E36 head unit upgrade & sub

[leighbe]

Looking to upgrade my stock head unit - which I believe is an upgrade to standard as there are two speakers on each door, two in the footwells (I think) and two on the rear parcel shelf.

How easy is it to install an aftermarket head unit and possibly a sub in the boot?

Thanks, Leigh.

[E36youngster]

the head unit isnt bad at all as long as you know how to operate a pair of sidecutters, wire strippers, and a screw driver. you'll need to get a wiring harness so you dont have to cut the connection for the stock radio off. after you take your old radio out, the new wiring harness will attach right in, then you simply connect the open wires from your car to the wires on the back of your new radio. not hard at all. you might need an antenna adapter, depending on the head unit you buy. i know i needed one for mine. as for speakers, very easy. the door panels pop right off giving you access, the kick panels (footwells) come off with some prying, and you can simply lift the speaker covers off of the rear deck (parcel shelf) and replace them. Now, the hard part will be a woofer. You'll have to run several wires from your headunit to the trunk, which isnt a terrible feat, but it does require some digging into the dash and such. depends on how well you want the wires hidden. when i put mine in, i took out the console and pulled up some of the carpet and ran them underneath everything to the trunk, just so they would be out of the way. the sub or subs will have to be in a box that will fit in your trunk, and when you get to that stage, its all about personal preference. you can get a large box that will take up half your trunk, but give you deeper bass...or you can get a smaller box with some 10's and have tight, clean bass that provides good quality.

[Mary99]

....you can get a large box that will take up half your trunk, but give you deeper bass...

If you mean louder more echo ee, more hollow sound then yes this statement is true. The bigger the box, the more echo ee it will sound; like a large empty room. It will also require less power to move a sub than a smaller box so it is louder by comparison. This is because the air in the box is compressible and acts like a spring, the larger the box the looser the spring, but the less control on the speaker. (air is the controller in a speaker box as octane is the controller in combustion). Because of the looser 'sloppyer' spring, it is easier to move a sub hence it is louder by comparison.

If you mean lower frequency sounding then this statement is false. Sound frequency is measured in oscillations per second as well as distance for a sound wave to form. The purpose of a box is to isolate the positive waves from the front of the speaker to ensure that it does not cancel with the exact but opposite waves produced from the back of the speaker simultaneously. The box does not affect the oscillations per second (Hz) nor does it lengthen or shorten the distance for the sound wave to form.

Smaller boxes with less air (tighter spring) returns the speaker to its origin quicker for the next note to be reproduced hence making it more accurate and desirable....but requires more power to overcome the tight spring.

[leighbe]

Right, doddle to fit the head unit, but now there's an issue with the amp - all set up and connected, working, but as soon as I turn on something electrical in the car (such as lights), the power to the amp dies. The amp is fed directly from the battery. Any ideas?

[Mary99]

Right, doddle to fit the head unit, but now there's an issue with the amp - all set up and connected, working, but as soon as I turn on something electrical in the car (such as lights), the power to the amp dies. The amp is fed directly from the battery. Any ideas?

what kind of amp? what is it rated for 4 ohm, 2 ohm, 1 ohm stable? what is impedance of load according to setup? what guage wire is your power and ground cable? what is voltage when amp powers down?...so many details needed to figure out what is causing the amp to power down.

off the top, it doesn't sound like it's connected properly.

[leighbe]

You'll need to excuse, I am very new to this.

It's a Fusion Encounter 2 channel amp, using 8 gauge cable I believe. It all came as a kit, so the cable and everything I've used came with the amp so that should all be OK.

Could it possibly be the car battery not coping with the draw?

[leighbe]

Oh, and 1 x 4 Ohms.

[Mary99]

Oh, and 1 x 4 Ohms.

how many speakers? what's their impedance? and what's the orientation (series or parallel)

[leighbe]

Running speakers from HU - amp is just for sub in the boot.

[Mary99]

Running speakers from HU - amp is just for sub in the boot.

1 sub?

[leighbe]

Yeah, 1 sub, why?

[Muffcaptain]

u only need one 10" sub or maybe even a 12" in these cars. i recommend diamond audio... very expensive, but also very much the best! :thumbup:

[Mary99]

Yeah, 1 sub, why?

You said the amp audio works fine until you turn a car's appliance on ie lights, does the amp behave this way if the engine was running or does it only do this when it the car is off?

[leighbe]

Yeah, it's a 12" sub - it's the same whether on the move or not, although when on the move, it works with lights on, but if I put rear window demister on, the amp goes off. It's as though the battery cannot supply enough power perhaps?

[Mary99]

i recommend diamond audio... very expensive, but also very much the best! :thumbup:

Diamond Audio is a company that emerged about 10 years ago. When they started they reversed engineered brands like Precision Power Instruments (PPI), and ADS to knock off designs. When sued, they changed their strategy to making cosmetically appealing products instead of quality goods.

Their products are overpriced junk and are not respected in the audio community. Their heat sinks in their so called power amps are not even aluminum, they are cheap aluminum alloys. My roll of aluminum foil in my kitchen contains more heat sink material than their over priced garbage.

I don't recommend any product, it's each to their own as far as I'm concerned.

[gooner2929]

I think you did well to get that far, i couldnt work out how to get the power lead from the battery to the amp in my boot,, how did you do it?

[leighbe]

O-Ring around the bolt that holds the battery terminal in place.

[gooner2929]

bellow the battery? i had it out earlier, no joy!

[gooner2929]

does it come out behind the glove box?

[Mary99]

Yeah, it's a 12" sub - it's the same whether on the move or not, although when on the move, it works with lights on, but if I put rear window demister on, the amp goes off. It's as though the battery cannot supply enough power perhaps?

It really does sound like the Amp is going into low voltage protection. Many amps will do this if the voltage drops due to a lack of current. Usually if it does do it, the voltage is dropping below 11.5 volts. You need to check the voltage at the amps input to see what it registers when it shuts off. If it isn't a low voltage shut off then there's a problem with the amp.

If it is a low voltage shut off then you'll need to find the cause. It may be a weak dying alternator, a short in the sub itself drawing excessive and ridiculous amounts of power at a certain range, or poor grounding.

[leighbe]

Where's the best, most reliable place to ground in the boot of an E36 coupé, the battery or elsewhere?

[Mary99]

Where's the best, most reliable place to ground in the boot of an E36 coupé, the battery or elsewhere?

Power cables should be installed as such.

The power cable should be installed using the shortest route possible to produce the shortest length possible to ensure the least amount of resistance. If the distance is greater than 10' then the next size guage wire should be used.

The ground cable should be mounted to the car's chasis using an O-ring terminal and bolt and never a screw. The area should be scraped or sanded off to remove any paint or debris and should expose shiny metal. Stay away from metal pieces held on by a few tack welds.

The power cable fuse housing should be no more than 12" away from the battery in case of wire fires.

[E36youngster]

thanks for correcting my vagueness Mary. i was just trying to give a basic rundown...didnt realize this thread would take off like it did.

I also agree that its not wired correctly. or that the alternator is out. A capacitor might also help out, but thats something i'm not familiar with. Mary would know whether a cap will be beneficial or not

when your done post some pics so we can check it out!

[Mary99]

.....A capacitor might also help out, but thats something i'm not familiar with. ....

A stiffening cap is meant to stabilize sudden excessive current draws in a normally operating audio system. What leighbe is experiencing is abnormal. To have an amplifier shut down because another appliance is turned on is indicative there is a problem at foot.

Adding a cap to the system would be a band-aid solution that, if it works, would just be masking the true problem. I would not recommend it.

[leighbe]

Found out today what the cause was - alternator was fried (talk about a coincidence)

[Muffcaptain]

Diamond Audio is a company that emerged about 10 years ago. When they started they reversed engineered brands like Precision Power Instruments (PPI), and ADS to knock off designs. When sued, they changed their strategy to making cosmetically appealing products instead of quality goods.

Their products are overpriced junk and are not respected in the audio community. Their heat sinks in their so called power amps are not even aluminum, they are cheap aluminum alloys. My roll of aluminum foil in my kitchen contains more heat sink material than their over priced garbage.

I don't recommend any product, it's each to their own as far as I'm concerned.

garbage... diamond audio rocks!

[Mary99]

Found out today what the cause was - alternator was fried (talk about a coincidence)

Glad to hear you figured out the problem mate :thumbup:.

[marcelmorris]

i found running the wires to the boot for the sub, the hardest.
ran the rca's, straight down the centre console, instead of going under the carpet, i have a small exposed section, before they disappear under the seat again.
on a positive note, BATTERY IN THE BOOT, thank you BMW