Thread: [CoupeE46] BMW E46 2001 330ci CarPC ...

ok.. screen has been shipped, ups says estimated arrival date is next week .. all i need now is the bezel and the project will be underway...

I have started the pc tuning.. have RR, Idrive skin, and all other files configured.. now just need the screen for test runs...

Quick question, I am using the M2-ATX Power supply.. Would the gauge wire that came with the power supply be sufficient for tapping into the battery ?? or would you suggest me running a smaller gauge ?? same goes for Ground ??

many thanks in advance..

btw- i will take more pics of the current dash, and trunk (where pc will be placed in) tomorrow and post.. I just cant wait..

bezel has been ordered, and hopefully be done and here by end of week.. and i will be starting the project saturday.. I am lagging on the before pics, which i will have today promise ..

alright.. finally gota few shots in.. so here ya go..

Here is how my stock console looks as of right now



This is the current system Config.. As you can see I have 3 external Molex connector on the outside of the case, for the Cd drive power wiring, and lilliput power.



here is the Sven4 that I will use to take the sound from PC to stock system hookup.

alright, here are the updates :::

Purchase a few more things today, adding the about $100 to the total.

Firewire-PCI Card (mianly for the M-Audio) ::



Tray Loaded Cd/DVD+/- combo ::



USB 10' Extension Cable (for lilliput TS feature) ::



10' SVGA Extension Cable (again for the lilliput) ::



Finally the Face of it all Lilliput 619gl TS ::



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Now for the wiring and testing of the system in the vehicle ..

First I had to figure out where to wire for power, and ground.. Since the PC will be located in the trunk and after a few reading and searching on the boards i figured a straight tap to the Battery terminal for Power and body chassis for Ground would be ideal. Luckily my battery is placed in the rear of the vehicle as well, so makes it a lot easier for access as well as running the wires. Also I have included a 15amp FUSE in the power line, just in case .



It was a good hour job to have everything wired to the Terminals, one of the reason was because my wire stripper was ****ty, so had to purchase a new one. Anyhow, got the wiring done, now it was time for testing to make sure the ground was good enough, as well as power. This is where my handy dandy UTI multimeter came in handy ..



Great, everything checked out fine ground is Good. Now I had to Power test the PSU to make sure it was working, so i had wired the Ignition Cable straight to the Positive terminal of the battery to see if it turned on, in an instant "we have Lift OFF!!" ..

---pic came out blurry ---

Now, it was time to find the Ignition WIRE/REmote wire in the vehicle to tap into. This process took probably a good 2 HOURS!!! because darn wire tap wasnt sharp enough.. .. Now for those with an E46 BMW, i found a great site writeup on the Color Codes and PIN description of the AMP Connector located in the Rear :: WIRE/PIN DESCRIPTION

Note: You can read the connector number by removing its sleeve, it is actually two connectors hold by it. There are clips on the side end, All you have to do is pull up flap and slide them out. Knowing the polarity is only important if you plan on using existing tweeter and midrange units.

Brown color is always (-) or ground.



Power Connection
pin # Wire Color Description
10 White switched +12V (hot when radio on)
5 Red/Green +12V (always on, main power)
26 Brown ground (for amp power unit)

Input Connection (or head unit output)

pin #
Wire Color Description
37 Yellow/Red (+) Front left
30 Brown/Orange Front left ground
36 Yellow/Black (+) Rear left
29 Brown/Orange Rear left ground
9 Blue/Red (+) Front right
17 Brown/Orange Front right ground
8 Blue/Black (+) Rear right
16 Brown/Orange Rear right ground


Input and output (Amp Harness male)

Woofer connection

pin #
Wire Color Location
23 Blue/Red (+) Front right
22 Blue/Brown (-) Front right
25 Blue (+) Rear right
24 Brown (-) Rear right
2 Yellow (+) Rear left
1 Brown (-) Rear left
4 Blue/White (+) Front left
3 Blue/Brown (-) Front left

Tweeter Connection
pin # Wire Color Location
33 Yellow/Red (+) Front left
34 Yellow/Brown (-) Front left
31 Yellow/Black (+) Rear left
32 Yellow/Brown (-) Rear left
13 Yellow (+) Rear right
21 Blue/Yellow (-) Rear right
11 Blue/Black (+) Front right
12 Blue/Brown (-) Front right

Midrange Connection
(for HK Upgrade)
pin # Wire Color Location
41 Blue/Green (-) Front right
42 Green (+) Front right
39 Blue/white (-) Front left
40 White (+) Front left

So basically i found the ignition wire, just to double check i used the handy dandy multimeter , YUP struck gold when ignition is in the ON position its HOT .. I used a wire tap i picked up from autozone, to bad it did not even splice through the sleeve so took me 30minutes to figure out why the PC did not want to turn on, once again the MULTIMETER came in handy and figured out the tap was unsuccesfull , So i had to pry it open this time I took my Blade cut a small section of the sleeve to expose the wires of the IGNITION cable, and retapped, and WALLA it worked.



Connected all the wires (power/ground/ignition) turned the key, and and watch the MONSTER come to LIVE!!!

Now, it is time to tackle the next PHASE .. Wiring the lilliput for power, connect SVEN4 and Run wires to the front dashboard ..

STAY TUNED ...!!

EDIT!! *MUST READ* ::

ok, so i kinda goofed in the above post, yes when i tapped into the ignition wire from the AMP in the rear trunk, the system came alive, but you see i still had the stock HEADUNIT installed up front, now what happens is once the HEADUNIT is removed from the harness, that IGNITION wire i tapped into in the trunk from the AMP, becomes DEAD, which also means the AMP would not be powered as well, and that leads to no MUSIC!!

SO the quick-fix around it is this :: I basically ran a wire from the front to the rear (this wire is for the ignition wire) i tapped into the ignition wire from the front of the vehicle instead where it connects to the harness, then i ran that all the way to the rear and hooked it up to the carputers PSU, than i did another tap from that one ignition wire and wired it to the ignition wire that feeds to the AMP, now the AMP will be powered on when car is switched on ..

-Steph'

is your battery in the trunk by stock?

Originally Posted by Dennis5587

is your battery in the trunk by stock?

yes, its a BMW thing .. its great i have much more room under the hood and removal is easy..

nice job. what is that black box in the boot? is it an amplifier? I have a 2000 e46 but audio gear in the boot, speakers wired directly to the back of the headunit. Where are you putting the pc?

Originally Posted by synkro

nice job. what is that black box in the boot? is it an amplifier? I have a 2000 e46 but audio gear in the boot, speakers wired directly to the back of the headunit. Where are you putting the pc?

thanks.. the black box is the HK stock amp yes.. unfortunately i wont have the stock Headunit or any other type of headunit int the vehicle so i have to use the SVEN4 to have it wired to factory harness..

at the moment tackeling the wiring part from front dash to rear .. I will have the PC in the trunk, I was thinking of placing in the wheel well, but that long metal is blocking the way. So my next spot is the left side of the rear trunk, there are some open space where i can set the computer on its side, but have to figure out some type of mounting structure..

alright time for an update.. :: SUNDAY funday :: Feb. 11, 2007

Lets see, so i had some time left sunday to start taking stuff out of the car and in hopes of running the wires under the carpet. But before that i went out and picked up a few more goodies for the installs.

M-Barrel Plug for the lilliput POWER ::



I was thinking of soldering the plug to some wires, but went a different route and ended up purchasing the little adapter where the end of barrel hooks up to and splits into two separate wires. I had to use a multimeter as well as a small AA battery to make sure I knew which end of the wire is positive and negative. I am not sure if my lilliput has a reverse polarity auto detect feature, but to be on safe side i made sure the tip of the plug is (+) and the outside shield is (-) ..

The M-Barrel Adapter ::



I also picked up a 10amp inline fuse holder for the lilliput power line. (cant be to safe )



Now its time to start removing stuff ..

First thing i did was take out the rear seat ::



ok that was pretty simple, just popped right out .. next to do was start removing the center console so i can prerun the wires through..



now it was time to tackle removing the items in the center dash (Radio/Climate Control/Sunglass holder/AshTray)

First thing you have to do, is remove the Trim Kits along the Dash that way you can reveal the screws that hold the radio in place..I used the 5$ door trim remover tool i purchased from autozone, it was a breeze removal process just be sure to use a thin cloth as you dont want to scratch anything ??



next was the radio removal, this took long, reason was i could not get the darn harness to disconnect !! i find it was a much easier task to remove the harness using the trim kit remover tool, than using the flat head screwdriver as recommended.



Next step was removing the climate control, this was not hard at all. After that was done, it was time to remove the sunglass holder compartment, i find it a lot easier to push out from the back when climate control is removed, rather than trying to pull it out from the front (i could not get a grip from the front). this is the aftermath ::



sweet, everything came out pretty easy except the radio harness, so i still have time to take a trip down to the local STEALERS and pick up the Kit to move the Climate Control down to where the Sunglass Holder spot used to be. ..

should have taken a much more economical vehicle, i just spent $45 on the KIT as an additional $30 to get there and back (damn H2's are gas guzzler).. There are 3 part numbers for this kit, you have to make sure you get the correct one for your application, in my case i went " 51-16-7-001-408 " ..

Old KIT :: (the circled spots is the only difference between the old and new, the old one is curved therefore climate control wont fit properly, the new one is flat making it a perfect fit )



and the NEW ONE ::



With the Climate Control Fitted ::



.............

Now the fun part trying to run the wires/cables underneath the carpet.. after many attempts its a no go, its just to difficult as well as time consuming (removing panels and seats) in order to lift carpet to appropriate lift to run the wires through... So i will just have to take it to my Audio Guys and leave car there for them to pre-run the wires/cables..

-Steph'