I am planning to remove my stock radio and replace it completely with an entire HK system from another MINI?
Are there any big problems waiting for me to discover? Are the wiring harnesses the same or similar? Do I have to rewire for the HK? Should I get the dealer to install the swap or can an aftermarket installer do it just as easily?
Any comments from experience would be appreciated before I tear everything apart. Thanks

 

From what I can gather, you're going to need to add some wiring. I don't think you're MCS has the power wire or signal cables/wires for the HK amplifier that goes in the RR boot cubby. If the cables/wires are not there, gonna have to order it.

As for installation, do you think the techs at MINI service are capable of a system install at a reasonable price? IMO, I would run it by the same place that did your speaker install. Are you replacing the MB Quarts for the HK speakers?

Is there any part left on your MCS that is original?

 

Personally I would not bother :smile: But then you know my opinions!

Look for this connector in the passenger rear quarter panel (behind the right hand access in the trunk):


If you don't have it, running all the wires to it will be a big big job.
There are twisted pairs going to all the speakers - heavier gauge to the rear and lights gauge to the front. There are also power supply feeds, Kbus, as well as twisted pair signals from the HU front left/right outputs.

Certainly possible to do ... but aftermarket might be better.

How will you change the grilles?

 

I was very interested in doing this and asked my motoring advisor about this. He talked to service and they said there is no kit to update and if I wanted them to do it, it would probably cost $1000's of dollars. So I quickly forgot about that idea. But if you figure something out that's cost-effective, by all means LET ME KNOW!!!


Good luck!

 

iancull-
thanks for the picture- that helped. I think you are planning to replace your HK with an aftermarket sound system?
What don't you like about HK? Not the type of sound you were looking for?

I went and checked on the missing wiring and found it was-
Well-missing. No luck. No HK amp harness. Is it hiding and tucked away somewhere hard to see?
I looked pretty hard and saw nothing that looks like your picture.

The dealer told me that there was no easy way to add the harness. Too costly and they would not do it.
So this is not good.

I would have gotten the speaker grilles and tried to add them.
Now I have to look at replacing the front speakers- woofer and tweeter (maybe) with another more efficient speaker like a BOSE 5.25 from an Infinity G35 or an HK speaker from a Toyota (Highlander I think). Or maybe some Focal speakers. Doing more testing and will have to keep searching.

Of I can just add an amp for my power hungry MB Quarts.

I already contacted Classic auto parts and asked about swaping radios for HK and was told they do not sell radios for swapping out.

Kohu'ulaMINI-
Can you check your right rear boot opening for this power adapter for HK- see if you have it and send me PM if you do? And yes there are some stock parts left on my MCS. Otherwise there wouldn't be anything left covered on my dwindling four year warranty. I think the leaky coolant bottle is stock. I have been looking at the stainless steel bottle- at least that one doesn't leak.

 

Biggest annoyance to me has been that the rear speakers have very little range; they are mostly bass only ... closest HK mode is "spatial" which gives them some mid range but no treble; they sound very cheap in that mode (however, with the new HU they sound MUCH better in spatial mode for some reason).

Once I decided I wanted full range from the rear speakers, I was committed to removing the HK and replacing all the speakers ... I thought about keeping the stock HU and putting in a Phatbox but eventually a new Kenwood HU and Keg was cheaper and gave me the bonus of text displays.
And of course there is the amp ... I mostly chose one that looked nice :smile:


I think the HK connector would be as easy to find as the CD changer connector. It looks like a complete standalone HK harness has been dropped into the car, separate to all the other wiring.

You only need a few wires from the HU to the amp ("ON", front left & right, and Kbus) then you need wires to each speaker position (four to each front door, four to each rear DVC speaker); after that you just need some heavy B+ and B- for power. Not an impossible job ... I just think for that much work, you could do much better.

Also - if you have already replaced the speakers with MB Quarts, the HK is not setup to drive them so will you replace them again?

So a standalone amp is probably your best choice.

 

iancull-
Thanks for the reply-
I agree, the rear HK speaker is too much towards bass almost like it became the subwoofer for the system with most settings. My MB Quart setup gives the back full range with the fronts giving better highs and slightly weaker bass. At least the speakers work together to balance out the sound but the power is a little too weak for the volume I want to play it at. Hence the addition of an amp.

I was going to pull everything and drop the entire HK into my MCS. Speakers, head unit, amp and DSP. But the lack of wiring is a problem for the effort and cost of installation.

I had another recent Cooper owner nearby check his car of the HK wiring harness and it was not there either. So I guess if I wanted to add the CD changer then they would need to add this harness from the dash to the rear right boot.
Oh well.

Any opinions on what to do about the amp?

 

mh,
There are so many amps to choose from and so many "preachers" that sing the praises or shout the horrors of particular brands.
I am not one of those!
What does Tacotim say?

Personally ...
Initially I thought about a hideaway amp - small enough to go in one of the "pockets" in the rear. About the only one is the Blaupunkt PA4100 (?) and I checked out a Blaupunkt installer. Price and size is small (<$500). But many people shoot Blaupunkt ...
And I slowly came round to thinking that if I was laying down $2500+ I wanted something I could see (occasionally) as well as hear - too much surfing audio forums and seeing the neon lit pictures of other peoples amps/woofers/etc.

Then I found the Boston Acoustics GT42; very attractive amp :smile:
Looks well built, and skinny (although big footprint) so I could have it built into an amp box in the trunk and keep it below the door sill.
I have heard good things about this amp - and the brochure picture of its internals looks like something I would want to design.

Is it sensible to choose an amp based on looks? Probably not.
But I can find so many people saying "yes" or "no" to so many different makes; and I can't hear any difference in the audio stores.
So that is how I chose :smile:

Good luck with your choice!

 

iancull-
Thanks for your comments on the amp.
Tacotim says: (Is this like EF Hutton?)
Adding HK to the stock system car is possible but will require buying or making the HK harness. Getting the wiring diagrams is very helpful-already working on that. More wires are needed but those are not too bad. Lots of labor is needed to get everything installed. A good installer could accomplish it but it would take some time and you would need to trouble shoot if there are problems. Also he was worried about the correct computer settings for the HK to enable it to work. So a very motivated person could do the swap but the cost is unknown- is it worth it?

 

minihune

If more volume is what you're looking (listening) for, forget the HK and go aftermarket.(might be cheaper, too)

Opinions/praises vary here, but for your own peice of mind, go to an audio store and listen for yourself. I agree with iancull, sound quality is almost even across the board unless you have a very trained ear. Too many variables in the MINI cockpit to have the "ultimate sound room".

I suggest a name brand 4-channel amplifier and first try it out with your existing MB Quarts. It might be the right volume/sound you're looking for, if not, try other speakers.

*cling*cling* just dropping my $.02 worth
Good Luck

 

I was at the dealer today and looked in the right rear access of the fender trying to find some HK wire harnesses. Even with Feb and March 2003 builds I did not see any HK harnesses in coopers that had stock radio. The sales manager warned me to be careful about playing around with the wire harness in a cooper as the whole thing is quite complicated and if the wrong wire is cut or altered the rewire can be very very very bad like way more than 10 hours labor- you don't want to know what happened to another owner with a complete wire harness overhaul because of a problem.

So most Coopers with stock radios will likely not have the HK harness. If you buy the wire harness part you are likely to be getting the complete wire harness for ALL options including HK, the alarm, and part assist, etc.

Kohu'Ula MINI-
What is your evaluation of the stock radio/speakers in your cooper? Maybe I should come over to your place and let you hear my MB Quarts and see what you think in comparison.