Hi guys, new here, just bought an 04 jcw, taking care of some maintenance items at the moment and I noticed that is the spot behind rear passenger seat, there’s no amp. Google image search says the head unit is hk and at least the speaker grills say hk. Now I’m a half decent mechanic and I would suspect that there would be no sound if the amp was missing. Do the non hk radios look the same as hk?

 

Try using one of the BMW online VIN decoders (google to find one) to see if your car came originally with H/K. I believe in 2004 that the head unit would look the same either way.. It is possible to change out the amp on an H/K with the right adapter. I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

 

Thx, I’ll take a look

 

The Head unit is the same. Chances are if it says HK on the speaker grills, someone removed the amp. I have an 06, my amp is in the boot area, did you check there?

 

My HK amp is in the cubbie in the boot on the right. I have an 05

 

The chances is the HK amp died as many did, and the enterprising PO figured out how to make the HU work like a standard issued non HK system by bypassing it.

 

Vin decoded, I’m reading a big no on it being equipped with hk radio, course it also says I should have a roof rack....

 

This.

I did exactly the same thing to my 06. Basically required me to bridge some connections within the cable plug that connected to the amp.

 

Yep, no HK, no amp. If its HK it will have the speakers and grille that states Hmr/kardon on the front door.

 

Does it say Harman Kardon on the Speaker Grills?

 

His first post confirms it says H/K on the front speaker grilles. Sounds like prior owner could have replaced the door cards.

 

His post about the grills is ambiguous, that's why I asked.

" Google image search says the head unit is hk and at least the speaker grills say hk"

Is Cruztpirate stating that his speaker grills say HK, or is Cruztpirate saying Google Search states they should say HK?

With that being said,Cruztpirate is your unit currently working and my question still stands, do your Speaker Grills say HK, reason I ask is because the HK AMP is notorious for going bad and maybe the unit was removed because it was bad. It may be just as simple as getting a working AMP and plugging it in. There are amps for sale in this forum and ebay that you can get if that is the case. If you have a HK system, it will be most difficult to rip it out and replace the whole system, My amp still works great in my R53, to my ears, the system sounds really good, others here will differ on that subject. Radio music does not qualify as a good source to determine the sound of an audio system....

 

You don't say if your car is a hardtop or a convertible.....the hardtop amps are in the rear of the car, the convertible amps are under the passenger front seat

But as you said, your VIN decode says no to the HK System being installed......you might try another VIN decoder to see if it comes up with the same result

Bryan

 

Yes, the speaker grills say HK. Yes it is a hard top. No there is no amp in the rh compartment behind the seats. I’m going with the door panels were changed. Should say something on the back of the speakers?

 

The rears don’t say HK, but they’ll be silver like the fronts and have a frame surrounding the mesh grille. Non HK has black grilles without the frame.

 

Yes, see the attached example. It says “Harmon Kardon” on a sticker. Also, if you go into the sound settings on the head unit, once you scroll past bass/treble/fader/balance then you reach sound profiles. If you can scroll through the profiles (including one called “H/K MINI” then you have the H/K head unit.

 

Also, lots of H/K info here: http://www.in2guitar.com/minihkreview.html

 

I'll have to take a pic of the rears on my R52.....the center cones are silver....but I have no "mesh" covering them.....I'm wondering if someone removed the mesh or if that's the way they came.....

Pics below

Bryan

 

Not sure what the rear grilles look like on a cab, but it looks like the grille is missing on your car. The rear hardtop grilles are not round and kind of look like large shark fins beacause the rear hardtop speakers are 6x8 or 6-9 woofers.

The non HK headunit is the same and the HK settings are “unlocked” when the HK amp/system is fitted. The equalizer settings/presets are coded in the amps so a convertible HK amp is different because of the different sized rear speakers and acoustical properties from a hardtop. Something you will probably never notice if installing a used amp, but the cab and hardtop amps do have different part numbers.

 

The rear speakers on a Cabrio are round.....on the hardtops, they are 6x9 from what I have read

I just thought it strange that I have nothing protecting the speaker cone from anyone or anything .....it's a straight shot to the silver cone......there are black "spokes" on the rear speakers.....not that anyone is ever gonna sit in the back seat anyway.....and my Corgi named Bella never got to ride in the car before she was poisoned

I'm not sure now if I could even put some sort of protective "mesh" behind the spokes to maybe protect the speakers just a little bit

Bryan

 

Looking at the third pic on this link it looks like you are missing the outer portion and only have the inner brace which backs up the grill.

https://www.outmotoring.com/speaker-grill.html

 

Yea, that looks like mine without the "mesh" covering the speaker opening

I'm just gonna leave mine the way they are....not gonna pay $80 + shipping for each speaker cover

Thanks.....Bryan

 

We

ll I guess that confirms it. Even if the vin decoder already did

 

Yep, that part number is the standard front speaker. Looks like it was replacement door cards.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/65139143271/