While shopping for a used Cooper and Cooper S, how can I tell if the car has the H/K installed in it just by looking?

 

My 05 MCS has Harmon Kardon lettering around the edge of the speaker covers on both doors. Also you can check the right side of the boot. It will have a cover that you open and a amp should be there.

 

With HK

Without HK

 

**hits easy button** "That was easy!"

 

Haha

 

 

Hahahah! Ya totally! But when you just dont know, sometimes you got to ask!

 

Don't forget - pushing the little musical note on the left side of the head unit on the H/K will bring up several more audio tailoring options than the simple bass/treble/balance/fader... just in case the door panel speaker surrounds were removed for some crazy reason (though I can't imagine why).

I don't know if the Canadian options are different than those for us Yanks, though.

The speaker surrounds are the biggest giveaway...

Good luck with the new car!

 

There is also a quick trick to see if the head unit is also a H/K. Although I have never seen a Cooper with H/K speakers and a non-H/K head, but I guess it is possible. Just click the button with the music note on it which cycles it through bass/trebble/fade, one of the last options is "MINI H/K" which means it is the H/K head also.

To be honest though, if the speakers say it, you should be all good.

 

Also the speaker grilles on H/K equipped cars are made of metal, standard stereo speaker grilles are painted plastic.

 

IIRC The head unit is the same, it will show the H/K options only if it is connected to the H/K amp DSP in the boot.

 

You're correct - there were three different CD head units used in the 1st-gen cars, (two made by Alpine and one made by Siemens), but which one you have depends only on when your car was built, and not on which audio option you have (Boost or H/K).

 

Don't forget you can always look in the right-side cubbyhole in the boot for the amp...

 

Didn't the H/K head unit not send the same signals as the Boost head unit? I thought the H/K was designed to transmit signals to the H/K amplifier where volume and tone controls where handled while the boost had internal amplification and EQ abilities.

 

You're correct that with the H/K system, the output from the head unit is constant, and the actual volume/tone control/equalization is performed inside the H/K amp. But that same head unit would also work in a Boost system without the external amp. The head unit knows what kind of system it's installed in, and modifies its behavior accordingly.

 

Unfortunately, my H/K head unit is unable to display ID3 tags from either MP3 CDs or iPod sources. My car was built in February 2005 and I was hoping to have this feature supported by the head unit's firmware. By the way, my H/U is an Alpine radio.

The 2006s (especially later builds) have the Siemens head units and my understanding is that those can display ID3 tags from MP3 CDs.

No other complaints from my H/K setup. I really love it and I think it blows right out of the water either factory stereo system currently offered in the R56.

 

My 4/06 build H/K HU MCS shows ID3 tags on MP3 CDs, are you sure you don't need to push the RDS button or something along those lines? I thought all post 03 builds supported ID3 tags.

 

The ID3 tag support didn't start until March of 2005, so ClubmanS' car just missed having it.

 

No ID3 tags on my Nov/05 build.

And to the OP, if you see a car that has the "regular" grilles but with a horizontal label that says "Digital Power Sound Modul" on it, you've hit the jackpot.

 

the speaker grills are the easy give away.

But, for some reason i remember hearing someone bought a mini, unknowing of the options equipped, and turned out to have the H/K system even though the previous owner changed the grills to the standard ones.

I might be making that up though. haha

 

None of the 1st-gen stereos would display ID3 tag information in stock form, but all of the ones from March 2005 onward (like yours) support the feature if you use an external iPod interface like the DICE Silverline or similar kits.

I don't know if there's any way to get the ID3 tags to display if you burn an MP3 disc and stick it in the head unit, though.

 

Oh yes, DPSM is an add-on for non H/K cars that came out later...

Seems to be much more impressive than the H/K system but also expensive

 

Yup, that's what I got.