better (see below).
No it won’t have any of the wiring. I’m working on a bunch of diagrams as we speak
(1)
My understanding is that currently the head unit is supplying power to the speakers, therefore there must be wiring going to the speakers from there (at least for the speakers in blue in the diagram from my previous post); for these I was thinking I could remove the speaker connection from the head unit and extend these wires all the way to the amplifier (cut and solder properly extension wires which will then go to the boot). the subs will need brand new wiring obviously.
Yes that makes sense. I may also be able to help you with some of the OE pins for that plug, the larger ones with the blue wires.
(2)
The thing I do not know whether there is a low level audio output from my head unit, because probably the amplifier will have a low level input before it amplifies to the speaker. So if the head unit does not have that, I need to learn how to connect the audio coming out from the head unit to the amplifier. Maybe I could use a high to low level adapter, but I still need to identify the channels. I just do not know the meaning of the pins on the amplifier. So it’s all Ifs at the moment. You know anything?
No, it’ll all be sorted in the coding, and as far as I’m aware it is high-level outputs/inputs
(3)
This brings me to the next issue; from my partner’s z4, it looks like that the wires from the amplifier to the speakers in the front of the car are passing through the passenger side, but without schematics, I will have to butcher the car at random until I find them.
However, once this has been achieved, I was thinking of using this plug I found (see the picture below; it is the black one which goes into the amp). I could cut the existing wires in this plug and join the relevant to them, plus adding those missing. At this point I can tag the cable using needles and a multimeter, to run a continuity test end-to-end (from the amplifier plug to the terminal of the speakers to identify them; when I hear the sound I know which one is.
See answer above
….
(4)
>> I bought the brackets and fittings for the amplifier so no problem on that. The main problem was the bulkhead to fit the subwoofer which cannot be found anywhere and it is anyway cheaper to cut out two circles in the existing one and fit the subwoofer grids.
Bracket, excellent Subwoofer panel - I’ll have a look
…
>> thanks I was already thinking about putting a manual switch or something, but yes I have the Bluetooth but there are two modules and I cannot figure out the power supply. See picture. So once I have identified this, I can cut the supply cable and solder a second wire to create a Y section, and get one branch to supply the amplifier (which will go into the black plug). Will there be enough power for both? This goes beyond my understanding of electrics.
I’ll include that wiring diagram for this aswell. But having looked at both, MULF is fed via a 10amp fuse and the Amp is fed by a 20amp fuse, so probably better to run a separate wire to the correct fuse point.

(5)
This thing about the power supply is also connected to the audio input of the amplifier –see point (2) above , if my system is the basic one, I think there might not be an audio out put since the head unit does supply the power, no? if so the high to low level adapter would be the solution I guess. But again I have not seen the head unit yet and I have no schematics of my current system or the 676 for that matter.
Diagrams for all included
…
>> that is a great thing to know, and if I can jump them off the door speaker then it is a fairly easy job to do. I will still have to figure how to connect, the speaker behind the computer screen. There should be an easy way there.
You may have to remove a bit of the dashboard, I’ve got videos on that

…
>> I will watch your video about the cruise control, as there are similarities in the procedure though different modules, it s still about adding something and coding. Maybe I will ask about this once I have fitted everything in place.
Probably my iDrive retrofit video will be better as it’s the correct modules being coded

I'll sort the diagrams and get back to you

[Silverstar]

If you have the standard 6 speakers system why not do what I did, just upgrade the exisiting speakers and add the two door tweeters and an aftermarket amp to power the speakers, you can also add a second amp and some subs. It is alot easier to do than what you are proposing I think and probably sounds a lot better too.

I have a thread about my install here somehwere, if you are interested I can post a link. The signal coming from the radio is high level so you would need to convert that to low level or use an amp with high level inputs.

[AnubisZed]

......
(4)
>> I bought the brackets and fittings for the amplifier so no problem on that. The main problem was the bulkhead to fit the subwoofer which cannot be found anywhere and it is anyway cheaper to cut out two circles in the existing one and fit the subwoofer grids....

This, very pricy, but they do come up from time-to-time
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234991038774 ... ition=3000

[MaxSheperd]

[...]
I'll sort the diagrams and get back to you
[/quote]

Hello Dave,

Thank you very much for your thorough reply!
I will go through it as soon as I possibly can,
I have been very busy with work and had no time to do much on the car.

Max

[AnubisZed]

Hello Dave,

Thank you very much for your thorough reply!
I will go through it as soon as I possibly can,
I have been very busy with work and had no time to do much on the car.

Max

Diagrams here...
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/p94kdrbv ... 9wil3h2bse

[MaxSheperd]

Hello Dave,
First of all,
Thank you very much for the diagrams as these will be extremely valuable for when I need to customise a harness to connect the head unit to the amplifier. I will ask you a couple of questions in a sec.
I thought I might give you an update. I am currently at stage 1 of 3:
1) Butchering the car: Replacing existing speakers, fitting the missing ones, making sure not to break anything.
2) Customise the wiring to connect head unit to amplifier and find solution to power the amplifier
3) coding of the system

1)
The “basic speakers” for as much as I could tell were pretty much the same for those in the doors and behind the seats. The only different ones were those in the foot well area. Those from the mid range system are heavier and seem better quality (I attached some pics). Anyhow I changed them all.
For the speaker behind the navigation system screen, I will use a hot blade to ease the plastic in the shape of the support I have, which holds the speaker; then a controlled blow will make the plastic go.
2)
From my understanding of the previous conversation we had, in the midrange system, the head unit sends a high level output to the amplifier (basically as it were sending it to the speaker in the basic system). In the midrange system, this is fed to the amplifier which boosts the signal further and then relays it to each of the speakers in the system. Is this correct? If so then the wiring harness to make wont be difficult at all.
I just need to cut the wires going to the speakers from the head unit, extend them to reach the amplifier and then fit them into the right connector, which I need to buy,
From the amplifier, there will be two groups of wires, one which will connect to those I cut at the head unit. I will solder and extend these wires. The other group, will be totally new wires because they will be for the speakers that weren’t there: the subwoofers, and the speaker behind the navigation screen.
For the speaker behind the navigation screen, I have a concern. Will the head unit in my car have a dedicated output for this? Or maybe it will jump from the other speakers? If so I am not sure which one. and I cannot really make this out from the diagram, but I can see that the front woofers (foot well) share the same output, so they get 50% of the total dedicated output. Note: the rear subwoofer have instead independent supply I think.
From the diagraph you sent, 676 amp power and canbus, there should be a free slot in the junction box maybe or if not, I can jumper the out put somehow? if this is possible, then, where is the junction box??
I am not sure about where to pass through the harness between the head unit or the amp. There are two big harnesses alongside each door, so was thinking to pass everything through the passenger side and get to the head unit via behind the glove box. What do you think?
3)
I will leave the coding for now as this is the last thing to do and there is already plenty for now


Additional points:
4)
Where did you get these diagrams? I browsed a lot but could not really find anything specific. I guess though they should be in ISTA but it was a lot to dig into and I m too busy at this time to spend a day digging into it.
5) I also found a speaker I have no clue about, in the driver foot well, it s got a green label. You Know anything about it? I attached pic.
6) I came across a wire in the rear speaker supports, which then splits in two. One branch is a light led, but the other one does not light up, so I thought they went out, but then I checked my partner s car (same model but with midrange system fitted from stock) and even there they are not lighting, so I thought what are the odds they are out in both car on both sides. Maybe it is a sensor? Checked voltage is 6.5 V, for both wires. Pics attached. You must have them too.

I hope you find this interesting.

Thanks a lot max.

[AnubisZed]

Max,

As above...
1) Doors and rear 1/4 panels (under seatbelt points) are both the same, midrange. The footwell are specific units for the midrange, I've not found any specific ones that are identical to replace them directly, so may have to be custom built.
Yes I'm sure you'll be fine with modifying the panel on top of the dash for the new speaker

2)
Para 1 - yes, correct.
Para 2 - yes
Para 3 - yes
Para 4 - new centre dash top speaker is fed from pins 39 & 40 of the 676 amplifier.
Para 5 - that's the fusebox in the passenger footwell
Para 6 - there are pass-through points on both the right and left sides of the bulkhead between the passenger compartment and the trunk. I'm not sure exactly where BMW route the speaker wires from the headunit, it's either one of the sills (possibly passenger side) or the central tunnel under the centre console.

3) Good idea, but you won't be able to use the audio system once you cut any wires, and probably a good idea to disconnect the headunit altogether until you are ready to code.

4) Diagrams are available on ISTA and I've posted similar on here before, but the actual ones I've used use to be available on the internet free of charge, but due to legalities they are not any longer.

5) This is the Emergency Call loudspeaker - Checking the part number and it isn't for a Z4 but it obviously is!

6) So the LED is part of the Extended Lighting Package (footwell lights, door puddle lights etc), as for the other wire I've no idea. I've never taken that panel off on mine so I've not seen if it's there or not. I wouldn't worry about it.

I hope that all helps

[MaxSheperd]

Hello Dave,
Thanks for your replies to my points; they have been very valuable.
I just thought I would give an update on the process, which is going slowly but surely.
Update:
Basically I have finished the fitting of all of the speakers with the exception of the front speaker as I am waiting for a delivery (see below).
For the bulkhead, I know it you suggested to get one, but it was shockingly expensive, and when I butchered out the one I have it did have the layout of where the subwoofer cover should be, so I took the hot blade and cut them out. It was a bit of a challenge to fit the covers, since the clips did not have anything to hook on, so I warmed the plastic and pass a screw through a few clips. They are very sturdy. Will need some padding between the subs and the covers to avoid nasty rattling; but hey eventually it really looks like the one you d buy. I mean it s the same they just do not cut the circles in those cars with the basic system.
I am now working on the wires and try to understand the wiring of the basic system and how to connect it to the amplifier. I have made some wiring but waiting for the 42-pin connector to create the harness which will leave the headunit to then plug in the amp.
In the meanwhile I fitted the cruise control in both cars thanks to your amazing tutorial (see attached pics and video).
I managed to fit the subwoofer and create some custom cables, I found the connectors which were part of an adapter. So I remove one end and soldered the end I needed to a wire. Now will just need to solder to the relevant pins in the 42-pin connector when I get it (pins 3 & 4 left sub; 22 & 23 right sub).

Para 4 - new centre dash top speaker is fed from pins 39 & 40 of the 676 amplifier.

>> I decided that I am not going to butcher the front of the car dashboard and I will fit it on the bulkhead as it were the centre speaker + tweeter in the top range system. It will not make any difference, if not to give me less work, and also I like more sounds coming from the back. I bought the tweeter also which I will jump on the speaker. There is no need for the speaker support as it is interleaved between the speaker cover and the bulkhead, I just need screws to hold it, and the speaker cover embeds support for the tweeter. So no problem. See pics.

Para 6 - there are pass-through points on both the right and left sides of the bulkhead between the passenger compartment and the trunk. I'm not sure exactly where BMW route the speaker wires from the headunit, it's either one of the sills (possibly passenger side) or the central tunnel under the centre console.
Since I am waiting for the 42-pin connector, meanwhile I am making the wires AMP>> speakers. Though I need to butcher the car further, my partner has the 676 system already and from what I could see it looks like that the major harness is going through the passenger side. So I think I will let these wires go through the passenger side and then through the glove box to the headunit. This is where I will cut the relevant cables which currently are going to the speakers from the head unit.
Then I will do pass the same way for those cables which need to go from the head unit to the amplifier. I am still unsure about these as I haven’t gone in depth, but I understand there should be at least 4 channels to go to the amp. One for the front speaker set and one for the rear speaker set.
There are a few things I am also not sure of yet.
New points:
1. The way I connect the power supply from the junction box (i.e., fuse box). Am I supposed to find an empty 20 amperes slot in the fuse box? And if so, what is the kind of connector I would require?
2. What and where is the aerial diversity module? Is one of those in the boot? Currently pin 13 from head unit (black wire) goes to it, but then I see that pin 10 amp will have to connect to pin 1 of this module and still to pin 13 of head unit. Do I make a Y section? So I have one wire coming out of the amp which then splits into 2 wire, one going to aerial and one going to the head unit (CIC)? Sorry I am not good at reading diagrams.
3. This brings me to this last point. In the diagram I find this type of wiring below. What does it mean? Is this like a Y section where one wire splits in 2 branches. So I see in the shot below that in the basic system pin 3 and 7 supply both subwoofer front left and front mid range speaker? And the same applies in the s676 where pin 41 and 42 supply to both front subwoofers? So the cable splits in two?

y section s676 system.png (26.52 KiB) Viewed 832 times

y section basic system.png (29.47 KiB) Viewed 832 times

4. The pin 26 in the amplifier is the ground from what I understand. Where do I connecting to, just the car frame somewhere suitable?

5. I have had some concerns for when I have you cross-compared the diagram you sent of the basic system to the one of the amplifier. I have created a coding system in excel (see attached) since I need to match up the colours. The concerns are the following:
a. We have two e89 35i, one with the s676. In this one the wire colours between the headunit and the amplifier match up (see attached file); however they do not match up with the diagram you sent and I do not get why.
b. I realised that the diagram of the s676 you sent is not showing this active sound design module. So I tried to look on the newtis to see if I could find something. I found this https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e89- ... m/HTO8Ksfp
This wiring colours though do not match those I found in the car with the s676 sound system.
Regardless of the colour coding though, though the pin numbers seem consistent.
Do you know where this active sound design (ASD) is? Is it the one just underneath the headunit? Any idea as to how to take it out real quick?
My understanding here is that the ASD relays this wiring to the amplifier. So I can assume that in the e89 with the s676 we have, the wiring colour system is the same through headunit >> ASD >> amplifier.
See this https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e89- ... m/GaRdAReW


Once I have the above sorted I will start to look into the coding by watching the last bit of your retrofit video about the CIC. I already watched it for removing the glove box etc.

Many thanks
I hope you find this interesting hopefully it might help someone out there even for other mods

Max

all of the attachments can be found here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Amej_oQfqLHzmvhbysr ... A?e=3YMR2o
sorry it would not let me upload them all

[Ed.Straker]

Bravo
The ASD was only fitted to the 4 pot bangers to help folks get over their six cylinder issues
I couldn’t follow all your questions
When I had a new DSP replacing the existing 676 amp we noticed that both front woofers were wired together with a join near the amp
The installer surmised that there was enough channels to drive all the speakers so the woofers were driven by just one channel

[MaxSheperd]

hello thanks for the information and confirming the merge of the supply for the front woofers. I did not see the Y section as I will have to butcher more of the car with the system already installed so I will leave this. But that is what I figured from the diagram.

The ASD was only fitted to the 4 pot bangers to help folks get over their six cylinder issues =?? not sure I follow this sorry

I will also wait for dave to see what he thinks of the rest of the points.

[Ed.Straker]

hello thanks for the information and confirming the merge of the supply for the front woofers. I did not see the Y section as I will have to butcher more of the car with the system already installed so I will leave this. But that is what I figured from the diagram.

The ASD was only fitted to the 4 pot bangers to help folks get over their six cylinder issues =?? not sure I follow this sorry

I will also wait for dave to see what he thinks of the rest of the points.

The ASD (active sound design) unit was only fitted to 18i, 20i, 28i models
It sits on the left hand side on the rear bulkhead next to the combox if present
You can buy a bypass harness to remove its effects if you have one fitted