2001 BMW Z3 3.0i - Harman Kardon Subwoofer Repair Worked!

Z3PO: I just purchased a '01 M Roadster. Mine has the HK Subwoofer problem. So glad to see your "most excellent" repair instructions! One question; I can get the front edge of the subwoofer trim cover to lift up, but the rear doesn't seem to want to disengage and I don't want to put too much lift pressure for fear of breaking it. Is there something I'm not doing right? It looks like there are two tangs at the back. When I lift the front, I can also see screws on the back side of the cover. Any advice? If I can't get the cover & unit out, I might try to seal the surround with the unit in the car.....

I assume you are talking about the top grill cover. On mine the front popped up easily but the back required more force. There were no screws holding the grill in place. I just lifted straight up, carefully, until it popped free.

Pilot Dane; Thanks for the response. Yes, I am referring to the part on the top, not the speaker grille. I got the grille off easily, but on the top part, the front edge pops off easy, but I couldn't get the rear to do so. Looks like I just need to use more elbow grease!...

You are correct. I forgot the front is the grill while the top is more of a... top. One sneaky think is that the speaker end of the sub's cable is attached to the car so you can't just unplug the sub from the cable. I just pulled the connector from the car with a bit of a "pop" and then unplugged the sub.

Pilot Dane; Gave the rear of the top cover a good tug and Viola!, it came up! Thanks for the advice. Just finished putting the bead of silicone caulk around the speaker and will let it dry before re-installing the unit. Looking forward to hearing some good bass instead of bad buzz from the subwoofer!.....

Folks, I followed Z3PO's repair for my subwoofer and it works great! Afterwards, I explained the procedure to my brother who is an audiophile and he said that the repair certainly will work, but that if I wanted the speaker to sound 100% as good as before, I really need to replace the foam membrane that attaches the cone to the speaker frame. He forwarded me a link to a company that sells a foam membrane repair kit for a 6" speaker (see attached web page below). You can actually click on a link on the site that shows the installation process and it looks fairly straightforward and I am sure any of us could DIY. It's a little more expensive ($26.95) than a $3.99 tube of silicone caulk, but if you're a Type-A person who wants everything "perfect", this is the way to go and it certainly beats the cost of a new HK subwoofer or even sending out the speaker to be repaired......


http://www.simplyspeakers.com/speake...kit-fsk-6.html

I just bought a z3 and have the same problem. As soon as I get it out of the shop I am going to try this fix. What have I got to loose. I can't listen to it now for sure.

I followed Z3PO's instructions this morning and everything so far is OK. Will post after re-installing. One clarification is you need to twist the white connector from the sub woofer cable to remove it from the bracket (to align the white tab on the backside of the bracket to the hole so you can remove the connector). I figured that out after removing the bracket from the car (it was only three bolts)

I did this fix yesterday and plugged my subwoofer in today. Works like a champ!! Thank you for the DIY!!

It worked like a charm. Thanks Z3PO!!!

Originally Posted by doc280

I mean it looked as if someone had taken a razor blade and cut the material all the way around the woofer.

Maybe Z3PO practiced on YOUR car...

Another big thanks to Z3PO, sounds much better after that fix!! Now I need to do one in the passanger door!

On one car where the foam surround was really shot the silicone trick really dampened the sub's already anemic performance. The speaker linked below is a magnetically shielded dual voice coil 6 1/2" that costs $15 and can be made to work. Electrically it works without modification but it does need some cutting to make fit into the stock enclosure so this is not a simple plug & play replacement.

This replacement speaker is magnetically shielded has a large steel can and secondary magnet on the back of the speaker that must be removed in order for it to fit into the stock subwoofer housing. A cut the steel can down the center with a air powered high speed cutter and a Dremel tool with grinding cut-off disks. It took about 5 minutes for the cutting. Then I pried & chiseled in the gap to break the glue free holding the secondary magnet in place. Then I chiseled off any remaining secondary magnet off the the steel housing for the main magnet. You can be quite rough since you will be throwing the outer steel can and secondary magnet away. Just be careful to not damage the speaker cone. Since this speaker is a 6 1/2" and the original is a 6" it hits the protrusions on the enclosure in two places. I used tin snips to cut a bit off the edge of the speaker flange where it hit the housing and it screws in place in the same holes as the original.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=290-352

The speaker performs well. Probably about as good as a factory new HK and certainly better than a HK that has had more than a minor silicone fix.

I just relaced the front, rear behind the seats, and center single sub woofer. I installed the woofer on the attached link. Requires some generous grinder modification on the speaker frame, but worked very well at a reasonable cost, OK, $100.00, not $3.99

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-5-CDT-Audi...-/180732310174

In the respoce by MRedRocket refering to replaceing the foam membrane. I take it that replacing the foam ring is in place of using the silicone, is that correct?

I utilised the replacement surround for the sub from Simply Speakers in St. Petersburg Fl. with great success. The cost is almost as cheap as this method. After repairing the subwoofer, I purchased the replacement surrounds for the speakers in the footwells. They also had the surrounds for a set of really nice Infinity speakers purchased at an estate sale for twenty bucks!

I am new to this forum as I have just become the pound owner of a 2000 M roadster. I was scouring the web to find a replacement for the blown HarmanKardon subwoofer and stumbled upon the post with a DIY repair. I pulled the sub out last night and followed the steps. Just reinstalled the repaired sub and it works beautifully! Thank you Z3PO

Great post and thanks for the help. I started a google search just to find out how to get the top cover off without breaking it and found out how to repair the speaker and problem. Your instructions were right on.
I'm a BMW newbee so thanks again.

Thanks Z3PO and the subsequent posters for all the tips. I am a newbie as I just purchased a 2001 Z3 3.0i and so far the only issue is the bad subwoofer. I would have never figured out how to disassemble everything without this forum. I opted for the refoam repair kit made by Simply Speakers purchased on Amazon, FSK-6bt, it fit perfectly. The refoam was easy and the subwoofer sounds great. I also learned that a subwoofer contains a very strong magnet that should not be placed next to your credit card!

One question guys, I'm about to do this fix on my '02 3.0i roadster.
Do you put silicone only on the top of the woofer or also under it?

I guess it's just on the top because you have the clothing material under. Am I right?
Do you remove the clothing just after the 24h?

Thanks!!

I really don't remember at this time but I believe I shimmed it out with the paper. Caulked it and let it dry well (24 hrs). Pulled the paper with twisers and then re-caulked again to finish it off. seems to work good.
good luck

Thanks Captbruce and THANKS Z3PO!!

I did it and it seems to work fine!

By the waz, since I am an active member of BMW club in Spain (europe), I decided to do a thread myself, referencing to this awesome thread Z3PO.

it's here:
http://www.bmwfaq.com/f156/reparar-s...kardon-720059/

Thanks a lot!!

I recently bought my '01 roadster and thought the subwoofer was blown, but on further examination it turned out to be both kick panel speakers. I used the repair from this thread and they both work fine now. I may eventually replace the whole system, but this repair gained me some time. At first I wanted to just replace the kick panel speakers but it was nearly impossible to find 2 ohm replacements, so I'm grateful for this cheap fix. Now I can have some music while I fix up some other aspects of the car.

Another item to remember when finished with the subwoofer repair utilising which ever method you choose is to remove the OEM dampening material from the subwoofer box & refill it with poly fill. This stuff can be purchased at most fabric stores. As mentioned in my earlier post, I went with the Simply Speakers new foam surround. The poly fill in the subwoofer box makes a hugh difference.

Thank you for the great fix. I had been driving my Z for over a year with no bass and then vibration.

One thing...my husband helped me and I would have left the paper towels in the back of the speaker. He said to remove them.

I am totally enjoying my new repaired speaker.

Thank you

JAS