[Gaffer]

OK, so before I pull the trigger on this, I'm planning to buy Technics PnP harness in order to add a sub to my F30 with HK (Top Hifi option 688 in the US?).

I could buy the LocXD option but buying the Wavtech LinkD myself from the UK (and harness only from Technic) means I:
1) save £20-£30
2) get a UK warranty with the LoC so won't have issues with returns/warranty having to go back to the US

This being the case, I noticed the flyout lead for the sub feed has SWL-/SWL+/SWR+/SWR- feeds as 4 wires with the two other ones being 12V+ve (from pin 10) and Ground (from pin 20).
Can I not power the LoCD from these power leads? as opposed to routing separate 12v+ and ground in the boot?
The Wavtech manual states that I'll need an inline fuse (easy to add in) but also that the max current draw of the LoCd is <200mA meaning that the LoC doesn't require massive amounts of power to run (max 2.4W only) and wiring this way would be much easier (only other things I'd need are a 'remote on' wire going from fuse 146 to "in" and then "out" supplying the 'remote on' for the sub).

Is this feasible or do I NEED to run the power cables from the battery (12V) & chassis (GRND) directly?

[Ahanix]

Do you know what amp you are going to run?

I just barely completed doing this in my f30 with 688 option and ended up just going with the AudioControl ACM 1.300 because it has a LOC built into it rated at up to the 40v required for our cars.


If you do go with a separate LOC, you will have to power it using 12v (generally the remote in) I know you mentioned using fuse 146, that's what I did and others have done (including those powering their LOC's)

Initially with my setup I was going to use the same 16awg wire to ground into the same spot I used for my amp, but since I went with the AudioControl that has it all built in, I didn't have to run anything separate other than the standard Power/Ground and Remote wire. (You still have to run the remote wire because even though the tapped wires put out 40v I guess they don't put out the right or enough DC signal to turn on the amp)

[Gaffer]

Originally Posted by Ahanix

If you do go with a separate LOC, you will have to power it using 12v (generally the remote in) I know you mentioned using fuse 146, that's what I did and others have done (including those powering their LOC's)

Initially with my setup I was going to use the same 16awg wire to ground into the same spot I used for my amp, but since I went with the AudioControl that has it all built in, I didn't have to run anything separate other than the standard Power/Ground and Remote wire. (You still have to run the remote wire because even though the tapped wires put out 40v I guess they don't put out the right or enough DC signal to turn on the amp)

I’m either going to run an Alpine SWD-355 (amp/sub combo) or Rockford Fosgate P300-12 active sub. Both of these Amps won’t accept >10V from the high level input so I knew I’d need a LoC regardless - so I’ve just ordered a WavTech Link-D.

I plan to run a blue “remote on” wire from fuse 146 to the LoC. I can then run another “remote on” wire from the LoC to the Alpine/RF amp (whichever I choose) as their remote on feed.
The L+\L-\R+\R- high level inputs to the LoC will come from technics harness.
The phono-out from the LoC goes to the low level phono-in on the Alpine/RF amp.

Now the only wires still needed in the LoC are the 12V+ and ground wires.

My question is, the Technic harness has the 4 high level out wires PLUS a 12V+ AND a ground wire from the harness......can’t I use these to power the LoC? All I need to do is add an inline fuse to the +ve lead and its done.
This would save me having to try and route new wiring to the battery and new ground to a chassis point and seeing as the LoC runs only only 100-200mA it’s not as if it’s power hungry needing a beefy supply so I see this as a feasible option.
Would it be an option? Or do I absolutely HAVE to run new +ve wiring from the battery and new Ground from the chassis just for the LoC?

[Encanto]

A Link 2 would have been enough.

Originally Posted by Gaffer

I’m either going to run an Alpine SWD-355 (amp/sub combo) or Rockford Fosgate P300-12 active sub. Both of these Amps won’t accept >10V from the high level input so I knew I’d need a LoC regardless - so I’ve just ordered a WavTech Link-D.

I plan to run a blue “remote on” wire from fuse 146 to the LoC. I can then run another “remote on” wire from the LoC to the Alpine/RF amp (whichever I choose) as their remote on feed.
The L+\L-\R+\R- high level inputs to the LoC will come from technics harness.
The phono-out from the LoC goes to the low level phono-in on the Alpine/RF amp.

Now the only wires still needed in the LoC are the 12V+ and ground wires.

My question is, the Technic harness has the 4 high level out wires PLUS a 12V+ AND a ground wire from the harness......can’t I use these to power the LoC? All I need to do is add an inline fuse to the +ve lead and its done.
This would save me having to try and route new wiring to the battery and new ground to a chassis point and seeing as the LoC runs only only 100-200mA it’s not as if it’s power hungry needing a beefy supply so I see this as a feasible option.
Would it be an option? Or do I absolutely HAVE to run new +ve wiring from the battery and new Ground from the chassis just for the LoC?

[Gaffer]

Originally Posted by Encanto

A Link 2 would have been enough.

I agree but a Link 2 is VERY difficult to find here in the UK. I managed to get hold of a LinkD for £60 delivered from a UK shop which wasn't too bad so I went for that.

I've now bought all the following:

Technics PnP harness for F30 with TopHiFi
LinkD LoC
Automotive cloth tape to dress the wires properly (look OEM hopefully)
Trim removal tools inc. clip remover
8AWG wiring kit (Vibe)
Rockford Fosgate P300-12 sealed active sub

^^^^ sub was dropped by DPD (delivery service) so is due to get replaced next week (drop off/pick up service by shop I bought it from) and everything else apart from the Technics harness has arrived.

After chatting to some friends they all agree the harness should easily be able to provide the 100-200mA needed for the LoC so i do plan on wiring it that way.
My only decision now is whether to have the LoC visible so I can alter the gain in future if needed or hide it all away so all that's visible is the sub....

[Encanto]

There are no 12V or ground signals in the 20pin connector of the Top HiFi OEM amp in the F30. Take a look and you will see 2 wires missing.

Originally Posted by Gaffer

I agree but a Link 2 is VERY difficult to find here in the UK. I managed to get hold of a LinkD for £60 delivered from a UK shop which wasn't too bad so I went for that.

I've now bought all the following:

Technics PnP harness for F30 with TopHiFi
LinkD LoC
Automotive cloth tape to dress the wires properly (look OEM hopefully)
Trim removal tools inc. clip remover
8AWG wiring kit (Vibe)
Rockford Fosgate P300-12 sealed active sub

^^^^ sub was dropped by DPD (delivery service) so is due to get replaced next week (drop off/pick up service by shop I bought it from) and everything else apart from the Technics harness has arrived.

After chatting to some friends they all agree the harness should easily be able to provide the 100-200mA needed for the LoC so i do plan on wiring it that way.
My only decision now is whether to have the LoC visible so I can alter the gain in future if needed or hide it all away so all that's visible is the sub....

[Gaffer]

Originally Posted by Encanto

There are no 12V or ground signals in the 20pin connector of the Top HiFi OEM amp in the F30. Take a look and you will see 2 wires missing.

Aah, that's what I needed to know . The Technics harness comes with these wired up (red and black wire in the picture with the 4 sub high leads (second connector)) so I thought they'd only wire them up if they were present in harness itself (pinouts show a 12V+ and Ground at those pin positions):


OK, well I'm going to have the boot lining removed and have to wire up the sub anyway so I'll just use the same points
That means I'll need to extend the wiring - if I err on the side of caution and provision for 288mA I think I'll only need 27AWG wire which is easily accomodated for in the Vibe wiring kit which comes with extra 2x16AWG wire in it (5m worth)

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Gaffer

Aah, that's what I needed to know . The Technics harness comes with these wired up (red and black wire in the picture with the 4 sub high leads (second connector)) so I thought they'd only wire them up if they were present in harness itself (pinouts show a 12V+ and Ground at those pin positions):


OK, well I'm going to have the boot lining removed and have to wire up the sub anyway so I'll just use the same points
That means I'll need to extend the wiring - if I err on the side of caution and provision for 288mA I think I'll only need 27AWG wire which is easily accomodated for in the Vibe wiring kit which comes with extra 2x16AWG wire in it (5m worth)

I'm doing something similar with my HK TopHifi 688 system and the same harness. I'm upgrading the two underseat subs to Earthquake SWS-8Xi (2-ohm) which need 150 watts RMS per channel so I'm going to use the AudioControl ACM-2.300 which is a combo LOC/Amp.

Today I received an updated instruction diagram from Technicpnp showing that the 6-wire pigtail connector that you mentioned only has signals on four of the wires. The other wires have no signal on them. That was verified by email too. I don't know why the extraneous two wires are there either, unless they are useful if the pigtail is used for another harness.

The fuse #146 is a Mini-sized fuse and I was told to use a 1A or 2A fuse in the turn on/off connection. Have not been able to find a 1A Mini anywhere but I did locate 2A Minis in a 25-pack so I'll be dropping extras in envelopes and mailing to friends for a while.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Ahanix

Do you know what amp you are going to run?

I just barely completed doing this in my f30 with 688 option and ended up just going with the AudioControl ACM 1.300 because it has a LOC built into it rated at up to the 40v required for our cars.


If you do go with a separate LOC, you will have to power it using 12v (generally the remote in) I know you mentioned using fuse 146, that's what I did and others have done (including those powering their LOC's)

Initially with my setup I was going to use the same 16awg wire to ground into the same spot I used for my amp, but since I went with the AudioControl that has it all built in, I didn't have to run anything separate other than the standard Power/Ground and Remote wire. (You still have to run the remote wire because even though the tapped wires put out 40v I guess they don't put out the right or enough DC signal to turn on the amp)

How do you like the AudioControl ACM-1.300? I'm going the use the 2-channel version, the ACM-2.300, since I'm going to power two replacement underseat subs (Earthquake SWS-8Xi 2-ohm)

I found some other less costly amps that supposedly have high level speaker inputs but I am uncertain if they can handle 40 volts like the AudioControl.

Did you just connect the four speaker wires in the Technicpnp 6-wire LOC pigtail to the AudioControl Speaker inputs? I'm going to connect Fuse #146 with a Mini Add-A-Circuit with 18 gauge wire and a 2A fuse. I've got 8 gauge wire for battery and ground connections. And 14 gauge twisted pair to the new subs. Does this sound correct to you?

Where did you locate the AudioControl unit? The only hidden spot I know of is space under the stock amp. Or I can leave it exposed on top of the tool tray above the battery in the right trunk alcove. I heard there may be space above and in front of the battery somewhere that I'll explore when I remove that interior panel.

UPDATE: There is no space under the stock amp on my 2015 F30 335. That was told to me adamantly by an audio installer that I am very happy that I did not use. There is also no space above and in front of the battery. I did find enough space in a sheet metal compartment in the rear parcel tray. It's located to the right of center. If you go into the trunk and look up in that area you'll see an opening roughly 8" by 3". Ultimately I decided against it because access later to adjust the gain or check the fuse would be time consuming with many interior panels needing to be removed. I decided to mount the AudioControl 2.300 on top of the tool box cover in the right alcove in the trunk. I'll post the full install later. I'll try to post one photo now but this buggy Bimmerpost phone app hasn't allowed that recently.

Are there any tricks to adjusting the gain and getting the subs and the rest of the speakers sounding in harmony? Where did you set the 3-selection cross-over switch?

Any info is greatly appreciated!

[Ahanix]

Originally Posted by johnung

How do you like the AudioControl ACM-1.300? I'm going the use the 2-channel version, the ACM-2.300, since I'm going to power two replacement underseat subs (Earthquake SWS-8Xi 2-ohm)

I found some other less costly amps that supposedly have high level speaker inputs but I am uncertain if they can handle 40 volts like the AudioControl.

Did you just connect the four speaker wires in the Technicpnp 6-wire LOC pigtail to the AudioControl Speaker inputs? I'm going to connect Fuse #146 with a Mini Add-A-Circuit with 18 gauge wire and a 2A fuse. I've got 8 gauge wire for battery and ground connections. And 14 gauge twisted pair to the new subs. Does this sound correct to you?

Where did you locate the AudioControl unit? The only hidden spot I know of is space under the stock amp. Or I can leave it exposed on top of the tool tray above the battery in the right trunk alcove. I heard there may be space above and in front of the battery somewhere that I'll explore when I remove that interior panel.

Are there any tricks to adjusting the gain and getting the subs and the rest of the speakers sounding in harmony? Where did you set the 3-selection cross-over switch?

Any info is greatly appreciated!

I've been super happy with the ACM-1.300, no complaints at all and I ended up doing the following when I set it up:
- Connected the 4 speaker wires to each of the Left and Right + and - connections
- Connected add-a-fuse #146 for the remote on since accu-sense wont work
-- FWIW, I just matched the same fuse I pulled out of the fuse area and used a 5A fuse. I get that this could potentially cause issues for some electronics but the amp didn't have an issue with 12v/5a. 2a will work just fine though.
- Ran 8 gauge power and ground wire. I am in a 2016 LCI F30 and there isn't a separate amp in the trunk next to the fuse box, so I ended up mounting the amp there with the same 3m adhesive used for lip spoiler install.
- Turned AcuBASS off (meaning I turned the Threshold and Level all the way down, it just made the bass sound wrong for some reason to me, so I left it off for now)
- Adjusted the gain to my desired "top" level (I retrofitted the volume knob, and I usually just run the sub about 50% of what my top level was set to)
- Set the crossover to 80hz


I ended up using a JL10w3v3 and it was probably overkill. Upgrading and powering new SWS 8's under the seats is more than enough for 90% of people.

I probably should have gone this route but I bought the technic harness used and didn't realize it had taps to go under the seats.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Ahanix

I've been super happy with the ACM-1.300, no complaints at all and I ended up doing the following when I set it up:
- Connected the 4 speaker wires to each of the Left and Right + and - connections
- Connected add-a-fuse #146 for the remote on since accu-sense wont work
-- FWIW, I just matched the same fuse I pulled out of the fuse area and used a 5A fuse. I get that this could potentially cause issues for some electronics but the amp didn't have an issue with 12v/5a. 2a will work just fine though.
- Ran 8 gauge power and ground wire. I am in a 2016 LCI F30 and there isn't a separate amp in the trunk next to the fuse box, so I ended up mounting the amp there with the same 3m adhesive used for lip spoiler install.
- Turned AcuBASS off (meaning I turned the Threshold and Level all the way down, it just made the bass sound wrong for some reason to me, so I left it off for now)
- Adjusted the gain to my desired "top" level (I retrofitted the volume knob, and I usually just run the sub about 50% of what my top level was set to)
- Set the crossover to 80hz


I ended up using a JL10w3v3 and it was probably overkill. Upgrading and powering new SWS 8's under the seats is more than enough for 90% of people.

I probably should have gone this route but I bought the technic harness used and didn't realize it had taps to go under the seats.

Did you find the Earthquakes under the seats to be a big upgrade to the stock subwoofers?

Got these spacer rings in photo from Earthquake that make the SWS-8Xi (2-ohm) simple to wire. Got new 14 gauge twisted pair to run from AudioControl amp to subwoofers.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by johnung

Did you find the Earthquakes under the seats to be a big upgrade to the stock subwoofers?

Got these spacer rings in photo from Earthquake that make the SWS-8Xi (2-ohm) simple to wire. Got new 14 gauge twisted pair to run from AudioControl amp to subwoofers.

Earthquake spacers

[Ahanix]

Originally Posted by johnung

Earthquake spacers

Apologies, I had not meant that I had the earthquakes - after installing the 10" sub I could see how it would be overkill for a lot of people. Even at 50% this thing hurts my ears so I don't know how most people wouldn't need more than just a moderate bass increase from upgrading under seats with a good amp.

[Gaffer]

OK, all done.

Firstly I made the mistake of wiring the LoC directly into the sub's quick connect plug instead of the harness (electrically similar to wiring to battery) but when I first tried the system, it worked for about 10s and then everything went dead. I thought I'd tracked it down to the LoC so bought another one.
When that arrived, I re-wired the LoC correctly to the same chassis ground as the sub and the +ve with an inline 1A fuse directly to the battery. Tried the old LoC and guess what? It works fine (which means I have a spare LoC which I'll see if they'll allow a return on). I think a self resetting fuse in either the LoC or sub had tripped so it appeared to be dead when it wasn't.

Tried to make it as stealth as possible by hiding the LoC under the Left hand side panel (easy to access) and wired everything back up.
Fuse 146 supplies 'remote on' to the LoC.
Battery via 1A fuse to LoC
Chassis for Earth to LoC
LoC then supplies 'remote on' to the sub and Phono Out to sub

Sub has separate 60A 8AWG +ve from battery and 8AWG to same chassis point for Earth.

All you can see is the sub and the quick connect makes removing it a doddle (it's velcro'd down to stop it wobbling around):


It's powerful....I mean REALLY powerful. To integrate it with the existing HK 16spkr system I have:
Gain on LoC at minimum (~7o'clock....at 9:30-10o'clock it clips depending on the track and this is well below that)
Gain on sub at minimum
Bass Boost on sub at minimum
Gain on wired remote (you can see this on the top of the sub there) at minimum
XOver at about 90Hz

Integrates really well and up front sounds like the bass is coming from everywhere, not the boot. Most importantly I have 20-40Hz back and you can feel it too...great complement to the existing under-seat subs.

Over the next few months I'll tweak things as needed (e.g. up front Logic7 has been turned off as it now sounds much better without it).

[johnung]

Originally Posted by johnung

How do you like the AudioControl ACM-1.300? I'm going the use the 2-channel version, the ACM-2.300, since I'm going to power two replacement underseat subs (Earthquake SWS-8Xi 2-ohm)

I found some other less costly amps that supposedly have high level speaker inputs but I am uncertain if they can handle 40 volts like the AudioControl.

Did you just connect the four speaker wires in the Technicpnp 6-wire LOC pigtail to the AudioControl Speaker inputs? I'm going to connect Fuse #146 with a Mini Add-A-Circuit with 18 gauge wire and a 2A fuse. I've got 8 gauge wire for battery and ground connections. And 14 gauge twisted pair to the new subs. Does this sound correct to you?

Where did you locate the AudioControl unit? The only hidden spot I know of is space under the stock amp. Or I can leave it exposed on top of the tool tray above the battery in the right trunk alcove. I heard there may be space above and in front of the battery somewhere that I'll explore when I remove that interior panel.

UPDATE: There is no space under the stock amp on my 2015 F30 335. That was told to me adamantly by an audio installer that I am very happy that I did not use. There is also no space above and in front of the battery. I did find enough space in a sheet metal compartment in the rear parcel tray. It's located to the right of center. If you go into the trunk and look up in that area you'll see an opening roughly 8" by 3". Ultimately I decided against it because access later to adjust the gain or check the fuse would be time consuming with many interior panels needing to be removed. I decided to mount the AudioControl 2.300 on top of the tool box cover in the right alcove in the trunk. I'll post the full install later. I'll try to post one photo now but this buggy Bimmerpost phone app hasn't allowed that recently.

Are there any tricks to adjusting the gain and getting the subs and the rest of the speakers sounding in harmony? Where did you set the 3-selection cross-over switch?

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Here's the photo of the AudioControl 2.300 amplifier with built-in LOC that can handle 40volt speaker lever inputs from the BMW H/K amp. It puts out 150 watts RMS into each of the 2-ohm Earthquake SWS-8Xi underseat subwoofers. It locates perfectly with Velcro on top of the tool box cover that is located above the battery. The amplifier adjustments can be accessed by removing the four screws that hold down the top protective plate. The wire connections are in the rear and go down through holes drilled/grommeted in the plastic panel and into the battery compartment. I left enough slack underneath to easily swing the alcove panel out and to the front so that the battery can be accessed and removed if necessary.

[Gaffer]

Originally Posted by Encanto

There are no 12V or ground signals in the 20pin connector of the Top HiFi OEM amp in the F30. Take a look and you will see 2 wires missing.

Here's the harness wired up to the LoC. The LinkD is powered by 16AWG to the battery via in-line fuse and Earthed via 16AWG to a chassis point near the fuse box...



...so I didn't power via harness in the end