Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

UK forum for general and technical discussion about the Z3 roadster
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njathind
Joined: Wed 19 Mar, 2014 19:02
Posts: 44

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

Post by njathind »

Hope you can help.

Got a 1999 Z3 2.0 with a build date of 09/1999, owned the car for 3/4 years and never had any problem with the stereo. Its running an aftermarket JVC headunit but everything else in the system is standard.

I've tried swapping the headunit out for a known working one just to rule this out and still no sound.
Every now and then I get a quite thunder like rumble out of the speakers.
If I turn the headunit on or off I can hear the relay for the amp in the passenger footwell click on or off accordingly, but I still suspect its the amp attached to the speaker that is at fault.

My next port of call would be to bypass the amp and see if I get any kind of audio output at all. (link attached)

DirtY BMW speaker amp

Is there anything else I should check before I butcher the wiring harness? Or is it a safe bet the amp is FUBAR and I need to remove it from the system?

Many thanks in Advance
Nat
Boosh
Joined: Sun 30 Nov, 2014 22:40
Posts: 324

  Z3 roadster 1.9i

Re: Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

Post by Boosh »

Hi,
Sounds that you've worked it out by yourself. Though it's highly unlikely that all the speakers went out of order at the same time, you can test them individually quite easily (well, at least the ones in the footwell).
As far as bypassing the app, I think you'll find a thread on this site, too.
Good luck, keep us up to date.

Boosh.
NZ00Z3
Joined: Thu 23 Jun, 2016 01:26
Posts: 95

  Z3 roadster 3.0i

Re: Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

Post by NZ00Z3 »

The amp does two things:
- amplifies for the foot well speakers
- cross over for the door tweeters

The usual failure of the amp is the power relay, but it sounds like you have this working, although it could be clicking without making contact. Use a multi-meter to check that you are getting power out of the relay and into the amp.
njathind
Joined: Wed 19 Mar, 2014 19:02
Posts: 44

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

Post by njathind »

Yeah, I'm pretty certain it must be the amp has failed.

But I just wanted to double check before I modified the loom to bypass the amp in case there was something else I might have missed :D
Boosh wrote: Tue 10 Apr, 2018 05:52 Hi,
Sounds that you've worked it out by yourself. Though it's highly unlikely that all the speakers went out of order at the same time, you can test them individually quite easily (well, at least the ones in the footwell).
As far as bypassing the app, I think you'll find a thread on this site, too.
Good luck, keep us up to date.

Boosh.
njathind
Joined: Wed 19 Mar, 2014 19:02
Posts: 44

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

Post by njathind »

Thanks for the input, I'm pretty certain the power relay is making contact as it should but I'm yet to get my meter on it.

After doing some more digging whilst at work I've heard its possible to blow the components of the amp when you install an aftermarket head unit.
This kinda makes sense as I know the OEM head units needed an amp of some sorts to get any decent volume out of it. Whereas with aftermarket head units they tend to throw out an amplified signal to the speakers.

I'm wondering if I've killed the OEM amp when cranking the volume with the top down a few days ago :oops:
NZ00Z3 wrote: Tue 10 Apr, 2018 21:03 The amp does two things:
- amplifies for the foot well speakers
- cross over for the door tweeters

The usual failure of the amp is the power relay, but it sounds like you have this working, although it could be clicking without making contact. Use a multi-meter to check that you are getting power out of the relay and into the amp.
njathind
Joined: Wed 19 Mar, 2014 19:02
Posts: 44

  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Speakers Suddenly Stopped Working

Post by njathind »

Update...

So I've bypassed the amp
I've tried 4 different head units
I've even made up a lead to plug an aux input into each speaker channel on the main car audio harness and I get sound out of every speaker.

Yet no head unit will give me sound out of any of the speakers when I plug them in.

I really am at a loss as to what else there is left to check 🤷🏼‍♂️

Any other ideas guys?
Apart from torching the thing 🙄
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