Wiring a stereo in

[Brianmoooore]

ANY OE permanent live wire on an E30 will be red or have red as its primary colour.

[Royalratch]

I meant balls as 'damn' not as in you're talking balls Mr Moore

I'm gonna give the blue wire a feed and see if the aerial goes up.

It's only supposed to go up when the stereo is on so a permanent feed is wrong surely.

The feed MUST come from the stereo, as per the key I posted.

[Brianmoooore]

It's only supposed to go up when the stereo is on

True, but it's supposed to come down when the stereo is off, so it needs a permanent live.

[tristan325]

It's only supposed to go up when the stereo is on

True, but it's supposed to come down when the stereo is off, so it needs a permanent live.

From his description I was assuming that the live feed was already connected andf that all that was missing was the remote switch.

Royalratch, connect it to the amp switch feed and it should work as intended. PM me if you have any further difficulties.

[Royalratch]

There's no amp here - that's no going into the Touring as I drive that more these days.

If the aerial needs a perm feed from the accessory socket, which socket? Anyone that shows perm feed on a meter?

But surely it's also supposed to go to the ISO plug too?

[tristan325]

If your aerial was working previously then you only need to connect the wire to the remote switch. I.E. the one for the amp. Unless you've been in the boot mucking about with the aerial then leave it alone. It just needs the remote out to tell the aerial the radio is powered up.

[Royalratch]

I'll try that. So no permanent feed then uh...

[Brianmoooore]

Red wire to the aerial comes from the top left pin of the accessories socket, next to the radio socket.
The white wire from the aerial goes to the ISO connector.

[irish-e30]

Ok, I just opened this up again. As im about to do the same thing tomorrow.

I have a red cable and a white cable. I dont know where to feed to but i reckon from the description ill know where to find the red wire input into the accesories socket (behind the glove box roof????) But I DO NOT know where the white one connects, as I dont know where it will connect on the ISO??? connector.

I dont know what an ISO connector is nevermind where to connect the white wire to on it!!

[Royalratch]

I connected the aerial power cable to the MAP SWITCH cable coming out the ISO connector. It now works perfectly.

An ISO are the International Organisation for Standardization.

The ISO connector is the standard modern stereo connector that all cars use - most E30's never came with this so if you want to use new stereo you need to plug this one in.

[irish-e30]

ok, is the ISO connector the one on the stereo??? Do i have one of those? I honestly dont know even with the pictures above. Secondly where is the MAP SWIITCH on the ISO connector??? And thirdly when you say aerial power cable do you mean green or red????

thanks!!

[Royalratch]

Read this whole thread buddy and if it's still unclear I'll sort you out.

[irish-e30]

im still totally unclear!
I know the motor works i tested it.

1)
red goes to the red on the motor and also the accessories power supply above the glove compartment, TO WHERE I DO NOT KNOW, there is no Z slot, they are numbered 1-30, corresponding to fuses I assume, so i tested outlet 28 and there is no DC voltage coming from it, I replaced the fuse, still no dc voltage from it.

2)the white that will connect to the green on the motor, however on my stereo I DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO CONNECT THE WHITE LEAD INTO MY STEREO.

3) Not as much an issue as 1 and 2 above but when I connect the antenna to the blue socket (as can be seen pointed out on the picture by a screwdriver) the radio switches off and goes dead, i was testing this blue socket for the other 12 Volt DC source, however there was nothing!

[Royalratch]

Find which pin on your stereo has the power out for aerial/amp switch.

On mine, I have just the signal and one power cable running from the aerial.

You seem to have 3 wires, 1 signal and 2 others (red/white) and I don't know why.

[irish-e30]

right. well i tested the amp line coming out of the radio and the blue wire, (youll see it cut) and there was nothing. how did you know which one had 12 V dc?

When using the multimeter (just to make sure im right here) i just put the red multimeter wire to the wire i want to get a reading from and just select dc voltage..... i dont use the black multimeter wire against anything....

I still dont know where to plug the permanent hot wire to in the front.....i checked the accessories power supply and there is no Z line or z output I duno my brain is fried here!!

[Royalratch]

Wait for Brianmooore - hopefully he'll pick up the Bat signal in a minute...

[Brianmoooore]

Somebody mention my name?
Z is the top left socket on the accessories socket and is fed from fuse 28.
Green wire from your aerial connects to the BMW white wire at the back.
Front end on the white wire goes to where Royalratch says.
A meter gives very misleading results when connected to an unloaded circuit. Much better to use a small 12 volt lamp.

[irish-e30]

Somebody mention my name?
Z is the top left socket on the accessories socket and is fed from fuse 28.
.

the top left wire on the left box? Where the grey wire is?? or the right box? (with the yellow orange wires)



Ive marked in what they say, if its the left box the top left is marked "1"

Jaysus you do just have to mention his name and he appears.... almost god like

[Brianmoooore]

irish-e30 - You've got two threads on the go haven't you! I've just answered a post relating to this picture!

[Royalratch]

Oh no. Big no no.

Don't want the Brain cutting you off man that's bad news, sheeeeet...

[irish-e30]

yeh i asked a guy something from an old thread and was replying to it rather than my own one i set up, sorry didnt realise...opps almost did it again! ill go back to my own and use this for reference cheers royal!! sorry brian was just showin the picture to royalratch before you were about!!

[JohnnyThunders]

K had a good read of this thread and it appears the easiest way for me to rewire my stereo is to get one of these looms, thing is looking at my stereo, and the ISO plug thing, it doesnt look right to me or am i tripping?



it replaces this ^ right?

but will it fit in this stereo?



thnx in advance.
JT

[jcjdavis1]

Hi I would take the radio into Halfords or car audio place and see if they have an ISO plug that fits radio.It should come with plugs both ends,one end radio the other end should fit new wiring loom that comes from behind glovebox.As you have seen the loom in the Thread you will be able to tell if it fits.I am no expert so it's just a thought. Jim

[JohnnyThunders]

Ok i have now successfully wired in the stereo without purchasing anything, i had a screwdriver with a light in and at Brianmoores suggestion i have got the hud displaying perfectly, now im stuck on the speakers
On this pic of my Pioneer head unit would anyone know which are the speaker wires please?