A few newbie Questions

[Kiwi_Mike]

Hi Guys

Learning a lot as I slowly gather up a list of parts for an order out of Germany. I have a few questions and thought I'd ask on here as there seems to be a wealth of knowledge;

- When I change the Salmon Relays I need to disconnect the negative battery terminal right? Is there any risk of doing any damage to the car? Anything I need to do first or anything to look our for?

- Has anyone changed their starter button? I've ordered a replacement as mine is a bit tatty but I'm worried I'll need to strip half the interior to swap them out. Its the outer ring rather than the actual button that is tatty so I think the whole housing needs to come out so I don't think the sticky tape trick will work.

- I'm keen to upgrade the 2 tweeters and 5 midrange speakers, does anyone know of a decent priced plug and play option available out of Germany or Europe? Or are the two US suppliers the best options?

I'm a little short on photos to enhance my post so I'll offer you this one;

IMG_5608.jpg (137.02 KiB) Viewed 862 times

and this totally unrelated one:

Blackcaps.PNG (637.99 KiB) Viewed 862 times

Cheers

[Kiwi_Mike]

One more question if I may:

I’m having trouble finding H8 bulbs, can I use H11 instead? They look bigger so not sure if they will fit.

I currently have one yellow Osram and one white LED so want to change them for a matching pair but H8 don’t seem to be available in the local shops.

[Owdgit]

No need to disconnect the battery.
Read this

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=119167&hilit=Salmon+relays

[Pbondar]

Eton and Audison do high quality plug n play speakers that are OE optimised..

A few of us have used them with good effect..not the cheapest but very good..

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=116918&hilit=Audio+upgrade+Pbondar


Generally you will find that almost all the H7 bulbs and their cousins are a very tight in the actual mount…

Silverstar recently posted and update on this you should look at that..

As stated you can swap the relays out with disconnecting the battery..

[Silverstar]

Hi, as Pbondar mentioned I recently upgraded the H8 / H11 bulbs for the angel eyes, see this thread for a couple of good options:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=129141

Regarding the speakers, all plug and play options are very expensive for what they are (IMHO), so some of us here on the forum have used Crunch and Hertz speakers with a little modification to the speakers to make the fit. Once done they fit fine and sound great and most importantly are very well priced.

For the midrange and tweeter upgrades:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=125344&hilit=6+speaker+upgrade

Taking it a bit further MMI box install giving Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus subwoofer addition to the basic 6 speaker sound system:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=126024

[enuff_zed]

As for the second photo, six days! Really?

Most England matches are done and dusted in three.

[Kiwi_Mike]

No need to disconnect the battery.
Read this

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=119167&hilit=Salmon+relays

Thanks

[Kiwi_Mike]

As for the second photo, six days! Really?

Most England matches are done and dusted in three.

We were lucky to get a result with so much rain. The addition of a 6th back-up day is a good idea!

[Kiwi_Mike]

No need to disconnect the battery.
Read this

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=119167&hilit=Salmon+relays

Thanks

[Kiwi_Mike]

Eton and Audison do high quality plug n play speakers that are OE optimised..

A few of us have used them with good effect..not the cheapest but very good..

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=116918&hilit=Audio+upgrade+Pbondar

For the midrange and tweeter upgrades:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=125344&hilit=6+speaker+upgrade

Hi, I had a good read through these posts, very informative and quite impressive the lengths people go to.

I've had a quick look at the local market and I actually don't think I would save much but going down the off-the-shelf route and I don't have the patience to mess around with the brackets and cables. So I think I will go with Bimmer-Tech as they offer free delivery worldwide which saves some money and hassle over the Bavsound options.

A question for those that have changed the stock midranges from the 11 speaker set up: Are all 5 of the 4" midranges identical? The reason I ask is that Bavsound offer 3 different fitments for their 4" upgrade;

Center Channel: 4" 3-Leg Midrange (Neodymium) w/ Flush Flange
Front Door Midranges: 100mm Offset Mount 3-Leg Midrange
Rear Midranges: 100mm Flush Mount 3-Leg Midrange

Whereas Bimmer-tech only offer their Alpha One A40 Midrange which is Flush Mount. They do have an offset version (A45) but their support guy said to just order 5 or the A40's. I dont actually know what offset means and google was no help.

I'm probably just being pedantic but I'm concerned that Bimmer-tech have not listed the correct options for the Z4 (despite what their support Guy said). It will be quite hard to return any that are wrong.

[Pbondar]

In the 11 speaker set up all the mid range units are identical..

Separate tweeters are mounted near the A pillars on the doors for the front pair.

If you are trying to faithfully trying to replicate the concept of a stereo sound stage then without a DSP the bulk of the work is done by the door mounted system..only a very small level of audio is fed to the rears..

The centre is designed in those circumstances for speaking parts centre fill..

There are mouldings to allow separate tweeters to be mounted rear and centre.

The door midrange units can foul the plastic mount / water protection behind them..with the Eaton’s I had to drill a cutout for them.

You should be aware on N20 powered versions of the car there is an Active Sojnd Design exhaust noise DSP in circuit which does nothing for audio quality and will sound louder with new speakers…you can get a bypass circuit to circumvent it..

[Kiwi_Mike]

OK thanks for the info.

So maybe I could save some $’s and just get the 3 midrange and two tweeters if the rears are not that important.

I’ve read - and seen the vid - that getting the door card on and off is a tough job but I’m keen to give it a go.

Mine’s an N54 so no engine sound generator.

[Pbondar]

OK thanks for the info.

So maybe I could save some $’s and just get the 3 midrange and two tweeters if the rears are not that important.

I’ve read - and seen the vid - that getting the door card on and off is a tough job but I’m keen to give it a go.

Mine’s an N54 so no engine sound generator.

That would be a lower cost option..that probably would give you 80% of the improvement IMHO..

[Kiwi_Mike]

I ended up ordering the full 5+2 of the Alpha One series from Bimmer Tech.

Fingers crossed the install goes smoothly and the result is what I'm after (better, clearer midrange). I don't want to go down the route of changing the amp and/or the woofers, too much cost and hassle.

[Pbondar]

I ended up ordering the full 5+2 of the Alpha One series from Bimmer Tech.

Fingers crossed the install goes smoothly and the result is what I'm after (better, clearer midrange). I don't want to go down the route of changing the amp and/or the woofers, too much cost and hassle.

Will be interested to see how it goes keep us updated