Sub install

R

Robb

Member
Have done a few minor upgrades and simple installs before on a few of my own cars but im planning my first fibreglass stealthy boot build in my new car so i thought i would hopefully share some ideas and progress with you guys.
My car is a Z4 coupe so internal space is at a premium, i know there are 2 holes where the factory fit subs go on the posher systems and i have though about using these as apparently 6x9's fit ok, the other option which is the way im thinking of going it to build a fibreglass build into the side of the boot taking up as little room as possible.
Because its a beemer the battery is conviently located in the boot and there is a gap big enough down the side of it for a compact amp.

Equipment wise, im not going going for either mega money or mega bass but a bit more bottom end to the standard system(for now, you know how these things go)
Sub - i already have a Kenwood KFC-WPS1000F 10" slim sub which is designed for sealed 17litre enclosure although i want to investigate the possibility of running it ported, dunno if some of you guys will be able to help with that.
for the amp i am thinking about the Sony XM-1S due to its physical size, power seems to match the sub and its got some good reviews.

so early days yet but im planning on starting soon, would be able to get pics if any one is intrested.
 
Why bother? the standard system seems good to me. Also remeber your probably going to seriously de-value your car, its unikely the next owner wants a sub install etc. I either wouldnt bother or I'd just replace the existing speakers with better ones.
 
I say go for it. Ive already started upgrading the system in my roaster as it came with the standard 6 speaker system. The stock speakers are meant to be really good so dont really need replacing. I may look at replacing the 4" in the rear though with full range speakers. For now ive gone with two 12" subs but i'm looking at a custom box that will hold a single 12" JL.

Ive also changed the headunit to the alpine 9886 and will be fitting the imprint processor this weekend which ive heard good things about.

It wont de-value the car as its easy to remove the audio and revert it back to stock.
 
As mentioned it will be totally removable, a fibre glass mould is taken from the side of the boot and the sub box built from that, this way its a perfect fit into the car and uses all the available space.
I think the standard system lacks a bit of bottom end reinforcement to the sound, I don’t want mega bass just a nice punchy sound, hence why im going for the sealed 10".
At first the soundstage takes a bit of getting used to with the mid frequencies coming from behind your head and the tweeters at the front, eventually I was considering disconnecting the rear speakers and fitting some mids into the currently empty door locations.
I was wanting to keep the dash looking standard but then again if there is a head unit that particularly takes my eye im not going to be against it.

I do like aftermarket car audio and always have, I also like the creativity of mounting and the skill involved in balancing a system. Infact one of my criteria for choosing the car I did was that I was looking for one with the basic audio as its much simpler to integrate with after market systems than the higher bmw systems which use the digital amp.

Just thinking, I have a set of oem 4” door speakers from a 1 series I used to own, I take it these are likely to be a direct fit in the door locations?
 
As mentioned it will be totally removable, a fibre glass mould is taken from the side of the boot and the sub box built from that, this way its a perfect fit into the car and uses all the available space.
I think the standard system lacks a bit of bottom end reinforcement to the sound, I don’t want mega bass just a nice punchy sound, hence why im going for the sealed 10".
At first the soundstage takes a bit of getting used to with the mid frequencies coming from behind your head and the tweeters at the front, eventually I was considering disconnecting the rear speakers and fitting some mids into the currently empty door locations.
I was wanting to keep the dash looking standard but then again if there is a head unit that particularly takes my eye im not going to be against it.

I do like aftermarket car audio and always have, I also like the creativity of mounting and the skill involved in balancing a system. Infact one of my criteria for choosing the car I did was that I was looking for one with the basic audio as its much simpler to integrate with after market systems than the higher bmw systems which use the digital amp.

Just thinking, I have a set of oem 4” door speakers from a 1 series I used to own, I take it these are likely to be a direct fit in the door locations?
 
Fair enough then.

Off topic, sorry for this, but as I'm with the experts I have a question..... I have a 53 reg Z4 with a business cd unit and in the boot with the battery I have what looks like an amp?!

Thing is my mate with a 07 coupe with SatNav has nothing in this space on his, and my other mate with a 53 roadster with Satnav also doesnt have this amp. ??
 
just because you have the business head unit it dont mean that you cant have the upgraded speakers, and subsequently just because your mates with the sat nav have the better head unit dont mean they have the speaker upgrade as well.
Do you have the speaker grills behind the seats, if so then you have the prof speaker upgrade which is why you were saying your stereo sounds good, the grills just clip off if you want to check there are subs in there.
 
some quick pics of it so far, first car:-



empty boot


here you can see the space at the front of the battery where i intend to mount the amp, may have to think about cooling but will try it firs and add later if need be.


roughly where i intend the sub to go, looks like it should fit nicely into that recess


started to mask the area out where i want the box to live.


this was driven by a bit of paranoia, i wasnt convinced that the resin wouldnt seep through the masking tape so i started to stick strips of bin liner down using spray mount, turned out to be a bit of a labor of love, hopefully is should allow the fibreglass to be removed easier too, bit of an experiment really so will let you know if it works or not.

thats as far as iv got for now but day off tomorrow should see my first attempts with resin??

wish me luck...
 
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