Installing Harman Kardon into Highline cars

[Canonite]

NOTE: This guide is for factory fitted Highline systems only.


There have been many threads about this subject and it seems to be a common question that crops up so I decided to do a write up on how I did mine.
Even though the Highline TV SatNav is a very capable system I always felt it needed a little more oomph as it were. I managed to find a car with the full system in but the breaker only sent the speakers and then crushed the car with the amp and loom in it. This meant I had to make up the loom myself which I was initially daunted by, it is actually far easier than I thought.

Basically, Highline equipped cars have the BMW 17 pin plug in the boot as opposed to behind the head unit. This means that you don't need to remove interior trim and run wires up and down the car.
The 17 pin plug sends the output signal to the speakers and all we need to do is cut into these speaker wires and add the amplifier in between.
The amplifier has an input plug and an output plug, the amplifier takes the input signals from the 17 pin plug, processes it and redistributes it via the amps output plug and sends the signals to the speakers. Simple.


I did find some wiring diagrams on the forum which helped me but I have added some notes to help others identify the wiring in their cars easier. The diagram below shows the BMW 17 pin plug (CO818) and shows the wiring colours as were in my car. All we are interested in are the speaker wires, the lives and the earth wires.


Now we have identified the speaker wiring we can now chop and splice this into the amplifiers 12 pin plug (CO491), this carries the power, earth and speaker signals into the amplifier. Pin placements show where the wires need to go though if you're lucky to have the plugs or the loom the colours will be the same. As I didn't have a loom and made it up from 2 colours of wire I needed to label everything to ensure I didn't get them mixed up.


Now you have spliced the wiring to the input plug you'll be left with just the amplifiers 18 pin output plug (CO492), this sends the processed and amplified signals to the speakers.
Note there is one INPUT wire on this plug, which is the remote ON/OFF signal, this will turn the amplifier on with ignition. Again refer to the wiring colours and pin placements for confirmation.


Once done ensure there is no exposed wiring and fire her up. You'll notice the subwoofer straight away and should have a vast improvement on the standard audio.
The full MG Rover wiring diagrams can also be viewed on my Flickr should you need any further information for the wiring: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chantry...7632823133396/

[andyg2011]

Can we put this as a HOW TO....


Thanks alan it's very good

[Canonite]

Thanks. I did take a lot of photos but they're a bit pointless and due to the amount of chopped wiring make it look really complex. These diagrams should simplify the whole process I hope.

[andyg2011]

Hopefully a mod will pick up on it soonnnnn

[Radioguy]

Thanks Canonite
Will you allow me to use that Diagram if required at times?

[Canonite]

You can for me, though I just added to an existing diagram I found on the forum.
I believe its on the Rave disc

[Parker]

And as if by magic

[Dragrad]

Thread re-opened, Post 1 copied to the ICE How to section... Linky

Well done ALan

[JAGSROVER]

good afternoon
congratulations for your contribution.

I need a little help, I do not understand where I have to connect the sub, to pin 1 -2-3-4 I have to connect them.

thanks

[hrissim]

Originally Posted by JAGSROVER

good afternoon
congratulations for your contribution.

I need a little help, I do not understand where I have to connect the sub, to pin 1 -2-3-4 I have to connect them.

thanks

Amplifier`s 18 pin connector:
Subwoofer 1 "+" to pin 7
Subwoofer 1 "-" to pin 17
Subwoofer 2 "+" to pin 8
Subwoofer 2 "-" to pin 18

Take a look at the post #1 above.

On subwoofer speaker the "+" male connector is bigger than the "-" male