Berlingo Multispace Door Speaker Upgrades?

Bananaman · Post by **Bananaman** » 08 Dec 2006, 13:01

Having discovered (the hard way) that the Sony X-Plod Stereo wont work in the Multiplexed Blingo without the central locking turning itself off...

I have (for now) refitted the tape player pending either the fitment of a multichanger or an in dash Citroen CD player - anyway, I have also discovered the OE door speakers are crap and get all farty at more than 17 on the volume control - as I am deaf (well hard of hearing - yes I do have a hearing aid - believe me its like listening to Bon Jovi on short wave) I often have the stereo cranked up.

Anyone got any suggestions for drop in replacements? (something decent that wont fart and distort when the stereo gets turned up?

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 08 Dec 2006, 13:45

Sony custom fit speakers have multiple holes and fit nearly any car. I don't know the sizes for Berlingos, but they work a treat on my C5 with the standard Citroen head unit.

Ross_K · Post by **Ross_K** » 08 Dec 2006, 14:44

Here's the list of Pioneer custom fit speakers for Citroens:
http://www.pioneer.eu/files/SFYC/index3 ... nd=CITROEN

You should find what you're after there...

As regards fitting aftermarket radios to multiplex cars, scroll down to wheeler's post here:
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=19735

Bananaman · Post by **Bananaman** » 08 Dec 2006, 17:00

Marvelous Will have a scoot round for some speakers - though still none the wiser about the radio - I plugged in the Sony - it worked, but other functions in my car didnt (like central locking), pluged the Citroen one back in - everything rosy. I think the best plan is just to lump a Citroen head unit in, just a bumer it wont play MP3's

wheeler · Post by **wheeler** » 09 Dec 2006, 13:04

Thats because you must isolate the multiplexed wiring form the sony radio.you can fit any radio into a multiplexed car and have everything working correctly as long as you do this.

Bananaman · Post by **Bananaman** » 09 Dec 2006, 16:16

wheeler wrote:Thats because you must isolate the multiplexed wiring form the sony radio.you can fit any radio into a multiplexed car and have everything working correctly as long as you do this.

Is that simply a case of chop those wires off and tape up? Im a bit wary of doing this in case it upsets anything else again.
Went to the stealership again today and the tech dept had no idea what to do (so they say) and offered me a in dash Cit CD at... wait for it...

£166 + £25 Coding + Fitting/ Labour + VAT.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 09 Dec 2006, 17:12

Stealership bargains

I dont have an owners manual for a Blingo, so would like you to ensure there is no info found on the subject in your manual.
If you dont have a Blingo manual : thats where dealerships are serviceminded as they will get you one for free. Be sure to inform the correct model & year details.

Bananaman · Post by **Bananaman** » 09 Dec 2006, 18:55

Manual just shows the pin outs as the diagram:

Pin 1 - MPLEX
Pin 2 - MPLEX
Pin 3 - MPLEX
Pin 4 - 12V
Pin 5 - Automatic aerial
Pin 6 - Illumination
Pin 7 - Ignition
Pin 8 - Ground

The speaker ISO is as standard.
There is no info about how to fit an aftermarket sound system.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 09 Dec 2006, 19:55

http://www.iso.schimkat.dk/iso1.png
Pinouts info supplied by RossK (up thread) :
Pin 1 - N/A
Pin 2 - N/A
Pin 3 - N/A
Pin 4 - 12V
Pin 5 - Automatic aerial
Pin 6 - Illumination
Pin 7 - Ignition
Pin 8 - Ground
Pinouts from your manual :
Pin 1 - MPLEX
Pin 2 - MPLEX
Pin 3 - MPLEX
Pin 4 - 12V
Pin 5 - Automatic aerial
Pin 6 - Illumination
Pin 7 - Ignition
Pin 8 - Ground

Its pretty obvious that pins 1, 2 & 3 are the MPX pins. They should simply be disconnected by cutting the wires to avoid disturbing the MPX system using a different unit.
You will of course lose any functionality supplied by the Blingo MPX installation to do with the radio.
Mark the wires such there is no doubt on how to reconnect if needs be.

If that still leaves you with unsatisfied functionality, I see no other options than using the existing setup, and then instead install a PA stage to drive your speaker installation. That should certainly in no way have to do with the MPX system.

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 09 Dec 2006, 20:08

I'd caution against cutting the multiplex wires, aren't they part of a circuit and required to be in a loop?

Bananaman · Post by **Bananaman** » 09 Dec 2006, 20:11

Im not bothered about losing any multifuntions (such as the steering control and RDS display) - I am worried about the other disturbances though - I cant understand how swapping the stereo affected the central locking (there is a button near the stereo that opperates the locking).

I could get a standard Citroen CD head unit off eBay for about £50 ish, the only reason I wanted to keep the Sony is it plays MP3 discs and I have a lot of "spoken word" CD's which are MP3 (Star Terk 2 anyone?).

I had pretty much resigned myself to having to fit a Citroen Unit and the original plan was to upgrade the door speakers to something thet did not distort at high volumes - but if I could fit the Sony stereo, well then that would save me some time and money (and having to convert 1 MP3 CD into 8 normal ones!)

If anyone has "removed" these wires in the past on the Berlingo, I would like to know how, if at all it affected the car.

Cheers.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 09 Dec 2006, 21:08

bencowell wrote:I'd caution against cutting the multiplex wires, aren't they part of a circuit and required to be in a loop?

You are right. But what could happen if you remove the radio - leaving the connector unplugged - i.e. same situation as cutting the wires ?
Unless of course it is a special connector with loop back switches built-in.

wheeler · Post by **wheeler** » 10 Dec 2006, 15:29

cuttting the wires wont do any harm because on that part of the network the multiplexed ECU's (the radio is an ECU by the way) are connected in parallel there is no loop.
personaly though i would never cut any wires that i didnt have to. doesent the sony head unit come with a small harness with female ISO plugs on one end & the sony plug on the other ? isolate the Mux wires at the small sony harness so you dont touch the cars original wiring.before you unplug the original radio switch it off with the power button on the radio then switch the ignition off & uplug radio,this ensures that the BSI doesent keep looking for the radio.
You will also need to run an ignition live feed up to the radio as there is no ignition feed at the ISO plugs on the car,the fag lighter is ideal for this.
The only wires on the power side of the ISO plug that should be conneted to the sony unit are the battery 12v feed,the earth wire & the switched 12v feed from the fag lighter.
Obviously the steering wheel controls wont work (not without an additional adaptor anyway) & the display wont show any radio info.