Navigation & Audio R56 speaker replacement how-to
#551
#553
#554
Just a note on the Remote Turn-On Wire
For those with the upgraded HiFi system with the amplifier in the rear, previous posts recommend using Pin 10 in the amplifier connector as a remote turn-on for any aftermarket amplifiers.
I didn't see it posted, but Pin 10 is the solid BLACK wire in the amp connector.
This remote turn-on connection has some unique characteristics that I identified that may be helpful to others who want to install aftermarket amp(s):
Cheers,
Tom
I didn't see it posted, but Pin 10 is the solid BLACK wire in the amp connector.
This remote turn-on connection has some unique characteristics that I identified that may be helpful to others who want to install aftermarket amp(s):
- Although this remote turn-on (Pin 10) may be ultimately connected to a 30g fuse (the ones that stay on for 30/60 minutes after the car is turned off), it does not follow the standard 30g "rules."
See the sticky post "Hot or Not (Fuses)" in the Electrical Mods forum for more details on 30g circuits.
- Rather, if the radio is off, Pin 10 stays hot (powered) for about 90 seconds after the last "car activity" such as the last door closing.
- It does not stay on for the 30/60 minutes as the 30g circuits do, so you don't have to worry about it draining your battery.
- If you have the Convenience Access option and close up the car with the radio still playing, when you lock the doors with the remote, in addition to turning off the radio, it will power off Pin 10 within about 90 seconds.
- If you open a door, or cause a "car activity", after the remote turn-on has timed out (and turned off an amp), it will re-power itself, regardless of whether the radio is on or not. It will then turn itself off after 90 seconds or so if nothing else occurs.
Cheers,
Tom
#555
Just finished replacing all my HiFi speakers with Infinity Reference and it makes a HUGE difference. To get the back left side 6x9 I only pulled out the bottom of the rear seat and was able to prop the panel out far enough to replace the speaker. The right side 6x9 is in the club door and was easy to get to by popping off the panel. I had originally replaced the 6.5" and tweeters in the front but that left a large midrange missing so I went ahead with the 4" speakers and 6x9/tweets in the back.
Thanks for all the documentation and confidence gained by doing this myself. I am eyeing my wife's Cabrio now for panels to pop off and replace or paint!
__________________
KokoFix- 2008 Clubman S Hot Chocolate/Black
Premium/Convenience/Sport Packages, LSD, JCW Brakes, 17" Alloy Web Spoke wheels, Leather Lounge Hot Chocolate, piano black dash, cream interior line, Borla Sport Exhaust (First one ever!), H&R Sport springs, Infinity Reference speakers, Boss 600 Subwoofer, more neat stuff yet to be decided - ideas welcome !
Thanks for all the documentation and confidence gained by doing this myself. I am eyeing my wife's Cabrio now for panels to pop off and replace or paint!
__________________
KokoFix- 2008 Clubman S Hot Chocolate/Black
Premium/Convenience/Sport Packages, LSD, JCW Brakes, 17" Alloy Web Spoke wheels, Leather Lounge Hot Chocolate, piano black dash, cream interior line, Borla Sport Exhaust (First one ever!), H&R Sport springs, Infinity Reference speakers, Boss 600 Subwoofer, more neat stuff yet to be decided - ideas welcome !
It sounds as if the 6x9s are easier to replace in the clubman. Would it be worth replacing JUST those? (my HiFi system just seems to lack 'oomph'). Which model speakers do you have (and rough cost).
Where did you mount that Boss600 (and is that the secret to the oomph and how hard is it to add that?)
#556
Successful 6.5" replacement
Today I replaced my front lower speakers with Infinity 6022i's. I disconnected the uppers for now; maybe at some point that position will get 3022cf's or similar (I'm a bit wary of having multiple tweeters up front though - thoughts?). I am using the OEM non-HiFi amp and plan to continue to do so - the Infinity Reference are very efficient and go plenty loud for my taste. The new speakers sound great. The install went smoothly, thanks to the information in this thread, and it took me a little over two hours all told. (FWIW, I have plenty of electronics engineering experience and am reasonably mechanically apt, but I hadn't previously done any work on my Mini's interior.)
Installation notes:
Installation notes:
- I went with the standard 6022i rather than the shallow mount 6022si. They were available for $25 less than the si's and seemed likely to provide, if anything, slightly better sound. The measurements and this post seemed to suggest they would fit, even though the Crutchfield fitment guide indicated otherwise. They ended up fitting just fine (and yes, I did try rolling down the windows ).
- I used Infinity's metal mounting plate. Unfortunately neither it nor the plastic one was suitably sized to drill holes in to match the Mini mounting pattern. Not wanting to drill the car, I discovered it was possible to use the OEM screws to "clamp" the edges of the Infinity bracket. The screwheads are large enough that this seems quite secure. I'll see how it goes and will maybe end up either drilling the car or making custom adapter plates at some point in the future.
- I soldered a length of speaker wire onto the speakers and poked it out through an incision in the nearby rubber grommet, as several of you suggested. I didn't want to cut the OEM connectors off the wiring harness, so I used some of the insulation-displacement style splice connectors. I realize this is less desirable than soldering, but I have prior experience using the connectors in high-vibration environments (robotics and marine) and I expect they will be fine.
- As disconcerting as it was to be hooking up the brown-striped wire (on the right hand side) to the speaker's "+" terminal, this does indeed appear to be the correct polarity. I can't hear any weird bass cancellation effects, anyway.
- I didn't have any trouble with the door lock pushrod. It is not as fragile as some of the posts in this thread led me to worry it might be.
- Alas, though I tried, I was not able to keep the mirror switch intact during removal. Fortunately it was pretty straightforward to reassemble.
- Remember to reconnect the lamp in the bottom door edge when you reinstall the panel!
- In order to apply enough force to certain of the door panel clips to get them to fasten after reinstalling the panel, it helps to close the door.
- I now have my fader set to +2 forward and the OEM rears don't sound too awful. I really don't want to replace them just yet - we'll see though.
- I refrained from doing the X9331 swap since I want the bass routed to the upgraded speakers.
Last edited by tesseract; 07-02-2009 at 08:00 PM.
#559
Where to hide the amp
Gentlemen,
I'm trying to hide a Zapco DC360.4 in my R56 somewhere. It's too wide to simply put under the front seats and I fear it may be too long to fit in the space where the existing hi-fi amp is currently placed. The amp is 19.4"L x7.12"W x 2.35"H Suggestions?
Thanks,
Joel
I'm trying to hide a Zapco DC360.4 in my R56 somewhere. It's too wide to simply put under the front seats and I fear it may be too long to fit in the space where the existing hi-fi amp is currently placed. The amp is 19.4"L x7.12"W x 2.35"H Suggestions?
Thanks,
Joel
#560
You may have room under the rear seat-bench ... maybe your amp is slim enough to go there. It takes about two minutes to pop the rear seat-backs out, then the bench comes right out. I recall a fair bit of dead-space under there when I had them out to replace the 6x9s --
#561
I have a feeling there is less space there than you think and even if there was - there is NO airflow to cool the amp.
#563
#566
The HIFI amp is connected to the onboard computer. If the dealer needs to upgrade the software, or re-install it, not having the amp could cause problems. One person here claimed that the dealer refused to fix a problem with his DSC because the amp was missing. I can't verify that, but dealers seem to have enough trouble with software upgrades when all the pieces are there. Best to leave the amp in place.
#568
If the latter, how is that done, bypassing the hifi amp that is.
I connected a powered sub this way, and am considering adding an amp just for the rear speakers. In my setup, they are the most important speakers, and I'd like to bypass the filtering in the HIFI amp.
#569
Okay so I've been digging and digging trying to figure this all out. I've got the HiFi system now but want to upgrade everything, I want to use the existing wiring and if possible use the same amp that's in the back left of the boot. Unless of course I can find something better that'll be a quick and directly swap. Granted the above posts make it seem like it's better to just keep the stock HiFi amp for OEM reasons. It seems to be good enough anyway...
At any rate, I get a pretty killer discount on Infinity and JBL speakers. So I'm inclined to go with them, for example 692.9I's are about $85/pair, and 62.9I's are about $61/pair. I'm trying to figure out what's the absolute best options to go with from the current line up.
From what I can tell, in the lower doors the Kappa 62.9i would work as would the REF6032CF. In the upper door the REF4032CF would work or the Kappa 42.9i would work. Or, as another option the Kappa 60.9CS in the lower door with the tweeter in the A-pillar. Combined with the 42.9i? Or am I wrong and need the 32.9CF or 3032CF in the upper?
Does this sound right for the fronts?
In the rear I'm guessing the Kappa 692.9I or the REF9632CF would do?
I'm not too bothered by the high ends in the car, it's mainly the crappy muddled bass and mid range.
How are JBL's car speakers compared to Infinity? It's the same company now, would everyone here still go for Infinity?
Lastly, I'm curious if there's any hidden service options or EQ settings that can be found behind the stock HiFi headend.
At any rate, I get a pretty killer discount on Infinity and JBL speakers. So I'm inclined to go with them, for example 692.9I's are about $85/pair, and 62.9I's are about $61/pair. I'm trying to figure out what's the absolute best options to go with from the current line up.
From what I can tell, in the lower doors the Kappa 62.9i would work as would the REF6032CF. In the upper door the REF4032CF would work or the Kappa 42.9i would work. Or, as another option the Kappa 60.9CS in the lower door with the tweeter in the A-pillar. Combined with the 42.9i? Or am I wrong and need the 32.9CF or 3032CF in the upper?
Does this sound right for the fronts?
In the rear I'm guessing the Kappa 692.9I or the REF9632CF would do?
I'm not too bothered by the high ends in the car, it's mainly the crappy muddled bass and mid range.
How are JBL's car speakers compared to Infinity? It's the same company now, would everyone here still go for Infinity?
Lastly, I'm curious if there's any hidden service options or EQ settings that can be found behind the stock HiFi headend.
Last edited by coreygo; 07-30-2009 at 05:00 PM.
#570
#571
So if I stuck with the Infinity speakers what would be the mix?
#572
I don't know. Don't know anything about JL's other than a lot of car audio shops seem to use them. I'm looking for something warmer than the Kappas, but as good or better quality.
The models have changed a little since I got mine. I used:
Infinity Kappa 693.7i 6"x9" 3-way car speakers in the rear
Infinity Kappa 60.7cs 6-1/2" component speaker system in the lower door location
Infinity Kappa 42.7i 4" 2-way car speakers in the upper doorr location
I think the ".7" is now ".9".
So if I stuck with the Infinity speakers what would be the mix?
Infinity Kappa 693.7i 6"x9" 3-way car speakers in the rear
Infinity Kappa 60.7cs 6-1/2" component speaker system in the lower door location
Infinity Kappa 42.7i 4" 2-way car speakers in the upper doorr location
I think the ".7" is now ".9".
#573
The models have changed a little since I got mine. I used:
Infinity Kappa 693.7i 6"x9" 3-way car speakers in the rear
Infinity Kappa 60.7cs 6-1/2" component speaker system in the lower door location
Infinity Kappa 42.7i 4" 2-way car speakers in the upper doorr location
I think the ".7" is now ".9".
Infinity Kappa 693.7i 6"x9" 3-way car speakers in the rear
Infinity Kappa 60.7cs 6-1/2" component speaker system in the lower door location
Infinity Kappa 42.7i 4" 2-way car speakers in the upper doorr location
I think the ".7" is now ".9".
UPDATED: Nevermind, found this thread about the crossover, guess I'll just leave it out for all of them .
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hinking-2.html
UPDATE AGAIN: So was trying to think about the tweeter mount, saw toolazyforalogin's gallery: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hp/photo/83662... is this only way to properly mount the 10.9t tweeter? What's involved here?
Also, any opinions on the Infinity BassLink thing? http://www.infinitysystems.com/car/p...=US&Region=USA
Only ask because I can get it for cheap. Is there a way to get that installed by just running some very simple wiring from the existing HiFi amp? I've read conflicting info regarding these as well as the Boss setup after doing a search.
Last edited by coreygo; 08-10-2009 at 05:12 PM.
#574
#575
6th Gear
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Rockland / Westchester NY
Posts: 1,454
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
UPDATE AGAIN: So was trying to think about the tweeter mount, saw toolazyforalogin's gallery: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hp/photo/83662... is this only way to properly mount the 10.9t tweeter? What's involved here?
If you find a better method please let me know for future reference but like I said it is very secure