yo.

I'm slowly planning out a stereo for my iX -- all I'm swapping from the install in my old car to the BMW is the subs and amp for them, probably boxes too. I've got a Kicker KX400.1, 400W RMS mono @ 2 ohms, and 2 12" 200W RMS Cerwin Vega HED series subs. Two single enclosed boxes.

First of all, does anyone know what /really/ fits in the front (kick panel) and rear (rear deck) speaker locations in an E30? I've had people tell me that you can fit 6.5s in the front without cutting the sheet metal with no problems, but you're stuck with 5.25s in the rear. Other people have told me the exact opposite. Anyone know what really fits?

Also, here's a question for the purists, what do you guys think the best way to mount component speakers in the rear would be? Is there any decent way to do it without chopping everything (door frames, etc.) up? How about the rear deck -- if the mids speaker is mounted there and the tweeter is mounted somewhere else, will the back seat still have decent sound? ..Of course, it looks like most purists will yell at me for using enclosed boxes in the rear rather than ported in a BMW, but hey.

Couple more. With the bass setup that I have, what should I shoot for with the component speakers and 4ch amp? 50W RMS x 4? Would 50W comps be too weak or too powerful for my subs?

And, last one.. I'm trying to keep the ski boot in the iX operational throughout the trunk install because I snowboard and it looks like 2 boards would fit beautifully back-to-back through there. My plans so far are having an amp rack custom built for the rear of the trunk with the hole cut for the ski boot, going to hide the amps behind the boxes.. any suggestions on how to pull it all together? I have a couple ideas, but haven't decided yet.

Any photos of your E30 stereo install would be awesome. I'd love to see it.

Not sure about the E30, but in the E36 5.25" mids fit the best in the kick panel locations. Some have fit larger, but it's a lot of work. My guess is it's similar in the E30.

If you're going to run speakers in the rear in addition to your front set up and subs, you don't have to go all out. The purpose of the rear speakers is not to drive the overall sound, it's more to fill it in (so called rear fill). I'd think about eitehr a pair of 4" or 5.25" coaxialys in the back.

I believe most of the "purists" would recommend sealed boxes over ported designs for you subs.