3 left side speakers not working
 

My left rear bass in parcel shelf and my bass and tweeter in my driver's door don't work.

I've checked connections and fuses...

When I was inside the door, with the radio on, I could wiggle the bass speaker connection and it would come on. Turn off the radio, turn it back on, speaker wouldn't work again. I could keep doing this and always get the speaker to come on, but when the radio is cycled off and on, it doesn't come back on.

I've cleaned and checked every connection, including from the amp, radio, and in the door loom...though my 'checking' was just visual.

I really don't want to start ripping wires apart to see which one failed as there must be about 30 in the bundle from the amp.

So...first, do speakers just go bad and might they go bad like by drivers door bass?

I've heard the amp sends single separately to different speakers, so I'm suspecting that. Any chance of any local NJ person maybe trusting me enough to swap amps to see if that might be it? If you do, I'll promise to tell you everything I see wrong on your car in return for the favor?

Anyway, asking in General first to see if there's troubleshooting I can do. I'm not so swift with multimeter yet...maybe a link to multimeter training? Tips on testing/identifying pins from amp?

Do I have to have Delmarco's wife hold up a sign for me? Maybe that female fanatic that posted that nood photo would hold up the sign...that'd be sure to help!

Doug

A wiring diagram should help: http://www.bmwgm5.com/Stereo_amp.htm

:gasp: dmax in need of help? lol.

the amp does send signals separately. If you don't know how to use a multimeter youtube can probably help you with that

Here what each cable does

Grey ½ of connector

Pin # 13 / Tweeter Rear Right door + * Yellow Pin # 21 / Tweeter Rear Right door - *Blue / yellow

Pin # 12 / Tweeter Front Right - Blue / Brown Pin #20 / no connection

Pin # 11 / Tweeter Front Right + Blue / black Pin #19 / no connection

Pin # 10 / Switched +12v remote turn on White Pin #18 / no connection

Pin # 9 / Head unit output Front Right + Blue / red Pin #17 / Head unit output Front Right - Brown / orange

Pin # 8 / Head unit output Rear Right + Blue / black Pin #16 / Head unit output Rear Right - Brown / orange

Pin # 7 / no connection Pin #15 / no connection

Pin # 6 / no connection Pin #14 / no connection

Pin # 5 / +12v factory amp +12v supply *Red / green

Pin # 4 / Woofer Front Left +Blue / white

Pin # 3 / Woofer Front Left -Blue / brown

Pin # 2 / Woofer Rear Left +Yellow

Pin # 1 / Woofer Rear Left -Brown



Black ½ of connector

Pin # 34 / Tweeter Front Left - Yellow / brown Pin # 42 / Mid Front Right door + *Green

Pin # 33 / Tweeter Front Left + Yellow / red Pin #41 / Mid Front Right door - *Blue / green

Pin # 32 / Tweeter Rear left door - * Yellow / brown Pin #40 / Mid Front left door + *White

Pin # 31 / Tweeter Rear Left door + * Yellow / black Pin #39 / Mid Front left door - *Blue / white

Pin # 30 / Head output Front left - Brown / orange Pin #38 / Head output Front Left + Yellow / red

Pin # 29 / Head output Rear Left - Brown / orange Pin #37 / Head output Rear Left + Yellow / black

Pin # 28 / no connection Pin #36 / no connection

Pin # 27 / no connection Pin #35 / no connection

Pin # 26 / DC ground factory ampBrown

Pin # 25 / Woofer Rear Right +Blue

Pin # 24 / Woofer Rear Right -Brown

Pin # 23 / Woofer Front Right +Blue / Red

Pin # 22 / Woofer Front Right -Blue / Brown

Tell me about it!

After a year of not working, they came on yesterday. A miracle.

Today they're off again. I'm down to amp or a few of the 30 wires coming from amp that I don't want to deal with! Rather listen to car anyway, so it's all good...except for the crappy parts!




I'm on phone so if I wrote something stupid, it was probably the phone!

Wow...think I can work with this! You're officially now my favorite fanatic!

Thanks so much!

I'm on phone so if I wrote something stupid, it was probably the phone!

Did you ever figure this out?

No, but I sort of stopped trying!

Since it's both the door speakers and the rear package shelf speaker, I think it must be the amp.

You have a similar issue?

Yea, it's just the left side tho, the rear shelf and subs work. Idk, might be a grounded wire or something.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Bimmer

Douglas, I didnt know you were into audio. I thought you were like Kalim, listening only to engine noise.

Are you an audio guru? perhaps you could tell me why I get static sometimes while listening to my cd player :hmm:

For the door only, I was thinking metal fatigue at the bend in the hinged side. Just like the trunk lid loom. I've checked all connections, cleaned them all, hooked and unhooked the amp, then got frightened by the simple solution offered above with all that technical stuff!

Hmmm, you know what, when I reported it as fixed, I had the door open, then turned on the radio full tilt, closed the door, it stayed on, but then didn't come on again when I turned radio on...it might be the reason why my door speakers aren't working...come to think of it! I know amps go bad and that just one or another outputs might be bad...that's where that diagram above comes in!

Was also thinking that a shock replacement might have kinked one of the wires that need to come out. It got to the point that it could be a few things, none of which I really wanted to deal with.

Fixing the wire coming out of the door, I think needs the door to be off the hinges...maybe not, but it's a tight corner to solder in! Maybe I could just crimp, though it's in a rubber hose, so it's a tight space.

Anyway, that's why I stopped! I rarely listen to the radio. AM for traffic reports if I'm going into the city, and NPR, which I don't need to hear on all the speakers.

Then, you know, I just listen to my engine and the sounds of my car falling apart!

I've first got to fix my broken reverse light...broken wire in the loom again! Damn!

And I don't think I knew you and I shared a common faithlessness!

See my crossed-post below. Started typing it a while ago and hadn't refreshed!

I'm like Kalim a lot, evidently. You know, last week, we both read the same bedtime story--Bentley--removing rear axle carrier. I won't tell you how it turned out!

I have no idea here doug... no idea :tsk:

I should've figured!

So, we on for our spa meet?

Reading your posts sounds like you think the problem is in the "accordion" for the wiring in the door jambs? I know on my mr2s this was a common problem. I would remove door panel, unhook harness, push it out of the door, repair wiring making sure to not have connections in the accordion and then push back in, reconnect. Never tried on the ol e46, of course, I would try to get the wire harness out of the door before removing the door.

That's a strong possibility.

I didn't try to pull the wire out of the door, really. It unplugs from the body side, so that can't be pushed into the door...and I don't think there's much play with the wires, but there may be...haven't really pursued that, but it could make it a bit easier to have even a few extra inches to work with.

The amp itself, as the source, could suffer an intermittent output problem. When near ground or high resistance is detected, they go into protection and snuff the output. I'd open the common (channel) connection points and use temporary by-pass jumpers for testing to see if you can restore certain speakers while others are disabled. May at least tell you where the problem is. Tweeters, mid-bass and shelf speakers have dedicated amp cross-over outputs from the amp. The amp therefore is multi-channel. I can't see why front door and the rear shelf combo fail as separate amps unless the entire channel source (preamp signal) is dying? Are there any left-side speakers that remain working?

Yea, both left doors have a speaker working.

I don't know what 'open common connection points' means, though I can certainly jump from a working speaker into a non-working one...but I don't think it's the speaker and I know it's not the entire channel.

Hmmm? So a wire hitting ground could coz the amp to shut off that one speaker?

Once again, why I'm glad I'm deaf in one ear and don't listen to the radio!

I thought I read that if one speaker is grounded then it shuts that one side down. Left or right

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Bimmer

That's what I said to myself too, LOL