E90 build log

[mikeb]

So the stock sound satisfied me for about 3 minutes....
The standard sound in the E90 is a pair of 4" mids in the front doors and a pair od 6.5" subs under the front seats running off the front channels of the HU and some 4" mids on the rear shelf running off the rear channels of the HU.

First step was to replace the 4" mids with a set of DLS K4 4" splits. These splits are designed to run off HU power and that's what I planned to do with them.

Then for the lows I decided to use my existing RF amp and subs. I wanted to use both the 10" P1's but only ended up using one due to the constraints of getting bass into the cabin.

On to the pics:

First off, the window frame covers did not have space for tweeters, so I bought some spare ones from a scrapyard and went to work on those. I was going to flush mount them like this...


I didn't like the way it looked so I tried using fibreglass resin and moulding a tweeter pod


This is what it looked like before


After


Problem was that I didn't use fibreglass matting, just resin and body filler. They weren't strong enough so it was back to the drawing board


After being sanded down and fibreglassed with about 2 layers of matting


The standard BMW 4" mid


Mounting plate for the DLS mid


Behind the door card


The DLS mid mounted


Then the cutting starts. The centre armrest folded down and the plastic trim backing removed. This just leaves a carbon fibre like firewall




I got some ideas from Vaux and Kevin and decided to build a sealed enclosure and fire the sub straight into the cabin






I made a mounting plate that screws onto the firewall


Rubber tape seals off the plate so that the front wave of the sub does not leak into the boot


Then the front plate of the sub box can be screwed onto the mounting plate






I still have a long way to go but hopefully this small upgrade will make a nice difference.

[Uncle Sam]

Nice Mike, looking good dude!

Just a quick question, that spacer that you built for the 4" mid, how is is mounted to the door card? Is it glued on?

[mikeb]

thanks dude

No it's bolted on using those three nuts you see in the pic.

[koogs]

Nice work Mike. Its coming along nicely.

[Uncle Sam]

thanks dude

No it's bolted on using those three nuts you see in the pic.

Ah, I see, I actually thought that you drilled holes through the wood to leave space for the nuts because they belonged to something else... in hindsight I realise the dofnes of my question

When's the Dynamat going in?

[mikeb]

thanks Koogs

Dane, no dynamat.... I am just keeping it simple. The sound deadening in the bimmers is already above average and the 4" mids don't play that loud.

[maxxis2112]

Excellent job on the car man.

Now the most important question.

How does it sound?

[Uncle Sam]

Dane, no dynamat.... I am just keeping it simple.

hahaha, you say that now...

[mikeb]

lol

Maxxis - it's a long way from making a sound at the moment. Still have to mount the amp and LOC. I have made a cover for the front of the armrest opening and covered it with carpet so the sound comes through. There is still at least a full days work to get it going. Then the tuning. I'll update as things progress.

[Potent]

Looking very good Mike...

Keep up the good work and remember to keep us posted...

Sharp...

[Ant]

coolness mike. I see you like geting dirty with fiberglass and resin. I remember your old sub enclosure build log.

[mikeb]

shot Manny - I'll def keep u posted

LOL Ant, there is something about the smell of fibreglass and resin.......

[RS4]

looking good mike

[corsa150]

nice wok so far man ,but u got some big brass ones mate cutting holes in your bmw like that i wanted to do the ski pass install in my bmw but i cringe at the thaught of kicking out that ski pass and drilling holes in the body . check out e46 fanatics.com they have lots of info in the sound section they also have a e90 fourm. good luck in my on i have found two tens in a slot port work great no cutting no holes just strong bass

[mikeb]

Been working on the car on and off over the last few weeks. This E90 has been the most difficult car I have ever worked on.

I have made some changes to the original upgrade:

Sold my RF sub and amp and got a Hertz Energy 10" sub and JL Audio e4300 4ch amp. Also changed the splits from the DLS K4 to Focal Polyglass 165VR3 3 ways.

So the setup as it stands now is the factory head unit up front, the JL amp running the splits on 2 channels and the sub bridged on the other 2 channels. I'm using the SVEN2 LOC tapped into the front channels off the HU and the rear OEM speakers are faded out. I must mention that not one factory wire or pannel was cut in this install - except for that firewall behind the rear seats

I got everything hooked up yesterday and spent the afternoon chooning the system. It is sounding really good. I got a decent centre and stage hight. The car is pretty wide so width is ok, depth may be a problem.

The thing that got me was that when you spend like R750 on speakers and they sound good it's sweet, when you spend a lot more on speakers, you automatically expect a lot more out of them. That's not always the case. You need to make sure they are installed well and then tune them properly to get get the value. So it's gonna take time but I see plenty potential.

I got plenty pics - will sort them and post tonight.