Quick Poll: Who's had Harman Kardon amp failure?
 

We have a 2004 Mini Cooper and the Harman Kardon amplifier stopped working. I've never had any car audio component, head unit or amplifier, fail in any of the 16 cars I've owned, yet this premium amplifier is stone cold dead. Doing a bit of anecdotal research it seems it might be a very common problem, so I was wondering:

How many others out there have had their Harman Kardon audio system fail?
(Please post the year of your car and model in response)

I'm not a 'me too', but I've seen enough posts about them failing that I bought a spare...

Same problem on my garaged 04 S with 55,000 miles. (these go out A LOT)

I have been searching for a solution (aside from paying the dealer over $1,000). I have called Haman Kardon and they point at Mini and where it is mounted. I have called Mini corporate and they say they haven't heard about it being a problem but that they would "take down my complaint". There are used ones from salvage yards but they're still over $400 and they won't give more than a 30 day guaranty.

If a stereo guru came up with an affordable amp and an adapter wired to work with the Mini clip, they could get rich. There are so many people that need this part!

I brought my amp to a stereo repair guy I know that can fix everthing with a circuit board. He took it apart and said that it was designed NOT to be fixed, surprise?

I even called HK's automotive audio refurb center and they said that they don't offer the Mini amp. Additionally, every dealer I have called has sounded surprised that I thought over $1,000 for the amp was a lot of money!

Amazing

Yeah, it happened to me, too. I found one in a junkyard in Western Canada for a couple hundred dollars. I think Mini and HK should be standing up for this consistently unreliable component.

That could be for SSSSSOOOOOOOO many things with the MINI name on it:lol:

BUT my amp is still running. I keep having issues with the HK door woofers.

I was able to get one this past week up at Mini World in Los Angeles (miniworldinc.com). $350 We just plugged it in and it worked!

A funny side note, I called and asked one Mini dealer what they thought about purchasing one from a salvage yard. The service guy told me not to and that I would still have to have it programmed for $150 to make it work. Either he was lying or clueless because it's working fine. :)

2003 Cooper. Mine died under warranty in the first year while I was living in AK. MINI wouldn't just swap it out if I sent in the bad amp...needed to see the car which was days away from the dealer. Maybe I had the first one to die because I found a used one on Ebay for only $35. Plugged it and it worked just fine...no reprogram needed.

Amp Failure
 

Hi Paul. Yes, my 2004 failed last fall. Still have been searcing to get a replacement. New is Toooooo crazy.

There is apparently a fix. See below:
It was in the 1.2v switch mode power supply. The switcher had died and it was not supplying power to the SHARC DSP's core. The part was ST's L5973D, digikey part number 497-4566-1-ND. This is what died in her amp, your's may be different.

Replacing this part should be done with someone will a lot of surface mount experience. The die pad is connected to the ground rail and requires a smd heat gun to remove and replace.

Here are some specifics:
After reading forums I found that her amp of her 2006 Mini Cooper Convertable was located under the passenger seat. With the car off, remove the seat with a Torx socket. Then remove the 4 screws holding the amp case into the cavity. From there pull out the amp case, then remove the torx screws holding the top to the basin. Next remove the amp from the case by unbolting the 3 10mm nuts. At this point I would put all the screws back into the basin, and the car since you will probably need a bit to properly diagnois and repair the amp. Also, keep the amp cable out but put the seat back in and re-attach all the cables (BEFORE YOU TURN THE CAR ON!) If you do not do this you will need someone with an OBD connector to reset the airbag warning.

Now that you have the amp out you can remove the electronics by taking unscrewing the connector side, and the amp circuit should slide out. You should see the the two 470uh inductors. 1 is a 3.3v and the other is 1.2v. If the 3.3 volt is bad it will make the 1.2 volt bad since it feeds it. You should be able to hook up the amp in the car and test that this switching is working properly. You also can attach 12v to either side of the diode on the connector board in your lab. If you don't see 1.2v and or 3.3 volts you know where your problem lies. On my circuit I was not seeing the 1.2 switcher pulsing.

Hope this helps out the engineers out there locate their problems with this troublesome amps.

Also, wondering if a BMW E46 amp would work as they look identical. Look on ebay.

Gil

Me, too! Me, too! My 2006(!) S lost the amp last fall, and I've put off getting a new one because I couldn't justify the price. I've been driving around listening to live-streaming on my smartphone.

I keep hoping that I'll get a letter about a class action suit for this, since it's such a common problem and such a ridiculously expensive part. So far, however, the only class-action letter I've received has been about the windshield. ::sigh::

Me: 2004. Before it went dead entirely, the rear speakers would cut in/out alternating with static. The static would continue whether the radio was off or on. A few months of that (static wasn't louder than road noise, so front speakers were still hearable), then kaput.

I've been doing the iPod thing (headphones!)... Getting old... Clearly not a lot of reasonably priced options...

Has anyone gone aftermarket stereo when this happened? If so, what, how much, are you pleased, etc... Thanks...

i'd love to see the inputs and outputs of this damn amp... no one seems to have it anywhere!

Just died yesterday. 03 R53

What would someone be willing to pay for my amp? Mine works fine... '04 MCS, 55k, garaged in winters (no extreme cold cycling) $600? $400? $10? If I get a good offer i'll sell mine.

I paid about $550 off ebay the other day to an audio guy out of Las Vegas. I have a 5 hour trip coming up and needed my tunes! At least it was easy to take the old one out and put in the new one...

Mine failed 6 months ago on my 2004 cooper works. Went to an audio shop and they can put in another system for a lot less money then a new amp but my gps system won't have any audio.:sad:

First one lasted 150K miles. :thumbsup:

Drove over a highway "bump" created by construction idiots who apparenty never drive cars with low profile tire, and rear speakers went instantly to white noise with barely any modulation.

Adjusted the fader to front speakers for a while but wasn't the same. So scored a newish used Factory HK AMP in our Marketplace.

+1
Mine went out a couple months ago.:sad:
Time to seriously look into getting it replaced.....

Instanced, might be interested in this if still available and if I can't find a reasonable alternative!

Mine just failed last weekend. r53 - 03 Cooper S 77k miles.
Will not replace it with the OEM H/K. $1000 is absurd. I absolutely want to keep my stock head unit and speakers as to keep the steering wheel controls though

Went to 2 of the higher end car stereo shops in Charleston, SC armed with this vid:
and asked if just an aftermarket amp will integrate with my head unit.

Both said no Problem. One even said he's done this exact job 5 times in the past couple of years and the sound is incredibly better after the upgrade. I will loose the extra H/K options when I scroll the 'music" button and only have bal, fade, treb, bass, aux level.

Going with the JL XD400/4 just like in the vid as I'm somewhat of an audiophile and that amp paired with the HK speakers is supposed to be incredible. But there's a JBL that will also fit the small spot behind the panel in the boot that is about $200 cheaper.

$350 for the amp, about $50-100 for wiring and $100 to install. $550-$600 total.

My appointment is Saturday so I'll report back

Wish me luck

You will need to buy crossovers for the speakers if you keep the OEM ones. They are built into the amp.

Okay, silly question here, but how do you know if your Amp is blown? Not impressed with my H/K stereo since day one last year's delivery day.....

i have 2012 mini coupe s with the regular stereo system. did not get H/k. but now on the mini coupe accessory book there is a new alpine system that mini installs. for a small price for parts 630 and labor 400. does anyone know about this system good or bad?

Umm, Tacoman03, based off your signature, it looks like you have a countryman and clubman. If that's the case then you're H/k Set up is different than the gen 1's.

You'll know if you have amp failure because as most everyone here with amp failure, you'll get no sound from the speakers when the radio is on. Sound clarity/quality other than popping and cracking is not a sign of amp failure.

Some people have had great results improving sound clarity by using Dynamat or similar branded products like GT mat from GT Sound.

@RuleTheBends

For 1000.00 you should be able to get a REALLY nice aftermarket setup. I met a lady here in Tempe who had the entire HK system gutted and got a FULL system including headunit and sub for a grand.

Just say'n for that kind of money shop around. You'll probably be surprised.

Mine died 9/5/12 have not looked at it yet, but recently been driving to Brooklyn for last 3 weeks, roads are horrible, so my gut feeling the failure is attributed to vibration. no sound at all, no Aux,CD, Nav voice. This sucks.

my stereo & amp is integrated with my gps system, so if I convert to an aftermarket system I will lose the audio on my gps system. :sad: