back again with another mod/ kind of DIY. seems i do something new every week to my car. anyways, when i sold my old truck i took out the sound system, had it in my closet taking up space. now the sound system on my e60 sounded so good, i never thought of adding extra subs. after i got my ipod hooked up to my e60, i missed the bass i used to have in my old truck. so i figured ill install it since it was just sitting around. let me say, altogether it took me about 20-30 minutes. by far the easiest sub/amp install i have ever did.

ok, i guess this isnt really a DIY, i just thought id show how i spiced the wires together. now i know there is this harness out there for sale that allows you not to spice into the wire. but im just as iffy about spicing or cutting stock wires as everyone else, but 80 bucks just does not justify 60 cents worth of spice connectors...just unwrap the electrical tape, get about half way down the wires, and then spice into the wires...seriously, if you want remove the taps, just wrap the tape back up, and ta-da! like nothing ever happened. taping the wires makes it as easy as doing the hardness. and you got about 79.40 cents left to spend on something else.

anyways, you want to spice into the sub wires that are under your seat which are red/white and brown/yellow, and you connect these to a convertor that turns the speaker signal into RCA (any stereo shop sells these from 10 to 25 bucks. from the RCA you can connect it to your amp. the remote wire is the purple/white wire. this turns the amp on or off when the car is on/off.

i kept it very simple with a small 10" Memphis to a 2k watt amp. it is pretty loud. i still have most of my trunk space, took up very little room. and above the trunk theirs these holes i used to loop the wiring into to wires hang down right on the amp instead of on the carpet. overall i am very happy with the sound and having my loud bass back. because the trunk is enclosed, you will really feel the bass inside the car. outside, you dont hear much. which is good, i hate hearing the people next to me sound system, but i enjoy my bass LOUD inside my car. so i am very happy with this simple setup. and removing the amp/sub is simple if i ever need to have the full trunk space.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...s/IMAG0778.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...s/IMAG0779.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...s/IMAG0781.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...s/IMAG0782.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...s/IMAG0780.jpg

sorry bad photos, i used my cellphone and it is really sunny here in southern california...ok, now time for me to cruise the beach...

you have low inputs there, so why did you use the LOC.

im not too sure what you mean? when i talked to a the dude the local stereo shop he told me the wires to connect it to. i searched online and saw people connected it to those wires as well.

either way everything seems to be working great. but getting questioned by the famous bruce_miranda has me a bit concerned on my install lol ... any help or input i would appreciate. only wires tapped where the 3 (sub speaker - + and REM)

Here's a document I used (and added Bruce's wire descriptions to) when I did my install. No LOC needed... I also added my amp that just runs my sub in the trunk so if you have one lying around...

P.S. - I'd listen to Bruce over the "dude" at the stereo shop.

ok ok i see what you guys mean. i didnt have to use that LOC since the signal is already there at the other side of the amp with the wires going to the subs. so i could have just spiced the RCA cable directly onto the line thats going to the factory subs, and phase out the convertor completely? is the line i spiced my wires to correct? or should i spice it onto the harness lines thats ontop of the factory amp?

my system seems to work and sound great, but if theres a better way, and/or way to have less things there, then im all ears.


and ive read enough about bruce to know he is the man when it comes to these things. which is why when he posted, i was a bit concerned as i did something wrong. definitely trust any input he says.

You should be good. You would need a LOC for the speaker output lines you tapped. We were just pointing out you really didn't need it if you tapped the line level outputs. If it sounds good that's all that matters!

well there you go everyone for future reference... NO loc needed if you spice it on the line going to subs, and if you did it like i did, then you need the LOC...ill probably spice it to the other side just to clear that compartment of stuff i dont need. ill feedback on how it goes next day off.

thanks bruce and rictor for your input.

So I just a solder a 1 channel RCA cable to the red/white and brown/yellow wires? Then use a RCA Y adapter to make it 2 channel?


Which of the red/white and brown/yellow are positive and negative?

Thank you for the added clarification.

Two questions..
I believe you connected to wires going into the factory amp... you didnt mention an amp install, did you use the factory amp? if so, was it useful? 2nd, are you able to get any bass in the cabin, without opening ski pass area?

Thanks.

you can tell that he tapped into the line levels going into the factory amp to convert it into low level (RCA) output so that usually means that he's going to feed another amp. So I would assume he does have another amp.