BMW 7 Series audio Install

[njdjh2o]

Nice work, PM sent.

[bigaudiofanatic]

Replied

Worked on the kick panel yesterday, going to clean up with some more bondo and sanding. than wrapped. The trunk and hod release are difficult to work around.




Car is going to be done and going back on Thursday so stay tuned.

[franco90]

bump

[bigaudiofanatic]

Tomorrow the car will be returned, getting a full detail before it leaves and a final tuning. The plexi glass when it arrives I will come and install it at his house.

[franco90]

good for you men

[bigaudiofanatic]

Got the dice harness wire re ran for analog audio.



Wrapped the left kick and trimmed out for the release button and hood release.

[franco90]

dude that awesome

[bigaudiofanatic]

Had a quick idea for the bass control knob.

[anncam]

Very impressive young man. Great work, excellent craftsmanship. If only I still lived on the east coast. You would definitely being doing some work for me.

[Absolutjh22]

great work, attention to detail and thinking all the way thru the process.

[m5james]

Hey bigaudio, I've got a question for you. I'd like your suggestion for replacing speakers in the stock locations w/o the need for custom made kick panels like you've made. I'm trying to keep everything concealed.

Currently I have an MTX 81000D running an RE Audio 12" which is firing forward through the skibag hole and is ported to the rear. I'm going to have the same friend make another box (this will be out third) that I was thinking of having ported through one or two of the four openings on the rear shelf, once again so it doesn't look like it has an aftermarket system and I'll still have a usable trunk. I'm quite happy w/ my current sub setup, but I'd like a better box that is ported into the cab instead of the trunk to provide even more bass. What do you think.

My biggest question to you is for all the interior speakers. Currently I have an 4 channel amp (forget the details of it) running all the mids and highs, running the stock speaker and using MB Quart crossovers. Overtime, random speakers have or we're already blown. When I rewired eveything, I wired the rear tweeter in the door to run as a reduced mid so it doesn't peirce my ears since I'm 6'4" and my seating positions puts the speaker right there. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars in speakers for my car because I wasn't actually too disappointed w/ using the stock speakers. Can you recommend me a nice and decently priced (around a few hundred, but please no more than like $400-$500 TOPS) setup that would suffice for someone like myself? I've always thought that I'd have to try and find speakers for the tweet and mid area that we're the same size, but that has been harder than I thought. Making kickpods is out of the question for me, not only for knowing someone who can do it, but I'll have even less room on the drivers side since I'm converting to a 6spd, so I'll have a clutch pedal in the way.

I'm rambling now, so can you give me some advice. I've used MB Quarts in the past and like really bright highs (always loved old Too $hort stuff ), but I'm open for changes based on whatever you suggest.

Thanks. Outstanding work btw. Today was my first experience in fiberglass while modifying an X5 stock sub enclosure so I can install a Kicker L5.

[franco90]

M5James
Please post pics of your System

[m5james]

I took pics of the system in my M5 for Mark Cranswick years ago when he was writing a book about the 5 series, which can still be found on Amazon. It has an Alpine CVA1005, PSII, MB's all around...otherwise mostly stock.

He's now writing a book on the X5's, so he's asked me to send pics of that as well. Currently it has an AVIC F90BT, WiFi card to make the internet function and I've upgraded the Windows ME software and GUI so I can browse Internet Explorer as long as I have a signal. I'm still remaking/fiberglassing the factory sub enclosure to change it from dual 6's to a Kicker L5. Once again, I'm trying to go stealth and I since the X5 is now the family commuter, the stock sub location will have to do. Once I get the box finished, i'll take pics for both Mark and for this thread I'm looking forward to hearing how the L5 will sound.

[bigaudiofanatic]

Hey bigaudio, I've got a question for you. I'd like your suggestion for replacing speakers in the stock locations w/o the need for custom made kick panels like you've made. I'm trying to keep everything concealed.

Currently I have an MTX 81000D running an RE Audio 12" which is firing forward through the skibag hole and is ported to the rear. I'm going to have the same friend make another box (this will be out third) that I was thinking of having ported through one or two of the four openings on the rear shelf, once again so it doesn't look like it has an aftermarket system and I'll still have a usable trunk. I'm quite happy w/ my current sub setup, but I'd like a better box that is ported into the cab instead of the trunk to provide even more bass. What do you think.

My biggest question to you is for all the interior speakers. Currently I have an 4 channel amp (forget the details of it) running all the mids and highs, running the stock speaker and using MB Quart crossovers. Overtime, random speakers have or we're already blown. When I rewired eveything, I wired the rear tweeter in the door to run as a reduced mid so it doesn't peirce my ears since I'm 6'4" and my seating positions puts the speaker right there. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars in speakers for my car because I wasn't actually too disappointed w/ using the stock speakers. Can you recommend me a nice and decently priced (around a few hundred, but please no more than like $400-$500 TOPS) setup that would suffice for someone like myself? I've always thought that I'd have to try and find speakers for the tweet and mid area that we're the same size, but that has been harder than I thought. Making kickpods is out of the question for me, not only for knowing someone who can do it, but I'll have even less room on the drivers side since I'm converting to a 6spd, so I'll have a clutch pedal in the way.

I'm rambling now, so can you give me some advice. I've used MB Quarts in the past and like really bright highs (always loved old Too $hort stuff ), but I'm open for changes based on whatever you suggest.

Thanks. Outstanding work btw. Today was my first experience in fiberglass while modifying an X5 stock sub enclosure so I can install a Kicker L5.

If your looking for smooth sounding speakers look at the image dynamics XS series. The tweeters have a very nice warm and relaxed sound and the woofers have plenty of power. If you are not liking the bass you are getting I might recommend going to a sealed box for tighter more accurate bass. MB quarts is good but not like they use to be. If you had other questions I did not see them kind of got lost in your message. Als0 my apology for the wait. I have been very buys the past couple of days on other installs.

Installs here Posts #218-221
http://caraudio.com/forum/new-jersey...e-know-15.html

[joes95740]

Awesome Job so far can't wait to see the finally product!

[franco90]

awesome job so far can't wait to see the finally product!

me 3

[m5james]

If your looking for smooth sounding speakers look at the image dynamics XS series. The tweeters have a very nice warm and relaxed sound and the woofers have plenty of power. If you are not liking the bass you are getting I might recommend going to a sealed box for tighter more accurate bass. MB quarts is good but not like they use to be. If you had other questions I did not see them kind of got lost in your message. Als0 my apology for the wait. I have been very buys the past couple of days on other installs.

Installs here Posts #218-221
http://caraudio.com/forum/new-jersey...e-know-15.html

If this is the average price of the XS series http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories, that is definately too deep for my budget if that's what a single pair will go for. I'm not set on any brand, I've just liked MB's in the past. Sadly, I'm not surprised that quality may have com down...everything being made in China, so we never really know what we're getting anymore. I'm just looking for general advice and/or maybe links to component/co-axial sets that in your opinion would work well w/o the need to make custom pods and can fit within a budget of say around $500 tops, if that's even possible. So far my biggest issue is still finding a way to have a tweeter, mid and midbass/bass in the front doors or in a location that isn't visible to wandering eyes. Years back when I was still in the military, I had a customer fiberglassed set of tweeter pods made for the dashboard of my GMC Sonoma and I loved the sound, but I don't know how hard that would be to do in the 7 since the factory mid is only like 2". Sorry for not being clear about that.

I'm absolutely fine w/ the sound of my sub, I'm just looking to have my builder remake me a box that ports into the cab instead of the trunk, so I guess I wanted to know what you thought of having 1 or 2 ports coming throrugh the factory 4 speaker enclosure on the rear shelf and then use the other opening in the 4 speaker enclosure and fill them w/ some sort of co-ax or something for rear fill.

[Bigg Fella]

man, I feel bad now. I guess I have to now permanently install stuff where it belongs...

[Splitdog]

If your looking for smooth sounding speakers look at the image dynamics XS series. The tweeters have a very nice warm and relaxed sound and the woofers have plenty of power. If you are not liking the bass you are getting I might recommend going to a sealed box for tighter more accurate bass. MB quarts is good but not like they use to be. If you had other questions I did not see them kind of got lost in your message. Als0 my apology for the wait. I have been very buys the past couple of days on other installs.

Installs here Posts #218-221
http://caraudio.com/forum/new-jersey...e-know-15.html

Awesome installs. You know what you're doing in car audio. What you say about sealed boxes is interesting. In a large room or studio or big venue, ported boxes is the only way to go. They are more efficient, and can go much lower properly tuned. I used to build boxes for studios, and sealed boxes never were good below about 50Hz. However, in a car situation, sealed might be better because of box size, and dynamic coupling. A sealed box acts as a natural compressor, and can give a woofer a 'tighter' sound.

[njdjh2o]

Is it finish yet, if so where are the final pictures.

[franco90]

[Absolutjh22]

Bigaudiofanatic- once again, Great work. I imagine this will provide very balanced sound and a truly pleasureable listening experience.

Sealed vs Ported is always a touchy subject. It all really depends on power and use. The thing to consider is that the trunk will effectively act a second enclosure. I personally made my box with one sealed enclosure and one ported enclosure. This gives me the tight bass and I like with the balance of the low frequency of much of the music I listen to. I will be removing the ski bag port to improve the sound passthru, as the E38 has great sound deadening from the factory. If I had really thought about it it would have had the port fire into the cabin, I just didnt want to risk any port whistle and resonance in the cab. So the ski boot port removal will have to do for now. I am running two 10" dual voice-coil with a Reference 200 amp at 2 ohms stable.

Next I will replace the door speakers as they are horrible and lack clarity and range. Ill make sure and post the process once I move forward. Likely will do this towards the end of the summer, as I'm focusing on my 10 sec. truck right now.

As with anything, personal preferrence will always win outright. There is no one right answer for all.

[bigaudiofanatic]

Yes, in my opinion sealed for a car wins but that is my opinion and everyone has them. In home application that is different your trying to compress air in a very open space so naturally ported will be more widely used.

The owner and I decide to move the woofers into the doors in 2 weeks. This gives me some time to recover and prepare for them. At that time he will drop off the woofers and the door panels.

We are also waiting on plexi glass for the trunk but other than that pretty much all is finish.

Absolutjh22 your right very clear and amazing sound. quality is top notch for the audio. Sad part is when you get this into an audio setup you can tell what your listening too. My ipod has all apple lossless uncompressed music and sounds amazing. Going back to radio is like going back to mono sound just does not sound as good. But I have to say one of the most elaborate and nice installs I have done.

[straitway7]

WOW how much is this going to be when its all done, labor, psrts and all?

Strait

[bigaudiofanatic]

He bought most of the stuff off ebay so the parts totaled a bit over 4 grand. But would of cost much more retail.

My labor 2,300 dollars

He was very happy with the car, very impressed with the audio aspect of it as well "as was I". In two weeks he will drop off the kick panels and the door panels for the speakers to get molded into the doors for more foot room.