retrofit from stereo to s676a
Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2023 9:47 am
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). I think I have found the power supply for the amplifier but I have not checked in the car. I looked up the diagram X11002 and it seems it is pin 5 in the connector shown below. So I guess I should find this already in the car and all I have to do is to add a cable in?
2. I just want to go back to the diagram below. Since it appears that I need to connect pin 18,19 to can high and can low. I have no clue where these are but I looked at the diagrams X15003 and X15004 and found the locations below. The arrow point to a cable or harness. What am I supposed to do here? I thought I had to connect these 18 & 19 to something. No clue.
3. I found the aerial diversity module (see below). 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 (X13911) and still to pin 13 of the 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.
Another thing that I do not get is that the diagram x13887 locations shows the below. What is that? A band on the frame? I though I had to split the wire into there. No clue.
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). I think I have found the power supply for the amplifier but I have not checked in the car. I looked up the diagram X11002 and it seems it is pin 5 in the connector shown below. So I guess I should find this already in the car and all I have to do is to add a cable in?
2. I just want to go back to the diagram below. Since it appears that I need to connect pin 18,19 to can high and can low. I have no clue where these are but I looked at the diagrams X15003 and X15004 and found the locations below. The arrow point to a cable or harness. What am I supposed to do here? I thought I had to connect these 18 & 19 to something. No clue.
3. I found the aerial diversity module (see below). 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 (X13911) and still to pin 13 of the 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.
Another thing that I do not get is that the diagram x13887 locations shows the below. What is that? A band on the frame? I though I had to split the wire into there. No clue.