[Telly Addict]

Just to add some feed back on this thread, I fitted the Blaupunkt 5 channel amp and upgraded the door speakers and added tweeters - we just got back from our road trip to south west France today and the sound system has been absolutely fantastic, making the 6 hr stints not only bearable, but enjoyable too. Real kick and authority from it now, completely transformed the sound from the car and I haven't got round to wiring the under-seats to their own dedicated channel yet!

Wholeheartedly recommend this upgrade to anyone with the base stereo. It's a no-brainer.

[Isetta]

I fitted the 475 model just for testing and it sounds great!
Now I have to run the amp to the trunk.
My car is LHD.
Do I have to run the cables from the driver's (steering wheel) or the passenger's (glovebox) side to avoid any interference?
Please help me, I have stuck on this.

[makkan00]

Run it on your driver side.
On all 3 series power cables run on left hand side and if you run any input cables to amp from there, you pick up noise especially if the amp is sensitive.

All the best.

P.S: I guess this amp is amplifying front and rears. So I imagine, your underseats are you still connected parallel to front speakers (OEM settings). IF you have OEM speakers, then its fine.
However if you have aftermarket speakers / under seats, you will get better results if you amp just the front speakers and underseats.

[Isetta]

I ran it on driver's side.
Hard to get to the trunk. Especially passing the rear seats.
Thanks makkan00!

[makkan00]

Proper job: Take the rear seats out of the car.
Otherwise you will struggle to put the trim back.

[Isetta]

I finally did it!
A recommended audio upgrade.

I ran the cables through the rear seats where the red sign shows.

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

[demig]

Well thanks to all who posted here I now have the 2 channel amp installed in my E91 powering some co-axial speakers rather than separate tweeters. It works very well with just 2 things I need to do. Firstly I believe I need to recode the hu to hifi which I will do just as soon as I can get NCSexpert to recognise my car...

Secondly and easier to achieve I hope is sort out poor radio reception and interference which has arisen after this install. I am undecided as to what may have caused this so after some advice. Getting the hu back in the car was extremely difficult with the size of the harness so I am reluctant to pull this out again. The antenna was disconnected whilst I did this install and then put back on but it is possible it has been pulled about a bit whilst it was eased (or stuffed) back in so this may be a cause of the issue. The second thing in my mind is that currently I have powered this from the harness power leads running along the cables to the back of the car and not from the battery directly. I could disconnect the power and power it directly and see if that helps. I have no interference on CD or aux in though so suspect this could only cause an issue if the antenna cable runs down the car on the passenger side (Uk right hand drive) and is picking up interference, does this run along this side?

So what's the consensus of opinion, try hooking up the battery and disconnect the power feed? Or hu out and check the antenna lead is firmly attached. If I do that later how do I check the integrity of the cable?

Third way out option is to add a DAB feeding the aux socket on the amp and use that for radio but DAB coverage is not great and I travel around a lot. This is something I might be interested in doing at some point though. Has anyone fed the aux input like this and is it possible to get a DAB unit which can be installed in the boot with the amp but controlled from the front of the car, remote control maybe?

All thoughts welcome before I do battle with this hu!

Iain

[gIzzE]

There was a document by BMW regarding interference on FM after their oem Alpine amp was installed.
Very detailed instructions on where to lay the power cables etc. so this wouldn't happen.

Class D amps can cause issues to FM.

Search for 'BMW alpine fm' on the net and I am sure you will find it.

[gIzzE]

There you go!

[demig]

Thanks mate, that's perfect and also confirms my wires run parallel but in the side of the boot, I ran them up under the bolster near the catch for the rear seat and they are tied in right next to that existing wiring. Hopefully I should be able to tug them down away from it towards the back left corner of the boot although it looks like they run parallel along the side of the car so it will be interesting to see what happens

Really appreciate the help

Iain

[demig]

Well that took 10minutes to sort out thanks to your help. I moved the wire down to the corner of the boot and the radio is as clear as it was before.

Many thanks!

Now to get this hifi coding sorted....

Iain

[jammy78]

Hi,

I'm planning to get the 475 amp (I want to power the front & rears) - do these amps come with the correct wiring harness or do you need to buy them seperatly? If the later, which is the one I need & from where (I'll be installing it in the boot, so will need the 5.5 length)?

Also, if I'm going to power the rears - is it still pnp or will need to cut into the wires?

I'm no audio expert, so really need something that's pnp & this looks like the perfect / cheap option!

[jammy78]

Ok, I've read all 21 pages & still need advice to what amp / set up I need:

I've got:
Base System + HiFi Tweeters

After reading this thread, I'm going to leave the rears powered by the HU (or CIC)

Now cos I have tweeters, do I need the 4 channel amp & then have to cut into the wires going to the subs - so they are going straight to the amp??

Or can I get away with just getting the 2 channel?

Many thanks

[Court]

Jammy,

The best thing to do if you have a multimeter then measure the impedance of one channel. You might be able to measure it from the connector block from the head unit. The 475 amp will power a 2ohm / 4ohm system, IIRC the OEM Mid and Sub are connected in parallel so thats 2 ohms. If the Tweeter is in parallel with the Mid & Sub then it drops to 1.33ohm.

This will over drive the Amp and it will eventually go faulty.

The best way would be as you found, cut the sub wiring and run them to the Rear Channel of the 475...then run the Mid and Tweeter off the Front Channel.

Makkan00 and Gizze are regulars so they will give the best solution.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by Court

Jammy,

The best thing to do if you have a multimeter then measure the impedance of one channel. You might be able to measure it from the connector block from the head unit. The 475 amp will power a 2ohm / 4ohm system, IIRC the OEM Mid and Sub are connected in parallel so thats 2 ohms. If the Tweeter is in parallel with the Mid & Sub then it drops to 1.33ohm.

This will over drive the Amp and it will eventually go faulty.

The best way would be as you found, cut the sub wiring and run them to the Rear Channel of the 475...then run the Mid and Tweeter off the Front Channel.

Makkan00 and Gizze are regulars so they will give the best solution.

What he said.
If you tweak the wiring and run new wiring for the underseats, you will be fine with 4 channel amp.

[demig]

Originally Posted by jammy78

Hi,

I'm planning to get the 475 amp (I want to power the front & rears) - do these amps come with the correct wiring harness or do you need to buy them seperatly? If the later, which is the one I need & from where (I'll be installing it in the boot, so will need the 5.5 length)?

Also, if I'm going to power the rears - is it still pnp or will need to cut into the wires?

I'm no audio expert, so really need something that's pnp & this looks like the perfect / cheap option!

You'll need the harness and extension separately and you definitely need the long extension. Assuming it is the same as the 2 channel amp. Cables added quite a bit to the bill

Think I got mine from blue point but away so can't check. I rang them and asked which cables to include.

It's well worth doing, good luck with it

Iain

[gIzzE]

Make sure you get it right though if buying from there, I was sent the wrong one at first, Blaupunkt had it listed incorrectly. As my car was in pieces I said I would just buy the other one and send this one back the next day, refund me for the second one when he had it back.
I bought a second one and then he refused to refund me the one that was wrong.

Guy was a real asshole as well.

I then said I was in my right to return the lot under the distance selling regulations, let alone he had sent the wrong product and his reply was 'then you won't have your money or your cable'.

Twat!

[gIzzE]

Have to say, Blaupunkt swapped it for the BMW one in the end for me and were extremely apologetic, then sold it on here.
But be aware with bluespot, they are not nice to deal with if anything goes wrong.

[jammy78]

Cheers guys!

I will call on your help once I get all the parts!

[demig]

I checked it was bluepoint and they were fine with me but always best to judge a company by what they do when something goes wrong and that doesn't sound good

Demig

[jammy78]

I've ordered the amp.... but I'm struggling to find the 5.5m extension (harness)?

The only place I've found - are selling it for £59.99 + £8.99del = wtf!?

Looks like these are discontinued products..... has anyone found a cheaper place?

[demig]

Originally Posted by jammy78

I've ordered the amp.... but I'm struggling to find the 5.5m extension (harness)?

The only place I've found - are selling it for £59.99 + £8.99del = wtf!?

Looks like these are discounted products..... has anyone found a cheaper place?

No, cost me a fortune as well. Worth it for ease of install though.

Demig