2016 CX-5 Bose Wiring Diagram

[LeeShadow]

Tackled replacing the Bose speakers recently (dash, rear doors and D-pillars only) in my 2016 GT with Polk db351's and DXi651s, and I just wanted to share that the attached wiring diagram at least in terms of speaker wire color is dead accurate in case anyone else wants to tackle changes to their own 2016 Bose.

Very happy with the upgrade (cost vs benefit), even while keeping the original Bose front door midbass speakers ("woofers")...the Bose amp already filters the lows from the front and D-pillar speakers, so no bass blockers needed for the db351, and there is better fidelity from both those and the wider range larger rear door speakers which helps remove some of what I felt was a muddiness in the overall Bose system.

Still a bit too much what I'd consider "boomy" bass from the front doors, though--not a clean punch. But I have yet to find a midbass or even true woofer speaker that is close enough to the low ohms of the front Bose speakers/amp output that then doesn't require a more powerful amp than the Bose output, or at least what I've seen people stating that the output might be. I am definitely open to suggestions, especially from anyone who has actually kept the OEM Bose system and just upgraded their speakers.

View attachment 2016 CX-5 Bose Audio Wiring.pdf

 

[Kegelhoff]

Thanks for the wiring diagram. I had searched for this for some time and was not able to locate it.
Can you please give us more info on this recent speaker mod. In particular, what made you chose the Polk db351's for the dash. Looking at those speakers they claim they are marine rated, have a nice high sensitivity at 91 db but are 4 ohm. I thought we needed to try and match a lower Ohm speaker for our Bose system ?? I was looking at the Infinity Reference 3002CFX 3-1/2" Two Way as they claim it is rated at 3 ohm to match the stock Bose system better? Do you feel this is accurate and warranted ? Also, did you do the install yourself and can you tell me how hard it was and how long it took? Any info would help a bunch !! To me, the stock system just doesn't seem to produce the highs I think are needed and like you mentioned seems to sound "muddy" at times. I'm just looking to try and get some better sound at a moderate price and I'm not sure if replacing the 3 dash speakers will do the trick or I need to replace the 2 rear door speakers from the 5 1/4" wide-range to a better two way speaker. I'm guessing you might say I need to do them all ??
Thanks.

 

[LeeShadow]

Glad to assist a little, Kegelhoff!

I based my speaker selection on what others had replaced their speakers with, and also on this file which someone else had originally posted elsewhere on this or another forum. It apparently represents the 2015 CX-5 Bose system, and I assumed would also match the 2016. It seems to be correct, based on my results at least.



I'm no audio expert, so this is a very gross generalization: Generally speaking, one can go higher on car speaker impedance (ohms) as compared to the amplifier, but not (generally) the other direction. I felt that given the ratings in the attachment, 4 ohms was close enough to the 3.24-3.96 for the dash/pillar Bose speakers, and also to the 3.7 for the rear door. With a larger gap between a speaker with a higher impedance than the amp, sound levels will suffer, but I don't notice a huge difference in that post-Polk installation, so it seems 4 ohms for everything but the front doors (which are 1.25 ohms!) are fine given the similar ratings.

What I did guess at was the individual watts being sent to each speaker, as I could only find a total watts rating for the Bose amp (I want to say it was something like 225 or 235 watts). Again, because others had done similar mods, I felt comfortable to proceed and the power ratings also don't seem to be any issue.

I purchased the rear door Polks from Crutchfield, who provided helpful although basic instructions on how to access each speaker specifically to the CX-5.

The dash ones are very easy to access, but since there doesn't seem to be matching connector adapters available yet, you have to cut the factory connector off and wire to the speakers directly. Again, from reading other's input that there is very little play in the OEM harness especially on the outer dash speakers, I purchased short extension wires with crimp connectors on the other end, and used Posi-Lock connectors to attach the two wires--I ended up just using that approach for all the speaker installs, not just the dash.

The rear doors are equally easy to access (just purchase some replacement panel/trim connectors, as you will probably break at least one as I did), but the Scosche speaker adapter ring Crutchfield provided requires drilling new holes in the door as the Bose speaker mount holes don't line up. I didn't want to do that, so I figured out that the adapter will line up with one of the existing Bose mount holes, and then two other holes that are unused but already drilled in the door. I had to improvise using hollow wall mounts (!) to hold the rear door speaker in those two holes, but I have on order the matching grommet/screw mounts used for the Bose speaker and will replace those so the OEM bolts can be used in all the mount points for the new speaker. I couldn't get the existing grommets removed.

The rear D-Pillar speakers were a piece of cake (Crutchfield's instructions have a short cut to avoid removing all the back panels, and it worked really well) and literally took me 15 minutes for both, including wiring.

After having worked on three previous Mazda's of mine (2001 Miata, 2006 Miata, and a 2010 Mazda 6), it was interesting to see over time how much more care Mazda has put into their newer vehicles in terms of fit, finish and even sound insulation (there's some on the D-pillar trim, which amusing looks a lot like wound gauze). All the wiring is more carefully secured and wrapped, and there's foam padding in certain spots to prevent physical noise (oh, that's another challenge--you will need patience to cut into the wire coverings/looms to get to the actual wires for stripping, etc).

Let me know if you have any other specific questions....

Rich

 

[LeeShadow]

For anyone interested, here are the materials I used for my install:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) (I also purchased a set of blue ones for ease of keeping track of +/-)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) (this was amazingly useful for the screws used on the outer dash speakers due to the windshield curvature)

GROMMET, SCREW -- GJ6A58975 (OEM rear door speaker mount grommet/screw holders)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned) (OEM trim connectors/fasteners --GJ6A-68-AB1)

I already had a set of trim panel removal tools (plastic), which of course are invaluable to prevent damage that can occur from using metal tools like screwdrivers.

 

[Kelfster]

Tackled replacing the Bose speakers recently (dash, rear doors and D-pillars only) in my 2016 GT with Polk db351's and DXi651s, and I just wanted to share that the attached wiring diagram at least in terms of speaker wire color is dead accurate in case anyone else wants to tackle changes to their own 2016 Bose.


View attachment 211920

Does anyone have info on a 2016 non-Bose wiring diagram or rear speaker wire colors at the head unit?

 

[ColtX-5]

The following woofer(s) look like suitable replacements for the Blose woofer:
Check the depth on all of these. I don't know how much clearance there is. And these should be used with an aftermarket amp.

http://www.parts-express.com/titan-8-treated-paper-cone-foam-surround-woofer-4-ohm--299-1086 foam surround won't last, but high Qts means it will not need a box for proper bass.

http://www.parts-express.com/grs-8pr-8-8-poly-cone-rubber-surround-woofer--292-428 maybe a better choice, good Qts, but 8 ohms means your amp will deliver less power and 85 dB/w/m means you'll need about 100 watts.

http://www.parts-express.com/goldwood-gw-208-4-8-oem-woofer-4-ohm--290-310 Perfect Qts Response curve looks great for a car full of soft surfaces, but you could always add a low pass filter.

http://www.parts-express.com/goldwood-gw-8024-8-butyl-surround-woofer-4-ohm--290-356 Another good looking woofer and the one I might choose, especially if the dash speakers can handle everything above 400 Hz, so I can roll off that 500 Hz dip it has. It should be pretty solid down to the low E on a bass.