Amp down by battery, who thought that was a good idea?

[Speedracer]

Just want a bit of a rant at BMW, how the heck thought it was a good idea to put the amplifier right down by the battery in the boot?
As you can probably tell I have had a lot of water ingress into the boot, fixed now I am glad to say, but the amp has been completely fried. Ok I thought, quite look at ebay & there is sure to be a few on there, doesn't look anything special so can't be expensive....WHAT! Only 1 on there at the moment & a scrappie wants £350 plus carriage for it, is that really the going rate? I have put a wanted ad in the classifieds but just wanted to vent on here as well, sorry.

So, what is special about the Z4 amp that it is many times more expensive than any other model of BMW?

 

[hopz121]

Carver Amps are crazy cash new mate that's the issue, £350 isn't too bad but try and knock them down a bit

 

[Speedracer]

Carver Amps are crazy cash new mate that's the issue, £350 isn't too bad but try and knock them down a bit

It isn't even a Carver amp, it is a Lear amp.

 

[bz4kev]

I had to wait a while to find one at a good price nearly 2 months with no sounds then found one for £120 but hard to find at this price just keep looking and waiting good luck with your quest :headbang:

 

[GuidoK]

So, what is special about the Z4 amp that it is many times more expensive than any other model of BMW?

Lol, a top hifi amplifier from a current 5 series is over twice the price (about 2,5k) of a top hifi z4 amp, so its the other way around!
Electronic parts are just expensive and they keep getting more expensive. Get used to it, take good care of your car and dont let your boot get flooded (theres more electronics in there than just your amp)

 

[Speedracer]

Good points well made!

I still don't see why they needed to route the loom all the way around the boot edges & into the well at the bottom though, it could easily be mounted nearer to the equipment surely?

 

[Magicarcher]

Just want a bit of a rant at BMW, how the heck thought it was a good idea to put the amplifier right down by the battery in the boot?

If you have ever been involved in designing cars, you would understand. Every inch of real estate in a car is at a premium to hit the targets that are set by the project manager and unfortunately the poor old electrical engineer (I am biased) is often last in the pecking order. The boot is likely classed in BMW as a dry zone and as there is no need to top up batteries these days, next to the battery would be a legitimate location (subject to satisfactory crash test results). I haven't seen the location of a Carver amp, but if I were designing it I would have the connectors entering from the bottom too, it minimises the risk of someone dropping "swarf" or similar and bridging terminals. If inadvertently the ecu were to get splashed it would minimise the risk of water ingress and allow any such ingress to flow out.

The problem is where else would you put it? There is no room in the cabin other than under the seats (and that is likely to be considered a wet zone). It could go behind the seat, but that would restrict seat travel. So return to the boot, the best place in a conventional saloon could well be below the parcel shelf, but the hood scuppers that one. anywhere else will impinge on the boot space and the marketing department are unlikely to accept that!

So the poor old designer probably did the best he could and unless there are high incidences of failure due to water ingress, he probably got it right too.

 

[hopz121]

Carver Amps are crazy cash new mate that's the issue, £350 isn't too bad but try and knock them down a bit

It isn't even a Carver amp, it is a Lear amp.

Same thing buddy, the system was called the Carver DSP back at launch