R53 Harmon Kardon Retro-fit

[Mr Cooper]

Hi all,

Looking to retro fit a Harmon Kardon system into my '05 R53 w/ chili pack. Is it a direct plug and play swap or are wiring look changes needed?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Edited by Mr Cooper on Saturday 27th January 15:06

[RKDE]

I think I am one of the few to do this conversion. I can say it is most definitely not an easy retro fit or a kit.

You need;

• The full wiring loom out of a breaking mini, you then need to strip all the HK wiring out of it from the dashboard to the rear of the car, and to the speakers, head unit, doors, roof antenna and a couple of CAN points
• You then need; the AMP, rear speakers, front speakers, front tweeters

Took me 2 days to install as everything has to come out, seats, most of the dash, door cards, rear cards, roof lining and then there are just hours of soldering and wiring.

Lastly you should re-code the VO but it works without coding

If you are happy with all that then it shouldn't be too much effort. It sounded so much better but now I would just buy and amp and good speakers as it would be a whole lot less hassle

[daemon]

RKDE said:

I would just buy and amp and good speakers as it would be a whole lot less hassle

+1

I'd say that is the way to go.

[mon the fish]

daemon said:

+1

I'd say that is the way to go.

When you say amp & speakers, do you mean retaining the existing head unit?

[E-bmw]

Isn't that all the HK upgrade is anyway?

[Mr Cooper]

Thanks all, think I'll park that idea for now...

[daemon]

E-bmw said:

Isn't that all the HK upgrade is anyway?

Yes, thats my understanding - its amp and speakers.

Not hard to replicate