replacement speakers

[adpinc]

Hi,
I just bought a 1995 325iC (convertible). I have discovered that all the factory speakers in the two door panels and next to the rear seats are rotten, and I want to replace them.

I haven't found a website that offers replacements for these panel mounted speakers and I am trying to avoid going to the dealer.

Anyone know of good aftermarket replacements?

[wags3521]

I work in retail (we have car audio people) they have told me that they have never replaced a factory
BMW Merceeds system that sounded any where near as good as the factory systems installed in the cars from the factory. I have door component speakers on order from the dealer ($90 a pair)

[el_duderino]

I work in retail (we have car audio people) they have told me that they have never replaced a factory
BMW Merceeds system that sounded any where near as good as the factory systems installed in the cars from the factory. I have door component speakers on order from the dealer ($90 a pair)

Uh, wherever you work, I wouldn't let those guys touch my car with a 10 foot chamois.

I've made a very nice living upgrading BMW and Mercedes audio. Just did an X5 last month.

You need 5.25 mids front and rear, and I believe you have tweeters up front as well. You probably have an OEM amp in the back and you can stay with that.

You can get some mid-level speakers for probably $200-300 a set for 5.25 components and probably $100-180 a set for 5.25 coaxials for the rear.

Anything more than that probably won't sound too good off the OEM amp.

I ahve some $100-a-pair Nakamichi coaxials that should fit in back and some $200 a pair DLS components that should fit in front. You could get some MB Quarts too if you like the Germanic come from (kinda bright though).

Since it's a convertible, you may want to consider getting a new 4-channel amp, upgrading the F mids and tweets, and getting a subwoofer in the trunk. Single 10 or long-throw 8", in one corner, nice mids and tweets (a/d/s/?) . You could get that off of the OEM HU for less than $1500 installed with some quality gear.

But not from those guys...

Check out avincar.com... tells you some more about this interface with OEM HU.

[el_duderino]

Actually, contact Street Effectz in NJ at www.streeteffectz.com - nice guys, owner has a BMW, and they can give you the real scoop.: )

[wags3521]

Hey thanks for the input , I gotta defend my car guys they do really good woork. We have 3 installers in our store with like 18 years of shop time. But back to the car i have the HK(not too fond of em as a speaker co) premium system with a 10" sub in the truck.

[el_duderino]

If they can't improve on BMW sound, I stand by my statement.

It's not hard to improve on, frankly - if you have skills.

Do they know how to tell if a HU has single-ended or balanced line output? Can they take out the DC component if there is one? Or do they totally avoid OEM HU integration?

Can they measure the response of each output channel of the OEM amp? For instance, the 2005 X5 has a tweeter output of 5K and up, a midrange output of 800 to 5K, a midbass output of 800 to 80 in the F doors and 400 to 50 in the rear doors, and a sub output of 80 and down. This is not acoustic response, but signal response.

So if you upgraded the rear speakers, you'd be stuck with no vocals, and wondering why.

If you upgraded the F speakers, and used any of several excellent tweeters that can play an octave or more lower than 5K, and they didn't sound right, you'd wonder why.

Can they sum them back together? Check out http://www.x5world.com/showthread.php?t=3896

I worked with a guy once who had been in the business for 12 years, but didn't know the internal volume of a box 13.5 x 13.5 x 13 .5 made out of 3/4" material. I'm not saying your guys suck, but I am saying that time don't mean wisdom.

And ANYONE "professional" that can't better the OEM system... man, I'd have to sell all my tools and start parking cars or something. That is just sick and wrong.

Where do these guys work? What do they carry for gear? What's a "good" system they've installed recently?

The X5 we did had Dynaudio comps front and rear, a DLS subwoofer, and Genesis amps. We made our own passive xovers for the F comps at 2500 Hz, impedance-matched, put those in the dash for solid front vocals in the windshield, and ran 75 x 2 to the front, 75 x 2 to the rear, and 350 to the 10" sub.

We used a parametric EQ to smooth the signal response after summing 5 channel pairs together. We did all this with the OEM Nav HU and with the HU's steering wheel controls and EQ still operational.

So it can be done... (p.s. Ron at Streeteffectz can do as good or better work than we can: )

[wags3521]

WOW i guess that you have been doing this for a while , I am really not ready to drop a few k
on an audio system for the car ( i spent 3 years workin ranges for the USMC) so the hearin is
not the best. just want clear . Im prolly gonna go back to the factory hardware. I spend my $$$ on puters and vacations

but thanks for the education
ill see what my guys really know
wags

[tromar1]

If they can't improve on BMW sound, I stand by my statement.

It's not hard to improve on, frankly - if you have skills.

Do they know how to tell if a HU has single-ended or balanced line output? Can they take out the DC component if there is one? Or do they totally avoid OEM HU integration?

Can they measure the response of each output channel of the OEM amp? For instance, the 2005 X5 has a tweeter output of 5K and up, a midrange output of 800 to 5K, a midbass output of 800 to 80 in the F doors and 400 to 50 in the rear doors, and a sub output of 80 and down. This is not acoustic response, but signal response.

So if you upgraded the rear speakers, you'd be stuck with no vocals, and wondering why.

If you upgraded the F speakers, and used any of several excellent tweeters that can play an octave or more lower than 5K, and they didn't sound right, you'd wonder why.

Can they sum them back together? Check out http://www.x5world.com/showthread.php?t=3896

I worked with a guy once who had been in the business for 12 years, but didn't know the internal volume of a box 13.5 x 13.5 x 13 .5 made out of 3/4" material. I'm not saying your guys suck, but I am saying that time don't mean wisdom.

And ANYONE "professional" that can't better the OEM system... man, I'd have to sell all my tools and start parking cars or something. That is just sick and wrong.

Where do these guys work? What do they carry for gear? What's a "good" system they've installed recently?

The X5 we did had Dynaudio comps front and rear, a DLS subwoofer, and Genesis amps. We made our own passive xovers for the F comps at 2500 Hz, impedance-matched, put those in the dash for solid front vocals in the windshield, and ran 75 x 2 to the front, 75 x 2 to the rear, and 350 to the 10" sub.

We used a parametric EQ to smooth the signal response after summing 5 channel pairs together. We did all this with the OEM Nav HU and with the HU's steering wheel controls and EQ still operational.

So it can be done... (p.s. Ron at Streeteffectz can do as good or better work than we can: )
I wished you lived beside me....