[kookie]

Looks clean.
Loving that cable management

[Socket]

Originally Posted by kookie

Looks clean.
Loving that cable management

Thanks Kookie, tucking it out of sight under the false floor is the cheats way to do it I know LOL

[Socket]

AMP rack installed with a crude perspex cover so I can still use the boot for luggage and shopping

Pretty happy how its turned out, given this is my first attempt at building anything like this.

Have connected up the speakers and put in some basic cross overs to protect the tweeters etc but still need to do a tune

[shannon1]

Wow!!

[Torgus]

I am more than a little jealous.

How does the old focal sub compare to your new one?

Midbasses ftw!

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Torgus

I am more than a little jealous.

How does the old focal sub compare to your new one?

Midbasses ftw!

Night and day mate, that said the phase evolution aliante is known as one of the best SQ subs of all time Tbh what has made the biggest difference to the bass is installing the mbass in the kicks. If you can cut up your car and install them there, it is totally worth it

[Socket]

Next stage in the audio upgrade is to replace the old door cards (which have holes in them where the speakers were mounted) and the move the mid from the A pillar to the dash.... The door cards were a bit trickier then just putting in new ones, because my interior is all two tone, so it involved swapping out the black center panel for the beige one. Done this all before so wasnt too much of a hassle.

Next mounting the mid range speakers into the dash.
I decided to buy a secondhand dash so I could take my time, doing the install
The added advantage is you can simulate the windscreen etc and position the speakers were you like

First attempt of mounting the speaker rings didn't work, so looks like Im going to have to make so custom rings... sigh

[kookie]

one day i'll have to come around and see you pulling out the interior like a pro. Still remember the day you were worried about doing a steering wheel swap. Look at you now

[R32GOJIRA]

Looking good Socks.
Let me know when you want another dash, I have a spare sitting around collecting dust

[Socket]

Originally Posted by kookie

one day i'll have to come around and see you pulling out the interior like a pro. Still remember the day you were worried about doing a steering wheel swap. Look at you now

hahahah funny you should mention that, I have to remove the steering wheel tomorrow, along with the head unit, gauge cluster and the dash

[Socket]

Originally Posted by R32GOJIRA

Looking good Socks.
Let me know when you want another dash, I have a spare sitting around collecting dust

Hahaha wish I knew that last week

[Socket]

So the dash build continues.... turning out to be quite a challenge.
One of the reasons is the BMW dash board is thick (like 2 inches in places) and is made our leather and a soft spongy foam (not much good for screwing thing into)
To get good response from the speakers, things need to be rock solid, so spongy foam is not a great start. Thats where fiberfill comes in. Sets like rock and if you use enough it provides a rigid platform around the speaker.
To get around the attachment problem, I drilled 20 mm holes and cut bits off a broom handle to make wooden inserts. Fiber filled them in and once dry, was able to drill holes to insert some M4 riv nuts.
To make the speaker rings flush with the dash surface, fiber fill to the rescue again. Cover the dash with painters tape and apply fiber fill to the gaps. Once dry, sand smooth and paint.... instant fitted rings.....
Some extra sound treatment inside the dash and some butyl sheet to block off the openings in the air vents and the speakers were ready to mount
I attached the speakers to the mounting rings with M4 bolts, washers and nuts, Once tightened down the speaker was rock solid.....
So all ready to go.... tomorrow comes the real work.... swapping over the dashboards... wish me luck lol

[Socket]

so time to install the dash, much easier to remove the seats and interior to give yourself room to move, but was not a hard as I imagined. Just time consuming putting stickers on all the wires and taking lots of photos along the way. But once all the bits and pieces are removed the dash is only held in with 5 x T20 screws and a 10mm bolt. Pretty easy to lift and and put the new one in by yourself.

If you are having a go at this yourself, take your time, label everything and put screws and nuts in bags with each item removed (eg glove box)
Getting the cover off the steering wheel is tricky if you have not done it before but it literally clicks together (no screws involved). Take pics of how the wiring is routed and dont forget to disconnect the battery first (dont want one of the air bags going off accidently) talking about air bags the one on the passenger side is easy to remove once the glove box is out, you have to disconnect the two plugs (one on each side and the 4 10mm bolts holding it in).... shoot me a message if you need any help

I didn't quite get it finished in the day, but I was stuffing around running new speaker wires and stuff along the way
Played a few test tracks and already can hear a big difference.... shpuld sound ok once it gets a tune

[LAZARUS]

The amount of times you have taken this interior out and put it back in, Im surprised you haven't worn the threads out on the mounting points lol.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by LAZARUS

The amount of times you have taken this interior out and put it back in, Im surprised you haven't worn the threads out on the mounting points lol.

Hahaha almost mate.... almost

[Socket]

Has been a while since my last post. Have not been doing much by way of modifications lately other then working on improving the audio system..... Picked these up second hand from WA the other day Acoustic Elegance 15" sub woofers. Not 100% sure how I will even fit these in the car yet, but should have plenty of bass when I do

[Socket]

Me trying to work out how these are going to fit

[Brule]

You have gone crazy!

[jzx_andy]

It never ends hey Socks!

[Socket]

Originally Posted by jzx_andy

It never ends hey Socks!

[bimmermech123]

Do you notice any excessive NVH being emitted from the GAS Monoball bushings you installed in the thrust arms? I know you have many suspension mods so its hard to attribute NVH to one specific mod but any feedback would be great.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by bimmermech123

Do you notice any excessive NVH being emitted from the GAS Monoball bushings you installed in the thrust arms? I know you have many suspension mods so its hard to attribute NVH to one specific mod but any feedback would be great.

No. the monoballs have been great.... well worth doing