how do i hook up a nwe stereo?

[Gilaad_amir]

hey all
did a search on the forum and found a few things, but i dont want a sub or anything. just a new cd player (the stock one died).

im in a 98 E36.

so ive taken it out and theres that big wiring harness with a million wires. im fairly good with audio installs but not on a BMW.

has anyone got a diagram of wire colours and what they all are?

and ive heard things about this stock Amp. does that mean i cant jsut hook up a stereo wire for wire. and does the 98 model even have this amp?

thanx

 

[grc]

just get yourself a harness adapter plug. they're available at best buy, circuit city and crutchfield to name a few but i don't know what you have over there?. it's as simple as matching the colors, and the adapter has printing on the wires to ID each one. i just did mine today. you might need the BMW/volkswagen/audi antenna adapter too. from memory, grey is right front+, white is left front+, purple is right rear+, green is left rear+. the stripe indicated ones are the grounds for each color. red is ignition switch power, yellow is constant battery, blue is power control to the amp or power antenna, brown is ground. there is also a wire for speed control volume, telephone mute, and dash lights but i didn't need them for my install. i did use the dash light wire for my boost gauge though, finally got that lit up!

 

[Gilaad_amir]

sweet thanx man. ill ahve to look around for a harness in new zealand?!!? hehe
umm, about the 'built in amp', is there anything i need to know about that? or the new stereo just hooks into the existing harness and thats it? because it seems like its a straight job, all the wires are there...so i cant understand what the deal is with the stuff ive been reading? you know these european cars...just cant trust em...heheh

 

[grc]

you just have to make sure that you hook up the wire to turn on the amp. it's the blue wire in the car harness and it's usually a blue wire coming out of an aftermarket radio. sometimes they call it a power antenna wire. without it hooked up you'll get no sound. i plan on replacing my factory amp and speakers soon but i want to get my kenwood ksc ra62rc instaled before i go on. it's a powered sub that i'm mounting between the seats in the Z3. i'm going to cut up the useless rear storage compartment some to get it to fit into the space. it'll be almost like the harmon kardon center speaker that comes stock on the later models.