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Hey all, im inheriting a 2003 325i and i want to upgrade the speakers but be able to swith them out when i buy my own 325ci or 330ci.....
All help is great and anyone can participate. Just let me know the stock speaker dimensions for whichever one you can help. ANY INPUT IS GREAT!
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Both the i and ci have 5 1/4 up front and 6 1/2 in the back. This does not take into account the mids which I think most people don't replace. Not sure how much difference new spaekrs will make. I've got a 2001 325i and I'm replacing everything. Going with an Alpine hu I had in my wife car and I got a JL audio 300/4 amp off ebay. Also got Infinity Perfect 5.1's for up front and kappas for the back. Just waiting on the speakers to arrive and then we'll see how it sounds.
Doug
Member
so what are the size of the rest of the speakers in the car? I have a 2000 323ci that I just got a week ago and i am looking to replace all the speakers.
2 x 5 1/4" front
2 x 6 1/2" back
and the rest are?
your help is appreciated
Member
Most people just disconnect the mids in the side of the door. There are only a couple of compenent sets with 6 speakers and they are expensive from what I've heard. Not sure about the size of the mids but thinking they are 4". I'm just replacing the front with 5 1/4" components and the back with 6 1/2" speakers. May add a bass unit in the trunk later on.
Member
Opus...your copying my style...lol! I'm getting a 300/4 JL also....IN THE NEW CHROME(see website)...and im debating between getting JL Vr's or Xr's b/c of the price diff. Thanks alot man, some people are lazy and wouldnt tell me. Im not gonna get 3 ways either, Just comps. in the front and coax. in the back. SHOULD sound sweet. Also a Kenwood head unit and hopefully later on a small W6V2 or W7 in a year or so when I get the money. THANX MAN....great!!
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well supposing i didn't want to disconnect the speakers...aren;t there 2 1" dome tweeters in the front doors and what are the 2 speakers in the back above the arm rest?
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sounds like a good setup, I love infinity stuff myself.Originally Posted by Opus
Member
infinitys are real nice if you go with the kappas.sounds like a good setup, I love infinity stuff myself.
did yours have the HK option? if it did that makes a difference in what speakers you have.
Hope for Everything, Expect Nothing.
Member
I have the bone stock system...and im deciding between JL VR's or XR's. Any suggestions??
Member
I also have the non-hk system in my car, maybe that is why I think it sounds like crap. Very distorted if i turn it up much. Tried to install just my Alpine HU to see if that helped but it wouldn't fit in the slot with all the converters in the back. That's when I decided to just trash the whole system and get all new stuff. I started out wanting an all Alpine setup but when I decided on the JL amp I moved over to thinking of getting the JL speakers. After reading some comments on them I decided their sound probably wasn't what I was looking for. Read some comments on the Infinity's and decided that is what I would go with. I hate to say if but I haven't heard any of the speakers but I'm sure the JL's and Infinity's will be a big improvement over the stock stuff.
If you haven't already done so check out ebay for your speakers. If you don't mind losing the manufacturer's warranty you can save 50% or more. I paid around $600 for my JL amp and Infinity speakers. Amp is used but the speakers are new. I'm going to have to pay around $400 for the install so I needed to save money on the equipments. Wish I had the skill and patience to do the install but I spent around 4 hours trying to install just the hu. I've been told that $400 sounds high but I've been quoted that at 3 different places. They also all said it would be an all day job.
Doug
Member
HK system is crap as well, I attest.
Member
$400 ?? that does sound way too high. have you tried going to a circuitcity or bestbuy and see what they quote you? i know getting a HU installed is about $50, but that wasnt for a BMW so it could be more.
in my old car i had alpine up front, infinities all around, and some JLs hard hitting in the back and it sounde pretty decent. I was actually powering the speakers from my alpine HU since it was putting out 60wx4, the infinitys would have sounded even better with a dedicated highpowered amp for them. With infinity speakers, the more power you throw at them the better they sound.
Hope for Everything, Expect Nothing.
Member
Well, the $400 includes the amp install kit, rca's going from the hu back to the amp in the trunk and all new speaker wire. Not sure what the local place was going to use but Tweeter said all their stuff was Monster brand. I think it broke down to $50 for the hu, $125 for each set of speakers and then $100 for the amp. The $400 is worth if for me since it would probably take me all weekend to do it. Plus, I would be working outside in the Texas sun so I would probably have a heatstroke.
Doug
Member
well if you were in socal, then you could come to my install meet on memorial day weekend and get help doing it.
Hope for Everything, Expect Nothing.
Member
oh man you are getting ripped a new one. lol. If you dont want to do the install yourself then go ahead and let tweeter or some other shop install, but buy all your wiring elsewhere. Monster car audio wire is no better than any other brand. In fact their amp kits are some of the worst. Their high power kit which consists of 4 awg power wire and 8 awg ground (: ) comes to mind. If you want I can refer you to someone that can get wiring for dirt cheap or you can just go through www.knukonceptz.com or www.darvex.com.
As for rear speakers, they are completely unnecessary imo. They will ruin your soundstage and take away from money that could be going towards your front stage which is what counts. The only people who benefit from a strong rear stage are your rear seat passengers and I personally could care less about them. However, a strong front stage will still sound pretty good to passengers in the rear so its not like they wont hear any music.
To whoever asked about the xr or vr: get the XR. I was really disappointed with the jl vr. The xr is pretty nice, but can easily be topped for the price, especially if you buy through a place like tweeter where they charger $300. The xr is worth around 200 maybe even a little less in my eyes. If you are going to spend anymore than that then check out cdt hd's, diamond hex's, alumapro's, or something by dls. I don't who it was that was considering the infiniy's, but I would dtear clear of those. I have had a little bit of experience with them and they have a mediocre mid with on overly harsh tweet. I suppose some people like the tweeter to be bright, harsh, strong, or whatever you want to call it, but I personally can't stand it. Though, when it comes to tweets it is all preference. Get out and listent o as many different sets as possible. keep in mind that if you hear a harsh setup on a soundboard in a store then know that it is going to be 10x as bright in your car.
Good luck with the setup
[SIZE=1]r
M5 front and rear bumpers, eisenmann race exhaust, supersprint straight pipe, m5 shifter, cdv removed, updated celis taillights, umnitza predator angrl eye's, euro style headlight assemblies, euro spec hella celis projectors, 6500k hid lows, 6500k hid fogs
Member
Here is who I'm thinking of going with for the install: http://www.earmarkcaraudio.com/
If anyone knows of something better in the Dallas area, please let me know. I can't remember the brand wiring they use but it isn't monster.
Personally, I would rather spend $400 on the install instead of wasting a weekend trying to do it myself.
I'm going with Infinity's, I like the bright sound. I have bright components in my home theater also. I just hate bass.
Member
huh? you hate bass? if you hate bass then just stick with the stock setup. one of the main reasons of adding a better sound system is for the bass. music without bass is like music without highs or mids. its not an all around sound.
Hope for Everything, Expect Nothing.
Member
Well, by hate bass I mean I don't want to "feel" the bass. I don't want my heart to stop every time there is a thump. I think the stock speakers sound horrible on the mids and highs. If I turn the volume up it is like there is a lot of static even though I'm using a cd.
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Thats half the experience in my eyes. As long as the mids, subs, and tweets are in balance there is nothing like feeling the music. Just feeling tht kick drum in your chest or the bass guitar pounding you in the back. Tweets loud and screaming up front. oh god its awesome.
[SIZE=1]r
M5 front and rear bumpers, eisenmann race exhaust, supersprint straight pipe, m5 shifter, cdv removed, updated celis taillights, umnitza predator angrl eye's, euro style headlight assemblies, euro spec hella celis projectors, 6500k hid lows, 6500k hid fogs
Member
Damn....This is my most responsive post ever. Why dont you like Jl's Eric?....and all of the shops I go to only have like Jl and Alpine and Kenwood. What are infinitys? Are the same brand that used to come with like...Lexus cars and Infinity cars and whatnot???? And what do you suggest for a 1500$ SPEAKER ONLY system in a Bimmer???
Member
I don't really dislike jl, I just feel that it is overpriced and people expect it to be more than it really as. As for comps, I just don't think JL is anywhere near the best in this category. Infinity is just another brand like alpine or jl. They are actually a very large company and many cars come with (cheap) infinity setups from the factory.
$1500 is a hell of a lot of money for a speaker only set up. You are going to want to have an amp to power those so it really is speaker and amp setup, but it is still a ton. Just for reference, everything you see in my sig, which is pretty much all top notch equipment, only cost me about $1100. However, if I had 1500 to spend on a speaker only system in an e46 I would find a shop (assuming you dont want to do the work yourself) that can fit 6.5" in the 5 1/4" slot. This and the rest of the install should cost no more than $400, which is pushing it, then that leaves around $1100 for speakers and an amp.
NOw that I think about it, it would really be a waste to spend that much on speakers and not have a sub. You may be thinking you don't want a loud and obnoxious bass machine in your trunk, but the truth is nearly 1/3 of all music is below 100 hz which is in the subwoofer range. In a sense, without a sub you are missing out on almost 1/3 of all music. It sounds crazy, doesn't it?
With that said, you have about 1100 for an amp a sub and speakers. I would replace the front component speakers with a 2 or 3 way component set and remove the rear speakers. Rear fill, as having rear speakers is called, is a complete waste of money and will actually have detrimental effects. You want to have your soundstage up in front of you at eye level and any speakers behind you are going to ruin this ideal imaging. Subwoofers are an exception to this as the frequencies they play are nondirectional so it doesnt matter where the sub is. Lets break this down piece by piece. You are going to want a 4 ch amp, a 2 or 3 way component set, and then a single 12" sub in a sealed box.
Lets start with the 4 ch amp. I would try and stay under 500 for this as it is a very important piece of the systm, but an awesome amp with crappy speakers is still gong to sound crappy. The PPI PCX-4125 Amplifier comes to mind. Benny Z on here is running one that he got for around $300. This is an awesome amp that will do about 150w x 2 for your comps then probably about 500 for your sub. Another amp I would look at is the orion 8004 for around 300. An eclipse PA5422 for around 300 would be another great choice with similar power ratings as the ppi and orion. If you can find a US AMPs amp or a zapco 4 ch amp that is 125wx4 + for under 500 then that would be awesome.
Now for the component speakers, try and find a quality 2 or 3 way set with a 6.5" mid assuming you can find someone to fit the 6.5" mid. The cdt es' would be amazing as would dls iridiums, rainbow profi vanidiums, and dynaudio 360's (a little pricey but IMO the best speakers out). Those range from about 500-800 so assuming the amp was 300 that leaves up to 300 for a single 12" subwoofer. I'm going to go against my ussual recommendations and say jl w6v2 in this instance. I don't know why, but I think it would compliment this system amazingly. You could also get a diamond d6, image dynamics idmax, or an alumapro. All of these subs are straight up sq drivers. They will get loud, but most importantly they'll sound amazing.
If I had $1500 and wanted an sq only system that is likely the direction I would take. Good luck with the search!
[SIZE=1]r
M5 front and rear bumpers, eisenmann race exhaust, supersprint straight pipe, m5 shifter, cdv removed, updated celis taillights, umnitza predator angrl eye's, euro style headlight assemblies, euro spec hella celis projectors, 6500k hid lows, 6500k hid fogs
Member
Eric, wow, u really know ur stuff. I'm not familiar with all these brands. Im really only familiar with either Alpine, JL, MB Quart, and mainstream brands like that...lol. BUT, I dont know why.....but that speaker suggestion of just in the front sounds crazy to me, but whatev. I know the deck is so far away, but damn, sounds crazy to me. Not sure, I'm still leaning toward the JL's but anything else you want to add...?
Member
Honestly, the jl xr comps are not even in the same league as the speakers I posted. Its nothing against the jl's, its just that the other speakers listed are a couple notches above it. The comps listed are pretty much all proven winners. The dynaudio's (my favorite) have won countless sq competitions and the cdt es set along with the dls' are suposed to be flat out amazing. The jl's are what I would call a quality mid level speaker, nothing more nothing less. Its got mediocre mids and tweeters with a pretty decent crossover. With a $1500 budget I see no reason to go with jl comps. There are so many out there that are much better.
As for no rear fill, it does seem a little wierd since auto manufacturers market the more speakers is better idea. They throw speakers EVERYWHERE it seems just because "more is better" In reality though, unless you are talking about surround sound, which is kind of uselss with music, putting speakers behind you is a negative thing. Think about it; the guitarist is playing on the front left of the stage. The sound is predominantly coming from th e left side and should be in fron of you because he's up on stage. With rear fill, you hear the exact same noise from the front left and back left. Where is the guitar player now? You can't tell because of the rear fill. Get my point?
[SIZE=1]r
M5 front and rear bumpers, eisenmann race exhaust, supersprint straight pipe, m5 shifter, cdv removed, updated celis taillights, umnitza predator angrl eye's, euro style headlight assemblies, euro spec hella celis projectors, 6500k hid lows, 6500k hid fogs
Member
maybe with a cheap setup you cant tell, but with a decent system you can tell. i had one song where the sound went from the back left to front right to the back right to the front right and it was an awesome experience.
JL has some decent subs but for speakers, i would recommend against them. infinity kappas are so much better. if you are not getting a sub then go with 3way comp. if you have a sub (which i highly, highly recommend) then 2ways would be fine. and if you are going to have one amp to run your whole system then a 4 channel amp might not be good enough. a 5 channel would be better.
Hope for Everything, Expect Nothing.
Member
I would say that that was an illusion or else you were sitting in a car with surround sound. YOur head unit and amp do not differentiate between front and rear speakers. They are sent the same signal and assumiong the same speakers are used will play it exactly the same. You might hear the guitar fade out and sound like its going back, but it is not going to suddenly fade out of the front speakers and come in strong on the rears. Your cd player doesn't work like that and cd's aren't recorded like that.
To be honest, on a cheap system I would actually say rear fill is more useful than it is in a strong system. It is just another set of speakers that make noise which in a system without an amp will only help make it a little louder. On a great system there is really no question that rear fill has negative results. NO sq competitors use rear fill. That alone should speak volumes. This has been debated and ultimately the only reasons to have any rear fill are if you have passengers in the rear and want them to have amazing sound or if you have grown so accustomed to rear fill that you need to have it.
I am not going to comment on the tweeters as which tweeter you prefer is largely subjective, but speaking of the crossover and mids, the kappas actually aren't that great of speakers. I would say the xr's are a superior built speaker. That doesnt mean you are going to like the xr's better as speakers are so subjective.
As for deciding between a 2 way and a 3 way I think it really is just up to how much you want to spend and whether or not you can find a good 3 way. There is no reason a 2 way can't sound as good or extend as low as a comparable 3 way (i.e. same size mids), but the imaging of a 3 way in a bimmer is slightly superior. I would recommend some sub, whether it be an 8" or a 15" sub. I just feel that something is needed for the low end. Assuming you go with just front speakers and a sub (or even two) a simple 4 ch will work fine. You run the front 2 ch to the speakers and bridge the rear 2 to the sub.
I apologize if I came off as a little comfrontational here. I did not mean to in any way. There were just a few points I felt that I should clarify.
[SIZE=1]r
M5 front and rear bumpers, eisenmann race exhaust, supersprint straight pipe, m5 shifter, cdv removed, updated celis taillights, umnitza predator angrl eye's, euro style headlight assemblies, euro spec hella celis projectors, 6500k hid lows, 6500k hid fogs
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