Standard Stereo Upgrade - Stage 1 Complete

[davidmbell]

Originally Posted by zEdP

Click on the link of my previous post. The first page shows the mounting points of the orginal radio. The second page you will find a picture of the cover plate below the radio that should be removed first. This plate is 'clicked' in the dashboard frame.

EdP

Just need to know how to get the surround off? Credit card bent round the edge?

[zEdP]

Originally Posted by davidmbell

Just need to know how to get the surround off? Credit card bent round the edge?

You could try a credit card, but the bent should be firm. I not sure but I have used a small screwdriver and some thin soft material to protect the cover plate.

EdP

[davidmbell]

I got my Blaupunkt AMP from Father Christmas so had a quick test of it this afternoon.

I have the THA 475 PNP that I bought for a BARGAIN via this guy on ebay : http://cgi.ebay.com/BLAUPUNKT-THA475...-/230549908166

DON'T ask me why he's selling them SO cheap - all seems legit...and it works as expected.

Anyway, as he won't ship to the UK and got a friend of mine in the US to ship the amp, and the 5m wiring loom over to the UK. All in it cost me £125 inc shipping! The amp alone in the UK costs £200!

Anyway, I've removed the head unit (used a narrow scraper wrapped in electrical tape to pop out the stereo surround), connected the wiring (I have a loom adapter that I bought previously ready for the job) and fired it up.

All works fine.

Then tested the power down, having read the OP's comments re his amp not turning off.

Well approx 22 seconds after locking the car the amp powers down. So not sure if its your car or amp that's playing up?

I connected the amp using all the Blaupunkt wires (inc -/+) and it runs fine.

Is there any reason I can't use the Blaupunkt power wires or should I wire direct to the battery supply junction box in the boot, with negative going to suitable place on the body?

Either way, I also tested the amp running power direct from power distribution box to the right of the battery, and a negative point on the body and again, the amp powered down 22 seconds after locking the car.

No relay needed, no remote power on cable needed etc.

Will have full installation pics on Friday when I do the complete install, today was just a test.

David

[davidmbell]

BTW the aforementioned ebay seller also has the 5 channel amp as used by the OP : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=230551601945

[Land_Shark]

Keep us informed Davidmbell. Thanks!

[Land_Shark]

Very nice write up Edp.. Very informative, clear and to the point... Thanks!
A Question, if you have the Professional CD + iDrive... can you still change the OEM radio (the professional CD unit) to a 3rd party radio unit (say Pioneer/Kenwood, etc...)?

[zEdP]

Originally Posted by Land_Shark

A Question, if you have the Professional CD + iDrive... can you still change the OEM radio (the professional CD unit) to a 3rd party radio unit (say Pioneer/Kenwood, etc...)?

I think this will be more difficult. You have to sacrifice the iDrive system because this system is within the head-unit to be replaced:

I guess this is not your intention. I would suggest to use the Blaupunkt solution and use front speaker output of the OEM radio.

EdP

[Land_Shark]

This sucks... I paid USD7,500 for this iDrive thing...
Emm.. Thanks for Blaupunkt solution...

[teagueAMX]

Land Shark, that why some guys go with a different approach.

You keep your head unit, but clean up head unit output signal with a device like a JL Audio CleanSweep.

JL Audio CleanSweep

It has Pioneer or Blaupunkt style pre-outs for a nice amp. You can also adjust the outputs to suit the cabin sound dynamics.

[Land_Shark]

Thanks TeagueAMX... I will read more about the JL Audio Cleansweep... Warming up and keeping myself busy until my babe arrive...

[Tjburwell]

So I just traded my 2003 Z 3.0 for an 09 Sdrive 3.0i with premium and Sport packages but NOT the premium audio. Now I am ready to

Tearing the car apart to is not attractive to me so I have an idea I would like your feedback on.

The base stereo has nothing in the speaker enclosure on the dash and there are many decent compact Amps on the market that I think MIGHT fit in that space like the Rockford Fosgate PBR300X4 (do I need 4 channels if I include adding tweeters to the doors?)

Is it reasonable to think I can fit an amp with speaker level inputs into this dash space and cut into the existing speaker wires to get more volume and cleaner sound?

Could this be a cheaper, easier and still acceptable alternative approach?

[zEdP]

What type of headunit do you have? The standard one?

[Tjburwell]

Yeah, I have the standard head unit. So here is what I have done so far...

I bought an Alpine KTP-445U head unit power PAC from Crutchfield to boost the system to 45 watts. I bought their Amp install card for 80.00 just to have someone with the right tools and some experience to tear into my car with me.

Both guessing we pulled the passenger cap off of the end of the dash and removed the screws in the bottom of the brushed aluminum dash trim plate. Carefully prying out the trim plate we exposed the mounting pins/slots of the head unit. Then we pryde out the trim plate below the head unit and the radio slid right out!

There is plenty of room behind the head unit for the power pack but not a great way to tie it down so we pulled the 3 screws out of the passenger kick panel behind the lower airbag and mounted the power pack up there.

With easy access to the head unit we did have to cut and slice the power pack wires into the speaker wires, no plug and play here, but you do what you need to do.

We checked it out before reinstalling everything and the volume was WAY LOUDER! Too loud infact since the phone and "gong" run off the front channel. Turned the front channel down to lowest gain possibles and the BT phone was now usable again. Gong was reasonable as well.

Buttoned her off and off I went to ride with music I could now hear at 80 MPH with top down.

Back home in the garage I turned her off and heard a loud hiss coming from the back speakers... This was not acceptable if driving with top up and music off... So I jumped back in and turned the rear gain all the way down too. The hiss went way down and yet the volume is still so much better overall.

Satisfied for the moment I will continue to drive and tinker with basic tone controls but I suspect that now with the added volume I will decide to upgrade the speakers at some point as well.

So glad I did not let the Cartoys guys have their way with my Z. They were talking about a 2000.00 solution, 8 hours of tear down blah, blah, blah.... We spent 2 hours and less than 250.00 to get this far with MINIMAL modifications or remove replace hassles and it just might be good enough for ever.