retrofit from stereo to s676a

[MaxSheperd]

Hello,
RE: diagrams
maybe they did it one way then discontinued the other way.

Just an update about this mod:
1) Dave, I followed your advise and did not solder any wires behind the headunit. I actually took more advantage of the existing wiring and used it as much as could. Though still some of the wiring had to be done assuming inconceivable positions whilst soldering as to ensuring messing with the car as little as possible. Thank you <3
2) I have finished 95% of the wiring. Posting some pics at the end of this post. I still need to do the connector in the fuse box for the power supply. I bought an e90 fuse box, which I will use as dummy but still does have the same time of connector which I could not find anywhere. Also waiting for rear ¾ tweeters be delivered and the 42-pin connector be delivered.

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3) I am going to test the wiring; I ll check all the connections to the speakers using a pair of pin from the head unit (formerly powering a set of speakers, say 2 and 6), then I will use one speaker to check if all pins coming from the head unit are indeed sending audio.

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4) Dave, earlier, for the coding, you said: “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 remember I had to change the vehicle order (VO), but I was wondering if you could please give some more details/guidance on this. That would be pretty much appreciated!


5) About the door speakers + tweeter. I just wanted to double check. These originally were powered by the same wiring from the headunit. So basically one wire for left door tweeter and speaker and front sub and one wire for the set on the driver side (right); by the way the wiring for the driver side goes from the head unit to around the fuse box; at this point it then goes behind the whole dash board and pops back on the driver’s side, pretty much where the right front sub is.
Now, since both front left and right subs are powered by the same channel from the amplifier, I cut and seized the branch of the wiring going to them originally and reconnected them with the wiring coming from the amplifier. So I will still use the existing wiring for left door tweeter and speaker and right door tweeter and speaker.



Thanks
I hope this can help someone for this mod or something else too

Max






PICS:
Aerial diversity. Created a Y sections which will now go to the amp. Did this just on top of the rear left wheel arch as there is big harness.

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CAN high and low; there were two pairs of wires one for the CTM and one for the parking distance sensor unit. Picked the latter as did not want to mess with the CTM. So used a multimeter with disconnected battery to make sure I was cutting the right pair. The wires were so thin and given the age of the car I thought they were going to crack or weaken. I decided to use surgical electrode needles to assess them. The Y section was done next to the amp so easy to connect to.

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The rear ¾ speaker + tweeter was cut and extended to reach the amp, then from the amp I brought a couple of wires at this spot to reconnect speakers after audio s been boosted by the amp.

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The bulk of the job was at the fuse box. I removed the glove box and front dashboard for easy access but still soldering positions to assume were kind of inconceivable to sustain for long periods.

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[MaxSheperd]

On the driver side, the only cable pair to pass through was the one for the front right sub. Didn’t want to mess with the driver side of the dashboard.

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The colour of the wiring if sort of random. Only the thickness has a rationale (power supply thicker, subs thicker, inputs from headunit thinner etc). This is because I factored in that I could do some connections wrong, so I tagged all ends, so if one is wrong you can always replace the tags.

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The sub connector soldered to the new wiring coming from the amplifier.

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[AnubisZed]

4) Dave, earlier, for the coding, you said: “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 remember I had to change the vehicle order (VO), but I was wondering if you could please give some more details/guidance on this. That would be pretty much appreciated!

Hi Max,

If you jump to 40 minutes on this video I run through the coding process....

https://youtu.be/wYQgNDj4Fac

So hopefully that'll give you the info just use the code you need to

[MaxSheperd]

Hello Dave,

thanks for your reply.
I did watch that days ago. So I wondered if I need to type is $676 instead of $609 as you do at running time https://youtu.be/wYQgNDj4Fac?t=2559
and do exactly as you do apart from that?

thanks

max

[AnubisZed]

Hello Dave,

thanks for your reply.
I did watch that days ago. So I wondered if I need to type is $676 instead of $609 as you do at running time https://youtu.be/wYQgNDj4Fac?t=2559
and do exactly as you do apart from that?

thanks

max

Basically yes! In the video I'm adding 609 and 6VC because I'm adding tge iDrive system, but all you need to do is add the 676 as that is what you're adding. As I say add 676 to the VO then FA_WRITE to CAS and NFRM and SG_CODERIEN to CIC and that should be all you need

[MaxSheperd]

Hello

Just wanted to give an update about this mod.

I have finally finished the retrofit and it all works as it should; as said earlier on I fitted the front central speaker in the bulkhead and once I have tried the system I realised this was a very good decision, since you really hear much more than when positioned behind the CIC display. Secondly it allows more types of audio profiles for when you use the fader settings (front/rear). Also the extra tweeter makes it all better; I fitted 2 more in the ¾ rear speaker location and the cover for the rear central speaker came with one anyway.

I must say the soldering had to be done in inconceivable positions if you want to make sure that you do not butcher the car too much, and even if you factor this in, there is still quite an amount of it. But for me it was worth it. I love it.
Just needs loads of patience.
Dave, I just wanted to ask you I followed literally by the letter your video about retrofitting the CIC just added $676 at the relevant point in the video. However the system was also working already BEFORE the coding. I am not sure how better works now or how worse was working earlier. But is there anyway to check through the CIC to actually check that it is coded for the 676? But from all I can see everything is working as it should.
I have also created a new topic by the way as we found a leak in the other car (not this one that had the 676 fitted) but the other one that has it already!
Oh dear! You finish one thing and something else comes our way right away!!
Best

Max

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[AnubisZed]

Well done Max

...
Dave, I just wanted to ask you I followed literally by the letter your video about retrofitting the CIC just added $676 at the relevant point in the video. However the system was also working already BEFORE the coding. I am not sure how better works now or how worse was working earlier. But is there anyway to check through the CIC to actually check that it is coded for the 676? But from all I can see everything is working as it should.
...

So long as you've added 676 to the VO and then FA_Write to CAS & NFRM and SG_Codeiren to CIC then it'll be all OK
The system will work anyway, it's just that there are certain parameters that are different for the amplifier driven system as opposed to the headunit driven original, so it should all sound very much the same, just with more power for the extra speakers that have been added (subs and centre speakers).

I have thought about doing this myself, but for shear cost reasons I think I'll go for the Vibe add-on amp that requires no additional wiring on my part. On the whole most parts are cheap enough, it's just obtaining the subwoofers that aren't cheap, for less money I can buy a brand new Vibe additional sub that matches the Vibe amp.

[MaxSheperd]

hello
thanks for your reply

long as you've added 676 to the VO and then FA_Write to CAS & NFRM and SG_Codeiren to CIC then it'll be all OK >> if this is what you do in your retrofit of the headunit system, then yes, I did that only did I change the $676 to add instead of the other code you add there.


if you want to retrofit the 676 there are good deals atm.

will message you in PM.

[Silverstar]

Well done Max

...
Dave, I just wanted to ask you I followed literally by the letter your video about retrofitting the CIC just added $676 at the relevant point in the video. However the system was also working already BEFORE the coding. I am not sure how better works now or how worse was working earlier. But is there anyway to check through the CIC to actually check that it is coded for the 676? But from all I can see everything is working as it should.
...

So long as you've added 676 to the VO and then FA_Write to CAS & NFRM and SG_Codeiren to CIC then it'll be all OK
The system will work anyway, it's just that there are certain parameters that are different for the amplifier driven system as opposed to the headunit driven original, so it should all sound very much the same, just with more power for the extra speakers that have been added (subs and centre speakers).

I have thought about doing this myself, but for shear cost reasons I think I'll go for the Vibe add-on amp that requires no additional wiring on my part. On the whole most parts are cheap enough, it's just obtaining the subwoofers that aren't cheap, for less money I can buy a brand new Vibe additional sub that matches the Vibe amp.

Dave I have the factory standard subs with enclosures here should you want them, I can do a very good price if needed. But I would have to question going down this route, at the end of day you will have a factory standard system which is limited in performance and going the aftermarket route as I have done in mine will yield better results with less complicated install.

[AnubisZed]

Dave I have the factory standard subs with enclosures here should you want them, I can do a very good price if needed. But I would have to question going down this route, at the end of day you will have a factory standard system which is limited in performance and going the aftermarket route as I have done in mine will yield better results with less complicated install.

Thank you

See now this is my quandary, if I go the OE route, yes it's a lot of work in theory, but at the end of the day it's OE, which is what I like to see. But if I go down the aftermarket route using the Vibe amp then it's straightforward plug-n-play, a couple of tweaks and you're done. It's also hidden away so you don't see it, even the matching sub is under one of the seats (it's a slimline sub).
Now I don't have a big issue with my system since I retrofitted it all, in fact I think it's very good quality, my issue is when the roof is down I'd like to be able to hear it a little better, nothing too grand, just enough, after all I'm driving with the roof down so I'm not expecting it to be full beans clarity. With the roof up and playing good music mine is a very decent system with a good level of sound already, I can hear it, I can sing along (NO, no videos will be provided on my channel ) and I enjoy it, especially when compared to the God awful quality from the base system that was in it to start with.
So this is a lot cheaper without the hassle, simply plugs into the headunit and you don't have to run any extra wires...

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[Silverstar]

Dave I have the factory standard subs with enclosures here should you want them, I can do a very good price if needed. But I would have to question going down this route, at the end of day you will have a factory standard system which is limited in performance and going the aftermarket route as I have done in mine will yield better results with less complicated install.

Thank you

See now this is my quandary, if I go the OE route, yes it's a lot of work in theory, but at the end of the day it's OE, which is what I like to see. But if I go down the aftermarket route using the Vibe amp then it's straightforward plug-n-play, a couple of tweaks and you're done. It's also hidden away so you don't see it, even the matching sub is under one of the seats (it's a slimline sub).
Now I don't have a big issue with my system since I retrofitted it all, in fact I think it's very good quality, my issue is when the roof is down I'd like to be able to hear it a little better, nothing too grand, just enough, after all I'm driving with the roof down so I'm not expecting it to be full beans clarity. With the roof up and playing good music mine is a very decent system with a good level of sound already, I can hear it, I can sing along (NO, no videos will be provided on my channel ) and I enjoy it, especially when compared to the God awful quality from the base system that was in it to start with.
So this is a lot cheaper without the hassle, simply plugs into the headunit and you don't have to run any extra wires...

71BJfjsjgwL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

Are you sure we can't entice you to make a sing a long video? I think the Vibe amp makes sense for what you want to achieve and from experience adding an amp even without adding the subwoofer(s) makes a huge difference to the sound quality, the subs just take it to the next level.

[B21]

FWIW,

I’m midway replacing my 677 system with the Audio Fischer Match 10 DSP system.

Due to other 1st world issues I’ve changed all the speakers bar the subwoofers to upgraded non BMW versions..

The 677 amp is still there..it really struggles to generate enough power to give a decent sound level at say 70 mph especially on dual carriageways etc..

After a few minutes it overheats and I get ghastly and progressively worse distortion…I first thought I’d burnt the speakers out..on cooling down the quality as such returns …

I’ll get the new DSP/amp fitted this winter..