DIY 6x9 Speaker Installation - E36 with Photos

[richardguile]

I thought I’d post a quick DIY on installing 6x9’s into an E36 model. The reason I decided to do this was because my original rear speakers were making a god awful sound (you will see why later!)

These are the Alpine units that I was looking forward to installing,



These are the speakers themselves, I’m hoping the sound quality should be an improvement over the original units.





As with most of my posts there will be lots of photos as I myself find them useful when trying to follow instructions.

I guess this DIY has been done before so if it has been covered well in the past then mods feel free to delete this if the photos are taking up too much server space.

Let the fun begin:-

Start be removing the rear speaker covers,



Not exactly sure how this should be done but I found that if your slide the rear forward you can get your fingers under and gently lift the cover up and off,



You are then left with this. Unscrew the two phillips head screws you can see in the photo and then open the boot,



This is what you will see in the boot,



Now pull the speaker down, I think I broke the clip doing this but it didn’t worry me as I knew they were bin fodder anyway,



I’m fairly certain that there shouldn’t be a nice ring of fresh air around that shitty paper cone, no wonder it sounded shite.



Now remove the other two phillips screws that hold the speaker to the plastic housing and remove the speaker,



Once you have done this you will have a total of four screws which I used to fix my 6x9 to the rear of my speaker mounting adaptors.



You will then need to purchase some fixings for the mount to the rear of the car, I found the size of bolt in photo below to be adequate,



I then went back into the boot and offered the complete unit up in the same way the original was removed. I then dropped the bolt down from the top and fixed the nut up underneath as you can just see in the photo.



I then replace the speaker covers as removed and went back in to the boot where you will need the following equipment.



I wired the left,



Then the right,



And you end up with this,



Just a few shots of the head unit so folks can see how it looks in the cockpit. I think it fits in pretty well,

[ducky328i]

it may be helpful it you post where you sourced your adapters from

[richardguile]

i didn't bother as i guessed that most wouldn't want to pay the shipping but as you insist,

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BMW-E36-3-Ser...item5885e6830b

[slocar]

Good writeup.

I replaced my rears with 3-way 4" speakers and disconnected the original tweeters (since the 3-ways ... have tweeters). Hooked right up and fit perfectly in the opening where stockers were. Sounds good, though I'm not much of an audiophile (just want no rattling or crackling); to someone that is, this is far superior.

edit: Wait a sec ... how did your car not have tweeters in the back?

[cloud0084]

nice write up dude. i was thinking of doing something similar to this too

[nate2k5]

they are available on US ebay, look to be running around $45

[ChuckDizzle]

sweet write-up.

OT: I want that analog clock but its not available in the US

[slocar]

sweet write-up.

OT: I want that analog clock but its not available in the US

German ebay ... you just gotta search around to find someone willing to ship to the states ... the clocks themselves are dirt cheap (as most german spec cars had them to start with ..)

[richardguile]

sweet write-up.

OT: I want that analog clock but its not available in the US

cheers mate, you get analogue here in OZ but prices are a bit high due to not too many bimmers running around.

i'll keep an eye on flea bay for you and if one comes up i'll let you know, i can ship it on.

also check for yourself and if you see one then pm me

[acoumvoulidis]

Good writeup.

I replaced my rears with 3-way 4" speakers and disconnected the original tweeters (since the 3-ways ... have tweeters). Hooked right up and fit perfectly in the opening where stockers were. Sounds good, though I'm not much of an audiophile (just want no rattling or crackling); to someone that is, this is far superior.

edit: Wait a sec ... how did your car not have tweeters in the back?

I believe that oz spec bm's don't have them in the back

[Wobblysauce]

OP, wow those are shot, and yes with the rear clip you are meant to press it in and the speaker just drops out, not pull it

Yes, 6 speaker setup, it is just a 4" rear speakers - no tweets in rear, though I have just have the small rear box



and at least with mine the front door it is a tweeter, running decoy looking like a mid




and kicker is the standard 5.25" Midbass



I went with the analogue clock also, but mine is on the right side unlike yours

[z25is]

I did the 6x9 conversion for my rear speakers.

These are what I got http://cgi.ebay.com/BMW-3-Series-E36...item27ae920af8 and they are well worth the price. Only took about 10 days to show up after ordering.

My 6x9's, along with the 5" fronts and my home built 6" woofer in the trunk, my sound quality is brilliant.

[Moron95M3]

Thanks OP! Just ordered adapters via ebay.uk, looking forward to them with my sub in the trunk.

[turge]

Sorry for the bump... but did anyone do this with the 10 speaker setup with the 2 rear tweeters? Trying to figure out what I need to do before I start splicing stuff.

[ronMtech325is]

The link in the z25is post does not have 6x9 speaker adapters in it. I found these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rear-Speaker...55c9d8&vxp=mtr on eBay.

[JayhawkM3]

For anyone else 10 years behind the rest of Bimmerforums; here is a current link to Amazon's version of the 6x9 adapter. Mine is in the mail...but it appears at first glance that it will work for general 3-series purposes.

https://www.amazon.com/BMW-6x9-Rear-.../dp/B0081IC506

[FranklyIDC]

I was following this guide recently to wire up the tweeters on my 6x9s. Additionally i was able to fit them into the original hk shells, with some light cutting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[callison157]

For anyone else 10 years behind the rest of Bimmerforums; here is a current link to Amazon's version of the 6x9 adapter. Mine is in the mail...but it appears at first glance that it will work for general 3-series purposes.

https://www.amazon.com/BMW-6x9-Rear-.../dp/B0081IC506

Can confirm that these will work; I used them for my 95 M3 stereo upgrade. Depending on what 6x9s you buy though, you may have to do some alterations to the adapters to get the speakers to mate onto them well. The adapters do fit perfectly onto the rear deck, but you definitely need to use the nut and bolt method of attaching them shown above.

Also of note: there are (or at least there was in my car,) 4 screw mount holes in the car's rear deck, so if you are so inclined, you can use 4 nuts and bolts for a super-secure mount. I did that and have no worries about rattles, or vibrations loosening the fasteners. Blue locktite might not be a bad idea either.

Also: Yeah, I'm right there with you ten years behind in the forums lol.