Cartmanizm

Hey guys,

As some of you know, I've recently installed the Patrys CIC retrofit kit on my 2007 530i LCI coded for HiFi (10 speakers). As a result of that, the entire sound system has been practically rendered fairly useless due to how the CIC handles the sound processing and amplification. Prior to my CIC installation, I've purchased and installed BSW's stage one plug and play speakers, however they require a fair bit of amplification to drive the speakers to its potential. After the CIC retrofit, they no longer perform how it should.

Following the advice of our fellow board members bruce_miranda and nelson29, I've decided to do away with the BSW speakers (as the purpose of them is a plug and play replacement, and the CIC retrofit has defeated the purpose of them) and go with a completely new setup. This thread will track and log the progress and hopefully will help other members who are also stuck in a similar situation after a CIC retrofit. I'll invite everybody to participate and give handy tips and experience and hopefully together we can solve this annoying problem!

Now I don't really have a fixed budget in mind, however I'll put a $1,500 price as a general guide. Since it is a secondary music setup, I don't feel the need to splash out a lot of money on it. I'm not too fussed with an additional subwoofer, I like my bass to be tight and concise and the mid range drivers usually do pretty well in that field already, and installing a sub would only take up my precious boot space and take up too much of my budget.

Having said all of that, I begin my search for the right set of speakers and amplifier!

nelson29

check out post 13 by Techinc https://5series.net/forums/topic/998...1#entry1189344

Cartmanizm

Thanks Nelson29. I've contacted Technic and I'll post an update of the latest progress.

Technic has recommend that for my $1500 budget it would be best to keep the BSW speakers (as they can be easily upgraded down the track if it is still lacking) and here is what I've currently purchased:

Kicker 8MIDBASS(PAIR) SS
JBL MS-8 MS Series Digital Processor
JL Audio XD Series 2 Channel Mobile Amplifier
Quadralock (from Bluespot)
OEM Individual Audio center speaker

I'm in Australia and these items are shipping first to a freight forwarder in USA then to Australia so it might take 3-4 weeks to get to me!

bruce_miranda

Can you please post your intended set-up here because I can't quite work that out from your shopping list.

Cartmanizm

From my understanding of what Technic has told me here is how it is going to work:

The JBL MS-8 will power the following:
BSW Speakers (10 speaker/tweeter)
OEM individual Audio Center Speaker (on the front dash on top of the iDrive, or there abouts)

The JL Audio XD S2 will power:
Kicker 8 Mid Bass (under seat woofers)

I believe the CIC will connect to the JBL MS-8 via the Quadralock harness to power the speakers and then the JL Audio XD S2 will take 2 signal points from the MS-8 and further amplify them and feed it to the 2 Kicker 8's. Having said that I have no idea how I'm actually going to do that as I've never wired a car audio setup before. If what I've posted is wrong please advise.

Now in the meantime while the parts are on the way I would like to get all the wiring and installation knowledge under my belt. I've done a bit of searching on the forums but haven't really come up with anything that will help with the specifics of the wiring process.

Cartmanizm

Now I've also been recommended to get the Quadralock Harness for the CIC and an OEM amp harness. Since Technic no longer sells the Quadralock, he recommended that I purchase the Blaupunkt PnP harness below:
http://www.bluespot.co.uk/car-audio....amplifier-loom

So I've bought that one too and will get the OEM amp harness from Technic. I just can't seem to figure out anything else though (might be easier once I receive the goods) but the Quadralock is 5m, so I'm assuming it will run from the back of the CIC to the amp area in the boot. But where will these wires be fed through to go? Then if the OEM Quadralock connector plugs into the Quadralock harness which is fed to the rear of the vehicle, what actually goes to plug in the CIC? Now since I've done the HiFi "fix" for the CIC, do I reverse the wiring back to stock?


Now where does the OEM amp harness come into play and how will the wiring specifics be done?

I'm so confused

bruce_miranda

I would suggest you wait until all your stuff comes in before I attempt to provide you with some help. As I said I still dont understand what all that gear you have bought is for?

e.g. Which amp for which speakers

But basically what you are going to have to do is.

Put the CIC plug back to how it was because from now on all the modifications will be done on the pnp harness that you have bought. You need to route the CIC speaker outputs to your amp and the outputs of the amp back to the speakers.

You won't need to bother about the sub woofers outputs anymore from the CIC because you will be taking the 4 speaker outputs which are all low now.

CIC -> Speakers Output -> Amp -> Speaker Wires

palmer02

i did ask this question previously but a bit confused now if i do the cic upgrade will i have to upgrade the stereo system (i'm happy with std setup)

nelson29

@Cartmanizm-

This is what you need to do=

Reverse the quadralock to how i was. Tap into the front outputs of the cic with speaker cable to rca cables like these http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...l.php?cat_id=5 and connect it to input 1 and 2 of the MS-8. You will need to run new speaker wire to each front speaker. I guess you will be tapping into the underseat subwoofers by using Technic's OEM amp harness so that you wont have to run new wire. You should also be able to get the remote wire for the MS-8 from the OEM amp harness.

Did you have navigation before the CIC? if you didnt this is the diagram for the M-ask unit on where to tap the front outputs.

Im not familiar with the Blaupunkt PnP harness but this is another option that worked for me. When i originally did my system 4 years ago my only option was tapping on to M-ask harness. The blaunkpukt might be a better option, looks like it definetly cleaner way.

Since the ms-8 is powering the bsw speaker the way i would wire it is

1. front left tweeter
2. front right tweeter
3. front left midrange
4. front right midrange
5.
6.
7. OEM center channel
8. empty

on the output rca side of ms8 use

5. left kicker midbass
6. right kicker midbass

Btw, this is if you going active set up. if you going passive and want to use the rears some changes will need to be made.

i also recommend reading this MS-8 tip & tricks thread

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...ks-thread.html

Cartmanizm

Thanks nelson29. Yes I had the CCC pro nav before I retrofitted the CIC. I do want to use the rear speakers.

My Blaupunkt cable arrived today, and its made some things a bit clearer for me (thankfully).



Basically as you can see after connecting the cables up we will have pre-amped signal cable for the front 2 speaker sets and the rear 2 speaker sets (1 midrange and 1 tweeter per set) to run to the back of the car to be plugged into the MS-8. Then another set of post-amp signal cables to lead back to the CIC area and then power the speakers from there via the OEM cabling.

Now within each of the signal cable sets (lets take the rear end ones for this example) theres 4 individual cables, a purple/black, purple, green/black, green. Which cable is responsible for what? Does each single cable power a unit speaker driver or is it just 2 positive/negative sets which go to the rear midrange speaker then the audio is split to play either to the midrange or the tweeter via a crossover (is that right?).

Either way, this pretty much takes care of the front and rear speakers. However, I've still got a center speaker which I'm not sure how it will connect to the MS-8. Will I have to run another cable just for the center or do I just need to make a modification to the quadralock adapter to allow for the center speaker? If so, which bit?

Now as for the under seat woofers I believe Technic's OEM amp harness will connect directly to the MS-8, which will act as a pre-amplifier then connect to the JL XD-2 amp, which will finally route back to the Technic's OEM amp harness. Now there shouldn't be any additional wiring that needs to be done to the underseat woofers if I go down this route right?

I think its finally all coming together now but still a few points of mystery for me . Thank you all so much for taking the time to help!

Oh right and where exactly and how do I route the cables from the CIC to the rear of the car?