BSW Knowledgebase

Here are the most common issues we’ve experienced:

·          No sound from speaker (s)

·          Distorted sound from speaker (s)

·          Physically defective speaker (broken or damaged during shipping, no sound)

Let’s address each bullet point:

·          No Sound from Speaker:
One of three things is most likely happening, and they are listed in order of most common occurrence:

1.       Wiring on plug-n-play connector is misaligned.
Here we want to check for alignment of wires from their factory plug through the BSW connector.  
Do they line up? If so, was the factory speaker working prior to replacing the speaker? Go ahead and plug the factory speaker back in to confirm operation. If the factory speaker works, and the wires in the plug are aligned, the speaker is defective. We need to get you a new speaker!
If not, let us guide you to the proper connections. Remember, on our wires, the Red Stripe is positive, while the solid black is negative, while on the BMW side of the plug that following holds true:

·          Black Stripes, Red Stripes, White Stripes, Purple Stripes are Positive.

·          Solid wires are negative, as are wires with Brown Stripes or Grey Stripes.

2.       Check to make sure that no speaker terminal is touching metal. This can cause the speaker to not function, as it is effectively grounded (shorted) out.
If you find that this was the case, place electrical tape over the terminals to prevent future mishaps. If the entire system has no sound after the installation of new speakers, we almost know for sure that there is a speaker whose terminals are grounded out. Let’s check by disconnecting each speaker until the music comes back on and we’ve isolated the problem speaker.

3.       The Factory Speaker did not work either. If this was the case, and you were trying to fix the problem by purchasing new speakers, we may need to look at the factory amplifier, as it is most likely the culprit. Is the entire side (left front, right rear, right front, left rear) not working, or is it a particular speaker that was not working. Most likely it was a single speaker. If an entire side is not working, make sure, especially on the tweeters that you just installed, that neither the positive or negative terminals are touching metal. This can contribute to an entire side (channel) not working properly.

·          Distorted Sound coming from new Speaker
Again, a few things come to mind:

1.       Where are the bass/treble settings on the radio/EQ? Flatten out the settings to ensure no pre-amp distortion is the cause of the problem. If you’re using the radio to test the speakers, go ahead and use a CD or directly connected iPod instead.

2.       Speaker terminals may be touching ground (metal). Where is the distortion coming from? A single speaker, an entire side (channel), or the entire system? Its best at this point to go back and disconnect each speaker until the distortion goes away. The most likely culprits are the front tweeters.

3.       The factory speaker was distorted as well. If a single speaker was distorting, the most likely culprit is the amplifier. We may need to explore replacing/repairing your factory amplifier.

·          A speaker is physically defective, as in defective from shipping or directly from the manufacturer.
There is only one solution here:

1.       We will be happy to get a replacement speaker out to you. We’ll need to bill you for the replacement speaker, and once the defective speaker arrives back to us, we will gladly issue a refund. Once you get the new speaker, please keep us posted on the results, as want to make sure that everything is sounding as it should.