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Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

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RustyZ4
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Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by RustyZ4 » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:35 pm

Hi All

I have changed all my speakers except the two subs behind the seats (the ones in the rear bulkhead) which I was going to change to the Audison plug and play speakers, my question is, after looking I cant seem see how you access them, the grill on the front doesn't seem to be removable or am I missing something, so is it a case of accessing them through the rear panel in the boot?

If it becomes a large job to do, I might looking at putting a single one in the ski hatch instead.

Many thanks in advance for any help

Russell
Z4 Mineral Grey, 28i MSport Auto, lots of goodies
Z4 E85 3.0, gone but now with son :D
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional

Pbondar

Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by Pbondar » Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:37 pm

The two subs are screwed from the front into captive nuts set in the steel rear bulkhead that are sealed enclosures..

To get to them you have to take the rear carpeted area out or back enough to get your driver/fingers/subs in

To get the carpet to move you need to remove the two rear speakers, the two rear top plastic trims hiding the top seat belt d ring, remove the d rings, the rear buklhead trim, the roll over hoop trim and the top trim covering the rear central speaker, the 4 luggage cinch brackets and the boot fold over cover and the rear boot cover rear plastic trim..

TIS info covers it all..its a big job, bigger than replacing all the other speakers put together,,figure on 2 days..plus lots of prayers trying to prise things apart like the rear roll over covers..

enjoy

Jono64
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Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by Jono64 » Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:42 pm

Hi rusty. What make and model speakers did u buy, and what were the results, also u running standard radio, CD set up. Cheers John

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RustyZ4
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Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by RustyZ4 » Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:42 am

Pbondar wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:37 pm The two subs are screwed from the front into captive nuts set in the steel rear bulkhead that are sealed enclosures..

To get to them you have to take the rear carpeted area out or back enough to get your driver/fingers/subs in

To get the carpet to move you need to remove the two rear speakers, the two rear top plastic trims hiding the top seat belt d ring, remove the d rings, the rear buklhead trim, the roll over hoop trim and the top trim covering the rear central speaker, the 4 luggage cinch brackets and the boot fold over cover and the rear boot cover rear plastic trim..

TIS info covers it all..its a big job, bigger than replacing all the other speakers put together,,figure on 2 days..plus lots of prayers trying to prise things apart like the rear roll over covers..

enjoy
Cheers Phondar, I thought it looked like a lot of work, think I might go down plan B then and put a sub in my ski hatch in the center
Russell
Z4 Mineral Grey, 28i MSport Auto, lots of goodies
Z4 E85 3.0, gone but now with son :D
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional

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RustyZ4
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Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by RustyZ4 » Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:49 am

Jono64 wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:42 pm Hi rusty. What make and model speakers did u buy, and what were the results, also u running standard radio, CD set up. Cheers John
Hi John
I have replaced all the main speakers with Audison ones, only the subs to sort, I have changed the amp to a Audison Forza 9 channel and running the subs on a Audison mono block,
I am still running the same head unit, we re set the eq with the Forza software
It sounds superb even with the standard subs, as the footwell ones really go down low, very clear, great separation, loud and punchy ,,,I am just waiting for Audison to bring out the updated bit tune software so I can fine tune it
Z4 Mineral Grey, 28i MSport Auto, lots of goodies
Z4 E85 3.0, gone but now with son :D
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional

Pbondar

Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by Pbondar » Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:38 pm

RustyZ4 wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:42 am
Pbondar wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:37 pm The two subs are screwed from the front into captive nuts set in the steel rear bulkhead that are sealed enclosures..

To get to them you have to take the rear carpeted area out or back enough to get your driver/fingers/subs in

To get the carpet to move you need to remove the two rear speakers, the two rear top plastic trims hiding the top seat belt d ring, remove the d rings, the rear buklhead trim, the roll over hoop trim and the top trim covering the rear central speaker, the 4 luggage cinch brackets and the boot fold over cover and the rear boot cover rear plastic trim..

TIS info covers it all..its a big job, bigger than replacing all the other speakers put together,,figure on 2 days..plus lots of prayers trying to prise things apart like the rear roll over covers..

enjoy
Cheers Phondar, I thought it looked like a lot of work, think I might go down plan B then and put a sub in my ski hatch in the center
Russell
The performance from the factory location subs is disappointing so far even with the Audison subwoofers and a 250w rms class d amp driving the pair..so your solution may be better ...

Pbondar

Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by Pbondar » Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:41 pm

RustyZ4 wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:49 am
Jono64 wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:42 pm Hi rusty. What make and model speakers did u buy, and what were the results, also u running standard radio, CD set up. Cheers John
Hi John
I have replaced all the main speakers with Audison ones, only the subs to sort, I have changed the amp to a Audison Forza 9 channel and running the subs on a Audison mono block,
I am still running the same head unit, we re set the eq with the Forza software
It sounds superb even with the standard subs, as the footwell ones really go down low, very clear, great separation, loud and punchy ,,,I am just waiting for Audison to bring out the updated bit tune software so I can fine tune it
Eton, a German company makes direct plug n play range as well, fractionally cheaper than the Audison..I’ve used them with good results..

Some people have taken oem mini units as a cheaper solution..

The speaker enclosures with the exception of the floor well speakers are identical across many bmw models..so you can try and find better quality versions of the speakers from other bmw ranges...bit hit n miss..

Pbondar

Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by Pbondar » Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:42 pm

RustyZ4 wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:49 am
Jono64 wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:42 pm Hi rusty. What make and model speakers did u buy, and what were the results, also u running standard radio, CD set up. Cheers John
Hi John
I have replaced all the main speakers with Audison ones, only the subs to sort, I have changed the amp to a Audison Forza 9 channel and running the subs on a Audison mono block,
I am still running the same head unit, we re set the eq with the Forza software
It sounds superb even with the standard subs, as the footwell ones really go down low, very clear, great separation, loud and punchy ,,,I am just waiting for Audison to bring out the updated bit tune software so I can fine tune it
When you say you used the equaliser do you mean the Audison equaliser not resetting the OE head unit?

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RustyZ4
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Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by RustyZ4 » Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:58 pm

Pbondar wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:42 pm
RustyZ4 wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:49 am
Jono64 wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:42 pm Hi rusty. What make and model speakers did u buy, and what were the results, also u running standard radio, CD set up. Cheers John
Hi John
I have replaced all the main speakers with Audison ones, only the subs to sort, I have changed the amp to a Audison Forza 9 channel and running the subs on a Audison mono block,
I am still running the same head unit, we re set the eq with the Forza software
It sounds superb even with the standard subs, as the footwell ones really go down low, very clear, great separation, loud and punchy ,,,I am just waiting for Audison to bring out the updated bit tune software so I can fine tune it
When you say you used the equaliser do you mean the Audison equaliser not resetting the OE head unit?
Yes, didn’t explain that well, we used the Audison software to flatten out the head unit eq through the amp, the head unit was very on the high treble side

And yes Eton do have great speakers that plug and play, a friend of mine has fitted them in his 5 series, very good indeed

As for the subwoofers, the oem ones are not great, but where I changed the footwell ones, they really handle bass well, so just using the subs as a background for them at the moment, I am thinking of putting one in the ski hatch and making an enclosure for it to sit in, as that I think will be the easier (and cheaper) option

Russell
Z4 Mineral Grey, 28i MSport Auto, lots of goodies
Z4 E85 3.0, gone but now with son :D
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional

Pbondar

Question Regarding Changing Rear Subs

Post by Pbondar » Sat Dec 14, 2019 3:22 pm

The woofers in the floor wells seem to respond well to better speakers and amplification...as standard on the normal 676 hi fi they are driven by one channel in series so no real ‘whumph’ to get them going ..

The real subs seem to struggle due to lack of volume / noisy cabin etc..

I’ll play with the equalisation again when the weather gets better..

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