Added my 8" SAS Bazooka Tube yesterday, using the aux power outlet in the rear for power and ground. I used an actual 12V power outlet connector, and ran the high power 4 wires from the plug located under the dash by the hood release. I used a 4 wire twisted pair 16 gauge speaker wire product that I found at my local stereo installation shop. Made things easy, just having to run 1 wire instead of 2! I ran the wire through the little opening on the drivers side of the trunk, so all I have to do to hide the system is unplug the connector from the bazooka turbo, unplug the 12V/Ground supply line from the 12V source, and tuck everything behind the trapdoor. Makes for a clean install!

I'm rather impressed with the sound. I feel all I need now is to upgrade the front speakers to whatever I like and I'll be VERY happy with the sound of the stereo. Note that I DID NOT do the wire swap on the connector.

Granted, without the sub it still sounds poor, but the few times that the sub will be removed will be minor and easily dealt with.

I can supply pictures of the trunk area if anyone is interested.

 

I'm just curious with something so seemingly simple i cant get it...i ordered a molex tool, did the mod and the splayed ends on the pins just wont budge! any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

read back through the posts here ... one describes technique to "push while twisting-back-and-forth", another said he popped the back of the connector body off first to get the pins to push out.

 

Most definitely, please!

 

Hey there--

First, try the male pins; they're easier. Still, they take some work. Try turning your tool a bit as you push; we had a problem with one modified Molex tool that the gap we'd made was too big, which made covering all the little prongs a problem.

And if you're having a problem with one pin, try a different one! I did that a couple of times (saying the proper magic words between pins), until I lucked out and got one free. After that, I had a better "feel" for the process, and worked the rest loose.

Even with the BMW tool (the sleeve part was around $8 -- I put it in a small tap handle) takes some effort and technique the first time around.

 

Finally got it....i think it was the gentle talking i gave to it ...not that i hear it why would MINI screw up so badly? i think just a small speaker upgrade and ill be done. sounds great now! thanks everyone for A. figuring this out and B. giving me suggestions.

 

I'm out of town with work right now, I'll be back on the weekend, I can supply pics at that point as I don't have my car with me. I think it looks and sounds pretty good, I just used the cargo net in the back to hold the tube down.

 

Check my gallery, I added pics of the install. Note that I can just unplug the bazooka tube, unplug the 12V source plug, and stuff everything into the access panel below the trunk light for concealment.

Works well, and is a pretty clean install. Next is upgrading the fronts, then it'll be done.

 

I'm shocked, shocked, I say!

You didn't run 00-gauge monocrystalline oxygen-free copper wire direct to the battery! You didn't add supercapacitors to prevent ... whatever they're supposed to prevent! I'll bet you didn't even degauss the rear body sections to prevent remenant magnetic fields from distorting signals!

(I made that last one up.)

Congratulations on a rational, good looking, and practical install.

 

Actually, the next modification is a flux capacitor, and a race to 88mph!

Logic dictates here. Usually cigarette lighters are fused to 30amps. There's no way that the bazooka tube amp is going to pull more than that, my guess would be 8-10 MAX. Makes sense to just use the power outlet in this case. Also, I'm old, so practicality has to play a part here as well. There are times when I do need the limited trunk space that the car has to offer. The 12V rear outlet is also desirable as it's only active when the vehicle is running, no way to kill the battery keeping the amp powered up.

 

On my 07, the front cig lighter and rear 12v outlet are on the same 20 Amp fuse.

 

Yup, the cig lighter/acc circuit is 20 amps. The heated seats are 30 each, so those are up for grabs if you don't have the heated seat option.

And the acc connector in the boot works great for me.

 

.

 

can someone kindly label in the picture with the connector face or tell me which pin on the connector corresponds to associated pin numbers? I'm not so good with colors. slight colorblindness has lots of drawbacks. Thanks so much.

 

Here's a drawing of the connector with pins. The brown wires are the heavier wires; you can use those for orientation as well. Check the WDS wiring site for references to the X9331 connector; a number of them show all the wires going to it, not just the ones we're interested in (the speaker connections).

Or, if you don't mind driving all the way over to the other side of the bay, I can do the swap for you. Drop me a pm if interested.

 

that pic helps a lot! thanks! i bought the brass tube and #27 bit today at break. i'll give it a try tonight.

 

I really have nothing to offer here other than a complaint...

I'm to the point where I get in the car and I'm pissed off anymore. It's not just this stereo issue, but it's the quality of the car. For $36,000 I would have expected better. I've been talking to MINI of Dallas and hopefully they can look at my car. I have a feeling though that this sh1thole of a soundsystem isn't actually broken, but it's functioning as designed.

The speakers on my Macbook Pro sound better.

Sorry, it's just aggravating.

 

hey guys need some help here. i tried to do the swap today. was able to easily remove pin 2. when i was looking at pin 6, its much thicker than pin 2 and makes me scare to swap. i decided to take some pictures instead and put everything back together. my car is a 09, built last month on week 36. can you tell from the picture below whether or not the wiring is same as what you guys see in your cars?

 

Looks the same as my week 37 of '07 build.

 

Really? So for the first set of swap, according to the instructions in page 1, is to switch pin 2 with pin 6. when comparing it to the pin diagram picture, i thought pin 2 in my picture is front row 2nd from the right and pin 6 is front row first pin on the left (thick wire). they look completely different in thickness. or do i have my orientation all messed up??

thanks

 

is this wrong??

 

None of the thick wires are changed.I printed this pic and marked the pin #'s.Note the angled lower left corner.

 

Yes! This is WRONG! The row closest to you is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, just the opposite of what you marked. Behind them is 7 - 12.

Pin 11 in the rear row is a large white wire.

Pin 1 is the large brown wire! (you have it marked 6)

Pin 2 is blue/black, pin 3 is yellow/brown, and so on.

Pin 7 is behind pin 1, and pin 7 is brown/orange.

 

Just curious why you have to disconnect the battery.

If the car and the radio are off, why would there be any signal on the cable?

Is that male end of the cable going to the speakers or the radio? If it's going to the speakers then it would especially seem safe to work on unless the mere fact of unplugging this connector with the battery hooked up causes issues.

Finally, if I really do have to disconnect the battery, does this affect anything on the car? Other cars I have had disconnecting the battery caused the engine to relearn all kinds of stuff and messed you up for 50 or so miles.

Charlie

 

success!! thanks for clarifying it for me. the 5/32 brass tube worked perfectly. the whole swapping business took about 5 minutes.