Bigger update today.
So it was time to get started on the build which we have split into three phases..... Speakers, Signal, Boot install.
So. "Speakers".
This consists of fitting the HSK 165 XL component set and ML300 mid from the Hertz range into the front of the car, in short.
Some of the goodies:
So we started by stripping down the door cards, one by one ..
In order to fit this bad boy in the door
.. Any particularly eagle eyed may notice that the above is now how the 3 inch Hertz mid usually looks. Indeed it looks a whole lot bigger than 3 inches? Well - we bastardised the stardard (or should I say sub standard) BMW 4 inch driver to make a mount for the ML mid. Why reinvent the wheel eh?
That said. Any audiophile will be in pain at seeing the below:
..BUT NEEDS MUST!
So, that part done:
Ahh. I love OEM+.. Who would ever know the mid had changed!
Next job, the tweets.
We then set the HT 28 tweeter in the BMW individual audio mirror triangles which I picked up from Berry BMW yesterday. Now, the tweeters weren't even NEARLY going to fit in the stock tweeter insert, so we had to get creative again.
After bonding the HT28 units to the triangles, a fair amount of sound deadening was applied all around the speakers to make sure they can only fire out and don't cause any distortion up the B pillar.
These fitted (I don't have a pic, but I'll get one! We moved on to the 6.5" underfoor mids.
First job is to lift the seats
The stock 6.5 underseat can then be removed. For some reason on the LCI cars the speaker is glued into the housing, not screwed like the older ones. But after some persuasion, all of the parts can be separated
Comparing old and new drivers:
Next then, onto fabricating a custom baffle for the drivers to screw into (Hello Andy!)
LUNATIC: You only get one crotch!!! :
And the new mount slotted in (But obviously not yet sealed up. We got the sillicone on her for that!
Tangeantially, I took the opportunity to get a shot of the "gangsta lean" whilst the seats were unscrewed
And lastly for today, some shots of the woofers in place under the seats:
The crossovers are mounted in the doors within the door cars (good side of the weather shield). So it's all sorted. The wiring has been run into the car and for now joined back to the stock wiring: So, before I get amps: I've still got sound in the mean time
What I would say it's immediately obvious that these speakers are going to be very impressive. Time will tell if it beats the 4 6.5 mids I had in the front of the E90 for sheer output volume, but the clarity is very high. I consider the speakers worth the (expensive) outlay I think.
I can't wait to get them amped up. To have a 250w RMS mid only putting out a measly 25 or so off the head unit and still sounding pretty decent? Suffice to say I can't wait to get them amped up,
(Worthy of repeating myself too of course).
The next update will follow in a week or so.
Rgds
Dave