[hkm]

My car is a 2010 E92, purchased in Hong Kong. This model has the base stereo with no amplifer and 6 speakers (no tweeters in door sail). I just attempted to do an upgrade similar to Sniffer's with a Vibe Stereo 4 amp and Earthquake SWS-8x subs. I followed the great instructions he posted here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364359

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369213

However, I have run into significant problems which I hope someone here can help with.

First, I've discovered that the subwoofer and enclosure in my car is different than the one pictured. I have attached several pictures. The picture with what appears to be a cloth grille is how the speaker originally looks. The second picture shows what is under the cloth (I ripped it off). The speaker is not screwed into the enclosure, it is attached with clips and I it looks like there's a bead of glue around the side so it's not going to be easy to pull it out.

Has anyone know anything about this new sub and whether its possible to disassemble it so that I can put in the Earthquake subs? If not, I'll need to try and find someone that upgraded to a custom sub enclosure who's willing to sell their underseat enclosures.

Second, the stereo wiring is different. Each subwoofer is connected to 4 separate wires via a harness as shown. Pictures I've seen of earlier systems only had 2 wires. From what I can tell, it looks like the wiring goes like this

RHS the wires are:

+ = BLUE/BLACK
- = BLUE/BROWN

On the LHS the wires are:

+ = BLUE/WHITE
- = BLUE/BROWN

But in addition, there is a RED/WHITE and a BROWN/YELLOW wire which appears to run between the 2 speakers. The RED/WHITE wire sits on the + side of both harnesses, and the BROWN/YELLOW is on - side.

I could not find the "connector" which Sniffer referred to which bonds together the signal from the head unit, the subwoofer input and the midrange speaker input. On each side the BLUE wires run towards the front of the car and I traced them in the door sill but could not find a place where they connected with any other wires before losing them behind the kickpanel. The RED and BROWN wires do not run towards the front but instead appear connect between the seats (though I did not rip away all the carpet to confirm)

So it appears the subs are wired together in a kind of Series connection, but with 2 separate channels of input. From a technical perspective what does this mean? Was this a means of lowering the 4ohm impedance? Given that the speakers are presumably getting stereo signals from the L and R outputs of the head unit, does the interconnection cause them to play in mono?

As a side note, I noticed that with the harness disconnected from the Subs, the door speakers do not play, while the rear speakers continue as usual.

If nobody tells me otherwise, I will tap the BLUE wires on each side for both my front and rear amplifier inputs (the Vibe amp can take speaker level inputs). However, unlike Sniffer, I can't find the door speaker wires in the door sill so it apprears that I will have to figure a way to get a speaker wire through the black rubber channel between the door and the body. Any advice on the best technique to do this?

[VP Electricity]

Your pics focus on the speaker. Focus on the four corners of the frame. That's where the screws were and where I bet you can get thls out with.

[Technic]

You are using the wrong example for your upgrade: your car is a 03/09-on production, Sniffer's car is an up-02/09 production. That's the reason of the new woofer connection (4 wires instead of 2) as the speaker wires split is done now at the woofer and not in the door sill wiring harness under the carpet as before.

Pins 1 and 4 of that connector are the door speakers, pins 2 and 3 are the OEM HU front outputs/speaker inputs; the numbers are molded in that connector. In other words, the woofer and the door speakers still are connected in parallel.

If what you want to do is to bi-amp the door and the woofers then:

- cut the 4 wires from that connector
- pins 2 and 3 wires go to the amp front inputs directly
- pins 1 and 4 wires are the amp high pass outputs
- you need to lay out new wires from the amp low pass outputs to the SWS-8 woofers.

[hkm]

VPE, attached are a couple of better pictures of the frame. There are no screws in the corners and instead the unit is attached with 2 clips (you can see the clip in my picture) and apparently glue (you can see some of the glue that has bled in the bottom left side of the second picture.. I've done some test prying with a screwdriver and the unit won't move at all--it's definitely glued in there quite solidly. I suspect the only way to get this out is with force and a dremel tool.

Technic, that is extremely helpful information. Do you know if post-03/09 systems have a capacitor installed in-line on the mids? I saw a TIS dated 2008 that said:

"The mid-range loudspeakers in the front doors and the bass loudspeakers are controlled on each side by a common audio output stage in the radio or navigation system. The loudspeaker wire is split in the vehicle's A-pillar. From here, the signal is fed separately to the loudspeakers. In order to protect the radio's audio output stages from overloading through the loudspeakers, which are connected in parallel, a capacitor is connected in series to the front mid-range loudspeakers. The capacitor acts as resistance to the alternating current, and changes its value according to the frequency. The lower the frequency, the greater the resistance. This means that the total resistance (impedance) of the bass loudspeakers, capacitor and mid-range loudspeakers is in an uncritical range for the audio output stage."

If there is a capacitor, will it have any impact that I should be concerned about on the door speakers? I plan to install component mids & tweeters in the door and would prefer to use the existing speaker wires to the door if possible.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by hkm

VPE, attached are a couple of better pictures of the frame. There are no screws in the corners and instead the unit is attached with 2 clips (you can see the clip in my picture) and apparently glue (you can see some of the glue that has bled in the bottom left side of the second picture.. I've done some test prying with a screwdriver and the unit won't move at all--it's definitely glued in there quite solidly. I suspect the only way to get this out is with force and a dremel tool.

Technic, that is extremely helpful information. Do you know if post-03/09 systems have a capacitor installed in-line on the mids?

The cap is there if you have an OEM HU; if you have iDrive then there's no cap.

If there is a capacitor, will it have any impact that I should be concerned about on the door speakers? I plan to install component mids & tweeters in the door and would prefer to use the existing speaker wires to the door if possible.

No, as this cap was used towards impedance limitation due to the parallel connection of the speakers to the OEM HU. Once you remove that parallel connection the cap becomes irrelevant.

[VP Electricity]

I strongly suspect that proper application of one or more common hand tools would negate this chemically-enhanced gravity load.

Uh, I'd get it out and the enclosure would be usable after.

Where is your car assembled?

[VP Electricity]

I especially like the "D+M" marking on the speaker.

In reading the document on the new 5-series F01/F02 audio system, the amp is supplied by Lear and the speakers are supplied by "Denon+Marantz"...

[Technic]

Looking at the photos more closely, the woofer connector wires have to be cut and then connected to your amp inputs/outputs, as the connector itself performs the parallel connection (pins 1/2, and pins 3/4 are share the same metal pins respectively).

[hkm]

Based on VPE's encouragement I went ahead today and successfully detached the speaker from the enclosure. Basically I used a flathead screwdriver as a prybar and lifted one edge of the speaker away from the enclosure and then worked my way around the perimeter to break the glue seal. It did take quite a bit of force and there was a lot of glue residue remaining that had to be scraped off with a screwdriver and blade. I also found that certain parts of the enclosure as well as the Jtsherri spacers had to be cut or grinded down in order to make them fit together.

Because there are no screw holes for the speakers, I will probably use self tapping screws to make the connection but am a little worried that the plastic is fairly thin in the areas where holes will need to be made. If this fails I guess I go to small nuts and bolts. I've included a pictures showing the new Earthquake speakers sitting on the enclosures.

Also, I'm not sure if this is another change from the old version of the enclosure, but there is a hole on the bottom of the enclosure (you can see it in one of the pics) which is sealed by what can best be described as a rubber stopper, which then connects to the floorboard of the car. I don't have any dynamat so I've used some duct tape to cover the hole/stopper on the inside of the enclosure to ensure the airtightness of the enclosure. I've also used silicone caulk to make a good seal between the speaker, spacer and enclosure. Just to be clear, I will not be sealing the port.

[808MGuy]

Originally Posted by hkm

Also, I'm not sure if this is another change from the old version of the enclosure, but there is a hole on the bottom of the enclosure which is sealed by what can best be described as a rubber stopper, which then connects to the floorboard of the car. I don't have any dynamat so I will probably try to ensure the airtightness of the enclosure by covering the hole/stopper on the inside of the enclosure with some duct tape.

I recall something similar to a rubber stopper you describe on the old enclosures too. BTW, are you installing a new amp or trying to run the SWS off the OEM amp. If you're installing a new amp, I would just say screw it and run all new wires from the trunk to the speaker locations. I know its so much easier to try to salvage the existing wiring but running the new wires wasn't that hard either. The hardest part was getting new wires into the front doors but it can be done. I ran two sets of wires into each door and one to each under seat woofer from the trunk.

[VP Electricity]

Rubber stopper carries over. Seems to be an isolating bushing...

[hkm]

Originally Posted by 808MGuy

I recall something similar to a rubber stopper you describe on the old enclosures too. BTW, are you installing a new amp or trying to run the SWS off the OEM amp. If you're installing a new amp, I would just say screw it and run all new wires from the trunk to the speaker locations. I know its so much easier to try to salvage the existing wiring but running the new wires wasn't that hard either. The hardest part was getting new wires into the front doors but it can be done. I ran two sets of wires into each door and one to each under seat woofer from the trunk.

I will be runing a new amp (Vibe Liteair Stereo 4). Will run new wires from amp to Sub and have considered running wires to the door. I've read posts by VPE indicating success in running wire through the rubber channel between the car and door. Everyone says this part of the process is a pain--any tips on the best technique (e.g. put powder or grease on the wire first)?

[808MGuy]

VP was actually the one who told me how to do it. It is a pain to get the wire through the boot and into the cabin. You'll need to remove the kick panel and some components behind it so you can grab the wire once you get it into the front footwell area. Especially on the drivers side. The rest of it is not too bad but don't expect to get through it without a few scrapes. I guess its not a must if you're not running active front stage where you need independent amp channels for the mid and tweeter but for both VP and I, we're running active so it was a necessity and nothing was going to stop me. Not even if I had to take the door off the hinge and drill a new hole

[hkm]

Success! Today I installed both the SWS-8 subs as well as the Vibe Liteair Stereo 4 amp. Thanks VPE and Technics for all the good advice you've given me.

In the process I ran into 2 issues that I thought I would share as other post 3/09 cars may run into the same.

First, even using the Jtsherri spacers, I found that the speaker would not sit flat in the enclosure. At first I thought the spacers had to be ground out even more, but that wasn't the problem--I found that the recessed lip of the enclosure was holding up the speaker basket, right below the flange. Grinding away a few mm all around the lip of the enclosure solved this issue right away.

Second, after installing the subs, I felt that the Jtsherri spacers did a fine job of creating clearance for the speaker under the OEM grill. However, that's only one half of the speaker and it seemed to me that the carpet between the grill and the seat rail was sitting very close to the level of the speaker and when I did some testing the underside of the carpet did appear to intefere with the speaker travel. So basically, I created a second bracket to hold the carpet up and away from the speaker. I basically cut up the plastic speaker mounting frame that was provided with the SWS-8 and made quick brackets held together and mounted on the enclosure by glue from a glue gun. I also ripped away the foam insulation on the back of the carpet in the area that sits right above the speaker as the foam was pretty thick and this helped to ensure clearance. It wasn't pretty, but it did appear to work.

The difference in the bass is quite apparent. Very happy with the outcome. I can't wait to change the door speakers for some decent components. Hopefully next weekend.

[graf]

Just to say a big thanks to hkm for this thread - I have the same subs as him and couldn't see how they were fixed! I will be attempting this when I have more time, as it looks like I will need a bit of patience.

Also thanks to Technic for the wiring side of things.