im having issues with my radio head unit. Everytime that I turn on my car, the radio stays off. I have to actually turn it on and then turn the volume up because it always defaults to zero when turning on. Also it defaults to a preset station if I was listening to something different. I also have to adjust the bass/treble/and HK settings every time that I turn on the radio, those settings do not stay. Is there any fix for this? I have seen plenty of videos that when people get in their car, the radio turns on like normal. Mine does not - it drives me crazy to have to turn it on and reprogram everything every time. Any help on this?

2006 Cooper S hardtop JCW

 

That isn't normal. Seems like the head unit is malfunctioning. Did it work differently in the past, or did you just get the car? First try resetting the electronics by disconnecting the car battery for 20 minutes. If you need to replace the head unit, they are reasonably priced on eBay.

 

If you get a used radio and play MP3 cd's, make sure you get one made after May(??) '05. They changed the radios sometime during the first half of '05, so your '06 has MP3 cd playback. Also, I don't think there's a difference in the radio for standard, HK, or navigation equipped cars. Maybe RKW can confirm the details...

 

I have actually only had this car for three weeks and it's done at the entire time that I have had the car

 

I have an older aftermarket head unit that I thought about installing into the car but I still need to get a basket to install it do you think that would help it and change things

 

You had mentioned HK settings. To connect an aftermarket head unit to the HK amp, you'd have to use an adapter only available from the UK. It would be easier to swap in a replacement OEM unit from eBay. BTW, the same OEM head units are used for both HK and non-HK.

 

Naww....the change was actually sometime in 2004...
I had a 2005, November 2004 production....could play mp3's, no issue....and know that most 2004 cars can...so it was somewhat earlier than mine.

 

If I'm reading/understanding your problem, it sounds to me like one of the two 12V wires to the HU is either disconnected or broken (open circuit). One wire is yellow, one is red - I don't remember which does which, but one is Key-On and the other is constant 12V (to keep memory, etc). I think your constant 12V wire is broken.

 

+1
On the issue....
First thing I would check is a burnt out fuse....sometimes folks use fuse taps, and plug them in on the wrong side of a fuse, and the fuse can then get overloaded...perhaps somebody had so.e aftermarket gear in the car before you....and had something piggybacked on that wire...maybe a camera, or alarm system....and yanked the item...but never reconnected the wires...worth a look.

 

That makes sense, it has an aftermarket sub and amp in the hatch, it was there when I bought the car so I haven't went wire searching back there yet. Any ideas what to look for?




Where are these 2 wires located? Would they be by the battery or behind the head unit?

 

I'd bet $ they either did a bad splice, or just yanked the constant 12v "stay alive" wire for the radio to do something....where they cut/tapped it, who knows....it SHOULD be connected to the back of the stock radio...
Guessing it will be a mess....the stock radio does not have RCA or line level outputs, making it a poor choice too add aftermarket Amps too....it can be done, with so.e extra parts, but the sound would never be as clear.
Looks like the car was repainted too.... apparently a quick job...no trim done...ouch...

 

I think that the amp and sub are wired to the HK amp, not sure though. I have taken out the head unit before to check if a wire was disconnected and there's nothing out of the ordinary back there. I haven't taken the panel off yet where the HK amp is or where the stereo wires go in yet, might have to and see what's back there.

As for the blue in the jams, the car is wrapped in lime green vinyl, not painted. The PO did it himself with a friend so it's definitely not professionally done and is eventually going to change once the money comes available to do so, but for now it is what it is lol...

 

Looks pretty cool!
Well...if you have had the radio out...you could unplug it, and check the plug with a multimeter....with the car off, there should still be one live wire...
Don't have the pin-out for it...but it should be around.
If it is live, then the radio is bad....
If it's dead...I would just run a new wire to it...
Be a good first step just cause it's free and narrows down the possible issue.

 

Cool thanks for the advise... I'll have to find a friend with a voltage meter, I unfortunately don't have one. Might be able to find a cheap one

 

You should look for a dumpster so you can dispose of that sub responsibly.
Look, I know that a lot of people like a thumping bass. But the Mini is a small car inside. A sub is just not needed... in my opinion.

I didn't see that you have (originally) the H/K sound system. This opens up a whole new can of worms.

In aftermarket Head Unit harnesses, the 12V constant wire is usually the yellow one, and the Key-On 12V wire is red.

With the factory HU harness, these are the colors (based on an '06 R53):
Car Radio Constant 12v+ Wire: Red/Brown@ Radio Harness
Car Stereo Ground Wire: Brown @ Radio Harness
Car Radio Ignition Switched Wire: Purple/Blue @ Radio Harness
And yes, these wires are in a plug that plugs into the back of the OEM H/K Head Unit. So if you still have the factory HU installed, you probably don't have any kind of aftermarket "jumper harness" installed to adapt the factory wiring to an aftermarket HU.

HOWEVER (and this is a big however) if the sub installer did some crazy wiring stuff (which they would have to have done because of how the H/K system works with the OEM H/K amp, etc) you may never know what they did. I think it very unlikely that the H/K amp is even hooked up or functioning. There's just no feasible way to wire a sub into that system.

Ah, the unknowns of a car from a previous owner...

 

I have seen this car on IG before which I believe is the old owner. I would see if the old owner know how its wired up or what they did.

 

Yeah it's factory HK system, still has the factory HK head unit in too (as far as I know it's the OEM one) but is stock version.

As for the harness behind the head unit, there are no wires running to it aftermarket wise that I can see. There is an aftermarket amp beside the sub and the wires run up into the side panel so I can't see what they are attached to until I pull the interior trim off to actually see what's back there. From the aftermarket amp, there is a power wire running to the battery.

As for the sub being there, yeah I rarely use it. The PO installed a bass controller too and it's mostly turned all the way down to 1 notch above minimum. A little bass is nice but my ears have been sensitive for the last few years, thanks to my teens and early 20s with subwoofers and loud systems, now I work around aircraft everyday. So unless I'm at a car show or event, the sub stays down and just takes up space. I have also noticed that the driver side door speaker doesn't work. The tweeter does but not the main speaker. I picked up another speaker thinking it was bad but it doesn't work either so chances are that wire is either cut or damaged. I wish I knew about stereo systems, I would hack in there and fix it but my knowledge is very minimum.

 

Yeah that's who I bought the car off of, his name is Tobi, I forgot his IG name but it has Tobi in it. How the car sits currently is exactly how I bought it. I have made some minor changes and fixes but I have just started....