E36 Radio Wiring Diagram

[AddictofE30]

I had a bit of trouble finding the wiring diagram for my radio so I thought I would do something to help others trying to wire a sub and amp to their E36. Here is a wiring diagram that I made with the help of one found at a different website. Perhaps this thread could either be stickied or a link to it posted in one of the stickies.

BMW E36 Radio/Stereo Wiring Diagram

[Daved]

Actually the audio stuff goes in the Car Audio forum but I'll leave this here just in case someone searches for it in this forum.

[MikeW]

I had a bit of trouble finding the wiring diagram for my radio so I thought I would do something to help others trying to wire a sub and amp to their E36.

Thanks! Very helpful!

-Mike

[whatthe]

just a note- grey/red is for illumination/dimming feature for when the headlights turn on at night (or was on my 93).

[sam01722]

Does anybody know what pin 4 is used for?
The aerial in my car is terrible and i have been told that i have an amplifired aerial and i need to make sure its being powered, i would have imagined it would take the power from the remote turn on, but this is connected and still getting no radio!!!
Any ideas would be appreciated!

[sam01722]

???

[m2pc]

Does anybody know what pin 4 is used for?
The aerial in my car is terrible and i have been told that i have an amplifired aerial and i need to make sure its being powered, i would have imagined it would take the power from the remote turn on, but this is connected and still getting no radio!!!
Any ideas would be appreciated!

There's an amplifier module located in the rear "C" pillar that's accessible from the inside by popping off the panel. On U.S. cars it's on the driver's side (left side of car when sitting in the seat).

[sam01722]

yup yup i have found, i have disconnected it all and reconnected it but still no radio

[drewbagd]

Hey guys, couple quick questions! Why are there two 12v switched pines (5 and 10)? Also, if I'm splicing into my alpine deck do I need anything to go to #4? Thanks for all the help, been trying to get the cd player installed since I got the car.
D

Also, my alpine head unit (cda 9883) has something called an audio interrupt in lead... Where would that splice into? Im wondering if that goes to one of the 12v switched sources or not? Just tryin to get some tunes!

[frodaddy89]

hey, i have this jensen radio im trying to hook up.....and i dont have the antenna plugged in but there is no sound when i turn on the radio and play a cd.....but it does turn on...
so summary radio turns on but no sound whats wrong??

[M3Alpine99]

hey, i have this jensen radio im trying to hook up.....and i dont have the antenna plugged in but there is no sound when i turn on the radio and play a cd.....but it does turn on...
so summary radio turns on but no sound whats wrong??

You didn't wire the harness correctly. Your OEM amp is not turning on.

[toointoxicated62]

hate to bring up an old thread but the link doesn't work, i need the e36 radio wiring pinouts

[mijbr90190]

hate to bring up an old thread but the link doesn't work, i need the e36 radio wiring pinouts

Dtm has one that i used when redoing the stereo. Ill try and see if its still in my email.

Edit: here you go http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/attach...-e36stereo.gif

[toointoxicated62]

Dtm has one that i used when redoing the stereo. Ill try and see if its still in my email.

Edit: here you go http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/attach...-e36stereo.gif

For the negative speaker wires, i just ground them to the chassis? Since e30's use common ground setup?

[SethuM]

For the negative speaker wires, i just ground them to the chassis? Since e30's use common ground setup?

oh no...

[mijbr90190]

For the negative speaker wires, i just ground them to the chassis? Since e30's use common ground setup?

Im not entirely sure. You would have to ask someone with more knowledge on the topic. That was my first time doing anything car audio wise.

[toointoxicated62]

oh no...

I take it that i have to run new wire to each speaker damn it.

[Chivo23]

I bought a 96 328i last september and since, I haven't had any sound in my car. The factory stereo was not working and did not turn on at all. Checked the fuses and all of them were fine. I assume that the LCD display is toast. So I Just installed an aftermarket unit, but I still dont have any sound. I used an aftermarket wiring harness to connect the new unit and the antenna. Everything is connected correctly. On the antenna, there is an extra wire tapped to it that I did not connect and dont know what it is for. Anyone know what I can do to get sound from my stereo? Help please. Dying with no sound!! Thansk

[jfredrichardson]

So I have followed the guide and spliced all the wires, and everything works, but I am only getting treble out of all the speakers. Any Ideas?

[randomy]

Did you bypass the factory amp, or just pull a line out from it, because it splits up the frequencies? If you used a line out form the amp, you just got a range of frequency, not a full signal.

[dozanti]

Just a quick add on, I had an aftermarket radio in my car when I got it. Didnt like it and had a nicer one sitting in the garage. The radio signal sucked so I figured the newer cd player would fix it. Still nothing changed in signal and no sound out of the cd function just radio. I called a local shop concerning the "no sound" when on CD mode, and he asked which blue wire I hooked up to the after market blue wire on the harness. I told him the solid blue, he told me to change the wire to the blue/white (power antenna wire) and it would kick the factory amp on, and sure enough i had it functioning correctly. As for the signal, I took both C pillars off, and tightened the connections to the fm/am modules. Also I cleaned the flat connectors that are to the window for the antenna. Still nothing, so I dug into the factory antenna plug for the back of the radio, and decided it was the problem. The aftermarket antenna connector was fine, and when I pulled the factory plug apart, the single little copper wire that connects to the pin in the center of the plug had broken. I trimmed a little off of the wire to give my self more length and carefully reconnected it. It took some patients. I plugged it back in and boom, ever radio station came in full and clear.

[88ix]

This is the all treble guy on my login. I did not bypass the amp, is it difficult to pull the pillar off and bypass it? I did not buy a harness because I thought just splicing the wires would just do the same job, or does it change the frequency to match the factory amp? Im looking for the simplest fix. Thanks.

[88ix]

Bump

[dozanti]

I wouldnt splice the wires, you can get the harness for 20 bucks at any audio shop. It will save you a lot of headache. If you already have and still have the factory end to the wires you cut, re connect and buy the plug harness. If done right you can switch a radio out in 30 minutes. With my antenna problem, I could get the radio out in 40 seconds and have it unplugged and plugged back in quickly

[spider2077]

sorry for the offtopic but I am trying to retrofit a e36 325i coupe antena on a e30 can any one give me a wiring diagram of the antena or tell me how to do it ??