i've been thinking about taking out my h/k system. Ideally, I would just like to replace my HU (with an aftermarket one) and unplug the h/k amp (not remove from right boot panel). This way, when/if I sell my car later on, I can put alll the h/k stuff back and sell it with the "premium sound". Can I do something like this and still use the stock h/k speakers? Any advise on removing/unplugging the h/k system would be appreciated!

 

well, your going to rewire the entire system. new speaker wires to all the speakers and you will need to find a harness that will adapt the BMW harness to a universal HU harness. you need to remove the 1/4 panel to unplug the amp.

to get new wires into the doors, you will need to drill out unused holes in the harness that goes thru the doors. you really have to look at the plug that goes into the door to see what i mean.

 

i was afraid this wasn't going to be easy. What Im really looking to do is turn off the damn dsp on the h/k system. I honestly hate the way it manipulates the music (in any mode, electronic, mini h/k, etc) - especially since i added a sub/amp to the h/k- waaay too much bass, and absolutely no midrange. My first thought was to just remove the h/k system and start over- but from your reponse, that seems pretty complex. What about just replacing the HU so I "disable" the dsp functions? Is there any easy way of getting around the H/K amp??? Thanks for your reply rednwhite!

 

If you did not have the HK amp and installed an aftermarket head unit & amp, you would need to run (RCA) wiring from head unit to amp then (speaker) wiring from amp to the connector behind the head unit - or to the speakers.

If you removed the HK amp and have only a head unit, you need to run (rear speaker) wires from head unit to the HK amp position - the front speaker wires are run already, and you can then make links in the HK amp connector (assuming you don't cut it off).

The big problem is the speakers - for example there is no crossover between the "woofer" and "mid/tweeter pair" in the doors, and the speaker impedance is 2 ohms which most head units can't drive.

If you plan to replace all the speakers as well as the HK amp & head unit, I don't think the work is made any more difficult by the HK amp than if you were doing the same with a stock system.
In fact if you want to put an amp in the trunk too, the job is simpler since the speaker wiring already starts from near the trunk!

 

Why did you put the sub/amp in then? Why not just remove it if it is too much, or at least turn it down?

My HKenabler will allow an aftermarket HU to drive the HK amp & speakers but it does not eliminate the DSP functions of the amp.
You cannot do that with the HK amp, since the DSP is what makes the amp work!