I've spent MANY hours doing searches (and learned a LOT) and appears I'm going to be the first to complete a base stereo to HK retrofit. I know many on here will say it's too expensive, too hard, not enough ROI given better systems out there, but I got a great deal on the HK amp and speakers from an 05 convertible and I like the HK sound (so does my daughter and this is going into her MCS since I traded her HK equipped 04 MC in for my 06 HK equipped MCS and gave her my non-HK 05 MCS) so I'm determined to complete this. I'll even do a thorough write up with pics to show the level of effort required. I want to ensure I have all parts on hand and know where everything is prior to starting. I've installed three iPod adaptors and three chrome dash kits so I'm pretty familiar with the HU and dash disassembly/reassembly.

Questions:

1. The convertible has 6.5 inch rear speakers instead of 6X9. Can someone recommend a place to get an adaptor, and will this even work?

2. The retrofit instructions talk about a K Bus along the door sills on each side of the car. Does anyone have a picture of this or can you tell me where they are located please?

3. Are the speaker wires in the door the same for the HK and base speakers? I am buying the wire harness for the HK system but need to know if I have to buy the door wire harnesses also.

4. Anybody have an HK Amp mount laying around their garage that you're willing to part with?

Thanks in advance. I like doing stuff like this and hope to be able to post the results of a successful retrofit.

 

I hope the fact I'm going against a lot of advice on here doesn't mean I'm not going to get any help. Any help would be appreciated.

 

the great deal you got on the amp and speakers will be negated when you add in the cost of a new wiring harness and the time to install it all.

the HK speakers arent much different than the stockers.

plan on doing LOTS of splicing and wiring into the factory harness unless you want to replace the harness with an HK one.

 

I'm getting the HK harness from the dealer. The cost of the components I bought plus the harness put it right around what I would have paid for the HK system if it were in the MCS I bought...so the price is not the problem. I'm down to just a couple things I would like to figure out before I disassemble the interior and I want to have everything on hand before I start. GBMINI's site has a huge amount of helpful info as well as several other sites. I also have the MINI retrofit kit installation instructions which are quite helpful but leave a few details out.

 

You can buy the HK mount bracket from your MINI dealership too - I did exactly that on GBMINI#3 to give me a bracket to mount my Kenwood Keg
I think the part number is 6510 1515126.

The door harnesses for the base stereo have only one pair of wires feeding both the lower ("woofer") and upper ("tweeter") speakers.
The H/K system in the hardtop has *two* pairs of wires - one feeds the "woofer" and one feeds the "mid"/"tweeter" combo. The two feeds are from separate outputs of the H/K amp - there is no crossover, instead the H/K amp does the sound separation.

I don't know but I would GUESS that the convertible door wiring is the same as the hardtop - why change it? The only reason to change the rear speaker to 6.5" from 6x9 is because of space.

You could probably make a speaker adapter to go from 6x9 to 6.5 with a piece of plywood. Alternatively a quick Google gave me http://www.autotoys.com/x/cust/home.php?cat=271 and doubtless there are many other options!

I'm curious to know - is the 6.5" rear speaker in the convertible also dual voice coil? I hope so.



Good luck with the install! I think you are a little crazy but very brave - and I hope you take loads of pics and do a write-up when you finish; I definitely want to see it

 

GBMINI, thanks very much for the info. I do plan on making a detailed writeup as I do the install, just in case there is someone else out there as crazy as I am.

The rear speakers I bought are from the convertible and I have to make them fit in my daughter's MCS hardtop. The wiring is the same for either convertible or hardtop. The 6.5" rear convertible speakers are dual voice coils so the wiring is the same. Appreciate the info on the door wiring harnesses (these did not come with the speakers I bought) and the amp mount....I'll be ordering those pieces today. Thanks for the adaptor plate info also.

Thanks again for the help!! All I need now is a pic or info on the K bus and I'm set.

 

The Kbus is one of the communication busses in the car - I think it's on pin 13 of the back of the head unit. It also goes to the steering wheel MFSW, and to the CD changer connector and of course for you it goes to the H/K amp as well.
It's the signal that my HKenabler transmits on to mimic the stock head unit, if you change the head unit in an HK equipped car.

Not sure why it talks about "along the sills" - as I said it does go to the CD changer connector so maybe that's what they are referring to.
Sadly I don't have the CD changer connections.

According to my PAC SWI-X install write-up the wire is "white with red stripe and yellow dots"

 

Latest update: Amp mount on order, door wiring harnesses on order. Received HK wiring harness and I'm not scared....yet. The prices for the HK speaker covers are OUTRAGEOUS though. It was almost $500 for the six speaker covers.....so we'll be using the stock covers....unless someone has the HK ones laying around from an upgrade or stripping their interior out. Next step is to see how close the two harnesses (stock and HK) are with regard to connecting to the existing wiring in the car.