M Audio Subwoofer Retrofit Review

Thought it would be nice to share my expirence with this retrofit.

After finishsing my BSW stage 1 retrofit, I have have always wanted some M Audio subwoofers!

I'm not audiophile, but I found the DSP system in the E39 very good after I put in the BSWs. Having compared it to my non-DSP E39, it blew it out of the water. The Nokia subwoofer is generally good, but my problem with it was that it was lacking low end bass. If anyone has heard the song "Spectrum by Zedd" you'll know the bass. The nokia sub would be more loudness over thumping bass. It's good, but it has room for improvement

Here come in the M Audio subs! Two by 10 inch subwoofers in the rear deck and a couple pounds lost after taking out that heavy plastic nokia box! I wanted a perfect setup and this ment cutting out the pre indented holes in the rear deck. Reason being that all the displaced air from the sub was forcing its way out through the little 5.25 hole left by the old Nokia. It also created a horrible vibration/rattle in the rear deck metal before i even reassmbled it.

As for wiring these babies, I was lucky enough that the donor car (M5) had done the retrofit and used the old Nokia wires. The bad side is that to have a flush and tucked away look, i had to elongate each wire by about a foot and a half to hide them in the empty space to the right of the amp. The best way i find to feed the wires is to go form the panel on the sub side to the dead space hole that crosses the car where the back of the seat and trunk meet, then route it to the subs. I then used the holes in the space to zip-tie down the wire to prevent any ratting.
For those how manage to get the M audio harness, IIRC you would still need to spice the wires to connect to the AMP's sub harness .

Overall, the M Audio subs gave me more bass where i needed it and can top out at a ridiculously high level! When you turn them up, these thing are so darn powerfull compared to the Nokia I had to lay a thin layer of cloth between the sound insultaion and metal on the rear deck to stop rattles. You can also feel the bass in the seat!

Retrofit worthyness- 9/10
Cost- 6/10 ...Most people want $300+ for these babies without a harness... Not really my cup of tea, hence why I waited 1 year!
Bass Responce- 9/10 ...Near Perfect.
Intallation difficulty- 3.5/10.. As long as you know how to remove a bunch of screws and know how to crip wires you're all good. Cutting the hole may be a bit harder.(The BSW rear deck removal will help greately) I do suggest a friend or a jack lift to help mount the subs.

+ This is a preview to my upcomming interior project... There may be some Technical Graphite content

Just did this same thing myself except I used a pair of 10" shallow depth subs (Rockford Fosgate, R2SD4-10, DVC 4 ohm). I mounted them to the rear shelf using rings I fabricated from some 3/4" MDF sheets I got from Home Despot. I cutout the stamped area using a Dremmel tool the same as when the M-Audio is factory installed. I used the old wiring that I stripped from the Nokia box as the new harness. Look at this thread on the other site for some pics of the installation.....

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...light=speakers

BTW, I replaced the other speakers with two sets of Boston Acoustics SC50 component kits.

My other car (wife's really) is a 2012 Mazda CX-9 Touring AWD that came with the optional Bose Surround with Centerpoint upgrade. The 540i M-Sport blows it away!!

Both of you keep the stock amp?

Edit: just read through the 'forums thread, good info, thanks...

I kept the DSP amp in place, made the installation very simple. BTW, there are 4 separate subwoofer channels coming out of the DSP amp each one about 40 watts max. Since each new sub has a separate input to each voice coil, that effectively give you 4x40=160 watts max of output from the subs.

Originally Posted by BadBrad

I kept the DSP amp in place, made the installation very simple. BTW, there are 4 separate subwoofer channels coming out of the DSP amp each one about 40 watts max. Since each new sub has a separate input to each voice coil, that effectively give you 4x40=160 watts max of output from the subs.

you should make some extras of those rings and sell em. mine would not look very pretty

OP, clean install. Sorry for the threadjack, been looking around for M-audios, they're spendy...

Originally Posted by mng

you should make some extras of those rings and sell em. mine would not look very pretty

OP, clean install. Sorry for the threadjack, been looking around for M-audios, they're spendy...

You can buy 10" MDF mount rings on line for $13 ea on line here.

Also you can buy the 10" subs I used for $55 ea here.

Hope this helps.....

Originally Posted by BadBrad

You can buy 10" MDF mount rings on line for $13 ea on line here.

Also you can buy the 10" subs I used for $55 ea here.

Hope this helps.....

Helps me to spend more money yep

Thanks for all the legwork and info

Nice, I have them as well. The versions you have are very early. The later ones (I got mine in 2003 I think) have different housings, with magnets that receive the magnets on the ski pass through door, to hold it open. They really do pound, and work very well.