Radio Install ?'s '06 RT

[C172MyP51]

I've purchased a Sony Marine radio/CD to install in my radio-ready RT. I've attached pix of what I've got to work with for reference.
Here's my understanding of what I need to do:
1.) Remove plastic
2.) Remove glove box (?)
3.) Connect the wiring harness that Sony provides to the Euro-adapter so that it plugs into the one on my bike. I'm going to solder & heat-shrink to cover.
4.) Connect BMW antenna to connecter under windshield (somehow).
5.) Plug Euro-antenna adapter to bike's antenna cord (wherever that is).
6.) Re-install everything.
7.) Enjoy tunes at highway speeds

I've never installed a radio before in my life, but have done some electrical work. I'm comfortable with plastic removal.
ANY and ALL advice appreciated!!

-Scott

 

[C172MyP51]

Radio

Here's the radio ($159 from Amazon)

 

[C172MyP51]

Antenna & adapter

Here's the adapter.

 

[C172MyP51]

Wiring harness adapter

Here's the wiring harness.

 

[C172MyP51]

Radio Install

Making progress. Still hoping somebody has some good advice for an aftermarket radio install.

 

[C172MyP51]

Radio Install

Hmmm...maybe this thread will become a how-to.
Removed right side plastic, removed glovebox, removed side panel of glovebox. Here I'm test-fitting the radio. Fits OK.

 

[KemoSabe]

radio install

Look 'n good! Interesting install. Keep it up and also the pictures! Thanks.

 

[patiodadio]

Thanks for posting, I have been thinking about adding a radio to my 05, but I don't know if I am brave enough to try.


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[C172MyP51]

Harness

I read that if you look REAL CLOSE at the wiring harness you can see the #'s of the wires. Using the Macro mode on my camera, I took a picture, and sure enough...they're there.

 

[C172MyP51]

Wiring Diagrams

Here's the info I'll be using to connect wires from the Sony wiring harness to the BMW one. Enjoy!

 

[C172MyP51]

Wiring List from RT to Sony

Here's the wires I'm going to solder together. If you spot something funky, please let me know!

 

[C172MyP51]

Update

My project is progressing, but like a lot of these types of things, it's veered off into uncharted territory. Fortunately, I'm learning new things, and maybe somebody else will improve on my directions and can figure out how to do this cheaper, faster, stronger, etc.

First up (and this was very tough for me to actually do!) I cut the wires from the OEM Radio-prep harness. There just wasn't enough room in there for the OEM harness, the adapter harness, and the Sony harness!

Here I've cut all the unique colored wires, leaving the "Red/Blue" color combinations that BMW seems to love so much. Thanks for that, BTW.

Next, following my wiring diagram, I'm soldering wires together in the order specified by Sony (ground, yellow, red, speakers). I've placed a piece of scrap wood underneath to catch dropping solder.

Following the soldering, I checked the voltage.

In hindsight, I should have checked the voltage BEFORE I did the soldering.
I was able to get a solid 12 from the yellow Sony wire, which is continuous power, but the red wire (switched power) read a big fat zero. Crap. The motor was working on the CD drive of the radio, because I could open the faceplate, insert a CD, and then eject it, but the faceplate wasn't lighting up and there was no sound coming out of the speakers.

More soon.

 

[C172MyP51]

Continued

I phoned 2 of the 3 BMW dealers that I live close to, including the one I bought the bike from, figuring they'd be a little more likely to give me free advice as to the function of the wires on the Radio-Prep harness. No dice.
Both service people I spoke to said that the only function of the Radio-Prep kit is to put a BMW radio in. They did not know what the individual wires did, and said that BMW would not release that info. Further, they said that trying to wire up a non-BMW radio to the Radio-Prep harness would result in electrical faults. Jeeeeez. He said the only thing I could do would be to hook the dead wire (red) up to the battery directly to see if the unit was functioning. Hmmmmm...
I ran a wire from the battery, up through the waterproof rubber boot at the bottom of the glovebox...

and connected it to the red Sony wire.

Well I'll be damned. I've got a functioning radio, with actual sound waves coming out of the BMW speakers.
Now I've got another, obvious problem...I've got two wires providing constant power to my non-BMW radio. They're also constantly draining the battery (I assume).
What to do...what to do?

-Scott

 

[cjack]

I phoned 2 of the 3 BMW dealers that I live close to, including the one I bought the bike from, figuring they'd be a little more likely to give me free advice as to the function of the wires on the Radio-Prep harness. No dice.
Both service people I spoke to said that the only function of the Radio-Prep kit is to put a BMW radio in. They did not know what the individual wires did, and said that BMW would not release that info. Further, they said that trying to wire up a non-BMW radio to the Radio-Prep harness would result in electrical faults. Jeeeeez. He said the only thing I could do would be to hook the dead wire (red) up to the battery directly to see if the unit was functioning. Hmmmmm...
I ran a wire from the battery, up through the waterproof rubber boot at the bottom of the glovebox...

and connected it to the red Sony wire.

Well I'll be damned. I've got a functioning radio, with actual sound waves coming out of the BMW speakers.
Now I've got another, obvious problem...I've got two wires providing constant power to my non-BMW radio. They're also constantly draining the battery (I assume).
What to do...what to do?
-Scott

Usually a battery direct wire is provided to a radio to maintain the stored memory of the radio such as tuning memories and security code if any. Then there is a switched power which powers down the radio when the key is off. Alternatively, if you want to listen to the radio when the key is off, a direct battery wire is the way to go, and just turn the radio off at its front panel. There is still that memory battery on all the time wire to find and hook up though.

 

[cjack]

I'm wondering if one has to enable/configure the vehicle to have a radio on the BMW diagnostic computer to activate the purple/red (switched power) wire.

 

[cjack]

I'm wondering if one has to enable/configure the vehicle to have a radio on the BMW diagnostic computer to activate the purple/red (switched power) wire.

It's true that the dealer does not have access to radio/accessory wiring diagram info. They would probably have to go thru their BMW rep who would communicate directly with the factory if the info was necessary for a warranted reason.

 

[C172MyP51]

Next Step

I buttoned everything back up, put the Tupperware back on & took it for a ride. Here are a few observations. Nothing earth-shattering.
1.) The speakers work darn well up until 50-55. Not sure why people give the 40 mph figure so frequently. It also depends on gear choice.
2.) You have to match the music to the conditions. I certainly wouldn't want to be listening to a Conversational Vietnamese Dialog CD, or for that matter a lot of good classical music. Way too much nuance is just lost. Earth Wind & Fire, Steve Ray Vaughan, The Police: all good choices.
3.) I swapped from my stock BMW to the Z-Technik shield. Big difference when it's in the up position. The aftermarket shield is the way to go when listening to tunes.
4.) I was not able to get distortion out of the speakers, and I had it cranked up pretty loud at times.
5.) It's very weird being one of "those guys" with the music blaring at the stop light. I dont' care for that feeling at all. Luckily I installed a Sony Marine Remote Commander & I'm able to MUTE in these instances.

More info as it becomes available, but so far I'm diggin' my tunes!
-Scott