Another 6 Speaker Upgrade plus Apple CarPlay - Subwoofers Installed!

[mcbutler]

More interested in that flexible work light you have there, is this commercially available?

 

[Silverstar]

More interested in that flexible work light you have there, is this commercially available?

It's not a work lamp as such but just a flexible LED neon light which I am using as a secondary light for the boot. You can see the thread on it here:

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=119849&hilit=boot+light

If you are interested PM me as I have spare unit here which I can let you have for not a lot of money at all.

 

[mlippett]

Any idea where the parallel connection between the footwell woofer and the door speakers is made in the base system? Does it, for example, tap off at the footwell speakers?

Thanks.

 

[Silverstar]

Any idea where the parallel connection between the footwell woofer and the door speakers is made in the base system? Does it, for example, tap off at the footwell speakers?

Thanks.

I am not sure but I would assume from the head unit the wires goes behind the dash to the doors and branches off before the doors to the footwells. What are you trying to do exactly?

 

[mlippett]

My plan is to run the footwell speakers and the door speakers on separate channels of an amplifier, so I want to tap into the wiring for each speaker separately.

 

[B21]

The connector sits behind the woofer ..you should see it on removal of the speaker…same on both sides

 

[mlippett]

The connector sits behind the woofer ..you should see it on removal of the speaker…same on both sides

Thanks - I think I missed the obvious option, which is to simply unplug the footwell woofers from the existing loom, then run new wires to them from the amp. I can then use the existing loom for the doors.

My next question is, is there a cable I can insert between the head unit and the existing wiring loom that will let me break out the existing 4 channels and send them to the amp, then go from the amp back into the existing loom to get to the door speakers? (BMW Z4 E89 2016 with the base stereo). I am trying hard not to damage the original loom.

 

[Silverstar]

Thanks - I think I missed the obvious option, which is to simply unplug the footwell woofers from the existing loom, then run new wires to them from the amp. I can then use the existing loom for the doors.

I was going to mention this, would be much easier. As for the wiring harness as far as I know it doesn’t exist. The MMI box I installed came with a harness that fits in between the head unit and the MMI box and I modified that for use with the amp so as not to hack the car’s original harness.

 

[mlippett]

Hi Silverstar,

Do you recall the part number of the female connector and cover that you insert into the fused power distribution on the battery? I tried a search for the numbers visible in your photo but to no avail.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Silverstar]

Hi Silverstar,

Do you recall the part number of the female connector and cover that you insert into the fused power distribution on the battery? I tried a search for the numbers visible in your photo but to no avail.

Thanks for your help.

Yep here they are:

61136920092
61136925176

 

[RAYK47]

Hi Silverstar

What MMI box did you use for this installation?

 

[Silverstar]

Hi Silverstar

What MMI box did you use for this installation?

HI, I got it from Alibaba which is a site usually for trade / wholesale deals. You can see the link to the item and vendor below. Right now they are showing minimum order quantity as 50 but I only bought one, can't remember if at the time they were selling in single units or if I bagged it as a sample. Since I do business with China I had it shipped to one of my other suppliers who consolidated the shipping. Usually for retail single unit purchases Aliexpress is a better bet. But anyway here is the link:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Apple-CarPlay-interface-add-on-adapter_1600053087730.html?spm=a2756.order-detail-ta-ta-b.0.0.4cf02fc2f2rLIu

EDIT: Minimum order is actually showing as 2 pieces not 50 but I am sure if you speak to them they will do 1.

 

[Joost]

My next question is, is there a cable I can insert between the head unit and the existing wiring loom that will let me break out the existing 4 channels and send them to the amp, then go from the amp back into the existing loom to get to the door speakers? (BMW Z4 E89 2016 with the base stereo). I am trying hard not to damage the original loom.

There is. I did a build like this one and used an audison AP T-H BMW01 T-Harnas BMW to connect to the stock loom: https://www.autosound24.nl/ap-t-h-bmw01.html?channable=0432dd6964003133323231363133367b

 

[ezykammm]

Thanks for the write up.
So does the MMI box not utilise the factory fitted microphones at all via its T connection and you have to use the provided external mic (or somehow connect to the mics under the steering wheel shroud )?
indigo card
jjsploit.click

 

[B21]

Early MMI boxes used their own microphone…I understand there are now MMI boxes that use the OE mic, but I have no experience of them…

 

[Silverstar]

Thanks for the write up.
So does the MMI box not utilise the factory fitted microphones at all via its T connection and you have to use the provided external mic (or somehow connect to the mics under the steering wheel shroud )?

Early MMI boxes used their own microphone…I understand there are now MMI boxes that use the OE mic, but I have no experience of them…

I believe mine is one of the early MMI boxes and it is possible to connect it to the car's mic which is in the steering wheel shroud. Anubiszed knows more about this. I chose to use the mic supplied with the MMI box since it's easier to install and can be mounted discreetly so it is not visible when sitting in the car generally.

 

[RAYK47]

the Mr 12 Volt one has OEM microphone support

https://www.mr12volt.com/en-gb/collections/bmw/products/p2000-cicmm

 

[B21]

the Mr 12 Volt one has OEM microphone support

https://www.mr12volt.com/en-gb/collections/bmw/products/p2000-cicmm

So a blue box hasn’t and the grey box has….ah well a bit late for me now unless it fails..

 

[RAYK47]

I have one on order and Anubis on standby for the install.

 

[mlippett]

IMG_0702.jpeg

After many hours and stripping out almost half the car I finally managed to remove the carpeted trim panel behind the seats to where the subs will be installed. What a right pain in the backside this job is, I now have a room full of car trim parts in the house!

The good news is the carpeted panel has the markings for the original subs on the back, so I can use that as a guide to centre the holes for the Kicker subs that I have.

IMG_0706.jpeg

Hi Silverstar,

Did you find any step-by-step guide to removing the trim panel behind the seats (the one you drilled out and mounted subs into), or did you play it by ear? I have the workshop manual but it does the classic Haynes one-liner on the subject.

I also have the same question on the front-to-back wiring run you did on the sill trim, but I imagine that is a lot easier.

Thanks in advance,

-M