Beware, it's possible the amp failure could harm the speakers.

 

For those not near a dealer (like me - the closest dealer to me is over an hour away) who are having failures an easy fix (assuming you're comfortable working on your car) is to pull the head unit out and bypass the DPSM amp by connecting the car's wiring harness (goes to speakers / power) straight into the head unit (you get sound on speakers and no nasty noise, though it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as it did with the amp).

This works as a good temp fix until you can get the amp replaced.

For reference I installed the system myself and between 1-1.5 years later I had the amp fail. You don't even want to know how long it took to get a replacement amp in. After driving around with the above mentioned "temp" fix for 3 months, a call to MINI USA, and driving a loaner R56S for two months (and 5k miles...) I finally got my car with new amp back. Dealer had my Auto-up circuit and DICE iPod module in the passenger seat and claimed the DICE wouldn't work with the DPSM. That night when I got home I put the DICE back in and it worked perfectly (as it had the entire time I had the DPSM prior to the failure...).

Edit: Anyone know where a switched 12v source is back there with the amp? I want to wire in a computer fan to blow across the amp, hopefully prolonging the life of the amp until I get another car (after I graduate, probably not for another year or so).

 

The "turn on" signal to the amp will be 12V - it's also the antenna power feed and should be locatable in that area. But it's an output of the HU and likely not very high current. Not sure how much current a fan needs, but you might have to relay-switch the fan.

I wondered also about hooking it to the tail lights - that's high current, then you'd just want to remember to drive around with your lights on, day and night!

 

I thought of the amp turn on signal, but I wasn't sure how to locate it without cutting into the harness and testing each wire with the HU on then off, though I guess I could just shove a small wire into each port of the connector and test that way...

The other thought I've had so far is to use the cig. lighter on the other side of the trunk since it doesn't work with the ignition off - I suspect it'd supply enough current for a fan. I'm not sure I like the idea of running a wire across the trunk for that, though.

 

Sorry about your problem, hope it works out for you. I am sure they have a record of what they had to do to "fix" my former car and DSRH (Andrew's) at Flow MINI. It was much more involved then just replacing the amp.

 

Had my car in today to have the problem looked at. The tech (he is a good one, and also the one that did the original install!) checked all the connections and crossovers, and finally determined that the amp is faulty. I had also printed out a copy of this thread for him.

The bad news is that a new one has to come from ze Germans, and will take a minimum of 10 days.
The good news is that it is covered under warranty.

 

I just install for less than two weeks and last week...

I had some problems also with my DPSM (not technical) , some people stole my front and rear speakers... They only let the tweeters in...

Some of you have the part number I have to order from BMW ?

I already went there and they didn't know what are the part numbers, so thay had to ask the main branch but It's been a week and no response yet...

I really want my DPSM back.

 

thought I'd post even though this happened last fall but they deserve credit never the less.....

If you recall my DPSM went bonkers on me out of the blue and it was out of warranty I suppose. Drove out to the dealer, had Tiffany "listened" to it (at that point it squealed and burped whenever it had power) and she scheduled a new amp install!! Good so far, went back up there (60 miles) got there and they had the wrong amp. Tiffany offered to send a car down, pick up my car, put in the amp and send it back. OK, thank you it is working so far...(cross fingers tightly.) Have no beef with the dealer, they did their best. Mark 734 945 3478

 

They managed to get me the rear speakers from Germany, but as for the front ones, they are produce no more, so I have to get new speakers on my own and I got a pair of Focal 165 K2P, and it's worth the money !

 

It seems the amp is the weak link in the dpsm system. Is there any reason why another brand aftermarket 4-channel amp couldn't be substituted in it's place? Are we dealing with the normal 4-ohm system here, or is it some other whacky impedance? These questions, of course, are prompted by the fact that Roro just stated above that he dropped a pair of Focals in, which are obviously 4-ohm speakers...very good 4-ohm speakers, with presumably no issues relating to the rest of the dpsm system. Obviously, if the system is still under warantee, then you're more-or-less locked into getting replacement dpsm amps every time they blow, but what about after the warantee...?

This then leads to the sad realization that you could have built your own similar system that would have been as good, if not better, and bulletproof-reliable, for half the cost! (Use some of the leftover money to buy something really radical, like...I-dunno...a SUBWOOFER??!)

BTW, I don't have the dpsm, but I am planning to do some kind of audio upgrade to my stock non-HK R53, and the dpsm is on my list of considerations, but as you can probably tell, I'm having a REAL hard time justifying the cost...and that's even assuming I install it myself... THEN, I could just picture the scene, when it does go wonky, bringing it to a dealer for a warantee replacement amp: "Well, if you would have had it installed here, then maybe we could have done something for you, but..."

 

I am on my 3rd amp (the replacement back in November failed within two weeks of install - dropped the left front channel), and so far so good. When the DPSM is working the way it should, there is no equal.

Ellcapitan: I imagine another amp would work, but the DPSM has been acousticly optimized on its outputs, specifically for the MINI coupe. The DPSM does not have a seperate sub-woofer because, frankly, it doesn't really need one (unless your music consists of heavy thumping that is heard 2 blocks away). I can easily make my rearview vibrate with enough bass to make me uncomfortable, with more bass to spare.

 

The DPSM system is quite "normal", unlike H/K; standard impedances, crossovers as part of the door speakers (not inside the amp), etc.
The DPSM plus over an aftermarket system is pretty good sound in a compact installation - no trunk space.

 

You can add me to the list of DPSM owners.

I have had an '05 MCS for about 2 years now and finally pulled the trigger on an audio upgrade. Even after reading all of the horror stories on the forum about the DPSM system I went that route and purchased from Morristown and did the install myself about 3 weeks ago. The threads with photos on this site and others were key in making the install relatively painless. I did take a full day to make sure I wasn't cutting corners or missing anything. I have about 10 hours on the system and love it. I was very interested in keeping the stock look of the interior and doing as little cutting as possible, did not want to take up trunk space with subs/amps, etc. I have left the rear right cover off in the boot area to help facilitate airflow around the amp in the hopes of prolonging its life.

Has anyone had this system installed for 2-3-4 years with no problems? Interesting to note that with the new "parts and accessories" links on dealer sites, many of the R53 parts, including DPSM are no longer listed.

 

I had my latest DPSM amp failure this past August. All the crackle and pops again. This time the amp was 2.7 years old, and out of warranty. I tried to find a replacement amp, to no avail; MINI has discontinued this amp worldwide, and no replacements can be bought. I disconnected the amp, and drove with no sound for 7+ weeks.

HOWEVER....

I stumbled upon a thread on MINI2 where someone much smarter than me traced through the amp circuit boards, and located where the problem is. It is the surround chip that fails. He showed how to bypass the surround chip by crossing the inputs on the circuit board; I then had a local electronics shop do the mod.

The fix has been perfect thus far, and I am very happy. ALL of the sound is there, and the only thing that no longer works is the "extra spatial surround" switch.

 

I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on the DPSM upgrade for some time now. I stopped by the dealer yesterday to inquire about it and it looks like I've thought about it a little too long as they were unable to locate one anywhere. He did a worldwide search =(. So I'm turning to the people that really know. Does anyone know where one of these systems can be located?

Thanks,
Matt

 

Also VERY late to this party, and the DPSM kit appears to be NLA. I am VERY interested in a retrofit. If anyone here has a lead or is interested in selling their DPSM setup please PM me.

THANKS for blazing the trail..

 

Bradnic -

I posted a while back about the DPSM I found some of the part numbers for the amp and full kits.

Last time i checked most of the stuff was NLA. But I can try to dig things up.


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html


The DPSM was a great kit when it came out and I heard it in person.


Thanks and I hope that helps.

 

As long as you're aware of the risks. There have been only a small number of installations of this rare kit, yet a shocking number of failures have been reported. I had some interest too (years ago when it was still available) but was put off by the high failure rate. Hopefully the repair that Ferroequine described is a proper fix.

 

Repair still going strong!

 

this seems like a pretty dead thread but i thought i'd check in again. the dpsm was great when i first got it. i think the last time i posted on it was back in 2010. it started squeaking and wailing a couple years ago so i quit using it. nothing like a $2200 stereo you araid to listen to. it has been disowned by the dealer, the manufacturer and is simply the worst purchase i have ever made. since it cost me $2200 i think i deserve the right to be very dissatisfied. it has turned me away from the thought of ever dealing with mini or bmw again. i love my 2003 mini and don't like the new ones so i am am sticking with it forever. i see that someone has figured out what the problem with it is. i will do my best to fix the dpsm myself and chalk it up to school of hard knocks. if any beemer/mini higher ups read this they can rest assured they will never see me again. thank you.

 

Anyone still have there system or using it ?

 

Yep, my '05 MCS is still running strong at 70k miles. The DPSM i installed in '09 started popping and squealing at the end of '13 and i performed the solder fix eliminating the surround mode (never used it anyway). Works great and no problems for the last two years however in hindsight i should have built my own system and could have significantly better sound quality. At the time i wanted "stock", not sure why....

 

Thanks for the update , glad to see people still have this very rare system.

 

Mine is going strong, after I performed "the fix" 5 years ago.

 

Those are so rare. I was looking for an R52 version and never found it. Found a used R53 version.

I have heard one in an R53 but that was sooo long ago. Glad it still works. Was the amp the issue?