[Joebie]

Went out to my car after work today (2018 OG), hopped in, started it up, and I was greeted by the LOUDEST popping sound from the speakers. I'm talking rock-concert 110dB ear damaging type of volume. Sounded like someone was taking a record player needle and running it over 60grit sandpaper and then injecting that noise straight into my brain.

After I realized what was happening, I tried turning down the volume, pressing the volume knob to mute, and turning the car off + opening the door to no avail. It just kept popping. LOUD! CRAZY LOUD! PANIC-INDUCING LOUD!

So I think to myself, ok, ive heard of the amps failing before, maybe this is whats happening to me. Ill just pull the fuse for the amp! I hop out, open the trunk, frantically pull out the trunk liner and fuse card (all in a panic while my speakers are self-destructing in front of me) and after 30 seconds or so i still cant figure out what fuse to pull and so i google it. Turns out it's fuse #122. Thank you McGary911 https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...2&postcount=11

So anyways, the amp fuse is out and the popping stops. The popping actually mostly subsided in the middle of all this panic, but pulling the fuse stopped it entirely.

I get home, remove my left side trunk liner - the amp and amp cavity/body recess is totally dry. Not even a spec of moisture anywhere to be found, or even a trace of any.

I remove the amp, take it apart, and everything looks great EXCEPT for this one little component here:



I can only assume that this is the failure point. Its a shame that just a little bit of corrosion like that can ruin everything. I'm a mechanical engineer but I have some electrical engineer friends that might have the tools and knowledge to repair this properly, if it even can be repaired.

So if it cant be repaired, what are my options? How expensive is a new amp that will probably have the same problem? What are some good aftermarket brands?

Thanks for the help!

[Joebie]

Upon further investigation, the component with the corrosion/failure is right underneath one of these holes in the amp, making me think that maybe a splash shield would have been my saving grace, had i had one.

For those of you without amp splash shields, this is your sign to get one installed!

[Joebie]

I found a local junkyard on that car-part said had a compatible amp from a mini cooper clubman. Well turns out it works fine. Got the used amp from the clubman, plugged it into my M2 and it worked completely fine like nothing ever happened. Cant believe the speakers survived that torture of the original amp blowing.

[Joebie]

I ordered and installed the splash shield for the new amp. No pictures, sorry. It was easy. Fingers crossed no more problems in the future!

[ZM2]

Ahhh!!!!! This just happened to me today! Cant believe how loud the popping was. Had my car doors closed and it sounded like my car was about to blow up from the outside!

I’ll pull the fuse for now, but I’m curious, is this an opportunity to upgrade the amp? Looking for a plug & play option.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by ZM2

Ahhh!!!!! This just happened to me today! Cant believe how loud the popping was. Had my car doors closed and it sounded like my car was about to blow up from the outside!

I’ll pull the fuse for now, but I’m curious, is this an opportunity to upgrade the amp? Looking for a plug & play option.

the only upgrade i could find was the bimmertech amp, but its $1250 which was about twice as much as i could stomach spending.

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/speakers...lifier-for-bmw

[ZM2]

Originally Posted by Joebie

the only upgrade i could find was the bimmertech amp, but its $1250 which was about twice as much as i could stomach spending.

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/speakers...lifier-for-bmw

Agreed. Did you search a certain part number that was compatible across platforms?

Btw, my factory setup is the Harmon Kardon, not the regular hi fi.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by ZM2

Agreed. Did you search a certain part number that was compatible across platforms?

Btw, my factory setup is the Harmon Kardon, not the regular hi fi.

Mine is also HK, i just searched for this






And the site seems to know that mini-coopers have interchangeable parts (lots of mini coopers in the results despite selecting M2 as my model)

[ZM2]

Originally Posted by Joebie

Mine is also HK, i just searched for this






And the site seems to know that mini-coopers have interchangeable parts (lots of mini coopers in the results despite selecting M2 as my model)

What’s strange about this is if I select my car (2017 M2) only two parts come up from M2’s.

If I select 2018 (should be the same amp), a lot of choices come up from different cars.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by ZM2

What’s strange about this is if I select my car (2017 M2) only two parts come up from M2’s.

If I select 2018 (should be the same amp), a lot of choices come up from different cars.

Might just be that the site doesnt realize what is compatible and what isnt. might also be that for some strange reason they arent compatible. Youre on your own here unfortunately.

[carchrism5]

Originally Posted by ZM2

Ahhh!!!!! This just happened to me today! Cant believe how loud the popping was. Had my car doors closed and it sounded like my car was about to blow up from the outside!

I’ll pull the fuse for now, but I’m curious, is this an opportunity to upgrade the amp? Looking for a plug & play option.

Yes it could be, however it might take time to get one which isn't ideal when it comes to the stereo in the car. MATCH makes some upgrades but they aren't cheap, and the 7UP they used to make is no longer available and a perfect upgrade. Audison has plug and play options but you have to buy compatible parts then tune yourself which is great if you're into that but annoying if you have never tuned before. There's a few other options but most are $1200+ range. A used 7UP is about half that and there are ready to go 'good' tunes that will make the car sounds substantially better, you can scour classifieds to see if you can come up with one.

[ZM2]

Where do you guys get the splash shields? Sorry if I missed that from other threads.

Edit: Found it, https://www.getbmwparts.com/oem-part...er-65152715205

I’ll probably just find a used amp and install it, along with the splash guard. I don’t listen to music too much in the car, just longer drives. I do more listening at home.

PS. It still kills me the guys that upgrade their M2 stereos and play music wirelessly via CarPlay vs hardwire. Even on the HK setup there’s a clarity difference.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Joebie

the only upgrade i could find was the bimmertech amp, but its $1250 which was about twice as much as i could stomach spending.

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/speakers...lifier-for-bmw

The Bimmertech is just a rebadged Audiotec Fischer MATCH UP 7 BMW with settings pre-programmed. If you want to tinker I would recommend you buy the MATCH UP 7 BMW or now the MATCH UP 8 replacement with a harness for the HK system S674A. It's around $1k give or take. I actually have one for sale (MATCH UP 8) new in box with harness that I never got around to installing before my car got totaled. If you're interested or anyone is interested just PM me. I have just been too lazy to list it in classifieds yet with the rest of my stuff.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by carchrism5

Yes it could be, however it might take time to get one which isn't ideal when it comes to the stereo in the car. MATCH makes some upgrades but they aren't cheap, and the 7UP they used to make is no longer available and a perfect upgrade. Audison has plug and play options but you have to buy compatible parts then tune yourself which is great if you're into that but annoying if you have never tuned before. There's a few other options but most are $1200+ range. A used 7UP is about half that and there are ready to go 'good' tunes that will make the car sounds substantially better, you can scour classifieds to see if you can come up with one.

The UP 8 is similarly plug and play, it just has an extra channel you won't need. It runs the newer software platform though so it's nicer to tune. Some guys in the UK on eBay will sell it to you with the right harness for around $800-1000 USD depending on exchange rate, shipping, etc.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by chris719

The Bimmertech is just a rebadged Audiotec Fischer MATCH UP 7 BMW with settings pre-programmed. If you want to tinker I would recommend you buy the MATCH UP 7 BMW or now the MATCH UP 8 replacement with a harness for the HK system S674A. It's around $1k give or take. I actually have one for sale (MATCH UP 8) new in box with harness that I never got around to installing before my car got totaled. If you're interested or anyone is interested just PM me. I have just been too lazy to list it in classifieds yet with the rest of my stuff.

Originally Posted by chris719

The UP 8 is similarly plug and play, it just has an extra channel you won't need. It runs the newer software platform though so it's nicer to tune. Some guys in the UK on eBay will sell it to you with the right harness for around $800-1000 USD depending on exchange rate, shipping, etc.

Thats great info to know but ive already got my amp replaced and im not picky enough about the audio to spend that much money on it. Might help someone else in the future though, thanks!