Removing rear speaker cover, '87 325i

I specify the model and year as I've seen earlier 325s with a simple mounting flange, one with four corner screws exposed. Somehow the original buyers of those cars managed to put aside their extreme revulsion of such a crude mounting system and bought the cars. Thank God designers, in their wisdom, provided for a way cooler speaker cover that does not feature external screws. I must confess, however, that I'm at a loss for how to remove the damn things. My general method on such matters is to find one at a boneyard with a partially broken part in question so that I can experiment on it guilt free. If I break something through improper removal, oh well, with it out and in my hand I can determine what I should have done to remove it. It has proven difficult to find this particular cover still in place at any of the boneyards I've searched.

Cutting to the chase, anyone know the secret pressure points for this speaker cover?

Holy crap. I found this set of instructions on-line:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5584233_remo...-bmw-325i.html

Major production.

Then again, I also found this description:

Pry up the front edge of the speaker grille on the back deck with a panel tool until the grille pops loose from the retaining clips holding it in position.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6389315_remo...kers-325i.html

Much more what I was hoping for. I've tried prying the cover up with no luck. One hates to break something by prying in the wrong spot.

I would thread in a loop of wire at each corner (or near to) and use that to pull up. Usually the grill is crimped to make it wedge into a groove. (OK that is how mine all came out - several other brands of speaker)

pull up the grills, they come off easy. and each corner has a screw.

its one of the simplest thigns you could possibly do in an e30.

This required a thread.

Hmm although i have never seen those speakers don't listen to that ehow article. It is like removing the sump, crank shaft, conrods and pistons to gain access to the spark plugs.

That why changing my plugs takes so long. I thought that was the only way.

I figured it was bound to happen: Oh yeah, it's like so easy dude. Well, I've put my nifty tiny pry-bars under both of these several times and the suckers will not snap off. So when I read the E-how bit, the first one, made sense.

Like I said, I've seen other speaker grills on E30s that are easier than my style. They have an exposed screw on each corner.

I'm about to break one off so I can dissect its carcass.

They are screwed from underneath ?
You push in the sides to release the plastic retaining clips?
You pop out the metal covers to gain access to the screws underneath?

Originally Posted by tim96

They are screwed from underneath ?
You push in the sides to release the plastic retaining clips?
You pop out the metal covers to gain access to the screws underneath?

They are screwed from underneath ?-no
You push in the sides to release the plastic retaining clips? if you can
You pop out the metal covers to gain access to the screws underneath? YES!

The grille should separate from the plastic.


Why are you doing this again....

Originally Posted by tim96

They are screwed from underneath ?
You push in the sides to release the plastic retaining clips?
You pop out the metal covers to gain access to the screws underneath?

Once more I tried. I pushed the sides in every which way I could think of. Every attempt to pull the cover up while doing so pulls on the deck plate - that hard particle board like thingy no doubt - such that I'm afraid I'm about to break something. I'm just about resolved to take the whole damn thing apart so I can look at it from the underside.

maybe you do have to remove the whole rear parcel tray. Never seen them before, maybe they are aftermarket?
They don't slide off do they?

you either have the strength of a 2 year old or you are doing something wrong. the speaker grills just pull up. the gaskets can get "stuck" slightly from the sun, but the covers still pull up relatively easy.

removing the rear shelf will be a waste of time and help you in NO WAY. the screws HAVE to be removed from the top. the only way to do that is to pull up those covers.

those speakers are stock premium sound speakers, they are not aftermarket in any way. don't listen to anyone who tells you to remove the shelf or that they may be aftermarket.

Originally Posted by fcsteve

you either have the strength of a 2 year old or you are doing something wrong. the speaker grills just pull up. the gaskets can get "stuck" slightly from the sun, but the covers still pull up relatively easy.

removing the rear shelf will be a waste of time and help you in NO WAY. the screws HAVE to be removed from the top. the only way to do that is to pull up those covers.

those speakers are stock premium sound speakers, they are not aftermarket in any way. don't listen to anyone who tells you to remove the shelf or that they may be aftermarket.

Please. I'm a carpenter. Just installed a solid core slab door today, fortunately interior, only 1 3/8 thick and 30 wide but sucker was heavy.

Get on a plane and come do it for me. Or at least post pics of your speakers. There are two kinds.

I have several small pry bars, about 6, 8, and 10 inches long. A couple of times I was surprised that I wasn't pulling screws out of the hardboard or whatever the shelf is made of, so hard was I pulling. I'm about to break them out. I could patch it up.

I might go buy some anti-freeze at Weatherford BMW in Berkeley, I like the parts guy, he might be able to break the logjam of my ignorance.

Originally Posted by SWISS

Why are you doing this again....

I have no radio. For the last 6 years or so, I've gone through a series of stock radios that I find at boneyards. Most are already old and something goes funky soon enough - frequently the lights on the buttons that come on with the headlights go dark. Makes it much harder (and less safe) to use at night. I'd noticed the quality of the sound going down now and then, what I didn't get was that one more speaker was going south at that time. The last one finally went, I think, not completely sure. This was a couple months ago, I'm desirous to get it fixed.

When it first went out, I thought it was the radio so I found the best looking used radio I've found yet and put it in, but no, apparently that wasn't the problem. I get a milli-volt reading from the wires going into one of the front speakers, seems to go up with increased volume, couldn't find any alligator clips so it was hard to know for sure.

Replaced that speaker with a good looking boneyard speaker but still no performance.

the shelf is just cardboard.

if you were trying to pull a bent nail from a loose 2x4 .. would you just edge the hammer in and pry up ? no .. you would step on the board to stop it from flying up into the air as you pry.

so rule #1: hold the rest of the enclosure down while you try to pull up the grill on the other side.

if you used any kind of pry-bar on the small grills you are trying to pull off, you would severly damage them and the enclosure they are in. grab a flathead from a eye glasses repair kit. stick it inbetween 1 of the million holes in the grills and pill up (don't forget about rule #1).

like i said before .. the grills are not fastened on by ANYTHING. they are literally just held in by a very thin and easily torn rubber piece. they are pushed in by hand. they are not welded on by a skilled craftsman or held in there by anything. i've removed ones that were "stuck" and "hard" (using the word hard VERY loosely) to get out. they still come out without issues.

I had the exact same speakers, and I found that you just have to push inwards and pull up on each corner to remove the grill. The tweeter grill is extreamely easy to pull, but the larger one can be harder. once you've removed the grill, the hard part is revealed: The hidden screws ar about an inch down into the plastic, and the rear window is so angled that you cant get a normal screwdriver in, so make sure you have one of those multi angled screwdrivers (the mini ones aren't long enough). Once you pull out all of them ( I believe theres about 6, not sure though) lift the speaker up carefully, as it will be indented into the rear shelf. Disconnect the two wires that connect to the tweeter and to the speaker, and your set. Good luck! Hope this works!

Originally Posted by fcsteve

the shelf is just cardboard.

if you were trying to pull a bent nail from a loose 2x4 .. would you just edge the hammer in and pry up ? no .. you would step on the board to stop it from flying up into the air as you pry.

so rule #1: hold the rest of the enclosure down while you try to pull up the grill on the other side.

if you used any kind of pry-bar on the small grills you are trying to pull off, you would severly damage them and the enclosure they are in. grab a flathead from a eye glasses repair kit. stick it inbetween 1 of the million holes in the grills and pill up (don't forget about rule #1).

like i said before .. the grills are not fastened on by ANYTHING. they are literally just held in by a very thin and easily torn rubber piece. they are pushed in by hand. they are not welded on by a skilled craftsman or held in there by anything. i've removed ones that were "stuck" and "hard" (using the word hard VERY loosely) to get out. they still come out without issues.

Post a picture of the style you've taken out.

They aren't always cardboard, as mine was wood, but I do agree on attempting to hold things down.

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Post a picture of the style you've taken out.

my alpine:


my zinno(hard to see, but they are there):


my bronzit pre-build:


my bronzit post-build:


need a close up ?



most of my e30's have them, including the 2 in my driveway. don't think you're talking to some stupid kid without any experience. ive removed and installed over a dozen of these.

Originally Posted by Ben T

They aren't always cardboard, as mine was wood, but I do agree on attempting to hold things down.

yes, the oem ones ARE always cardboard. i have 4 spare rear shelves sitting at my warehouse. 2 are from the UK, 1 is from california and the other one is out of one of my old e30's. ive had just over a dozen e30's and recieve parts from around the world. every OEM rear shelf is cardboard.

Easy, my car has an OEM shelf, and it was wood. I spent a good two hours shaving it down to put my new speakers in, so I do know mine is wood. Either way, cmac2012's car may have either or.

unless you can prove your car has a magical wooden rear shelf that nobody has ever seen .. you're just making stuff up.

Originally Posted by fcsteve

if you used any kind of pry-bar on the small grills you are trying to pull off, you would severly damage them and the enclosure they are in. grab a flathead from a eye glasses repair kit. stick it inbetween 1 of the million holes in the grills and pill up (don't forget about rule #1).

like i said before .. the grills are not fastened on by ANYTHING. they are literally just held in by a very thin and easily torn rubber piece. they are pushed in by hand. they are not welded on by a skilled craftsman or held in there by anything. i've removed ones that were "stuck" and "hard" (using the word hard VERY loosely) to get out. they still come out without issues.

HAH! Is this how you do it??



I was stuck on thinking the whole body popped up. I haven't done a lot of work on speakers, and what I've done was more crude than these. I figured it would be easy, once you knew where to apply pressure. It was actually the bolded part above that gave me a clue as I knew there was no way one could pull on that screen business anywhere near as hard as I was working that little prybar on the metal frame. Come to think of it, pop-off covers of that size would probably be plastic. What was needed was something like this:

The screen mesh looking cover is mounted to a frame approx. 1/4 inch thick which nestles into a recess on top of the metal box, about 5 x 8 and one inch high, that houses the speakers. The metal box is firmly mounted to the shelf and does not pop off. The mesh cover frame can be prised up with a screw driver or better yet, hard wood or plastic wedges.

I'm telling you, I should get paid to write this stuff.

Which bit of "Pull off the grills" was hard to understand?

Originally Posted by Ben T

Easy, my car has an OEM shelf, and it was wood. I spent a good two hours shaving it down to put my new speakers in, so I do know mine is wood. Either way, cmac2012's car may have either or.

My one in my Jap spec 320i (very first car i owned) was wood too albiet chipboard type stuff, similar to plywood but more brittle, not what id normally call wood. all the rest afaik (only installed speakers in that car) have been more a card type setup like what pallet liners are made from

Originally Posted by BMWFatherFigure

Which bit of "Pull off the grills" was hard to understand?