I have an issue and I'm hoping someone here can help me... I have a 2010 E60 535i and according to my VIN I have the 676 system (American HiFi)... I bought the Match UP8BMW amp, but the harness isn't plug and play with my car... but according to my VIN number, it's supposed to be.. same with the Alpha One... I'm assuming it's because my car is CCC (small Harman Becker amp) and not CIC like it's supposed to be according to my VIN...

Is there an adapter/in between harness that I can buy that will allow me to use the amp, or am I SOL, and I have to send it back?

Thank yoiu

Harman Becker amp with harness (like mine)


Match UP8BMW with the harness (Not plug and play with my car)


Last 7 of my VIN if that helps: C164624

Thank you

 

You would want to do a CIC Top HiFi retrofit. The HiFi (only HiFi, not Top) amp is the larger harmon amp, and it powers all speakers, not just the subs under the front seat - as that one does.

This retrofit will be two part; The CIC itself, and the amp - which you can get the pigtail for, that will then plug and play for you into the DSP unit - if that unit was indeed designed for that. However, that DSP unit indicates to me that what you need is a Top HiFi system in order to be able to plug and play it into a system.

The Top HiFi or M Personal audio systems are the only factory systems I'm currently aware of, that came with DSP, or the Logic8, amp that may be plug and play for that DSP unit you're showing.

HiFi is a more base system, for American CIC, but there were further base systems elsewhere and for CCC systems. These systems have an amp that is larger than the one you have, but which is still smaller than the Logic amp. It is not digital, it is simply better quality, and it will require you to wire your speakers differently as the deck no longer powers the speakers in the HiFi set up.

Here's my write up for the OEM HiFi CIC retrofit (the HiFi amp portion of the retrofit, once you've retrofit the CIC and noticed that the sound absolutely sucks).

https://5series.net/forums/diy-do-yo...8/#post1612350

Hope that helps.

 

Thx... but I just realized... my car IS CIC... my control knob is the one with all the buttons (more buttons than the CCC system)

it's almost like my car ia half and half... CIC up front with the control knob and the OS and CCC with the tiny Harman Becker amp

 

Oh your pictures are making me miss my 06.

Yes, you have a 2010, depending on the month/year release it might have come with a CIC, but your car would have been candidate (the electronic shift stick says so) for an OEM retrofit anyways, so retrofitting the CIC into the car would have been very easy. However, based on the amp and setup you seem to have, I'd have to wager that it had a CCC Mask in it originally.

The HiFi (non digital, non Logic) amp that would come with a system with HiFi looks like this:


The amp you have is definitely the base CCC system amp.

If you look at the retrofit link I gave, you would still need to make the following changes:

1. FL, FR speaker-level outputs running to the front from the amp
2. RL, RR speaker-level outputs running to the rear deck from the amp
3. The sub's speaker-level outputs can be reused from the amp to the subs

Typically, you'd cut the rear speaker outputs from the quadlock by the back seat, extend them to the amp as line-level inputs from the quadlock, and then run speaker wire from the amp to the rear deck to power the speakers - tying into them at the rear seat where you cut them originally.

Next, you'd run 8 more wires, 4 of which would be the front line-level inputs from behind the quadlock to the amp (cic outputs as inputs to the amp), and the other 4 would be the front speaker-level outputs from the amp to the existing speaker wires behind the quadlock, removed, and spliced in.

However, you want to use a DSP amp, which is digital. So rather than using line-level speaker inputs to the HK amp, you would want to run a digital setup from the CIC to the logic amp (or that DSP unit you have).

This changes up that retrofit quite a bit. Yet, you still do need to get all the speakers powered by the amp itself, so those changes need to be done.

In a Top HiFi, there is also an extra speaker that the HiFi and lower systems don't have.

Now as far as getting that digital signal goes, I do believe its optical - I haven't done that retrofit, so I'm not exactly sure what's involved, but it will require running optical and tying into the MOST bus.

 

Your came with CHAMP from factory. That's where your confusion is. You have a second gen iDrive not 3rd gen.

 

My 06 had a ccc mask in it. The CHAMP module is a less advanced business-level unit, that I believe is the replacement for the CCC-Mask, but regardless, to have something higher level than the basic business radio one would still have a CCC, even in 2010 (if it was prior to the CIC).

My 09 X5 had the CCC, and the joy did not have those buttons. I didn't think the joy from the pre-CIC units - regardless of what they were - were the same as the joy from the CIC.

However, I wouldn't know for certain. I'd just figure with a 2010, it's not impossible for the previous owners to have done a CIC unit retrofit.

Dark Vader - Take a pic of the menu from the infotainment and post it -- we can tell you if its a CIC by how it looks.

- Sorry for all the edits - I did some quick research to reinforce my own confidence there.

 

It came with the CIC controller. I don't know what's currently in the vehicle now I can only say what his car came with from factory and right now everything is pointing to it being all original. A lot of people have never seen a CHAMP setup because it's rare. Not many vehicles had it installed

 

His pics show a CIC controller with the media and nav buttons. A variation of the question with Google does confirm that later units of the champ module did come with the CIC controller.

The amp he has is the smaller HK amp. It's not the HiFi amp, and he doesn't have the Logic amp from the digital setup. Sorry, I don't know it all - though I was motivated to finish what I started so went off some presumptions there. Fail.

Another assumption I have is that you could have had the CIC will full features enabled, and yet still had the basic audio system. It would have been a whacky-do configuration to order from factory that way, but its not impossible. My X5 had a CCC Professional Nav, with the base audio. This was HiFi though, maybe that amp does give a tell, Idk.

I wouldn't have thought the champ would have come with the CIC joystick. I can't tell from looks whether the display is smaller or not, that's another significant different between the CIC and the champ, according to my research.

If it is a champ module, and according to my research, a champ module does not output digital signals. So he'll need/want to retrofit to CIC first, then do a sound system retrofit from there.

Dark Vader, I can't do anything with the last 7 of your vin, I'd need the whole number. Otherwise, the only way I could confirm for you is to see the menu interface directly. You could also remove the trim over the radio buttons, the sticker label on the unit (right on the front under the trim) will say CHAMP or HU CIC. It will also lack a hard drive cover/slot if its CHAMP. You could post a pic of that for us too if you want. There's your tell. The major point is that seanjordan20 is correct, and you can't assume you have a CIC, it could be a CHAMP.