Good deck to go with BMW Harman Kardon system
 

Hey guys,

I recently bought a used 2004 BMW 325xi with the Harman Kardon sound system; unfortunately, the stock deck is broken, so I need to buy a new one.

What's a good deck to buy for ~$200?
Also [noob question warning], every car deck will work with every speaker in my system right? As in... I don't need to look for specifications or requirements for inputs? (not sure about this, but MAYBE some car decks only have, for example, 8 outputs, while I have 10-12 speakers?)

Thanks! :)

you cannot just put a deck with that harmon kardon system. The speakers are individually amplified.(amp are on the speakers themselves)So what your going to have to do is either find another HK-bmw head unit or change everthing and I mean everything. Deck,speakers the hole thing.

there might be a harness that will make everything work with a aftermarket deck but the chances of that are slim. i would have to check on that.

best bet is to find another deck for that car. might cost a bit for it lol

take the car back :D

ahahhahaa well I bought the car from my cousin for a REALLY good price, and she's now half way around the world, so... :dunno: lol

ugh... that's what I was afraid of... I already asked the dealership, they said it'd cost IIRC ~$2000?! :(

yes, please - if you can find the harness, I'd be forever grateful :)

SVEN4 from peripherals 56.95 at future shop lol
antena BAA22 19.95

need a dash kit also. BKBW2320B 25$ but i cant confirm if its the right one since i cant see the car lol

sorry danyman there is no harness.We tried it allready. It works with the regular amplified system but not the Harmon Kardon.You cannot trigger the amps on the speakers because it is done a special way from the factory headunit that can't be duplicated from an aftermarket deck. That is why you have to change everthing as previously stated. There is no easy way. You either have to find another factory headunit that's compatable(expensive) or start over (expensive). There's nothing decent in the $200 range.

thats why the SVEN4 was invented. it powers on the OEM amp or amps in this case so it can still be used. there will be sound if this unit is installed.

the sven 4 is a 4 channel high level adapter. It's doesn't turn on an amp unless that amp has some sort of smart engage circuitry. The HK systems have no such thing. Trust me we tried everything we could(we've had one in our bay already)The factory headunit has some wierd way on triggering the amps that cannot be duplicated. With the HK there is only 2 ways. 1. replace the factory head unit with another one or 2. REPLACE THE HOLE THING-HEAD UNIT,SPEAKERS, AND ADD YOUR OWN AMP IF YOU SO PLEASE!

well since you have played with that car allready ill take your word for it. ill try and rememeber this just in case i have one in my bay one day