convertible speakers

[newnut]

can any1 tell me the size speakers i need to replace the ones in the doors and the rears? 318i 1998 auto. cheers

[jeewing]

The foot well and rears are 5 1/4. The door speakers are a 1" tweeter and 2 1/2 inch mid. They will be damned near impossible to fit which is why most will just cut them out of the equation. The rears are also in a factory enclosure that cannot be hacked (I tried). You can be creative and get a 5 1/4 screwed to the body. The foot well speaker is the only easy swap.

[newnut]

really? thanks for all that, hmmmm i'm gonna have to put more into this than i thought then.

[M3rocket]

I replaced the HK midrange speakers in my doors -- the foam had dried up and crumbled from sun damage and they were distorting. I found them on eBay and Bavarian Auto Recycling for pretty cheap. Didn't even have to pull the entire door card off -- just the forward portion to reach in and swap them out. Pretty simple.

Like was mentioned, the back seat speaker is probably harder to find -- check a salvage yard or find someone with a parts car, or maybe get lucky on eBay. If you find replacements, the rear panels easily pop off (push the panel toward the front of the car and lift off) and the speaker is mounted with four phillips screws and is easily unplugged. Good luck (and welcome to the vert forum!)

[jeewing]

I actually would NOT suggest replacing the speakers with identical speakers from a junky. These cars are between 14 and 20+ years old. The speakers are likely shot.

I replaced everything with aftermarket components. I used the original wiring with pigtails by soldering them to the new speakers. The door speakers I clipped the larger and just swapped out the tweeter. I never used the crossovers that came with the new speakers because I used identical impedance ratings. Sounds 100x better.

[newnut]

thats what i ment, mine are all working fine, just poor quality, i'd like to upgrade them all.

[M3rocket]

You can also get them NEW on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Paper-Cone-Midrange-Tweeter-4-Ohm-bmw-door-mid-325i-328i-M3-328-e36-92-98-pair-/320952197507?pt=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item4aba3de183&vxp=mtr (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?campid=5335818596&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F2-Paper-Cone-Midrange-Tweeter-4-Ohm-bmw-door-mid-325i-328i-M3-328-e36-92-98-pair-%2F320952197507%3Fpt%3DCar_Audio_Video%26amp%3Bhas h%3Ditem4aba3de183%26amp%3Bvxp%3Dmtr)

And these guys test and guarantee all their stuff:

http://www.bmrparts.com/

But if you're upgrading, well that's a different story idn't it?

[newnut]

yeah i'd like to upgrade the sound system. I thought there would be just 4 speakers, 2 rears and 2 in the doors (1 in each) I'm guessing the largest are the 2 rears, beside the seats, That would seem like a good place to start i'm thinking and set the head unit to rear bias. ?? I'm led to believe now there are 4 in the rear?? is that right? if so which are the main 2???

[jeewing]

It really depends on the build. There are either 8 or ten speakers. I'm not familiar with the 8 speaker set up so I'll just say what mine is/was:

Behind the rear side cards are two speakers on each side. These are component speakers in a single mold. I say mold because they are not removable except as a unit. But behind it are four wires, two to the full range speaker and two to the tweeter. Each pair has it's own disconnect.
In the door are another pair per side. Again these are components and each has it's own disconnect.
At the footwell to the outside of the vehicle are a single full range speaker. You will see the grill is actually molded in the cover. Underneath the cover is the speaker.

The footwell speakers are a direct swap out. Four screws and a disconnect. I soldered the pigtail to new 5 1/4 speakers and just put it back together. For these I used full range speakers. You can also pick up components if you want and use the tweeter in the door. Your call. My door tweeters were fine so I didn't bother.

The rears I picked up components for. The tweeters should come with a mounting apparatus with a single screw you can shoot through the sheet metal to mount them. The 5 1/4 I was able to mount with a few of the existing screw holes and drilled new holes into the sheetmetal and mounted that way. Again I used the existing pigtail wiring without the crossover that came with the new speakers.

I never touched the factory amp or wiring and it is still running everything with the factory head. This is why I didn't need to use the crossover from the new speakers.

I picked up Pioneers if you want to know. But I really didn't care much what they were because I knew it would be an improvement. But you can spend as much or as little as you want. You get what you pay for though. Components are the way to go imo.

[newnut]

that's all a great help jeewing, thanks for explaining it all to me. i guess i'll swap out the foot well ones first then as they are the easiest then take it from there. I'm not looking to win any sound offs so thanks again for you help.

[imogearguy]

Hey Newnut if it's not to late, just out this place bavariansoundwerks.com they have direct replacement. they are pricey but the sound good.

[Langertown]

In my car, the rear speaker was a standard 5 1/4 and it was super easy to replace. Maybe this is because I have a late model

[jeewing]

Might also be the 8 speaker setup. But being you have an M, I'm doubting that. Interesting though because Trey also has a 99 and his was exactly as my 94 was. But we both had a HK system. I dunno, but being a single speaker sure makes it simple. Pics?

[newnut]

I've had a look at the footwell you were on about jeewing, Thats where I'm gonna start as they are the easiest, then add a sub to the equation in the boot. just a 8 or 10 inch depending what box i can make up to fit, I'll then set the stereo on front bias and see how that sounds, depending on results I'll take it from there, or leave it at that, i'm not looking to win any sound offs, I just like loud music that doesn't sound totally distorted! lol

Quick question, My car came with a dif head unit installed, I've swapped it out for a better one I had in the garage, you mentioned the factory amp, where is that located???

don't worry I searched google, in the vert its behind the passenger seat. I'll look for that tomorrow, see what adjustments it has etc.

[JDStrickland]

There are ten speakers. 4 in the back seat, 4 in the doors, and two in the footwells.

You can get the footwell speakers from just about anywhere. They are 5 1/4-inch speakers.

[e38bris]

Must be different on different spec cars...

I have 5.25" in the front, and 4" in the back - and the 2" door mid/tweeters - so 6 speakers all up.

[newnut]

lol, I'm defo gonna go take a look for myself on what set up is in there. will do that today after fitting engine mounts. My main question now is are the amp settings adjustible in any way??

[Langertown]

Might also be the 8 speaker setup. But being you have an M, I'm doubting that. Interesting though because Trey also has a 99 and his was exactly as my 94 was. But we both had a HK system. I dunno, but being a single speaker sure makes it simple. Pics?

I have the HK system as well. It's been a while since I was in there. It looked like this:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371074


It's super easy to get at the rear speakers

[jeewing]

lol, I'm defo gonna go take a look for myself on what set up is in there. will do that today after fitting engine mounts. My main question now is are the amp settings adjustible in any way??

While I've never so mach as looked at mine, speaking from experience factory amps are not adjustable in any way. And I really see no reason to try to.

Langer, that link is very interesting. It makes it sound like the rear (mine looked exactly like that) was easy to swap. Mine is a 94 and, I kid you not, I tried in vain to re-use those pods with the new speakers. The dremel was out and I actually got the speaker off the pod. But no way was I getting the new one in. I spent many hours trying to come up with a way, but it was impossible. I'm thinking that BMW changed the way it was made in later years to make changing speakers easier.

[ConvGeorge]

My 318 had the 6 speaker set up (front - 5 1/4 in kick panel, tweeter in door; rear single speaker I forget the size.) My 325 has the 10 speaker set up (front - 5 1/4 in KP, mid and tweeter in door; rear custom around 5" and tweeter in pod.) I now have a set of Polk components in the kick panel and door, and used a Polk 4" along with a foam baffle to replace the rear pod. The PO squeezed a set of 5 1/5 MB Quarts in the back, but I didn't like the fact that they didn't sit flush with the sheet metal, so that's when I went with the 4"ers in the back.

[newnut]

my 318 is the 6 speaker I have discovered. i'm going to measure the footwell ones tomorrow, been flat out working lately.

[ConvGeorge]

my 318 is the 6 speaker I have discovered. i'm going to measure the footwell ones tomorrow, been flat out working lately.

No need to measure, the footwell speakers are all 5 1/4".

[newnut]

No need to measure, the footwell speakers are all 5 1/4".

Thanks for that, I did measure tho before I read your post. You are correct sir! This project is very much still in research mode as I just had to buy new shoes for all 4 corners which has broke my budget this month as I'm trying to save for a van too. I'm gonna replace the 4 speakers leaving the door tweeters, starting with the footwell ones, then the rears, then I'm gonna fit a square sub in the ski pass. that shoud do it all nicely.
Thanks for all your input peeps, I will take pics of the install and post.

[Andret]

Try this forum page its dedicated to the sound system and media systems with questions just like yours.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?127-Car-Audio-amp-Electronics-sponsored-by-Bavarian-Soundwerks