Edge,
If you get in trouble, think about calling me before you re-assemble everything - assuming that you can handle "non-factory" wiring mods to get from what you have to what you need to have ...

 

Thanks for the offer... but part of the problem is that it would have to be coordinated with the dealer, as they have responsibility for it right now. They did the disassembly, they are responsible for re-assembling the car too... and they have to warranty any work that they do.

Still, I'd be very interested to hear what you have to suggest - at the very least, I can pass the information along to the tech working on my car, who is very supportive and trying his best to help make this work under the circumstances he's been given.

 

If you're prepared to do a bit of snipping ...

Put the DPSM harness in.
It will pick up the speaker feeds out of the back of the stereo, and run them to the DPSM amp.
Now the only challenge is to connect the speakers to the output of the DPSM amp - with H/K the speakers are not at the stereo (where the DPSM harness expects them to be) but at the H/K amp position.
So here is the cutting - you'd need to identify the speaker wires in the DPSM harness, pull / cut them out of that harness, and splice them in to the original H/K harness.
Not so bad, since the DPSM is going in where the H/K used to live.

Actually I suspect it's easier than that - if the DPSM and H/K connectors are the same type (and I think they are), you can pop out the appropriate pins from the H/K connector, and put them in to the DPSM connector in place of its original wires ... no cutting at all

For H/K all speakers have two pairs of wires going to them - you could use just one pair (easier) or double up (hard but less wire drop).

Of course the speaker installs are easy.

 

If I'm not mistaken from the status reported in the original post, all the H/K harnesses have already been removed from the car and replaced with standard stereo harnesses, so Edge should be at a base configuration now and ready to install DPSM using standard procedures.

Doesn't DPSM come as a complete kit? The only difference should be a hardtop vs cabrio kit. It's not as though there are several varieties of harnesses and you need to choose the right one based on the configuration of the car. I didn't understand the notion of having the wrong harness and having to get a different one, unless there had been a massive mistake of packaging a non-DPSM harness.

 

If H/K is fully removed, and the stock wiring is in then the DPSM is plug and play - less than an hour once the interior panels and glovebox are removed

 

That's the catch right now. There isn't a standard harness installed. The H/K harness also hasn't been removed yet. The H/K harness is different from the standard harness in several ways. In addition to this, Edge has an added level of complication in that he has almost every electronic gadget offered by MINI, Nav, Sat Radio... etc etc...

 

Scavenger is correct - the factory harness (wired for H/K) hasn't been removed yet. MoS was unwilling to do so until they were sure that they had the correct (non-H/K) available to replace it. And that's where it sits, because apparently pinpointing the correct harness with absolute certainty, that has all of the stuff my car has but without H/K, is very tough to do.

 

Well then, my original description is accurate. No trouble
And the nav / satellite / etc all can be relocated to the DPSM connector which replaces the original one going in to the HU.

 

Call me stoopid,

But, lets talk about some ridiculous low price and how desperate you are to dump these evil H/K parts and get them out of your sight.

2004 MCS

Jack

 

LOL... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it... meaning if and only if this entire thing actually DOES go through!

I might end up stuck with the H/K after all, but I sure as hell hope not.

 

Minor update: Dropped off loaner #4 today and picked up loaner #5. Back in an automatic (MCSa)... blech. No MSFW either! The only options, as far as I can tell... sunroof, automatic, heated seats. That's it. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers, right?

Had a good talk with Mike Arata when swapping cars, and he has taken an interest in getting to the bottom of "the deal" with my car. Nice to know that someone on-site is going to chase it up a bit.

Ian - I did supply him with a printed copy of your post (#103) for academic value at least. I doubt that the dealership themselves are willing to do any snipping/splicing though.

 

Nevermind the loaner, how's the *project* going?!

 

Hasn't budged in quite a while - again, it comes down to them finding the correct wiring harness. At that point it will go quickly, IF it happens.

I give the entire thing a 50/50 chance of being pulled off at this stage. Having Mike Arata take a personal interest in helping to facilitate things will at least provide more clarity.

I'm just trying to be as patient as possible. This is the only shot I'll get at ever having this done, the right way.

 

OK, just got off the phone with my SA... it's not looking good, he said they might be pulling the plug on it. Darn...

However I suggested and he agreed that a big meeting with all of the people involved is a good idea. Tentatively set for 1:30pm on Monday!

Ian - thanks so much for your "make it work" wiring solution... unless MoS agrees to try it though (doubtful), I will probably skip it for now and consider it once my warranty is gone.

 

Drats! That's no good man. :( make sure we have time to let me spend 20 minutes before they reassemble.

 

Absolutely... I'll be bringing back the H/K speakers and amp with me to the meeting on Monday, so it's quite possible they will start reassembly on Monday night (assuming they do 100% confirm they're backing out). I don't suppose you'll have any time on Monday?

 

sure will. job is winding down NLT Friday.

 

It must be frustrating. This is not exactly rocket science, but as a dealership they are only comfortable with following installation instructions from BMW. It is something that a good custom audio installer would be able to figure out. Perhaps if they allow a 3rd party to get involved.

 

They won't touch it with a 3rd party, because they have to warranty all their work.

If it comes down to it, after my main warranty is over, I may try to get the DPSM again at a later date with the splice method that Ian (GBMINI) suggested.

 

Edge,
Does The Great Ice Cream Run come anywhere close to you?
Day 3 overnight is Staunton, VA but don't ask me where that is!

Anyway, me and GPMINI will be passing through, in case you wanted to hook up, say hi, see and hear DPSM (I can turn the subs off!) ...

 

Thanks for the offer, Ian... I'd jump at the opportunity to meet up if I could, but Staunton is about 150 miles away from where I live...

I have heard the DPSM before (which is why I want it so bad), but it would be great to see the implementation in your GP also. Are you coming to next year's MOTD?

 

doubtful!

 

Update: GOOD NEWS! I had a sit-down with the service guys this afternoon. However, this morning, before I went there, I dug around on RealOEM to try to get to the bottom of the wiring harness issue as best as I could.

It is pretty clear from the current info that at some point, MINI chose to develop a new wiring harness method - modular. They now have a separate "main wiring harness" from the "audio wiring harness", although if you have the standard factory "all-together" one like I do, you have to replace it with both of the modular ones (they go together).

So I used the parts database to find both the matching main harness and audio harness for all of my options (see above links) - I actually printed out the pages and highlighted the ones that match my car.

I discussed it with them, explained that I felt it is a no-brainer from the documentation to do this, and they agreed.

The main fear is the line:
This statement can be interpreted two ways. The "scary way" suggests that there's no way to use this method to achieve what we want to do (i.e. DPSM install). The "other way" to interpret it (and what I believe they are saying) is simply that you must install the audio harness in conjunction with the replacement modular main harness, and you can't just use the new audio harness by itself to swap stereos. Well yes, of course... duh.

So... we came up with a compromise. They are going to proceed to replace my main harness with the two-piece modular system that is documented in the parts database (designed for replacement). I have told them that if the worst-case scenario happens, and the DPSM is not compatible with the resultant setup, and they have to keep the H/K in there (using the modular harness), that I would still foot the labor bill.

I am confident that it will work though - the audio harness in the diagram shows the speaker wires all running to the head unit, just like the Boost does.

The irony is that it took me 20 minutes to research this and show the service guys, yet the parts department has been "working" on this since late April and hasn't proposed this method. They've been busy calling MINIUSA, MINI in Germany, etc. That one "scary" line in the parts database probably scared them off.

 

Awesome!

I've been reading this thread out of casual interest, since I recently had a DPSM put in my MINI (albeit the "regular" way with a Boost unit). I hope they can finally get it done for you, so that you can have your DPSM; I love mine to bits.

And as far as Parts Departments go: I've had to teach mine what the correct white touchup paint is for the white roof on a MCS. They couldn't figure it out between the 4 of them, and kept trying sell me BMW Alpine White...

 

Thanks - I'll post more updates as I have them... and I'm sure that more will be happening soon, now that we've come to this understanding (although they still have to discuss it with the head tech to make sure that he doesn't have any major concerns about it!).

At least the soundproofing is ready to go - Dan (PGT) even came by the dealership this afternoon after the meeting to help re-apply (with much stronger adhesive) the Vcomp foam sound deadening material that had come loose. Thanks Dan! LOL - well I do know that they were all just so concerned about being held responsible if they were wrong. And... surprise, surprise... none of the people they called at MINIUSA or higher were willing to take responsibility either.