anyone tried to put the bass600 behind the passenger side panel of the boot? i mean opposite the hifi amp. now that would be stealth!

It fits perfectly on top of my spare so that would be too much work.

I'm pretty sure he's referring to in a cooper and not a clubman - it is convenient that it fits on top of your spare.....and come to think of it, how do you have a spare in your S?

OK... just finished installing the Boss. Thanks to all especially K6RTM and Robin Casady for all their documentation and insights.

Worked first time. (but) I have only run it for about 10 minutes (wife gave me evil eye to focus on family again). Will finish tomorrow... Couple of notes then couple of questions...Tomorrow I'll test it out more fully (to see if I get the 'cutout' and need to rewire to the hi-level input connector, and wire up to the aux) and then I'll put it all together again.

And then I'll start work on the doors (Focal 165A3s going in )


Few quick Qs:-


1) Anyone feel like posting their settings on the amp (Boss 600+ HiFi folks only please; please note if you're using the RCA/Low-levels or the 5-pin/Hi-level.
ie:-

• Input Gain
• Subsonic Filter
• Bass Boost
• Low Pass Filter
• Phase Shift

2) Before I pull off that panel to get at the AUX... there's a little green button with a gas pump icon on it... Ummm... what is that for? What do I do with it?

3) Is it 'bad' to plug into the light wires instead of the aux? What are the pros+cons?

4) When I took off the x9331... I took off the whole 'black' unit that it is mounted to. The black unit fixes to the car with a two-part white clip. One part has stayed on the car, the other part is still connected to the 'black' unit... they connect via two little 'channels'. Anyone know the best way to get all this back together again?

DONE!! Installed the Boss Bass 1200 unit, made up my own X9391 connector T harness with 8' RCA low level front speaker leads for the sub. Entire job took about 4 hours, and most of that was soldering the 24 pins (12 in each end of T harness) and then relocating the boot light from the drivers side of the boot to the passenger side. I moved the light cause I wanted to mount the sub on the drivers side against the wall, and it would cover the little storage compartment if installed on the passenger side. Easy to move the light, just unplug it and extend the wire to the other side, and cut a 2 1/2" X 3/4" rectangle out of wall, plug wire back in and snap it back in the new cutout.

Here is what the custom T harness looks like finished with tape, and also a shot of it prior to the tape to tighten it up. Disregard the wire colors I used, I just used some extra wire laying around, the colors are meaningless since it's straight thru, and just tee'd off the 4 Front speaker wires. Thanks to ROBIN for posting that pinout doc (you can also see it in my pic).

So... here is a summary of what I need to do to install the Boss unit I just got:

Purchase the following: Cig. Adapter with 15A or a fuse on it; purchase speaker wiring and connectors for the X9331 connector

Connect cig. Adaptor to unit

Solder leads to the front speaker wires on the X9331 connector

Connect ___ (???) ga. wire to solder leads and connect wire to the high level output on the unit -- QUESTION -- which wire goes to which connector on the BOSS unit? i.e. front left negative goes to which wire on the connector for the BOSS unit... same question for front left positive, front right negative/positive?

Connect remote to unit

Connect remote to cig. Adapter

Have I missed anything or gotten anything wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Try to answer some of these for ya:
1. I installed the 1200 instead, have the HiFi, and used the low levels off the X9331. You have to play with the settings to get them the way you like it. BUT, I'll suggest this to ALL, I noticed mine came with the GAIN set to 100% out of the box. That was WAYYYYY to high. I knocked it all the way down to about 50% maybe even lower. Then you can turn up the remote bass Volume if you want it "louder"/more bass. With the gain at 100%, I couldn't turn the remote vol. higher than 25%. Now with the gain down at a more appropriate level, I can use the full range of volume, and it is much cleaner sounding.

I set the Low Pass Filter to between 50% and 75%, the Subsonic doesn't do much, leave the Phase at 0(zero), and the Bass boost to your liking, I think I have it at about 60%.

2. That is the Fuel door release. I think if there is a problem opening the fuel door (battery disconnected or something), you can pull that little thingy and release the fuel door. Just move it out of the way when working on or removing that panel.

3. Yes, that would be BAD. There is not enough amperage (power) on the light wires to run an amp/sub-woofer. In theory, there's really not enough power on that Aux port either, but it is close enough for horseshoes and it seems to work ok anyway. But don't use the light leads to power your sub.

4. There obviously are 2 connectors piggy backed, the black one and the x9331. The black one has a mount/channels on it that clips/slides into mating channels that stay on the wall. Then, the male side of the white X9331 also has similar channels/clips that connect it to the black connector. It doesn't matter which ones you un-clip, as long as you clip them back how they were to make them fit back in there. In my case, I just pulled (don't remember exactly how?) and both connectors un-clipped from the car, and stayed together. Then with them loose, I just un-plugged the male and female X9331 connectors, and plugged in my T harness above. Then I snapped the black connector (with the X9331 connected to my T harness) back onto the car. I had a bit of difficulty getting it back on, but somehow it "snapped" back into place after fiddling with it.

I then tucked the rest of my T harness leftover forward and above where those connectors are, and ran my RCA leads down to the sill plate and to the back of the car in the sill and then between the back seat and wall. My 8' RCA leads worked out perfectly.

Hope that helps!!


PS- All this leads me to a cry I have voiced to ALL car manufacturers for YEARS!! WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give us a few RCA jacks off the stereo that are accessible, and a +12v and -12v for powering accessories like AMPS/SUBS!!! Geeeesh, that would make everyones life sooooo much easier.

.

Joebeenimble,
16 gauge wire works just fine. Most of the existing wires are higher with a few 16, so 16 covers them all.

Instead of using a cancer plug adapter, I just tapped off the back of the cancer plug (pull the entire plug out of wall) and jump the wires with wire Taps or Spade taps, then insert the entire cancer plug back in. Now you have power for the amp/sub, and still can use the cancer plug to light up a stogie..

As for which wires to use, if you have Hifi you will be using an RCA plug (like in my previous picture). An RCA plug is made up of 2 wires, a + and a -. The middle part of the plug is +, and the outside of the plug is -. So you will connect the Front Right speaker + to the middle of the Right RCA plug, and the Front Right speaker - to the side of the Right RCA plug, then plug that RCA into the RIGHT input on the sub-woofer. Same for the Left side.

If you don't have Hifi, you will be using the speaker level inputs, which instead require the use of the plug with loose wire that came with the Sub. Again, connect the Front Right + wire from the X9331 connector to the Sub-woofers wire labeled Front Right +. And same for -, then same for the left 2 wires. That's it.

Hi Birdman,
Thanks for all the tips. Great job on that wiring harness...I would have liked to have that handy!

re: the aux port and 'just pull it out the wall' that you just wrote to JoeBN.... Does that plug pull straight out? And then you just pulled the wires down inside the wall, I presume, and had them neatly come out of the bottom. Hmm... that sounds easier than having to get behind it to tap into the wires!


I have a spare 'add a cig lighter' lying around... I might add that instead (down by the wheel well)... and plug the cig lighter I have connected to the boss600 into that... That way I'd have an instantly disconnectable setup (phone jack, 2xRCA and cigarette lighter).

Thanks a ton, birdman.

Two quick followups... I have an 08 Clubman with HIFI and I thought we decided based on the K6RTM/Great Dane discission that people with HIFI should be using the high level inputs....meaning I will not be using the RCA jacks. Please clarify.

Also I understand that I need to connect the remote to a power source as well. How did you manage that?

joebeenimble...

re: remote power on.... people have been making a 'jumper' from the +12v. I took this to mean take a short wire (<2 inches) and connect it from the +12v to the remote.

re: Low. Yup... scientifically K6RTM proved that taking the high road is the way to go. But many of us have gone low... and it seems to work in many cases. I ran my system turned up fairly high and long yesterday and no problems.

If you haven't even started yet... follow K6RTM's advice. If you're almost done... try the lows!

Feeling like a total NOOB now. Just spent 30 minutes looking for the X9331 connector. I think I found it, but then again I don't... I found this post https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nnel-swap.html, but am still clueless.

I pulled off the panel that surrounds the level for the hood (i.e. the panel that would be about even with the left side of your left calf if you were sitting in the driver's seat of my car) and found something that looks like a x9331 connector, but it is connected to a box... not another connector like I was envisioning. Is this the X9331 connector? It has a black cover with a green lever over it.

If this isn't the infamous x9331 connector... where it is? Which panel do I need to pull?

Also... do I need to pull the negative lead from the battery before doing all this?

Thanks for helping this blind fool along.

Paul... I hate to sound so stupid (this is beginning to sound a theme to my posts on this subject), but what is the "+12v"? Where would I find that? ...are you talking about the +12v line to the front cig. lighterr?

What gauge is the speaker wire? I have an 08 Clubman, if it matters.

The reason I ask is that I bought some Ts to cut into the line, but the Ts look way too big. The Ts are for 14 to 16 gauge wire.

This site is great... would never have the gumption to try to DIY on something like this, but for the great folks on this site.

It is the + power wire to the Bass600. There are three power input screw terminals on the Bass600 -- +12v, Ground, and Remote in the center. Run a short (< 1") jumper wire from +12 to Remote.

I have my gain set at about 50%. For the filter, I'd set it all the way to 150 Hz if your rear speakers have the bass cut-off. I no longer have that problem since I installed an amp.

Joe... absolutely no worries... this is the one eyed leading the blind... I was there just yesterday! I removed that piece with the black cover and the lever too... it's not the right piece. That piece is below the hood release... the x9331 is ABOVE the hood lever... you can see it when you shine a light straight at the lever. It's connected to another black piece. I stuck a screwdriver in there and levered the whole assembly off... that was probably a mistake as it was a pain to re-affix it.

Here's what (I think) you should try... once you ID the X9331... you'll see it has 'clips' on either end that hold it to the male part (which is above it). Get your forefinger and thumb... press either end and then wiggle it until it comes down and loose.

And yes: disconnect the battery!!!!

And those clips do sound a bit large... it gets tight in there.

Two minor variations on the install...

1) Obviously the best place to install the remote is in the cubby under the head unit... but, as others have noted... the LED is REALLY bright... and blue. I borrowed halloween nail varnish off my little daughter... a dab of black on the end of the led, and some red around it... works well enough... no more bright, no more blue.

2) I tapped a 24" wire into the aux cig lighter in the back... and attached a cig lighter port to that (just a couple of bucks at any store)... and then have the power to the Boss600 wired to a short cable with a cig lighter plug at the end (I have a clubman and the foam has a nice area to hold it). I can take the Boss600 out in about 10 seconds, no screwdriver required.

I just had a thought -- I am also planning to disconnect the 3" speakers in the doors when I replace the larger stock speakers in the door. Could I just pull the line from the speakers I will no longer be using in the door and feed the signal to the BOSS that way? If I did this, I would just splice the line which was feeding the small door speaker together with the line feeding back to the BOSS through the door "sleeve".

For some reason, I am very hesitant to splice into the lines at the X9331 and I'm no good at soldering and there is little to no chance of me successfully putting together a connector like Birdman's.

That said... Birdman... what would a fully assembled connector run me? ...name a price, you might be surprised.

Thanks.

Perhaps you could do some research and see if you can find part A (Retrofit cable set) shown in the document below:

http://www.minigenuineparts.co.uk/MI...6Alpinekit.pdf

Look for it on RealOEM.com and/or see if ECS Tuning or Pelican Parts can help you.

Thanks for the advice... I just called ECS. Man, those guys are helpful and are very knowledgeable... highly recommend!!!

Anyway... he told me that the part that Birdman and others put together is not available without buying the whole Alpine retrofit. $650 -- ouch.

But he did explain that I could pull signal from my now vacant front speakers, but that I would need to use the High Level inputs since that signal would be an amplified signal.

...starting to "get" what this is all about. Low level input is for non amplified signal... high level input is for amplified signal. So... I will be pulling signal from my front speakers since I am too worried about voiding my warranty.

Finally got around to messing around with my Bass600 and found that if I turned the gain all the way up and the bass boost half way up that it is working correctly now.

What settings are everyone else using? Seems like these settings are pretty extreme, so I am curious to hear if this is what everyone else did.

Gain at 50%, bass boost at zero. Using low-level (RCA) inputs. Signal coming from the X9331 connector on a HIFI optioned 2007 R56 MCS.

I first tried the high-level inputs, but couldn't get any volume. So, switched to the RCAs.

If Birdman isn't interested, I'd be willing to solder one up for about $100 over cost. That would probably put it somewhere around $175. Also, I would take no responsibility if anything went wrong with your car. I'd carefully check the continuity of the cable, but wouldn't guarantee anything.

Robin... might take you up on that. Gonna try pulling signal from the small speakers I am removing from the door first. If that doesn't work, I'll email you.

Thanks.

Boom boom goes my clubman's boot now :-)

Over this weekend I finally completed the install:

Took the boss amp-install kit from amazon for the speaker wire (if you cut it in half, you have just about the exact amount needed from the connector to the boot's spare well on a clubman), made it "one" using electric tape (every hand-length or so). Ran that from the connector, completely under the floor-side trim and got out right after the seat rails. From there, on the side until I squished it into the edge of the rear seats, and straight to the boot.

Boss is powered by a 12v cig lighter for now, maybe some day I'll do the stealth install by running from the inside a 12v line to the boot.

I'm yet to actually "calibrate" it much, but I do remember something about the low-pass filter: leave it at 150 which IIRC is right where the stock non-hifi speakers end anyways.

Note that I wasn't able to clip the connector back onto the side again, so I left it "pushed in there".