MG-Rover.org Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Rover 25 - Radio wiring help needed

Jump to Latest
18K views 26 replies 3 participants last post by  BLMC  
F
#1 · (Edited)
My 2003 rover 25 has 2 ISO connectors for the radio; one is coloured mustard yellow and the other coloured grey. There is also a 3 coloured connector with 2 thin cables in the loom, Pink and White.

I am fitting a Rover badge Radio/CD manufactured by Blaupunkt, model number XQE 100 380 but the connectors are bullet and not ISO. Also there is no socket for the Pink and White wires.

Looking from the back of the radio, on the right I can see several male bullet pins arranged in a diamond pattern.

The top row has 1 pin next to a red 10A fuse
The second row also has 1 pin again near the 10A fuse
Rows 2 to 7 has 3 pins in each row.

I intend to solder female bullet connectors to the wires from 2 suitable ISO male plugs and then connect each female bullet connector to the back of the radio but need to know what coloured wire goes to each of the above male bullet pins?

Beneath the array of male bullet pins is a small metal shield containing two rows of small gold plated male pins. The top row has 2 pins and the bottom row 3 pins. What is this used for?

Below the protruding securing bolt and to the right is a small female plug shielded by the radio metal housing. What is this used for?
 
F
#8 ·
F
#9 ·
This related thread has details of the 2 connections needed to connect the steering wheel control cables.
http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=273472

Pin 10 of the BMW plug connects to pin 2 of the ISO female socket and pin 17 of the BMW plug connects to pin 3 of the ISO female socket.

The male bullet pins on the radio are numbered, though I needed a magnifying glass to identify pins 10 and 17.

Looking at the Autoleads PC3-211 adaptor photo posted above, there are 3 blank holes with no connectors. These relate to pins 4, 7 and 17 on the radio. Pin 17 therefore needs to be connected.

Pin 10, the middle pin in the bottom row in the photo, has a connection. I shall check that this connects to ISO pin 2.

From what I see it may just be a matter of extracting the female bullet connector in the BMW plug that goes to ISO pin 3 (if there is one) and relocating it to pin 17.

Otherwise I will need to add a female bullet connector to the blank hole 17 and wire it to ISO pin 3.

Female bullet connectors have spring tabs to lock them in position. The tabs can be pressed in with a miniature screwdriver or needle to enable extraction.

I shall report progress when my PC3-211 adaptor arrives.
 
F
#10 ·
Thank you Roverman for pointing me in the right direction.


The PC3-211 adaptor arrived today. No instructions but I figured out that there is a locking outer sleeve that needs pushing up before you can plug the adaptor into back of the radio and then push it back down to lock.

Looking at the adaptor sideways on you can see angled cut-outs in the sleeve being a guide for a round peg protruding from the main block.


I noticed that pin 10 of the BMW block is connected to ISO pin 3 whereas it should be connected to ISO pin 2 that is blank on the adaptor.

I fitted the adaptor without any modifications to try it out and the radio works fine, apart from the fact that the steering wheel control is not yet connected.

I now am getting the additional parts for the adaptor: -


1 x female BMW pin for vacant position 17 of the adaptor block. I will salvage a female pin from an old PC hard drive 'Y' splitter as this will also have some cable.


1 x male ISO pin that plugs into position 3 after swapping over pins 2 and 3 in the adaptor. I shall get a cheap ISO block adaptor from fleabay and break it open for this part.

While fitting the radio, I noticed that the Rover 25 audio loom has an additional long block made up of 3 different colours with just 2 cables going to the loom!



This block was not connected to anything, so I am intrigued to know what this is used for?


 
F
#12 ·


Thank you again for helping!

The information that I quoted from a related post is therefore incorrect for my rover 25.

I did not take a note of the colours of these 2 wires and need to check that these still connect to pins 10 and 17 of the PC3-211 adaptor.
 
F
#13 ·
Almost there!

After lots of Google searching, apparently the XQE100380 CD/radio does not support the steering wheel controls.

Pin 17 is not assigned and pin 10 connects to the speedometer signal for speed dependant volume control.

The 2 rows of small connector’s bottom right of the radio that I referred to in my original post connect to an optional 6 CD changer.

Is there a Rover badged radio, preferably with CD that connects to the 2 ISO connectors and the steering wheel control connector in the Rover 25 audio loom. If not what CD radio would use the 3 loom connectors?
 
B
#14 ·
Some of the VDO and Iovox Rover stereos did.

I removed a knackered factory fitted Sony stereo from a friend's facelift 25 and that had a separate loom from the 2+1 ISO to 2 ISO + Sony jack for the control.
 
F
#16 ·
B
#17 ·
No good looking a BMW wiring as it is different.

As you've/we've said above, all there is to do now is to figure out where the 2 additional control wires from your multicoloured block go into the BMW block on your adapter.

I'm out for mothers day soon but will check wiring diagrams for you later and investigate further.
 
F
#19 ·
According to my Haynes the remote wires are coloured White and Pink. The diagram shows that White goes to pin 11 of the head unit and Pink to pin 12.

I have seen reports where Haynes has used Rover 200 diagrams so I need verification that the connections to pins 11 and 12 also apply to Rover 25 before I make these connections.
 
F
#26 ·
Unless someone knows how to convert the XQE100380 to get the steering controls to work, the only other solution is to get a head unit that was originally fitted to my Rover 25 manufactured 2003.

The wiring loom is 2 x ISO plus the 3 coloured connector (blue yellow green if I recall correctly).

Does anyone know the part number of this original head unit?
 
MG-Rover.org Forums
posts
5.9M
members
140K
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to MG & Rover owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, troubleshooting, upgrades, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
MGF and MGTF MG ZR / Rover 25, 200 & Streetwise MG ZT / Rover 75 MG / Rover Related Chat - up to 2005 MG ZS (2001-2005) / Rover 45 & 400