[etik]

Originally Posted by Technic

These 8" subs also could be used in an infinite baffle (free air configuration) although their nominal power rating is less than in a sealed enclosure and the response is slightly different. But they work...

I have tried both; free air and enclosure (not underseat)... They sound incredibly better in a sealed enclosure.

Car is back at installator premise, I will go there every 2hrs or so... and take some pictures... it's 5min walk from my home

[scampos1984]

Coming againg with the Earthquakes, look

A great review, which says these subs are quite great (the ones in the review are the 10" but I suppose it's similar)

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...er-7-2005.html


And a ver great offer which includes 2 SWS-8, amplifier and wires for you guys in the States

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-EARTHQUAKE-S...ayphotohosting

[Technic]

Originally Posted by etik

I have tried both; free air and enclosure (not underseat)... They sound incredibly better in a sealed enclosure.

Car is back at installator premise, I will go there every 2hrs or so... and take some pictures... it's 5min walk from my home

I got those Pioneer subs in the front doors of my MKV GTI, and they sound great in free air. However, I agree with you... their best perfromance is sealed.

Good luck with your project...

[scampos1984]

Can't wait !!!

[etik]

As promised, some pictures from the ongoing job. I'm much more confident in the result this time.





sandpaper and painting... final result by today. I hope...

[AM335]

Originally Posted by etik

As promised, some pictures from the ongoing job. I'm much more confident in the result this time.





sandpaper and painting... final result by today. I hope...

What will be the final volume of the enclosure? Thanks.

[etik]

Originally Posted by AM335

What will be the final volume of the enclosure? Thanks.

Very difficult to tell, they re-used the bmw oem system enclosure space no idea what volume this is.

I have just heard the system playing ! Very nice

But... the seat does not go back in place. It does but then when the sub plays it touch the seat. Enclosure will be adjusted to lower the sub by 5mm.

But I'm already very pleased with the sound produced, just one little tweak left :rocks:

I'm glad I did not tried to do it myself

[Technic]

Originally Posted by etik

Very difficult to tell, they re-used the bmw oem system enclosure space no idea what volume this is.

I have just heard the system playing ! Very nice

But... the seat does not go back in place. It does but then when the sub plays it touch the seat. Enclosure will be adjusted to lower the sub by 5mm.

But I'm already very pleased with the sound produced, just one little tweak left :rocks:

I'm glad I did not tried to do it myself

It can be seen in the photos... that shop just pasted a new top on top of the enclosure as is. They should have cut the OEM top and then paste a new one to stay within the tight height specs...

I think that there is around .20 to .25 cubic feet in that enclosure once all is said and done...

[Lee Rambler]

you're lucky if you see the .15ft3 minimum requirement for the pioneer woofer BEFORE it's displacement...

[etik]

Originally Posted by Technic

They should have cut the OEM top and then paste a new one to stay within the tight height specs...

That's what they are doing right now, I could not understand they did not figure out earlier

[Jerseystyle1]

Originally Posted by Technic

I think that there is around .20 to .25 cubic feet in that enclosusre once all is said and done...

Are you accounting for the volume of the sub once it is installed?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by Lee Rambler

you're lucky if you see the .15ft3 minimum requirement for the pioneer woofer BEFORE it's displacement...

The minimum .15 cubic feet includes the speaker displacement...

[scampos1984]

So 800$ for those 2 enclosures ? They must be good

[iatacs19]

Does the original design not use most of the bottom part of the chassis as a resonance chamber? I remember seeing this in the BMW DVD, so by modifying the enclosures are you changing this characteristics in any way?

[Lee Rambler]

I haven't been able to tell from any pics I've seen, but I wondered if they weren't using part of the vehicle as part of the enclosure. the subs have the sound of a vented enclosure, and of much larger size than what the piece I've seen pics is. you can also feel and hear the bottom side of the car vibrate more than it should if it isn't part of the enclosure. If you haven't tried it, turn something up to a regular volume with the doors closed and windows up and stand back a little from the car...

the other thing I noticed was when someone rta'd the drivers individually, the plot of the sub channel sure looked like the response of a vented box, with the steep roll off (unless there is a 24db/octave subsonic filter at play)

[Lee Rambler]

with the above said, it is important to note that the enclosure is tuned for the factory sub. If we actually had the specs on the enclosure (ie actual volume, vent size) I could model said box with the t/s parameters of the pioneer sub to see how well it would work...

[etik]

The oem sub enclosure do use a part of the chassis to get more volume.
I do not know the size of it ? may be someone will be able to tell reading the bmw docs ? I do have the TIS (Technical Information System) from bmw somewhere, I will check if I can find this info.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by etik

The oem sub enclosure do use a part of the chassis to get more volume.
I do not know the size of it ? may be someone will be able to tell reading the bmw docs ? I do have the TIS (Technical Information System) from bmw somewhere, I will check if I can find this info.

All this time I thought that your idea was to seal this OEM enclosure, just because of the opening at the rear of that box:



I could not find any under the carpet ducting parts at realoem.com, so I think that it uses a molded-into-the-carpet or floorpan cavities as the port...

Edit: it seems that the opening is not towards the rear of the car but towards the door sills on both sides:

Left...


... and right:


I would recommend sealing that port and concentrating in maximizing the internal volume of that OEM enlosure to achieve the minimum .15 cu.ft required for these Pioneers. At least you can be sure of the performance of these subs based on that set sealed volume instead of just letting that porting determine the performance by whatever is the total volume of the door sills.

[etik]

burned I was about to post the same pictures from the WDS...

Now I checked my TIS and it's too old... no data about E90
I requested a newer version, will post when I get it.

I will check both option, sealed and non sealed making use of the extra volume in the chassis.

Should be able to repost with results by friday...

[etik]

The shop give up. They cannot lower the sub enough into the oem sub enclosure. The Sub do fit put with its displacement it hits the seat.

I have to say they tried everything possible, I saw every steps of the job. They cut the oem enclosure, replace bottom with fiber to get as lower as possible, still does not fit.

I will take contact with another shop... stay tune...

[scampos1984]

What a pity !

[etik]

Will give it a try with the Earthquake SWS-8. I have heard the Pioneer playing, if Earthquake is equivalent it should be a more easy replacement.

Otherwise I will still try to fit the Pioneer.

SWS-8 will be delivered early next week, but I'm waiting new sub enclosures from BMW and the original one are now in pieces...

Hopefully I will have more news in 2weeks time.