CIC Retrofit Installation LOG
Contributors
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 772
Likes: 2
From: Toronto, Canada
My Ride: 2007 Black Sapphire 535i
Today I finally set my sound system up on the CIC.
As everyone knows the Hi-Fi amp has changed between the CCC and the CIC. In the CIC the Hi-Fi amp drives all the speakers. To over-come this problem you have to buy an amp.
Here's what I did.
1. Reuse the old Hi-Fi amp to drive only the front speakers. I works perfect and it so small you can hide it above the glovebox in the front. All you need to do is rewire the CIC speaker outputs a bit. Take the CIC speaker outputs and feed them as amp inputs and then amp outputs feed back to the speaker wires. You can take power from the front fuse box as well.
2. Now replace the rear amp in the back with a new 4 channel amp. Use 2 channels to drive your sub woofers and the other 2 channels to drive your rear speakers. Getting to the rear speaker is very easy from inside the boot.
The sound is very good because the speakers are now all being driven by amps from low level outputs of the CIC.
As everyone knows the Hi-Fi amp has changed between the CCC and the CIC. In the CIC the Hi-Fi amp drives all the speakers. To over-come this problem you have to buy an amp.
Here's what I did.
1. Reuse the old Hi-Fi amp to drive only the front speakers. I works perfect and it so small you can hide it above the glovebox in the front. All you need to do is rewire the CIC speaker outputs a bit. Take the CIC speaker outputs and feed them as amp inputs and then amp outputs feed back to the speaker wires. You can take power from the front fuse box as well.
2. Now replace the rear amp in the back with a new 4 channel amp. Use 2 channels to drive your sub woofers and the other 2 channels to drive your rear speakers. Getting to the rear speaker is very easy from inside the boot.
The sound is very good because the speakers are now all being driven by amps from low level outputs of the CIC.
It didn't take very long after I had built the harnesses required. Everything is plug and play so I can return back to stock if required. The best part is that I was able to reuse the Stock Hi-Fi amp and this time around the amp that I considered too weak to run the OEM subs is perfect for running the speakers. The icing on the cake was there is no cross-over function in the amp itself, all low-pass filtering was being done in the HU so the Hi-Fi amp was just a low-in high-out. And for once I was not complaining about the size of the amp being too small as it fits very well over the glove box in the front.
This solution avoids the need to runs new wires through the car to the speakers because it reuses everything.
I like my solution much better than the hack to the OEM subs mentioned earlier on in this thread and elsewhere.
This solution avoids the need to runs new wires through the car to the speakers because it reuses everything.
I like my solution much better than the hack to the OEM subs mentioned earlier on in this thread and elsewhere.
Contributors
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 772
Likes: 2
From: Toronto, Canada
My Ride: 2007 Black Sapphire 535i
And was this your documented DIY on the process?:
Adding an aftermarket amplifier and subwoofers - plug and play
Adding an aftermarket amplifier and subwoofers - plug and play
Contributors
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,719
Likes: 3
From: London, UK
My Ride: BMW E60 520d SE Saloon M47 2.0dTitanium Grey II, Grey−Dakota Leather, Visibility Package, Media Package, Through Load System, Lumbar support − fr seats, Automatic Air Conditioning−Advanced, High beam assistant, Hi−Fi Loudspeak
Model Year: 2006
That was my previous DIY of adding the amp for the subs only. I used the same amp to now run the subs and the read speakers. The OEM amp is running the fronts.
Contributors
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 772
Likes: 2
From: Toronto, Canada
My Ride: 2007 Black Sapphire 535i
Thanks Bruce,
Technic has a harness assembly available to integrate with the rear Amp OEM connector to allow for a new Amp however building a CiC Quadralock harness to run the front speakers via the OEM amp may be the challenge. Is this something you would offer? Given the amount of people now completing the CiC upgrade with Patryk this could be a marketable add-on. Also have you considered a 5.8 center channel speaker install and driving this too from the OEM Amp above the glovebox?
Technic has a harness assembly available to integrate with the rear Amp OEM connector to allow for a new Amp however building a CiC Quadralock harness to run the front speakers via the OEM amp may be the challenge. Is this something you would offer? Given the amount of people now completing the CiC upgrade with Patryk this could be a marketable add-on. Also have you considered a 5.8 center channel speaker install and driving this too from the OEM Amp above the glovebox?
Contributors
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 772
Likes: 2
From: Toronto, Canada
My Ride: 2007 Black Sapphire 535i
Thanks Bruce,
Technic has a harness assembly available to integrate with the rear Amp OEM connector to allow for a new Amp however building a CiC Quadralock harness to run the front speakers via the OEM amp may be the challenge. Is this something you would offer? Given the amount of people now completing the CiC upgrade with Patryk this could be a marketable add-on. Also have you considered a 5.8 center channel speaker install and driving this too from the OEM Amp above the glovebox?
Technic has a harness assembly available to integrate with the rear Amp OEM connector to allow for a new Amp however building a CiC Quadralock harness to run the front speakers via the OEM amp may be the challenge. Is this something you would offer? Given the amount of people now completing the CiC upgrade with Patryk this could be a marketable add-on. Also have you considered a 5.8 center channel speaker install and driving this too from the OEM Amp above the glovebox?
Members
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
From: London
My Ride: E39 M5, E60 M5 and F06 M6GC
Model Year: 2000/2006/2016
Have finally got my CIC installed and, with some coding help from Patryk this morning, it is working a treat! Massive improvement on the CCC. Big thanks to Patryk!
Next step, of course, is to install the Combox. Am currently stuck with how to run the USB and Aux cables from the Combox through to the centre console. I want to run the cables along the existing wiring loom route from the luggage compartment into the cabin but haven't been able to remove the plastic entrance cover strip inside the rear left door. TIS suggests a special tool is required but I'm sure there must be another way to remove it. Anyone have any suggestions?
Next step, of course, is to install the Combox. Am currently stuck with how to run the USB and Aux cables from the Combox through to the centre console. I want to run the cables along the existing wiring loom route from the luggage compartment into the cabin but haven't been able to remove the plastic entrance cover strip inside the rear left door. TIS suggests a special tool is required but I'm sure there must be another way to remove it. Anyone have any suggestions?