Jason's stereo problems...

["Rod Birch" <HOTROD930@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jason wrote:
I have a 1987 325is, and I am trying to put in a Blaupunkt Toranto deck.
When I bought the car it came with a deck already. I tried ever wire and it
didnt work, it wouldnt even turn on. The stock amp is bypassed. I was told
that had to be done and couldve been the problem.  I hooked it up directly
to the battery and grounded it and it still didnt work. I brought it to my
local dealer and he checked it and it turned on. So I checked the wires in
the dash for volts and hooked up the deck to the 12volt wire and it doesnt
work. If this makes any sense to you could you please help me. Thank you for
your time.

*****If you hooked up your stereo right to the battery and achieved same
results (didn't power up) then you've bypassed the wires in the dash, and
they may or may not even be part of the problem.  If you took the head unit
to a dealer and he connected it and powered it up, then you're not doing
something correctly.  There are two positive leads on your radio, and the
Blaupunkt Toronto head unit follows the EIA wiring standard of colors,
meaning that you'll have a yellow lead which needs to be connected to a
constant, full time 12 volt wire, a red wire which needs to be connected to
a "switched" source, that is a 12 volt wire that is energized only when the
key is in the accessory or ignition position.  The black lead, of course,
needs to be grounded.  Once these wires are connected properly, the radio
should turn on.  If you're unsure about any of this, including the speaker
wires which you also need to connect with the proper polarity, I'd highly
recommend you find a professional, ideally MECP certified to perform the
installation work.  Many things can go wrong if you don't connect the radio
properly, above and beyond poor sound or no sound at all.  You can ground
the illumination lead, which will blow a fuse and probably affect the
dashboard illumination since it's likely on the same circuit.  The power
antenna needs to receive a 12 volt signal to function, or it will stay
retracted and you'll have poor reception or none at all.  If your amplifier
is "bypassed", then you may want to examine the quality of the connections
and their nature at the amplifier and at the head unit to make sure that
everything is wired properly.  This installation might be best left to
someone who uses a multimeter to find the correct leads, and has familiarity
with common speaker wiring practices.  Ideally, someone who is also familiar
with the BMW, which has some unusual challenges sometimes including a
factory fader control mounted on the dash.

Good luck!

- -Rod Birch