27th December 2007 - With all the wiring in place yesterday it was down to the fun jobs... the sound deadening and wadding!
I started on the passenger side and once all the metalwork was de-greased it was basically a case of applying sound deadening to everywhere possible. Had to lave a few places for clips and things but put in a double layer directly behind where the speaker will mount. With that done it was time for some wadding, which turns out to be as simple as buying a cheap Tesco's value pillow and cutting it open for some prefect wadding! The cavity on the Z3 is pretty big so plenty was placed in there to take up the space and leave a nice area for the speaker basket. I've no idea if I put in too much or not enough as it's the first time I've used wadding on anything other than a sub.
From the earlier fitting of the speakers it was apparent that it doesn't seal very well with the metal and even has some gaps around it (good old BMW!). So as I didn't have anything else I just cut out some cardboard rings as a king of gasket. It doesn't look very professional but it works a treat and is hidden anyhow so what the hey!
So with one side complete it was time for a quick trial... and WOW!! The difference is amazing and it really does show that it's now just the speakers but the FITTING of those speakers that makes all the difference. To highlight this I took a quick video of the drivers side speaker which has just been fitted as BMW intended, with no deadening/wadding/seal, and then the passenger side with all the proper gumph. I've uploaded it to YouTube or you can view it below:
So with that it was on to the other side and it was much the same as before only on this side I also applied some sound deadening to the kick panel as it's much deeper than the passenger side and it's just a big void so I didn't want it to rattle etc. So the overall end result is an amazing sound from the DLS R5A 5.25" Components, and they are still being run from the Becker head unit (rated at 18w RMS) so roll on the amp and sub!!
26th December 2007 - OK, so not much progress so far and none yesterday as it was Christmas day... but back out to it today with the goal of getting it all done... HA! Never going to happen, though with failing light I've not got all the wiring in place, the speakers fitted and connected and did a quick sound check to ensure things were wired up. Pleased to say it's al working fine :)
The overall aim is to have the crossovers in the back (as they are so big!) so it was necessary to run 2 pairs of wires down from the boot, a pair either side. As I'm only fitting the components at the moment it was necessary to take a speaker feed from the headunit to the crossovers so another pair of wires were run down the centre console as a temporary measure. When the amp goes in those wires will be replaced with RCA cables (sadly the stereo shop didn't have the leads I needed in stock so will have to run those later, a pain as it would have been easier to run them at the same time to save pulling the interior out again, but at least I know how it all goes back together now!).
Still didn't get as far as I'd have liked to, but tomorrow's job is applying the dynamat around the metal of the mids, filling the void up with some wadding and making a thin mounting board to bridge the little gap left around the speakers. Easy... hmmmmmm! 24th December 2007 - So time to get started with the install of the front components... and there I was thinking this would be pretty straight, what a fool I was! Having not done anything other than remove and refit the headunit it proved quite challenging to pull the doorcards off and routing the cables. I thought it would easily be done in a few hours this afternoon but sadly I've not even finished one side yet!
Started on the passenger side as that has most access, so first pull off the kick panels which is pretty easy. On removing the standard mid I was surprised to see Harman stamped on it and a large crossover of sorts. I thought the bog standard stereo (which is what my M Coupe has) didn't have Harman speakers. Anyhow, with that out I started looking at a route for the cables to the boot (plan is to fit the rather massive crossovers in the back with the amp/sub) but it soon became apparent it would be easier to remove the passenger seat. Well, I thought it would be easy but as the seat has a stack of electric connections (electronically adjustable, heated and airbag sensor) it took a little while to get all those unplugged and out of the way.
Then it was time to remove the door card. As usual removing a doorcard for the first time is quite tricky as I didn't know where all the clips/screws/bolts were. Got the passenger doorcard off eventually though not looking forward to the drivers door and the added complication of the wing mirror adjusters! The standard tweeter position seems pretty good to me so it was just a case of remove the stock tweeter and with a little modification (cutting away a little plastic) the new DLS tweeter fitted in just fine.
Time (and light) was running out so the last bit for today was to look at running the wire for the tweeter... but I soon discovered that the connection that goes from the car to the door is like a multi-plug affair so decided to use the standard tweeter wiring through the harness just at that point, hopefully that won't effect the sound, should be OK seeing as it's the tweeter though. Hopefully more progress in the next few days! 18th December 2007 - Having decided upon a set of the well regarded DLS R5A for the front speakers I nabbed a brand new set off the 'bay for a good saving over RRP. As much as I'd have liked to go for a 6" setup there just isn't the room in the kickwells and the goal is to keep it looking neat and stock (up front at least!). Below are some pictures of the R5A's compared to a set of JBL GTO 507c Components that I was originally going to install before taking some better advice! The following is from the official DLS website: Reference series R5A is a 13 cm (5,25") 2-way system. Powerful magnet system. Cone made of non pressed paper. Crossovers with selectable tweeter level. 25 mm silk dome tweeter T25. Grilles are included. Visit Official DLS Website Download the offical spec/manual(pdf)
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