According to that PDF posted not too long ago with the pin outs on the hifi amp, pin 18 is the remote turn on. May not be apply to non-hifis.

There is no remote turn on lead in the X9331 connector.

 

thnx K6rtm, I'll search the fuse thead, need to hardwire and sat. radio, and radar too. I 2nd the E55 AMG!

 

Earlier this month I had replaced the speakers in my GF's MINI with Infinity Components up front and Infinity Kappa 2-way 6x9's in the rear. I was expecting to hear a day/night difference once everything was set up, and while the mids and highs sounded great, I noticed the low end was lacking. I am *so* glad that I found this thread.

Yesterday I got around to rewiring the front/rear channels and found the day/night difference I was expecting!

NOTES:
Front: Infinity Reference 5020cs component speakers
Read: Infinity Kappa 62.9i 2-way

I was expecting that based on the increased efficiency of these speakers (93dB+) and the fact she finally had tweeters, my GF would not need to upgrade the stock amp

INSTALLATION:
I did not need to hack a Molex removal tool. I just used a Torx screwdriver to push up the female connectors.

CONSPIRACY THEORY:
Since the base sound system was crippled -- didn't even have tweeters and was intentionally rolled off at low frequencies--, BMW was forcing its hand at the upgraded system with an unfair comparison. With this channel swap (Free DIY) and upgraded quality-aftermarket speakers (a total of $160) -- I can barely tell the difference between this and the HiFi system at all *for 1/3 of the price*.

@Mods: Please make this a sticky. This is a must-have for those of us that weren't fleeced $500 for the "HiFi" system

 

From what others have said, I thought the "HiFi" system had the same roll-off to the rears.

 

@Cameroon: I thought the HiFi system came with some sort of subwoofer? I'm probably mistaken on this point.

 

It changes the overall number of speakers, but I thought I read in this thread that the roll-off is still there. And who knows, maybe it's different in the 09 HiFi as well.

Either way the roll-off is ridiculous. I knew about it going into my purchase, but it's not a huge deal for me.

 

The roll-off is there on the HIFI (at least it is in my 2007 MCS). No sub comes with the HIFI. All bass goes to the larger speakers in the doors.

The X9331 channel swap does not work on the HIFI because the filtering is done at the rear amp. However, this means the X9331 has full range signals, so the X9331 becomes a good source for tapping into for a powered sub or aftermarket amp.

For about a $130 at Amazon, a Boss Bass600 powered sub is an easy and very worthwhile addition.

 

Ahhh, I see. So the HiFi roll-off is at least in a place that you can work around (though an expensive work around). Where does one who has the base system tap off of for those? (Total audio newbie here )

 

Hey guys, answer me this...

I did this a few weeks ago in my '08 MCS. Last week, I traded it in on an '09 JCW without hi-fi.

My question is... did they change something on the '09s? My '09 sounds MUCH better than my '08 did (before I did the mod)

Anyone confirm the '09s are different than the '08s? I don't want to change all this if it's the same.

Thanks,

Mark

 

I think you can only use the front speaker connections at the X9331. I think they are full range, but I'm not positive. PM k6rtm. He would know (unless they have changed things in the latest model year).

 

I'm a little confused. I have 09 Mini non hifi system, and about to have some help in doing the channel swap tomorrow. Got right tool. My concern is the appropriate instructions. Are the instructions with pics in the first page of this thread correct?
Or is there something different on the color diagrams on page 14? This is definately not my area of knowledge and though not a difficult thing to do, I just want to make sure I have the instructions right.
Thanks in advance. ...Finner

 

I'm not aware of any mistakes in the first post. The OP (k6rtm) is far more knowledgeable than I am.

My color photo, and euells' enhancement, was to make it easier to visualize, not correct mistakes.

 

Thanks Robin! I thought the additional pics were just to clarify and nothing different. Thanks again.

 

Robin... Did you notice Boss now has a Boss Bass500? If you feel the Bass600 is more than ample bass, maybe the 500 will suffice.... and if we are lucky it could be a bit smaller and fit in a better location?

I have an 09 w/ Nav/Hifi, pretty much all features including JCW and it's the first car I've ever owned in which the radio royally sucks. Well, everything is great except for the sound output. I feel like I'm in a car from the 90's where you have to adjust the bass for each song otherwise the crappy speakers might blow up!?! How lame. I'm new to driving mini and love everything except for the stereo.

 

I'm in North Jersey, near Rockland NY border. Please...Need Help With F/R Channel Swap on 09 Mini (Non Hifi).

I was going to pay a 1 hour labor charge at a privately owned audio installation store to have him do the "Channel Swap" but he gave up as he didn't have the necessary tool to pry the pins out. So after almost 2 hours, he gave up for now. (of course no charge)

Is there anyone in the North Jersey area that has completed the channel swap that might help me out with getting this accomplished?

Or if someone made a tool or purchased a tool that works, and could make a 2nd copy and ship it too me, of course I would reimburse. Or tell me exactly what tool to purchase, I would have my audio guy give it another try. OR lives in the North Jersey/Rockland area and can help me out with the channel swap, it would be very appreciated.

I'm reluctant to do this mod myself. I'm just not good at this stuff and fear I'll end up breaking something or just making something worse than it was before I started. Sure would appreciate some help. Feel free to PM me.

Thanks, Alan

 

Finner I live right near you - although I haven't done the channel swap myself, (I have HiFi) I might be able to help you out towards the end of the month when things slow down around here. There is maybe a molex tool or a torx bit that fits IIRC - probably on one of the pages on this thread.

If you do not want to wait that long send me a pm and I'll tell you where to go to get it done - a good place right on 17.

 

Don't know anything about it. Amazon shows dimentions that are fractionally larger than the Bass600, but then they have a few mistakes in their description of the Bass600. They are both close to the same price, and don't seem to be much different in features. One claims 600 watts, the other 500 watts. I don't see why they would make to models so close in specs.

 

I think the 600 replaced the 500.

 

I'm ordering the bass600 today. "Thenerds.com" was $118.97 after shipping and rush delivery service. Do you guys think it is worth adding to the HIFI system? I've installed radios in the past. My main concern is placing this somewhere out of the way; I don't want it to look tacky either. I've skimmed through other posts and it looks fairly simple to install with HIFI. For an experienced installer, how long would/did it take those of you who have already accomplished the install? After all my searches I am a little confused. Which is the best post to use as a guide for a 2009 Navi/HIFI system? Thanks in advance.

 

Yes, definitely. Fills in the missing bass from the rear speakers.

The X9331 thread.

This will also be helpful:

 

Just double checking before I hook up the boss bass600.... on a 2009 HiFi system from what I understand there is no need to swap the front and rear channels at the X9331? I should just tap into the existing L and R rear - and + at the X9331 for the boss bass600's input source. Thanks for your advice.

 

Correct.

 

You really don't need any special tool to do this other than the proper size torx driver to fit into the connector pin hole. From what I remember when I did mine, I pulled the outer sleeve of the connector apart. This was somewhat tricky since it kept wanting to slide back down. But once up, push the torx end of the driver down into the pin hole and push (somewhat hard) out the pin and wire. It will come out the back. Rearrange the pins and push them back in the way they came out. About an hour is all it should take with most of that time spent double checking everything.

 

The boss bass600 made a big difference to the hifi navigation radio. I am finally pleased with the car's stereo. I still need to tweak it a bit. I ran the rear L and R speaker wires to a converter that converts the standard stereo wire to RCA plugs (I think it also filters the sound to send only the low sounds to the amp/sub, it was around $15.) The RCAs were plugged into the low input on the amp/sub.

I find this odd, but the bass was significantly increased by swapping one channel of the rear speaker wires. It didn't matter which (either L or R), but as long as one of the + inputs was swapped incorrectly the bass increased a significant amount. Hard to explain, but say I connected the speaker wire going to the Left Rear correctly (L+ to L+ and L- to L-) and swapped the Right Rear connection (R+ swapped to R- and R- to R+). The only reason I tried this... I had the same scenario with one of my past aftermarket installs on my past Saab. I've installed many aftermarket units, I double checked the wiring and I did not have anything mistakenly connected backwards. Try it and let me know if it gives any of you a little extra thump. Do make sure you only do so with one channel of the speaker wires, either L or R. Not both. By no means incorrectly connect the power wires!!

 

Did you tap into the rear speaker wires at the X9331 connector, or after the amp? I hope it was at the X9331.