Hey guys,

I am installing 6.5" CDT speakers in the kick panel of my 94 325is. I am using the Q-logic kicks, which I put about 3 layers of fiberglass on. The problem that I ran into is that the sheet metal is still in the way. I was hoping to avoid cutting it, but it didn't work. So I have cut a lot of the baffle metal out of the way. At the bottom of the stock speaker cavity there seems to be a separate sheet metal piece to seal the bottom of the area. There seems to be a support where this attaches to the front baffle area. (This is probably about 3 inches below the bottom of the stock speaker.) Does anyone know if this is a vital support. Can I cut this or hammer it down into the speaker cavity?

Thanks

Greg

Can you PLEASE take pics? what you're doing is RARELY talked about on this board and since I was considering doing it at one time I'd kill to see the install process
thanks

I thought that pics may help. I'll have to find my camera and take some pics.....I'll try to do it at halftime.....

Greg

lol. Jacksonville is gonna get owned.

OK, here are some pics. It's the indentation that you can see a few inches below the stock speaker location. On the driver's side, I have pretty much cut everything but the support.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/apuismyhero/IMG_0209.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/apuismyhero/IMG_0210.jpg

Here is how the kicks turned out. This is just the driver's side, and I matted over the fiberglass, but overall I'm happy with them for my first venture with fiberglass. Oh, and Jax may get destroyed today, but I'm in Tampa, so go Bucs.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/apuismyhero/IMG_0211.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/apuismyhero/IMG_0212.jpg

that is structural metal. similar to an impact zone. it is there to help prevent your fender from crushing your entire leg on a side impact.

general rule when cutting metal--its if thicker than regular sheet metal-its structural.

you can cut it, but i would then go back and box it back in and weld some more metal in its place.

OK, so I know this thread is super old, but I came across it again, and I wanted to put some other thoughts in case someone digs it up for research later on.

I ended up bending that bracket down and had to pound that section down a bit on the driver's side. Here is what I did not know going in--because there is no dead pedal on the passenger side, the speaker sits closer to the firewall than it does on the driver's side. This caused some difficulty as the wheel well is right there. Since my speakers were too deep, I had to really work to fit them in here. I thought I had some pictures of how far I had to adjust the metal on that side, but I can't find it on my comp. Sorry. I finally did make it work though.

Overall I am very pleased with the sound of this set-up. I have a 12" Kappa Perfect sub to go with them, and I left the rear speakers out, as I don't like rear fill. My only regret is that I did not vully enclose the back, and I am sure I am losing some midbase for that. However, since I was using 6.5", I had to bottom mount them, and I didn't want to have to cut the enclosure if I ever removed the speakers. Also, these speakers never would have fit if I had another layer of glass behind them.

If I were to do it again and use the qlogics, I would probably stay with 5.25" so I could top mount them - which would have less depth and allow me to enclose the back of the kicks. But overall, I think my fiberglass came out pretty good, and I would probably just try to make custom kicks for 6.5"s.

I haven't had problems with the speaker when shifting, but my feet are pretty narrow, so take it for what its worth. I hope this update helps someone down the road.

Greg

I can't see that driver side unit being very good for driving a stick shift vehicle. That is just me.

Definitely not going to any track events, I cram on my dead pedal in turns :) It helps me turn in harder!!!

True. I had the same problem with q logics in my 5 speed DSM. Definately weren't worth the $80... Could have fabbed something better for that amount.

True. I had the same problem with q logics in my 5 speed DSM. Definately weren't worth the $80... Could have fabbed something better for that amount.

Definitely can make something better. That is always possible. I personally just MUST have the dead pedal. If you took it out on the track and really got hard into a corner you will be using that dead pedal to brace yourself. And I have harness's in my car.

Hey guys,

Yeah if you are using it on the track and need the dead pedal, this is definitely not the way to go, as you can see by the design of kick panels in general. I have not seen a set that did not eliminate the dead pedal. For me that wasn't an issue.

I chose to go with qlogics as I had never worked with fiberglass, and wanted to make sure the front looked decent. Having fiberglassed now, I think I could make something from scratch that looked good and sounded better than the logics. At this time, though I am happy with the set up and do not want to invest the time in fabricating kicks.

I just know when I was considering these options, I couldn't find a lot of info on the fit, and end results of the projects, so in case someone else is considering it, they can see my final thoughts.

Take it easy,

Greg

Hey guys,

Yeah if you are using it on the track and need the dead pedal, this is definitely not the way to go, as you can see by the design of kick panels in general. I have not seen a set that did not eliminate the dead pedal. For me that wasn't an issue.

I chose to go with qlogics as I had never worked with fiberglass, and wanted to make sure the front looked decent. Having fiberglassed now, I think I could make something from scratch that looked good and sounded better than the logics. At this time, though I am happy with the set up and do not want to invest the time in fabricating kicks.

I just know when I was considering these options, I couldn't find a lot of info on the fit, and end results of the projects, so in case someone else is considering it, they can see my final thoughts.

Take it easy,

Greg

I'm glad to see that you deadened them before hand, as the Q Pods are very, very flimsy, and prone to resonance.

Oh yeah,

I guess I didn't reread the beginning of the post. They are very flimsy right out of the box. I did about 3 layers of glass on the back. I just wanted the clean look on the front. The glass was not hard to do at all, though, and the areas that weren't so pretty were easy to sand. I put matting over the glass too, and all over the sheet metal in that area.

Greg