Yesterday I listened to the new audio system on the Camden and I think is much better than the hi-fi. All speakers are h/k and the amplifier as well. Im hoping it would be an easy replacement of speakers/amp to upgrade it without rewiring. Has anyone looked into this?

 

There was a rumor on MotoringFile.com that this would be a plug & play upgrade, but haven't heard any confirmation.

 

From what I understand, the cars are wired completely differently for standard, hifi and HK. So upgrading would be a costly endeavor.

 

The wires would be different from standard to HIFI (no wires for the tweeters in the standard), but why would there be a difference between HIFI and H/K? I believe they have the same number of components. It would be odd for MINI to a different wiring harness for H/K unless there is some difference in components. Only thing I can think of would be to use heavier wires.

 

This is what Im hoping for. Changing the speakers and the amp is something I could do, redo the wiring I dont think so. Im trying to get more info from my dealer. If I hear anything I will let you guys know. Thanks for replying

 

I hope this is the case as well. Although, my hifi doesnt sound horrible, the Kardon sounds MUCH better.

I wouldnt imagine the gauge in the wire would be significantly different if any at all. I dont think the hifi/karmon would be pushing enough power thru the wiring to worry about overloading the harness (but then again what do I know).

 

As fro the wiring it will be a toss up as to whether the wiring harness for each s the same. My bet is that it is not. SPekaer ends my be the same but the amp connection will most likely be very different.

As for it being just plug and play it WILL be like everything else in these cars Maybe you can do the part yourself but you WILL have to take it to the dealer after the parts are installed for the configuration of the computer to make it work.

 

The only thing i could find on Mortoringfile is that there is an upgrade for the Gen 1 cars but nothing about any upgrade possibility for the Gen 2.

 

That makes no sense..!! Gen 1 already has H/K audio which is far more decent than the HiFi. Also compatibility should be closer to the R56 because it uses the same head unit...Im just guessing (hoping).

But I agree with you...Mini wont make it any easier for us to upgrade.

 

Supposedly, MINI is/was concerned with cost when they designed the 2nd Gen. Having a different wiring harness for the H/K than the HIFI, to accommodate a different plug at the amp, would be cost foolish. Better to tell Harman to use the matching plug for their amp. Perhaps the people involved aren't that smart...

It is often difficult to find things on MotoringFile.com if they are tucked into articles about other things, such as car shows, etc. IIRC, this was a little aside in some other article. With a quick look, I couldn't find it either.

 

when it comes to BMW engineering I have never (and i have had BMWs for 15+ years) found them to do things the easy way.

Used google to find all possible instances of Harmon Kardon and could not find anything about an upgrade for Gen 2 cars, but there was an article about Gen 1 Car upgrades. The PDF is located here, and has one main harness and two door harneses that have to be installed.

 

The Gen 1 Upgrade uses the same radio that came with the car originally for the H/K upgrade. It only replaces speakers, amp and wiring.

in speaking with my parts department it looks like the radio used for the Gen 2 H/K, HiFi, and Base systems in the 2010 minis is the same. As of right now there has been not change in part number from 2009 to 2010 cars with all types of sound systems. Now with that said BMW can be as much as 6 months late on getting this info (correct info that is) to the dealers, so this may change at a later point in time.

 

I also talked to my parts guy and he said that H/K Plug and play upgrade was rumored to be in the works.

 

Ok. So it seems it will be expensive and complicated to do the upgrade I wanted.
I desperately need an upgrade, Im fed up with my sound and I really like listening to music. I suck in DIY and I live in Mexico so taking it to the shop will be expensive and they might damage my car.
So I ask everyone in this thread (specially Schatzy62 and Robin) who have the most experience in the subject for your advice.
I need a less distorted better quality sound and a little more volume and punch. I dont want to replace the amp. I just purchased the Boss Bass600 to help with the lows. Now I need a good advice for the front speakers.
I can get the Focals vr3 for $ 310. Or I could try Polk DB6501 + DB401 for about $ 180. I know the focals fit easily, what about the polks? What do you recommend I buy?
Thanks for your help.

 

If you guys are interested, I was curious about the pin layout for the H/K stereo, so I took my left rear boot cover out and took a picture of the H/K Amp and the wire connector that locks into the amp. The lock connector has a gray and black connector within it. I slid both of those out and took pictures. All the pictures are in my gallery, so if you're curious to see if the Hi-Fi has the same connector as the H/K, you can look. I have no idea.

 

Hi guys

First post here from UK member

I have Hifi in my 2008 R56 and am looking at upgrading to Harmon Kardon

I have priced up the speakers which are very reasonable and also the amp which is a quite a bit more.
The HK amp uses the same 21 pin plug as the hifi and also 10 speakers so i'm hoping it will be plug and play but I have no idea if the amp inputs are the same yet.

I have a couple of HK speakers on order which I'm going to fit and see how they compare with Hifi

Lots of good info on here btw

 

I may be able to answer some of your questions here.

I have a 2010 with the HK...love it by the way! If someone can point me in the right direction, I can take some pictures of the amp, plugs and some of the wiring so they can be compared to the HI FI.

 

Great, thanks for the help

I think MINIDean has already got pictures of the amp and connector block in his gallery as well.
The amp is in the rear left side cubby behind the rear lamp

Once I get time I will photo the connectors and wiring on the Hifi amp and compare it to what I have seen on MINIDeans pictures to see how the match up - hopefully the will be the same but i'm not holding my breath!

Going to get the HK speakers installed first before I consider the HK amp, should be a good project

 

Hi SWorks,

Do you have the part number for the speakers and the amp?

Thanks,

 

Not yet, i'm getting the midrange door speakers tomorrow to test fit and see quality etc

I will try and get full part numbers in the next few days - I also fancy the A pillar trims with HK on them they look very nice
Also bear in mind these will be UK numbers so not sure if they differ in US ?market

 

In Mexico we get the European Mini version so there shouldnt be any difference.

 

Ok got the HK mid range speaker and installed today.

On first looks the magnet is a lot smaller than the Hifi equivalent and also doesn't sound as powerful. I don't know if it is 2 or 4ohm yet. Looks wise the cone is better quality with a large silver dome.

I think it will need some hours running in to get full performance from it, but initially does sound clearer at loud volume.

The speaker is a direct replacement and plugs into existing loom no problem.

I'm going to go for the woofer and new a pillars with tweeters as well, see how it goes, then after that I think rear woofers and tweeters for a full set.

Also I have done some digging at our local dealer, the wiring loom in a late 2009 car with hifi and loom in a 2010 car with HK is the same part no. The connectors into the amp are the same 21 pin type so i'm really thinking this is going to be a plug and play into the hifi loom

 

Thanks for the update SWorks. Im really interested in the upgrade. I was wishing at least same volume output. Maybe you will also need to upgrade the amp with the H/K.

 

Yes i'm going to keep the speaker in and see how it runs in over the next week or so.
I think the door woofers will make the most difference as the mid are a very small 3.5, but then again it will all benefit from the HK amp I guess if it works?

 

UPDATE:

All my parts arrived yesterday, I ordered 2 black a pillars with tweeter inc Harmon Kardon logo, 2 HK door mid range and 2 HK door woofers. I also ordered red colourline dash strips to fit at the same time.

Took about 3 hours to fit everything, as the colorline requires a lot of dash trim to be removed and there are a couple of hidden screws behind the speedo surround. All the speakers are a direct replacement and use the same speaker connections. The front HK woofers are deeper than hifi and have a bigger magnet with a plastic type cone.

WOW, the sound is awesome now, just been for a quick drive and you can really wind up the volume now with superb bass response (test songs - Hadouken, mic check and Gaga, telephone). I will order the rears next week as they sound very woolly now compared to the fronts.

Superb job, well pleased with the result. It's very very worthwhile and I think you could get away with changing the door woofers as a starting point as that is where you will get the power in the bass from.

I had a custom install in my old R53 with Alpine HU, front amp and crossovers to Infinity components and phoenix gold rear amp and Alpine 10" r type sub. I can't say the HK up front kicks like that did, but for a speaker swap and no daft sub and amp in the boot it is just what I want from this, it's now plenty loud with a lot of bass to play with.