# Amplifier harness questions How to avoid cutting the stock harness?



## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

I have a 2002 E39 with a Non DSP, No Nav, Stock system

Which metra (or other) adapters do I need to install a new amp? The adapters I've found online (installer.com) are for replacing the head unit, not the amplifier. I don't want to cut the stock harness so I can put things back to stock when I sell the car.

Looks like the rear harness is for the 20 speaker wires. The front harness I'm not so sure. My guess is remote on, balanced line inputs from the head unit, power, ground, and maybe more.

I want to replace the stock amp with an Alpine PDX-5 amp and the correct adapters would make things a lot easier.

Here is a pic of the stock amp for reference.


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## Technic (Oct 10, 2008)

AlohaMark said:


> I have a 2002 E39 with a Non DSP, No Nav, Stock system
> 
> Which metra (or other) adapters do I need to install a new amp? The adapters I've found online (installer.com) are for replacing the head unit, not the amplifier. I don't want to cut the stock harness so I can put things back to stock when I sell the car.
> 
> ...


There are no aftermarket connectors that can be used to "plug 'n play" an aftermarket amp to the E39 OEM amp harness. Those connectors are Tyco however they are BMW-proprietary, as in not for sale to anybody else but BMW.

I've been trying for the last 3 years to buy some (for the E46, E39 and E53) to no avail.


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

Technic said:


> There are no aftermarket connectors that can be used to "plug 'n play" an aftermarket amp to the E39 OEM amp harness. Those connectors are Tyco however they are BMW-proprietary, as in not for sale to anybody else but BMW.
> 
> I've been trying for the last 3 years to buy some (for the E46, E39 and E53) to no avail.


So what's the solution? Cut all the wires? 

Seems kind of an inelegant solution.


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## dawgdan (Aug 10, 2006)

If cutting is not an option, would you consider tapping with something like T-taps?

I wonder if a 2000 model E39 would have the same harness setup as your 2002.


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## Technic (Oct 10, 2008)

AlohaMark said:


> So what's the solution? Cut all the wires?
> 
> Seems kind of an inelegant solution.


You could either get blade/round terminals as close as possible to the OEM's -so you can insert them into the OEM connector slots- or just cut the OEM wires and create your own custom harness with Molex connectors at _both ends_ of the OEM connector (the OEM amp side and the OEM speaker side). That way you can return the car to the OEM condition by just re-plugging these two Molex connectors together.

The aftermarket amp will have its own matching Molex connector.


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## RMAT (Feb 13, 2007)

dawgdan said:


> If cutting is not an option, would you consider tapping with something like T-taps?
> 
> I wonder if a 2000 model E39 would have the same harness setup as your 2002.


x2 helped install a system in a early 2000 ('02 maybe)model 740 and we had to use taps.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

T-taps are the devil


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## el_chupo_ (May 27, 2007)

01 E39 here.

To answer a couple questions: the wiring should be the same colors for the differnt year E39s, but the harness' are different for 97-01 and 02-03.

This posting: 
Adding Amps to DSP WITHOUT Cleansweeps - Results! - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Has a good write up with DSP, but he also includes a link to a site for a harness. I picked one up and added in the wires I need and the stock harness didnt have, and only ended up splicing into 4 wires: I cut, soldered, and heatshrinked, didnt do T-Taps.

Do a search for "E39", there are several here that have done installs, and several discussions.

Also, bimmerforums.com has a few discussion on e39 audio as well.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

I've been known to de-pin the harness, solder my wire, then stick it back in the harness. I prefer doing that over t-taps!


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

el_chupo_ said:


> 01 E39 here.
> 
> To answer a couple questions: the wiring should be the same colors for the differnt year E39s, but the harness' are different for 97-01 and 02-03.
> 
> ...


I did not see a harness mentioned on his post that he bought for connecting the new amp into the stock harness. From his post:

"I wanted to avoid cutting my harness by getting the mating pieces (the ones that are installed in the amplifier) and building my own harness. Those components, however, are not available.

So, Yes, in order to mate up with the wires shown I also had to cut the factory wire harness, solder on the pins, and then put them into the appropriate Radio Shack interconnect.

Doug "

4 Channel Amp Final Installation Pics - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

Technic said:


> You could either get blade/round terminals as close as possible to the OEM's -so you can insert them into the OEM connector slots- or just cut the OEM wires and create your own custom harness with Molex connectors at _both ends_ of the OEM connector (the OEM amp side and the OEM speaker side). That way you can return the car to the OEM condition by just re-plugging these two Molex connectors together.
> 
> The aftermarket amp will have its own matching Molex connector.


I like the idea of using the round terminals if I understand you correctly. Sounds like you would unplug the factory harness then insert the new round terminals (presumably with a wire attached) into the female portion of the factory connector that you need to use. In my case I only want to use the front stage; no rear stage.

Are the round terminals also called bullet terminals? I found some here:
BULLET CONNECTOR TERMINAL MALE

Any idea what size is needed?


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## Technic (Oct 10, 2008)

AlohaMark said:


> I like the idea of using the round terminals if I understand you correctly. Sounds like you would unplug the factory harness then insert the new round terminals (presumably with a wire attached) into the female portion of the factory connector that you need to use. In my case I only want to use the front stage; no rear stage.
> 
> Are the round terminals also called bullet terminals? I found some here:
> BULLET CONNECTOR TERMINAL MALE
> ...


No idea on size, sorry...


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## Billy Mays (May 11, 2009)

odds are the left side is power and ground and the right is + and - for the speakers. google what colors your speakers use and only cut those rather than cutting the whole harness. that's what i did for my car.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Why cut? Get some strippers and about 2" back from the harness, strip the wires, solder on to them, and tape them up with some good 3M electrical tape. Wrap a zip tie around them for extra insurance.


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

So I found these male connectors at Radio Shack that seem to fit the 12-pin connector well.









9-Position Male Interlocking Connector - RadioShack.com
*Question #1*: Will these work? I plan on using these to connect a wire for the remote turn-on (pin #2), just the pins not the plastic block. I don't think I need to connect anything else from this connector to the new amp (PDX-5). EDIT - Seems like I'll also need to put pins in here to hook up the front woofers in the front doors (6.5s); I'm not using rear fill. The new subs I'll wire in directly to the amp and bypass the stock rear woofer wiring.

*Question #2*: Would I hook up the new crossovers for the new component 6.5s to the new amp output then route the output wires from the crossovers to the front woofer and front tweeter wires in the stock harness? I'll be eliminating the factory mids. 










Also, I found this







18 AWG Speaker wire pair with RCA Males (Black & Red) 1', Cables Multimedia Audio connector to take the high-level outputs from the factory HU to the RCA inputs on the PDX-5.
*Question #3: Should I splice these connectors into pins 1-4 and pins 14-17?*
*Question #4:Should pins 1-4 plug into the sub inputs on the PDX-5?*










On the 26-pin connector the female connectors are very small; too small to put pins in like on the 12-pin connector, so it looks like I'll have to cut this harness. I guess that's OK since they don't make an aftermarket adapter. I'll cut it and leave about 3 inches of cable on the stock connector.

*Question #5: What do you guys think? Is all this going to work?*

From here it should just be a matter of hooking up whatever speaker I'm using by connecting the applicable speaker wires to the amp.

Thanks for helping a rookie!


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## VP Electricity (Apr 11, 2009)

If you buy twisted-pair RCA cables rather than coaxial (i.e., where the (-) is a wire instead of a foil shield), it is MUCH easier to do OE interfaces like you are doing. I usually buy twisted-pair "Y" cables and hack the female ends off, connect those to the car, and then I can connect the amp to those female ends with standard M-t-M RCA cables of whatever length and type I want. 

Ixos makes some, Audison makes some, not sure who else. I am keeping my Ixos stash...

I think you could buy these and circumcise them and get what you need:

Knukonceptz product detail for NEW KARMA SS Y ADAPTER 1 MALE TO 2 FEMALE


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## Technic (Oct 10, 2008)

Another option that I have done is to buy an used/shot OEM amp on the cheap and take out the OEM connector from it. Then I use that connector to make my harness to plug into the car OEM audio harness... no wires cut.

Normally I pay $50 for used E46 OEM amps, so you could pay the same or less for an E39 OEM amp like yours.


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

Can anyone answer any of the 5 question?


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## kcdonahue (Sep 27, 2008)

I think all of you questions have already been answered but here is my take:

1. I doubt they will work... If they do it will not be pretty and you will have to worry about them popping out. Best option is to rip a set of factory connectors out of a used amp. 

2. Yes, but you may need to play with the tweeters as the factory wiring has a capacitor in line with the tweeter wiring for LF protection, 180 deg. out of phase...

3. Sort of... don't use the connectors that you linked to. Go with VP Electricity's recommendation. I made my own RCA's and used the Gepco cable that is discussed here on the forum quite frequently.

4. Sure

5. Yes, if you pay attention to the details.... This is similar to what I have done in the past. 

KC


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

kcdonahue said:


> I think all of you questions have already been answered but here is my take:
> 
> 1. I doubt they will work... If they do it will not be pretty and you will have to worry about them popping out. Best option is to rip a set of factory connectors out of a used amp.
> 
> ...


In response to answer #2, if I used the speaker wiring for the mid would that have any LF protection? There are 3 speakers in the door, tweeter, mid, and "woofer".


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

kcdonahue said:


> I think all of you questions have already been answered but here is my take:
> 
> 1. I doubt they will work... If they do it will not be pretty and you will have to worry about them popping out. Best option is to rip a set of factory connectors out of a used amp.
> 
> ...


KC-

Thanks for helping but I don't think that "all of you questions have already been answered". Two people helped answer one question.


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## kcdonahue (Sep 27, 2008)

Only the tweeters have any sort of filtering installed. The capacitor I mentioned is located on a small circuit board attached to the enclosures inside the doors. This board has a connector for each driver in the door to allow for easy replacement. 

The filtering for the other drivers is done within the factory HU or amp.

Here is a visual for you of the 12 pin connector removed from the factory amp... For what you are trying to do I thing this is the best way.

KC


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## AlohaMark (May 3, 2009)

kcdonahue said:


> Only the tweeters have any sort of filtering installed. The capacitor I mentioned is located on a small circuit board attached to the enclosures inside the doors. This board has a connector for each driver in the door to allow for easy replacement.
> 
> The filtering for the other drivers is done within the factory HU or amp.
> 
> ...


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## kcdonahue (Sep 27, 2008)

1. No. If you are not accustomed to repairing electronics or at least replacing components its not even worth trying. Getting the pins out of the small daughter board is a pain and you have to disassemble a majority of the amp to get to them...

2. Yup, solder and heat shrink. I made a small adapter box in the past but I passed it off to a friend. 

Do you have any pick and pull type junkyards on the island? If so you can find the correct amp in both e36s and e39s. 

KC


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