Be forewarned before trying this....

Unless I'm a total klutz...

The only thing I managed to do correctly was remove the panels and get the plastic connector separated into the male and female interfacing halves. Using the 0.093 Radioshack pin extractor (same model that was mentioned a few posts prior in fact) was a miserable failure, even after modifying it. The first problem was with the very first post in this thread which mentioned using the butt end of a #27 drill bit to re-size the tool once it was cut. But all the drill bits here in the US are in fractions of an inch. Nothing said "#27" at the local hardware store, nor did the shop person there have a clue as to what a #27 bit was. I Googled and found conversion tables for a "wire size" #27 but no drill bit size here in the states corresponds precisely to that wire size. I guessed that the closest was 9/32" and bought that. Still, I figured that after making the cut in the tool, the idea was to expand the sleeve so that it could be fit (wedged) between the plastic and the metal pin separating the metal wings of the pin from their grip on the inside of the plastic barrel. So I gently expanded the tool after making the cut. But no way would the tool squeeze between the metal and the plastic.

At this point, after literally an entire afternoon, I have nothing to show for my efforts but my new car torn apart, undrivable and only one pin (the #2) out - and even that one I wonder if it is damaged since it popped out instead of easily sliding out like I understand it should have.

Can someone please me a clue??? Between reading the posts here, looking at the diagrams, getting the materials together, modifying the molex tool, and working as carefully as possible, this has taken literally an entire day to get to a dead end with a dead car. Obviously I am doing something very wrong or suspect you guys are much more talented than you give yourselves credit for. I'm not afraid to admit I can be stupid about things and it looks like I was definitely stupid for trying this on the one day off I had - scrambling to line up wheel until next weekend when I finally get more time to revisit this mess.

I can build and fix a lot of things. For example, last weekend I installed a garage door opener with no problems. But novices like me should definitely not be trying this very challenging mod...

 

Addendum: looks like using the molex tool has crushed the inside of the female pin I've been working on (pin #3) - still stuck in the plastic housing but I'm slowly trying to rebuild it's shape to interface properly again with the male.

Does anyone have the part numbers so I can order the replacement pieces if it comes to it? I figure I'll need to cut the wire harness, re-solder female pins and refit a plastic housing that will interface with the plastic one now holding the males.

Unfortunately, until I get this done the car won't start, so any quick ideas are very welcome.

 

OK - in case someone revisits these pages and wonders what happened with my attempts to get this project finished, I thought it would be nce to report back. Yes - the project is finished. Yes it was DEFINITELY worth it given the results. And, yes - I almost screwed up the pins trying to force them.

After the main white blocks containing the male and female pins are separated, I went right to work trying to remove the female pins. I used small screwdrivers, the modified molex based on a 0.093 RadioShack tool - nothing was taking out those female pins. What finally worked was further separating the plastic block. What I did not realize was that there are different levels of plastic block to separate; I thought it was enough just get to the point where the pins were exposed and that was that - but partially separating the female block made all the difference.

I used a T15 torx wrench to easily pop out the pins, then used a diagram from here that I further modified for myself. I followed my modified schematic and double-checked, then ran the wires accordingly. I've never done attachments here, so I hope it comes through for those who need it. Credit goes to k6rtm for the diagram, Robin Casady for describing the wires, and Eurotrash01 for just about everything else, since I followed his guidance pretty much to a "T". I hope I am not stepping on toes by using the collective wisdom here in yet another probably useless schematic. I did this solely for myself but then figured if it helped me, maybe it will help someone else.

Someone mentioned at some point that the pins seem tougher to remove in the later models. Could be, but they certainly seemed impossible to remove until I partially separated that block as Eurotrash describes in step 6 of Post 213. That was the little detail that made this process work.

 

I am hearing mixed reviews about this not being beneficial to 2010 & up Coopers so can you please let me know what Year and Model you have before I tackle this myself ?

 

2012 Cooper. Worked like a charm.

 

Like night and day ?

 

The sound difference depends on the quality and type of music you play, but for me in a 2013 R56 it is astounding. If you just listen to mid-range stuff like piano, sax, and voice, the difference won't be as apparent. But low range is vastly improved (bass, drums). It just fills the cockpit with good, chunky thump - that didn't happen until I made the channel swap. If you like to feel the music's lower end and not just hear it, you should definitely do the swap. Made a huge difference on my new '13 MCS.

 

I did the swap on My 2013 MC and also switched out all the speakers and added a 10" DVC sub and I believe the swap helped me get the full signal throught the line level adapters when attached to the rear speaker leads. I have the most potent low power system I've ever owned.

Kelly!

 

Thanks so much to K6rtm and everyone else that contributed on this thread.

I heard so many success stories about front and rear channel swapping that I figured I would give it a shot.
Somehow I stumbled upon a pre-made plug from new mini stuff in the UK and figured for 60 dollars to simplify the modification rather than finding the right pin puller I would give it a shot.

So I went to the site and noticed they sold the factory A Pillars in all colors with the HK grills and optional Clarion tweeters or factory HK tweeters with complete in-line harness so the install was plug and play.

I went for the Clarion tweeters in the cream A Pillars and they offer an option where they build the front rear swap into the provided harness so I selected that for an extra 10 pounds or so.

The final price was about 290 US dollars including freight that took about 5 days from the UK.

The result was incredible !

My bass is so drastically improved coming from the rear speakers now that I still have trouble believing it.

The Clarion tweeters in the A Pillars sound awesome too.

I am really thrilled with this upgrade because the sound is awesome now that I have so much more bass and treble.

It seems to have balanced out the sound and I feel that I am getting the full spectrum now. It may not be as great as some of the more expensive systems but for an affordable staged upgrade it is so much better than what I had that I am really happy with it.

I have grown to really like the functionality of the factory boost stereo with the steering wheel controls so this upgrade for less than 300 bucks is such a bargain to me.

I plan to now add a small amp to increase power to the 6x9s to enhance the sound even more when my finances get better.

I like the idea of not taking up my limited cargo space with a subwoofer so I will try to avoid that if I can unless I find a low profile sub for a good price.

 

Just read the thread yesterday and did the swap today.
Wow!!! what a difference it made with the bass in the back seat!!!!!
Love the bangin bass now.

I think its important to move the "inner cover" of the female connector up or down as much as yo can,
and i just used a punch big enough to fit in the hole and just pushed it in and
out came the female connector.
Putting the connector back in took me a long time.

Thanks to everyone who found out how to do the swap!!!!!

 

I'm disgusted, horrified, and incredibly delighted that this hack still works, what, 5 years down the road? Mini still haven't gotten a clue on this? Nobody from Mini looks through these things?

Glad it still helps!

 

So after reading all of this I am excited to try it out. But from what I gather this is all related to the *stock* head unit and if I choose to buy an *aftermarket* head unit then this problem would be resolved.....Correct? Cheers!

 

Did this in 15 minutes on my '10 r56 using eurotrash's method in post 213 of this thread!

WOW! What a difference! My front speakers (replaced with Pioneer TS series) sound cleaner because they aren't clogged up with low frequencies, and the rears have SO much more bass!

 

Help! I just put it all back together Ang I have no sound at all and the car won't start.
Man o man.

 

If it were me I would grab the diagram PDF and double/triple check my work. Or put it back the way it was :/

 

It could also be that the pins aren't seated properly. Any advice on how to keep them in place? There seems to be a bit of play in them and they're slipping around.
Thanks

 

Thinking out loud....Zip tie them tightly so they are all the same length, reducing the amount of play. And then zip tie again in an X pattern with the zip ties running parallel to the wires and clips, across the clip from corner to corner, thus pulling them together.

 

Why won't your car start if this connector is for speakers.

Can someone shed dome light on if this connector houses an actual critical ecu system ??

 

That's what my question is. Anyway, figured out where I went wrong but now I'm half way through and I have to go to my daughter's high school band concert. Hopefully I'll have it up and running again tonight. I could do the job again without problems now that I've muddled through this. One thought though; it would be nice if there were blow by blow pictures or a video to show exactly how this is done. I'm pretty handy but made some mistakes that I shouldn't have.
Anyway, I'll let you all know if I get it going later on tonight.

 

Ok so all back together and working. There must be a loose-ish connection somewhere as when the whole module is back in its home the car won't start. I flipped it around and it works fine. Buh.

 

The connector houses 4 lower gauge wires that are not related to the speakers, messing with those ones will cause the vehicle not to start. The speaker connections are all fairly high gauge and are twisted in pairs. The simplest way to do this swap is to follow Eurotrash's method here.

 

Is there any advice against cutting/splicing and reconnecting the wires as opposed to working with the plugs on the harness?

 

They are very easy to pop out...cutting and splicing is a lot more work

 

This is a huge thread and I've looked through most of it but didn't see if there is anywhere you can purchase the male/female connectors. That way I could make the modifications and then a simple unplug/replug would do the trick.

Thanks.

 

+1 to that
Especially since there isnt alot of room unless you take out the entire side panel which means removing the seats