'02 BMW 325i

**konfoo** · 08-14-2006, 04:16 PM

Update - carpc is finished.

The AudioControl Matrix and SVEN combination with direct attachment in the trunk work great with the onboard audio on the Via N1000! I heard a lot of complaints about sub-par audio performance but I have to say the sound quality is perfect with no noise level.

The trick seems to be to not connect the SVEN4 to any ground, ground the Matrix, use channel 3 on the Matrix, set to unbalanced input (it is by default balanced) and link channel 3 to channel 1 (so output is cloned from channel 3 input to channel 3 and 1 outputs). The rear speakers are on a slightly higher gain than the front, and the SVEN gain is set to max on all channels.

I did make use of the front console headunit harness - but only to loop the antenna to ignition wires (see other guides on this site for which wiring to loop). All other wiring was simply null terminated.

**konfoo** · 08-15-2006, 01:50 PM

Here's the wiring information if you want to connect your low-power linedriver to the trunk and audio input direct to the amp without running speaker wire all the way up to the front dash only to be rerouted all the way back to the amp.

First in the dash, get the standard wiring harness for the e46 and connect the 12v ignition to 12v antenna lines on the harness. Terminate the rest of the connectors.

In the trunk, remove the wiring harness from the top of the amp. The plug separates into two harnesses, one grey and one black, which look identical.

Cut the wiring and attach female RCA jacks (or just shrink-wrap tube the connections) to the jack side of the input (the leads going to the old head unit location are now useless). Attach male RCA jacks to the head unit side of the wiring. This way if you ever need to reverse your install you can just reconnect the RCA leads, plug in the old head unit, and be done. You will have 4 female and 4 male RCA jacks after this is done, one for each channel.

Wiring info:

Black connector:
Pin 38 - FrontL+ (yellow/red)
Pin 30 - FrontL- (brown/orange)
Pin 37 - RearL+ (yellow/black)
Pin 29 - RearL- (brown/orange)

Grey connector:
Pin 9 - FrontR+ (blue/red)
Pin 17 - FrontR- (brown/orange)
Pin 8 - RearR+ (blue/black)
Pin 16 - RearR- (brown-orange)

Pin 10 on the grey connector (white) is switched +12V. You can use that as an ignition lead for the carpc and matrix.

More info here: http://e46fanatics.com/faq/stereosaga.html

Do NOT use the 12v power or the ground. The factory amp system uses a floating ground, and the 12v cabling is not rated for anything beyond the factory amp it powers. I ran 12v from the battery for the carpc and the matrix audiocontrol. The SVEN ofcourse has no power.

**replicant** · 08-15-2006, 03:46 PM

This is great konfoo, I"m looking at purchasing an 02-03 m3 and will be following your install for most of the audio stuff. I've always gone aftermarket audio equipment (amps, speakers, etc), and even though I hear the Harmon Kardon setup is pretty weak, I'm almost not looking forward to wiring the m3, not only for the carpc, but also for audio equipment. If it sounds as good as you say with the setup you have, then hopefully I won't have to worry about dropping cash on solid audio gear.

Keep it up.

-rep

**konfoo** · 08-17-2006, 03:13 AM

Well here's another update, this time on the IBUS interface.

Today my car started acting up - windows would not open, hazard light would not turn on, trunk showed open on the dash even when it was closed, and the fasten seatbelt light would not go out even when the buckle was inserted. I traced every wire for shorts and eventually started unplugging things. The culprint was Rolf's IBUS controller.

Here's the response, I am posting it in the event that some other poor soul has the same experience

--

There is a known fault with the Melexis chip and V5.
If you disconnect the +12V supply of the interface and reconnect it, the IBUS Line will stay low until the PC initializes the USB part again.
This will interfere with the IBUS functions in the car then.
Possible solutions:
1) Connect the 12V line to a permanent 12V source and init the PC side once. The power consumption is less than the self-discharge of the battery itself, so no worry about a dead battery.
2) Only connect the IBUS line to the car when the PC is up and running.
This will prevent the interface from interfering with the car when the PC side is in some "unknown" state.

The best thing to have would be the IBUS connection to be active when the PC
is Up & Running. If you connect the 12V from the PC then there is a IBUS
fault as long as your PC needs to boot up, since the 12V is up but it takes
a few seconds more (20-60) for the operating system to initialize the USB
port.

**konfoo** · 08-17-2006, 03:16 AM

Also received the David Navone Engineering N-66A ~30sec delay amp turnon 'bomb'. The Via NITX has a turn-on beep it stupidly routes through the speaker output on bootup. Depending on post time this can be anywhere from 1-4 seconds but the N66 2 second delay will *not* cut it. I had my dog install it since it is so simple. Unfortunately the cable ties were a problem..

Thanks to Zebel for the tip on this

**konfoo** · 06-01-2007, 02:56 AM

Updates -

Ditched the SVEN4 (went with an aftermarket amp)
Ditched the audiocontrol matrix (it introduced alternator noise)
Ditched the Turtle Beach Roadie (CPU suckage)
Added a wired GPS (bluetooth just doesn't work 100%)
Added an always-on bus analyzer (reset vehicle codes, etc.)
Added a USB connector to the front of the car. The trunk gets too hot and has a tendency to hurt performance if a hard drive is used for the OS. Solution - Compact Flash boot with HORM/etc.
- Went straight into the new amp's line in via a USB Turtle Beach Micro.

A couple of tweaks the the equalizer and some software EQ tools running in the background to bump the levels and everything sounds perfect.

I'm currently writing my own software to take advantage of embedded XP (no database for audio, all cached/scanned on boot), direct integration for the IBUS controls, and optimized for Nano ITX systems with low CPU clock speeds and minimal memory footprints - because everything out there performs extremely poorly on these (yes Centrafuse I am talking about your bloated software).

*Update 2* Car is up for sale and all this stuff is for sale.