 Aftermarket Amplifiers...
Hey folks,
I'm having a helluva time with my charging system.
I have a basic question for all of you...
1. What is the total RMS wattage of the amplifier(s) you are running in your Ti.
2. Are you running the stock Alternator?
3. How is your battery not dying all the time?
I have the 10-speaker stereo setup, and I am using the OEM amplifier, as well as an Infinity Basslink which advertises a 200 watt RMS draw. Under what I would consider "normal" conditions for a stereo (I'm not blasting it, just listening to some bass with a good kick) I consistently drain my battery.
Checked for shorts, bad grounds, etc, it's not that. Basically I think my alternator needs rebuilt. But I'm wondering how closely BMW designed the charging system according to the electrical system's average load. 80Amps isn't that big for a car alternator, and my guess is the amplifier I installed could be drawing as much as 20Amps. And it's pushing the alternator past it's capacity to charge the battery. When I disconnect my amp via the fuse, the system charges just fine.
It's like impossible to find a higher capacity alternator for the 318ti, I've looked and there's nothing in the stock casing. Since I hate paying other people to do things, I'm thinking of buying another Valeo alternator (90 or 105 A) and changing out the internals to the stock 318ti casing.
If I can avoid this with a simple alt rebuild, I'll stick with the stock unit. Thoughts? There have to be folks running bigger sound systems than me here...
the blonde weasel | 
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