Sound System Improvement Stage One

Originally Posted by x3oiler

Yes but raining all day but was the Aussie rules grand final so was watching that on the tube anyway.

I installed the speakers today. The SPS-410 fit no problems.

I used the BSW youtube videos as a guide to removal of the door trim but I have to state there is one thing I would recommend you DO NOT do. When removing the door handle trim as BSW show - you WILL crack bits off the bottom of the trim. My trim pieces were on real tight. I found that the edge clips running up both edges are the issue - they are tougher than the centre clips. Leverage from the bottom does not directly tackle the edge clip pressure points.

So I did this for the last two. Start here with a panel removal tool.



Then gentle leverage OF THE GREY PLASTIC away from the trim will release the edge. Once you have the edge release then gentle leverage up both sides will pop off the trim with no damage.



Oh the speakers sound much better btw - worth the effort - one morning to do all four.

x3, I did have pictures posting to start on the bottom underneath of the wood. You didn't see them? Hope it didn't mess things up Badly. I see you did use the nylon/plastic type pry tool which is a must.

Glad you like the sound.

Do they tweeters angle like Alpine states, or something else?

ps when youare ready to do an amp or add ons let me know as I know I posted pics, but getting the back panel can be a little tricky to lift up. My first X3 I cracked the nylon catches. The second one I knew what to look for and how to go about it.

Cheers

Cant wait to add them to mine. I did the sub first to improve their end which I'm extremely happy with. But as EE has stated in the past your oem speakers will fail. I've started to notice the quality drop and I'm pretty sure one is cracking slightly. So I'll have to make room beside the Rockford amp for another one to power the alpine 400 or now we know 410's.

Originally Posted by whiterasta

Cant wait to add them to mine. I did the sub first to improve their end which I'm extremely happy with. But as EE has stated in the past your oem speakers will fail. I've started to notice the quality drop and I'm pretty sure one is cracking slightly. So I'll have to make room beside the Rockford amp for another one to power the alpine 400 or now we know 410's.

Interestingly enough there is the vapor barrier that prevents water from entering the cabin and parts of the door, but nothing protects the oem speakers. They are directly exposed to extreme temps and moisture. So every time there is any condensation in the door those speakers get it. Being made of paper they will fail faster under these condtions and sound quality will deteriate.

People will gripe about how their speakers or sound system fails in their cars, but when was the last time you stuck your home speakers in the freezer, then pull them out and immediately apply voltage with no warm up period and then shake them repeatedly? We do this every winter morning with our car sound systems. Just a side note.

One of the reasons I change out my door speakers frequently.

Originally Posted by Evlengr

Do they tweeters angle like Alpine states, or something else?

ps when youare ready to do an amp or add ons let me know as I know I posted pics, but getting the back panel can be a little tricky to lift up. My first X3 I cracked the nylon catches. The second one I knew what to look for and how to go about it.

If the tweeters move - well I do not how and if they can be tilted (not rotated) - well there would not be enough clearance between the speaker and the grill to do it.

re the back panel - I have taken it off a while back (undid the screws buried behind the rear seats - took photos of dimensions (depth etc with ruler in photos) and closed it up again. So yes I do plan to go further. There is quite a space there.

I was (maybe still am) considering putting the sub woofer in this cavity pointing up or down and the amp in the left side rear cavity. then I do not have to build custom enclosures for the sub.

There are three hard to get to nuts to undo besides the easily popped out front clips. You can get to them with the seats folded. Some bluetack on the nut driver will let you replace them.




The dimensions are (the tape dispenser is 76mm btw)

my SPS410 are due to arrive Thursday ... thanks for the heads-up that I won't need to return them.

Where are most of you buying them? Online? I'm in Canada but I'm only a 30 minute drive from the boarder. So if the price is right I'll order them and have them shipped to the ups store.

got mine on Amazon.com from a seller , $92 shipped for 2 pairs.

Sonicelectronix.com is another good place for them.

X3 Oiler, that is exactly where I have my two amps installed. I built a 1/2 ply platform.

Bolted them to the board and dropped it right in. I have pics floating around somewhere on this board.

Can always post again if you want to see the finished job.

May take the 10" sub out of the box and mount it like Rastas set. Very nicely done :-)

Yeah I love my custom box. Thanks EE.

Two pair at amazon for $92. That's a steal. Up here in Canada they're $119 a pair. Not to brag but us Canadians enjoying the struggling US economy. Nice and cheap for us to buy there now.

did you gain any volume loudness with the new speakers?

Originally Posted by X308Black

did you gain any volume loudness with the new speakers?

You wont gain any volume with new speakers as they are rated at 4 ohms and system is 2 ohms. You will gain clarity.

If you want more power you need a new amp. You combine the two and you will be much happier.

One note in install. I had a buzzing under high volume in the drivers side rear - right in the ear hole so to speak. I thought oh no a brummy speaker - well that is the polite version.
Took the door apart and the door trim on that door had some poorly formed plastic rivets around the speaker mounting area - where the door trim protrudes into the speaker area a bit. I suspect that the cone was hitting this. I used the foam that came with the speakers and spaced the speakers just a tad of the normal surface, reassembled the door (getting good at that btw) and all is sweet. It may not have been this - not entirely sure but worth looking out for.

Hi all,

I thought I would just update everyone on where I am at with my 2009 X3 E83 LCI Sound System Upgrade project.

First of all ..... my car had the very basic factory Sound System. The Source is a BMW Business CD. I have no CD Exchanger box but I do have a Aux Input plug wired in the rear of the Central Arm Rest section next to Cigarette Lighter. I also have a BMW Bluetooth phone kit in the boot of the car on the rear left side. I don't think that there is any Amp fitted anywhere but certainly there are no Amp in the Rear Left side of the boot, near the Bluetooth Kit and also certainly there are no Speakers cables wired through there. I have looked extensively online for exact info on my setup, checked the TIS, etc. but have been unable to get exact info on my setup. So I have assumed what I just said up here.

Project ..... Firstly, I would like to keep my car looking original but I also would like to be able to easily remove everything and bring it back to original fitout. In order to achieve the following I have set a plan and I have decided to proceed in 2 Stages.

STAGE 1 (now completed) ..... After lengthy searches, I have decided to buy 2 pairs of MTX TX4001 Component Speakers to fit in the doors. I bought them from Sonix for what I feel is a bargain, beside the shipping to Australia and I proceeded with the installation yesterday, straight after I got them. In each box, beside the standard Cross Overs there also were 2 additional capacitors. I decided not to use them. The standard Crossovers have two settings for the Tweeters, I used the normal setting rather than the -3db on all 4 doors. During the fitting I had to do a bit of mucking around with the Tweeters. By the way, my car only had one speaker in each door, no tweeter anywhere!!! Once I removed the Tweeter caps in the door panels, the MTX Tweeter did not fit. They have a small plastic lip. I had to file down the lip all the way around and with lots of pressure they went in. They do not snap in but they are nonetheless well fitted inside the standard housing. The Mid/Woofers instead fitted perfectly, I just had to use a larger washer on one of the 3 screws to hold them nicely in, as they have the standard 4 screw setup vs the 3 one of BMW. Very easy. In my photos you will also see the position I have chosen for the Crossovers. Once all finished the Door Panels went in just fine. Te be perfectly honest there is probably a 1-2 mm pressure in the Speakers corner and once finished, if you know about it, you can see a very small gap, but nothing anyone would notice unless you would point it out. Also I did not remove or modified anything, both in the panel or the door. All in all a fairly straight forward and easy job. Just make sure you read well X3 post up here and his instructions on removing the wood insert. They can be fairly painful until one "discovers" his mentioned technique! Now to the sound ....... JUST AMAZING !!!! The difference just with the speaker replacement has been simply amazing. So much more definition and bass. It sounds already like a totally different system. Great sound right through the spectrum of frequencies and this is without even adding an Amp!!! Of course though, while this might satisfy most people, it is not enough for me! So I am now planning STAGE 2 .

STAGE 2 ..... Here are my intended steps.
Remove Radio cut 8 speakers cables and wire through a Male Female 8 way connector
Run 2 sets of 8 wires (16) from radio to boot. At the Radio end they will be also wired through a Male Female 8 way connector
Run them through the center console after having removed it
Fit 2 new Subs EARTHQUAKE SWS-8XI
Also unbolt front seats and on the way add 4 additional wires (2 pairs) from the new Subs and mask and isolate old ones
Once the cables have reached underneath the rear seat, repack everything at the front (Radio, Dash, Center Console, Front Seats)
Bring cables all the way into the Rear Left area near the Bluetooth Box.
Install 1 set of 8 wires (the ones coming from the Radio) in a Female 12 way connector, making 4 extra loops from the front L-R wires
Install 1 set of 8 wires (the ones going to the Speakers in a Female 12 way connector, using the 4 extra new wires for the Subs Making sure the polarities and sides are matched correctly
Have a beer and test everything, it should work again as in STAGE 1 but with the replaced new Subs, but with the difference that I now have all the connections in the rear left side of the boot!!!! (Thanks BMW for not doing this in the first place on the basic system!!!)
Build Sub Box for Rear Left and Paint Black. Based on its final Size, decide what Sub to get, as big as possible.
Get an AudioControl LCQ-1
Get 2 additional Amps or re utilize existing ones (I have a few lying around ). Need one 4 Channel to do Front and Rear doors and one 3 Channel to do front Subs and also Rear Single Sub
Decide Final locations for Amps after Sub Box is in place and organize Power and Remote to Subs.
Use another Male 12 way connector. This will be used to go from Radio to Speaker Level Inputs of the LCQ-1
Use the other Female 12 way connector. This will be used to go from Speakers to Amplifiers Speakers Outputs
Have Beer and Enjoy tuning the System via the LCQ-1 !!!

More pictures coming in additional message ......

This is all for now,
Adri

More photos

Last lot ....

Pretty cool so far. Here is your placement for amps and I used the existing speaker wire as I could not measure an appreciable difference in resistance to run all new speaker wire. However, I should have never cut them the way I did and instead made a molex male connector with breakout wiring.

I just priced out a new set of Focals 100 cai. And finally a PDX5 Alpine. I like my Alpines, but always looking/listening for the xtra n'th of sound without spending crazy money. For instance $600 a pair for 4 inch components is too much. The focals I am looking at are $130 a pair (US).

Thanks for the positive feedback Evlengr. Yes that placement is under serious consideration, although I also like the idea to use the area where BMW normally fits them. It will all depend on how the 2 new subs will sound under the floor with one amp. If I am happy with that solution I might only use 1 x 6 Channels Amp and try placing it on the side. This way I will not have to add a third sub in the boot. I am a bit unsure about the performance of these EARTHQUAKE SWS-8XI, but the feedback I have read is quite promising and I am hopeful that considering how it sounds right now, with no Amp and the original Subs, just by adding the Amp and replacing the 2 Subs should probably bring me where I need to be with this car.

As you, I too agree that everything in life has to withstand a quality/price ratio! Price itself does not just do it for me. In your example, I doubt you would get more than 50% improvement out of a 600% price rise!

I will keep you posted once I get started with STAGE 2!

Got started on the upgrade,
Quick question, how to map the car wires to the speaker for + and - or black and white,

Anyone know the color codes?

Hi Crenninger,

My Car is a Right Hand drive (UK/Australian version) and these are the colors I have found so far

Front Right: Yellow-Red + Yellow/Brown -
Front Left: Blue-Red + Blue/Brown -

Rear Right: Yellow-Black + Yellow/Brown -
Rear Left: Yellow-Purple + Yellow/Grey -

I have a feeling that in the Left Hand Drive(USA) versions the Left and Right side colors are inverted!

I yet do not know what colors I will find in the Subs under the chairs, even though they work with front fader. I also do not know if these would have been crossovered at all by cutting any high frequencies.

Hope this helps,
Adri

Try this site:

http://wds.spaghetticoder.org/en/e83...plete_vehicle/

Select:

Complete vehicle
body
Audio, Video navigation
Sound output
Select your car and you will get a circuit diagram that can be zoomed and panned

The wiring polarities and colours are shown.
SW is black btw ;-)
GE is yellow

On my X3 (aussie spec circa 2006) the rear in door speakers have black and brown stripes on yellow cable and NOTE black is positive - ie not what you would think. The right rear has a colour change from the head unit so the right rear is not black/brown at the head unit.

Originally Posted by adri

I yet do not know what colors I will find in the Subs under the chairs, even though they work with front fader. I also do not know if these would have been crossovered at all by cutting any high frequencies.

I too, have an Aussie spec X3 and am stumped by it's front stage!
There are 4 ohm mid ranges in the doors & 4 ohm under-seat mid-bass' that give a total impedance of 4 ohm!?
The has to be a crossover of some sort, somewhere but am stumpted as to where!
There is an in-line capacitor for the mid's in the left/ rear compartment of the boot that can be simply unplugged (mine are) but the mid bass' sound like they play full range.
Let me know if you figure out anything!

The above link allows you to click the components and then you will get photos of where in the car the photos are.

The schematic shows in line capacitors to the front speakers (part I01140) and if you click this part you will see - yes they are where you found them :-)

The sub woofers run full range it seems - there are no inline capacitors in the wiring and they run from the pre-filtered front signals. So the fronts and subs look like a 2ohm load to the amp at high frequency until the capacitor starts to work to isolate the door speakers and at low frequency will tend to 4ohm as the 4ohm subs only come into play.

The Rear door speakers do not have such in line filtering and so run full range.

Yes strange . . .

One observation: this will protect the standard head unit I think as at low frequency the head unit will see higher impedance. This means that "probably" the standard in floor subs could do with some separate amplification to bypass the power limitations in the standard head unit . . . and I am sure this has been discussed in the forums elsewhere.

I have had the front stage operating directly from an Alpine CDA-117E (only 4ohm stable) and now from my RE Audio 4 channel amp (also 4 ohm stable).
I have had crazy ohm readings on my multimeter with the in-line cap's disconnected (around 10 ohms!) and had no idea what the hell's going on.
I was certain that there were drunken leprecaun's in my car...
Can in-line capacitors really vary the total speaker's impedance?!
I may re-connect them & check their impedance again...

Originally Posted by deafwish

Can in-line capacitors really vary the total speaker's impedance?!

Yes - well what the head unit will see.

The capacitors inline will block completely DC (as you would expect) and as the frequency increases will let more and more current through until at high frequency the capacitor acts like a direct connection.

This is why I made the comment that at low frequency the head until will see the 4 ohm from the sub only as the capacitor is running at high impedance but at the frequency increases, the capacitor starts to acts like a direct connection and the head until will see 4 ohm sub in parallel with 4 ohm door mids or 2ohm.

A question for the forum. What is a recommended 2 channel amp that will accept as input the current sub connections, will auto power on when signal detected, has low pass filtering built in (adjustable would be nice) and adjustable output level (gain). Probably 75Watt per channel would be sufficient. Focal solid 2?
I can run the current sub speaker connections pretty easily from the head unit to the trunk cavity (and the head unit switched 12volt if amp auto on is not possible).