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My dashboard balance knob ( maybe I should say dial ) was disconnected when a new head unit was fitted. I'm mucking around with the wiring at the moment and am wondering if I can find a use for it.

Looking at the old wires, it seems to be only 2 channel/stereo, with the original 4 speaker setup sending the same signal to the front and rear speakers.

I'm thinking of wiring it to just the fronts, has anyone done that? Is it possible?

Has anyone re-purposed the knob to do something else? It's a shame to have it there doing nothing.

sure i wired one up on a car i had once, think its was my old celica supra, was quite cool.
why not wire it to some mood lighting lol

original fader knob incorporated the speaker system that had a shared earth, thats a huge no no for modern head units, so they are usually removed when fitting.

Yeah I get that, no way I can put all 4 channels through it.

By the look of it it has 2 earth connections and 4 signals grouped into two sections of (FR, Earth, FL) and (RL, Earth, RR). I'm guessing it's just 2 variable resistors in there which is why it could work with just the front L/R if I just use half the connections on each.. was hoping someone here had tried that?

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ss+control
check post #13

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You only need a decent pair of front speakers. In my corsa i have it all faded to the front anyway.

Dannbodge wrote:You only need a decent pair of front speakers. In my corsa i have it all faded to the front anyway.

please refrain from using swear words like "c0rsa" on this forum

although he is correct about front speakers, just amp up a decent set of fronts, alpine type R's are a good speaker without blowing the bank and can take a lot of power.

Hmmm.. that volume control bodge that Deziac linked to looks neat, gives me an idea.
There's a steering wheel control unit for my stereo going cheap on ebay at the moment, think I'll grab it and try hacking something similar up.

Thanks guys, I'll post picks if I get anything working.

I'm resurrecting this old thread because I've finally finished the project I've had sitting on a shelf for the last 6 months.

I didn't buy the 'Remote Commander' unit in the end. Did bit of research and found it just uses different resistors to signal the button presses and plugs in the back via a standard 35mm jack.

Built this little circuit to perform some of the more common functions:



I got hold of a rotary 'return to centre' switch to perform a left right toggle and butchered the old balance knob for the threaded section that holds it to the dash.

After 3 different designs I've ended up with this:



The left / right action can either be vol +/- or track select (seek when using the radio) depending on the position of the switch on the main circuit housing. Pressing the balance switch activates the push button to change source.

It's fitted now and working well. Not sure if it's any easier to use than the buttons on the head unit but at least the switch does something.

Slightly related thread hijack.. Does anyone have a picture of where the front speaker mounts are in the E21? I can't see mine..

lol Reck

they are as plain as day!

they are in the sides of the kickwell just in front of the doors - very near to the underside of the dash - you will have speaker grills there?!

If you don't have grill, check under the carpet panels stuck to the sides.

There's deffo no grills there.. I'll have a go pulling the carpet up.