E30 Zone

Hi all, i have a 1989 325i sport. it has an original pioneer tape and cd changer deck which i wanna swap out for a newer mp3 unit. Only problem is its an old wiring set up. Obviously if a can do it myself and save a bit of cash i will so can anyone advise me on wiring a new into old system?? The current plug is a longer flater one than the standard modern plug.

if your buying from a decent motor shop they normally fit them free or for about 20 quid not much really but then they should have connectors now to plug on to your old wiring to go straight to your new stereo easy peasy really

Hi Try this link for help.
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=57325

I fitted the same Pioneer Tape/CD fromone e30 to another one which had a different clip, get a wire tester that has the earth cable and test the wires to find Positive, Negative & Neutral the just get a new clip that fits your new stereo and fit the wires into the clip

halfrauds do all manor of off the shelf taylor made little looms with different plugs to adapt any stereo to any car.

I work at halfords and if you go down to your local one and tell them what you are trying to do, they should be able to order the right adapter in for you. Normally you just need a new Iso connector that fits your old one and your new one from the headunit. If thats any help?

The old stereo E30 setup had the front and back speakers wired 'sort of in series' to a common earth via a fader.

This means the wiring of the speakers is not compatible with modern high power stuff that required a connection from each speaker terminal to the amp, with no common wires between speakers.

This is because modern stuff is usually high enough power to use 4 output devices instead of 2, so both speaker wires now 'work' (wiggle up and down) - which doubles up the voltage (thereby quadrupling the power as P = V^2 / R.

Use a multimeter to confirm - I had to strip my wiring out and replace because it had common wires, all fine now though.