Im sure someone knows this. I cant get in my car to see for myself because Im deployed right now. Does the stock head unit have any RCA out jacks? My issue is that I have the NAV and would like to put a system in the car, but I don't think I want to put in a new head unit. So does anyone know?

Thanks
Frank

 

as far as I know the stock deck does NOT have RCA outs. I've seen RCA outs solder in, but haven't seen any procedures for it, but I do know that it is possible.

You might want to maybe find an amp that has speaker level inputs instead.

 

This thread on MINI2 shows a mod to the stock HU.

Warning: a friend did this recently and has had a bad experience - hiss and other issues. Discussion about line out impedance mismatch ... YMMV!

 

STOP:
We did a lot of testing today on Gavins stereo - he had done the RCA out mod described on MINI2.

The internal circuits of the stock HU are *NOT* intended to give an RCA out signal and the signal is *NOT* suitable for use to feed the RCA inputs of an amp.
First there is a 4V DC offset - bad for amps!
Second, even with capacitor filtering, there is about 1/2V noise (oscillation? PWM?) which causes a loud hiss.
With the HU volume on full, the music is louder than the hiss, but not much.

Gavin has scrapped the mod and switched to hi-lo converters to go from the speaker outputs to the amp inputs.

 

All of the pro audio shops I have talked to will install converters to allow the addition of an amp to the stock radio head unit. The electrical on the MINI like BMWs is a horror show for the uninitiated. Don't even try it if you haven't had experience before. If you mess up the fix can be very expensive- just a warning from talking to my service advisor, my dealer sales manager and the audio upgrade stores that are more experienced with MINI. I would not trust my MINI to a shop that doesn't do a lot of MINI upgrades.

 

Sorry for the late posting to this. Thanks for all the info. I really want to keep the head unit. I guess im interested in this post speaker amp output. What exactly is it called? Have any of you used them before?

Thanks,
Frank

 

Is this what your talking about...Line converters?





Thanks
Frank

 

Yes, line converters.

 

Do they work well? I mean, sound good when used?

Frank