If you can get to this connector take a terminal /electricians flat screwdriver and push it into the female pin and twist at the same time - it just pops out

 

Thanks to all the posters here. I just did this MOD in about 30 minutes. Big difference in the bass response on my 2011 MCS with stock stereo. Thanks!

I found the post on page 9 mid way down that walks you through to be the easiest to follow. I didnt read the last 10 pages though so not sure if there were more/better.

 

Thanks for all the ideas. I pushed back the second plastic sleeve on the female end and used a T20 tork tool to push the pins out. Worked great.

I should've cut the black wrap around the wires to make it easier. I did 2 pins at a time so I wouldn't get confused. Took me 40 mins to do between me sweating my *** off in the South Carolina humidity and coming back to the forum to look for ideas.

Sound is great now!

 

I have a 2010 MCS and there seems to be a narrow plastic panel over the area where the white X9331 connector is located . Does this just pop off to give access? I am eager to try this swap for better audio.

 

just got the channel swap done on my "new" MCS and WOW... it is amazing absolutely love it... did not end up getting the pins out, just cut the wires, and resoldered... works perfectly, except that both fader and balance are swapped around...

 

Did this last night to my 2011 MC, following the female pin method on page 9. The difference is night and day in the bass. My rear view mirror shakes three times as much now

 

I found a wiring harness for this mod if anyone is interested. It's a little expensive though.

http://www.newministuff.com/new/shop...uctshow&id=745


-voth

 

This is awesome! Did this today and I must say that it sounds great! I much prefer the bluetooth in the rear. The factory radio was always a sore spot with me, but this really does put a smile on my face! Thanks guys! Although...I took the driver side seat out and tested it before putting it back together...now my airbag light is on and won't go off. Guess I'm taking a trip to my friendly dealer (yes that was a snarky comment.)

 

Ok this is strange.

I'm not understanding why you took your seat out, but listen to this. It may not attribute to the airbag light.

After I swapped my channels, my airbag light came on a week afterward. Took it to the dealer and they said it was a blown fuse. Ok.. I didn't think much of it back then, but the airbag light came back today.

Twice in two weeks? This can't be just a coincidence. I'm starting to think that swapping the channels is messing with the airbag light, or the fuse in particular.

I'm no electrician, so I don't even know how to begin troubleshooting this other than to revert my channels back to what it was. Does anyone else have this problem? Have you seen your airbag light come on after doing the channel swap?

 

Not sure if things have changed in later models, but with my 2007 R56 MCS you have to disconnect the battery before disconnecting the electrical connections to the seats. Otherwise, the computer notices the disconnect and registers it as an airbag fault.

Regarding the swap, the X9331 connector on the 2007 carries a starter connection, as well as some climate control wires. Not sure how that would affect airbag sensors. If you only swapped the speaker wires in the X9331 connector, it shouldn't affect the other circuits.

 

Korben...I took the seat out because when I had difficulty pulling out part of the plastic trim, some of the plastic tabs that hold the trim to the interior fell out of their slots, plus I needed to clean and what not. I disconnected the battery BEFORE pulling any connectors apart. I triggered the airbag light because after I made the necessary changes I hooked the battery back up to test the audio system. Unfortunately, I did this without putting the seat back in and presto. Error. I went down to my dealer and they reset it for me and were nice enough to not charge me for it. I've been driving around now for 2 weeks and haven't had any problems (fingers crossed), the audio sounds great though and despite my little airbag light adventure, it worked great.

Is it possible you have a problem that is unrelated to the channel swap? It could just be coincidence. I remember reading a thread that discussed a bad wiring harness or plug at the seat...I'm almost sure it was in this forum.

 

Thanks for the input guys. It could just be unrelated, but I wanted to see if anyone else was having the air bag light come on.

What worries me most is that this is the second time, pretty much back to back. I'll have to see what the dealer says and report back.

 

As the new owner of a 2008 with the base stereo I want to profusely thank all the pioneers in this thread for your hard work and excellent documentation. I first replaced the front speakers with Polk db6501s, which improved the sound but lost what little bass was there to begin with. So I just did the channel swap and now I have some bass! Amazing. The whole thing took about an hour, 90% of that was trying to get the damn connector to separate.

Now, on to rear speaker replacements. Anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks to all of you who put this DIY together. Just this morning I was contemplating what type of speaker upgrade I should do to get some more depth out of the audio. I logged on here and found this DIY. I'm hesitant to mess with anything on my car but thanks to the directions in this thread the mod was very easy.
The result really was night and day. Sure, it could still be better but it's a huge improvement over the standard configuration. And that was with only one rear speaker functioning. When I rerouted the female inputs I pulled the blue/violet wire out of the clasp so nothing is feeding the left rear speaker right now. I'll need to get that fixed by an audio shop or someone who can solder but the difference even with one rear speaker is great.

 

Does anyone else that's subscribed to this thread keep getting the above post in their inbox once or twice a day? I think I've probably gotten it two dozen times so far, and every time the email describes it as having "just been posted".

 

I'm flat-out amazed that Mini still hasn't done anything about this!

Yet I'm also very happy that this approach still works, years after I came up with it -- such a simple solution to a vexing problem!

On my MCS, I've never progressed beyond swapping the channels, replacing the speakers (Polk front and rear) and adding the wonderful little sub in the back. It sounds good to me!

I finally upgraded my phone from a no-name to an iPhone, and really like the level of integration between the (stock) sound system and the phone -- and I like the sound coming from the back!

 

Nevermind figured it out!

 

I've been getting more than that. Four copies came in today.

 

Anybody have this special tool I can borrow to swap front to rear?

Justt up here in Mass. And need to improve audio for summer.

 

OK so accessing the connection was no big problem. I was able to get 6 of the plugs out OK, but 2 female connections left their sheaths inside the white plastic connector. i was able to remove those sheaths but when I put them around the female end, they can not be re inserted back into the plastic housing.

I will take the sheaths off the female end and manually insert onto the male ends once the connectore is back together.

Update.... This procedure worked well and the sound is much better.

Thanx

joe

 

So, I'm thinking about doing 'the swap' on my mini. I just bought a 2009 MCS, I'm pretty sure it's just got the standard stereo in it (at least I hope it's the standard given how crappy it sounds). It's just a regular CD player, no Nav, and I'm relatively sure theres only the 6 speakers.

I've read through this big thread regarding the swap and theres so much info in there I got a little lost. This is what I've taken away from it, if some one who's done this on an R56 could confirm it's worthwhile and that my steps are accurate I'd be much obliged.

1. Disconnect negative terminal on the battery.
(Q1: This will only reset the trip odo and clock right? no other side effects with disconnecting it?)

2. remove the two access panels on the driver side door, bottom one pulls out to the right, top one pulls 'back' towards the rear of the car (panels under the hood release)

3. Jimmy the white connector open and basically swap the front and rear speakers, looks like it'll be 8 total wires, FL+/FL-, FR+/FR-, RL+/RL-, and RR+/RR-. I'll figure out if I'm swapping the male or female when I get into the connector and see what I'm dealing with. I've got various torx bits so I'll probably end up doing the female as it seems that was the 'easier' one to do after reading hte monster thread.
(Q2: suggestions here to make my life easier?)

4. Plug everything back up, put mini back together, reconnect negative terminal, enjoy my new thumpier mediocre factory sound system.

That sound about right?

PMs welcome!

 

Hi Guys,

I know I'm a little late on this but just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread...the amount of knowledge and detail provided is amazing!

I bought a 2008 Mini Cooper 2 weeks ago, it's the base model with the non hi-fi stereo. It was obvious that one of the first things needed modifying was the sound system.

I started doing a little research on the stock system to see what I am working with and this thread came up. I feel like I am fully in the know with what is going on here now!

So, I just finished the swap and the results are amazing. I went ahead and bought all new speakers and will be installing them in the next 2 days, but I would fully recommend for anyone with the non hi-fi system to do this mod. It is a huge step in the right direction, even if you don't plan on upgrading your speakers at any point.

My feedback on the install....eurotrash01's instructions from page 9 were the key to success for me:

6- KEY STEP. Using a flat-nosed screwdriver for a little leverage between the side of the connector and its base, you want to work around the base of the famous connector (wire end) disengaging the 4 plastic tabs that hold the base in place. As you're doing this, it will "want to" re-seat" itself in place, so keep a bit of pressure in opposite directions on the thing - wire end one way, the end with the 12 holes the other way. What you end up with is the base (holding all pins) pulled out about 3-4mm (only) from the body of X9331. This step allows for easy pin swapping. I thought I'd need to disengage the base more than this at first, but you really only need to go this far. It does not "want to" go farther than this anyhow, so stop there...simply making sure the 4 tabs are all disengaged.

7- Using the torx bit in the hand-held wrench, push down in the holes of X9331 to release the pins. I thought this would be harder than it was, but the previous step really gets you a long way toward simple surgery. Swap them as per diagrams presented here. Make doubly sure the pins are fully back in place (high enough). Push the base back in place clicking the 4 tabs. Re-attach our friend to its host back behind the black-piggybacking connector. I used 2" of electrical tape to tidy up the shroud end a bit where I had cut/pushed back. Twist it all back into place. Time = 2-3 minutes.

I am not a mechanic and don't have the resources to modify the Molex tool per the initial instructions, this method was simple and quick.

I look forward to seeing what other goodies this forum has to offer!!

Cheers,

Jimmy Y

 

Quick question: the bottom panel (the one that surrounds the bonnet release lever) does not really seem to have a bottom. It continues as one large panel wrapping under the drivers door. I don't see a seam or break anywhere that would qualify it as a door looking panel the could be swung to the right. Thanks for the help.

 

Did this last night on my 2007 R56. WOW! What a difference. Thanks and cheers to you for uncovering this gem of a mod!

 

Did the swap on Saturday and a world of improvement - Not good enough because the stock speakers are horrible. Will have to wait a bit longer to funds the Sound Stage though.

Thanks a lot for all the feed back and hours of research and posting. NAM forum is awesome.