Who has an Infinity Basslink Installed?

[achilles99]

I just bought a Basslink for my 325is. Now, I'm reading that our trunks are too sealed to get good sound. Since my car is currently in the shop for repairs, I have a few questions for people who have successfully installed them:

1) Did you remove the stock rear deck speakers as a port?
2) Do all 325is models have a ski hole? I don't remember seeing one, but I could be wrong...
3) Where is the best place to install the sub?

Thanks for the input!

[DrZiplok]

I've installed a Basslink (moved from my previous car) in the trunk of my M3 2-door.

I removed the rear speakers to port the trunk - this does mean that I get buffetting at speed with the sunroof open. The Basslink itself is mounted on the plastic panel on the driver's side of the spare wheel. This took a bit of fiddling, but you can still remove the panel with the positioning I have for the mounting feet (it's on its side, not facing upwards).

On the whole, I'm moderately happy with it. The trunk's well isolated from the cabin, but it really can't deal with the amount of power the Basslink has (these are *seriously* punchy little units), so it's trivial to get panel rattle going at even moderate listening levels.

I've just done the a/d/s 345is upgrade, so I'm going to have to listen to it for a while before I make any further decisions. Perhaps the deck-mounted 8" sub idea isn't all bad...

[achilles99]

When you say buffeting at speed with the sunroof opening, what exactly is that?

Also, you mentioned that getting the panels to rattle was trivial... did you mean it wasn't hard to GET them to rattle, but that it IS possible to prevent them from rattling? I appreciate the help! I'm going to probably go for your installation location

[DrZiplok]

Take an empty glass bottle, and blow gently across the top. Now imagine that the bottle is your bimmer.

It's not *that* bad, and it only happens at certain speed/roof opening combinations. It's much worse with the back seats down; with them up, I just turn the stereo up a bit and ignore it.

I have no idea how much work would be involved in stopping the trunk from rattling; I tightened the lid stops a bit and managed to quiet it significantly.

The Basslink is disproportionately powerful for such a small box, and I'd guess that to completely stop trunk panel noise I'd have to apply a lot of Dynamat/bitumen spray. Mostly it only bothers me when I think someone else can hear it, eg. at stoplights. Out on the open road, you can't hear it over road/engine/stereo noise. 8)

I'm sure that others here have suggestions on damping particular parts of the trunk. The only thing I think I might do is take the panel I've mounted the Basslink on and spray the underside with bitumen. It's pretty rigid, but I think it still resonates in the bass range.

[achilles99]

Ziplok,

When you removed the deck "subs," did you notice a big loss of mid's? I'd hate to remove them, only to have only bass in the back, and highs in the front. Keep the comments coming, they are a big help!

[DrZiplok]

"Subs"? *snrk*

The Nokia units in the deck don't do much more than generate an irritating buzz behind you; deleting them and installing the basslink significantly improved the overall sound balance.

I fed the basslink off the rear speaker channel going into the amp, so that I could use the fader to adjust the sub level; you want it lower than you think.

With all that, I didn't notice a loss of mid presence, although the soudstage did move forwards. You want to ditch the stock front speakers as well though - they're not particularly flash, and having the a/d/s' up front has drastically improved the situation for me.

[achilles99]

I'm about to get the Basslink installed, and you brought up a good point... where should I feed the basslink from? The rear speaker wire, or RCA plugs? Hmmm...

[DrZiplok]

If you have the stock headunit/amp setup still, use the rear speaker wiring.

If you've replaced it, then definitely consider running signal wiring to the rear.

[achilles99]

Cool, I'll do that (aftermarket headunit). Thanks!