Neal's BMW E46 M3 Basic SQ Build

43301 Views 131 Replies 27 Participants Last post by NealfromNZ, 10 mo ago

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · Oct 9, 2013 (Edited)

Have a BMW E46 M3 with factory Nav Hifi system.

This build log will be around upgrading the overall sound quality in a manner where the car can be returned to stock. Second objective is to have a usable trunk / boot

The gear will be a combination of re-use of old gear and buying some end of line gear.

Gear List

Front Speakers (Re-use)
PPI 355cs (5 1/4 comps ) running passive

Rear Speakers (New old stock)
PPI 355cs (5 1/4 comps) running passive

Sub (New old stock)
1 cubic foot sealed box to use Ski Pass arm rest hole
Boston Acoustics SPG555/2 Oval Sub
Boston Acoustics TRG Oval Passive Radiator
Rear seat conversion to Ski Pass via arm rest

Amps (re-use)
Soundstream Stealth Series 4x104 Watt RMS class a/b
Soundstream Stealth Series 1x600 Watt RMS class D

Crossover/ subout / Source Switch
360.1

Sources
RCA Modified Factory Bm53 Tuner for NAV,FM, CD Stacker
Acer Netbook running RideRunner CarPC & Foobar 2000 for playing Flac Music Library
USB Bluray Player for DVD/BluRay
iphone 5 for Bluetooth / hands free

Cabling
4 gauge to each amp
Custom RCAs
Speaker wiring TBA
Custom additions to Factory Loom and tidy up

Other
VGA to Composite video convertor
Reversing Camera
USB Hub
3g Dongle
Long range Bluetooth dongle
BMW Ibus to USB dongle (Nav Sat button Control of Netbook software)
Bluetooth mini key board
USB Headphone DAC for Netbook (TBA)

Car Pic

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Reactions: 1

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NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #2 · Oct 9, 2013

Thinking about Bass

I'd run a couple of IB setups on some earlier BMW's. The M3 came with fold down rear seats, but behind the armrest was a solid metal panel. Some E46 had an option of a ski pass which allows skis to be placed into the trunk. More importantly it give you the option of venting bass directly into the cabin.

I transferred a rear seat section off a sedan which had a ski pass setup. Was a simple case of unbolting seat , clipping the leather cover off and transferring to new section.

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kapone

· #3 · Oct 9, 2013

This is like Deja Vu....

Very similar components and car. Mine is a 740i (E38), with PPI 356cs in the four doors (running passive), 355cs as center and two rears (running passive). JBL W15GTI MK2 running IB through the ski pass.

CarPC running XBMC is custom.

But I'm using the CIS-IBUS unit for Video conversion and audio input switching.

Old Skewl

· #4 · Oct 9, 2013

Good luck with the install. Subscribed! Anxious to see how it turns out. IB might be the best way to go with this car. I find its a b&*^h getting the bass into the cabin.

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 10, 2013

Cheers for the encouragement. Will check out your threads to pick up tips & tricks.

The passive radiator has put me down the sealed box route. Can change to IB later if it doesn't work out.

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 16, 2013

Sub woofer build

I must have put through about 10 variations of box designs before settling on final design. Original plan was to run an off square 1 cubic foot box so the sub could line up with the ski pass.

But with the depth of the driver plus the passive radiator plus 20 degree seat angel and allow for just 40mm of forward driver excursion I'd lost too much of the trunk.

Went wide across the trunk and as narrow as possible to allow for child buggy.

Box construction was MDF 18mm with a double layer from baffle. Had a few mills to play with in terms of front baffle height and being able to fit the drivers in.

Trial fit first layer

Box trial

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4

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 16, 2013

Additional baffle and box finish

Cut out an mdf baffle and trial fitted. Was out a few mm on the sides. Stapled and glued rubber door seal to the sides of the baffle. Idea was for it to be flexible on the edges to take up the slack.

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NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 16, 2013

Screwed sub and passive radiator in. Brought a couple of BMW bonnet badges and trimmed the pins off and drilled a couple of small holes. Almost the same size as the Boston badges. Used existing badge screws for a nice finish to the sub.

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carlr

· #9 · Oct 16, 2013

NealfromNZ said:
Screwed sub and passive radiator in. Brought a couple of BMW bonnet badges and trimmed the pins off and drilled a couple of small holes. Almost the same size as the Boston badges. Used existing badge screws for a nice finish to the sub.

Wow.. I really like the touch with the BMW badges.. Something to think about for my bimmer.

edouble101

· #10 · Oct 16, 2013

Looking good!

Old Skewl

· #11 · Oct 16, 2013

Turned out nice! Nice touch with the emblems. Too bad you had to bump out the rear for the magnet. Sooooo, How does it sound? I find its tough getting the bass into the cabin from. Inquiring minds want to know! Ha Ha!

ALan Z

· #12 · Oct 17, 2013

Looks great!

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #13 · Oct 17, 2013

Old Skewl said:
Turned out nice! Nice touch with the emblems. Too bad you had to bump out the rear for the magnet. Sooooo, How does it sound? I find its tough getting the bass into the cabin from. Inquiring minds want to know! Ha Ha!

Well ..... as for the sound , need to install the amps next. At the moment its 35kg of ballast

fr3ek

· #14 · Dec 2, 2013

Where did you find the new old stock PPI speakers?

Mrnurse

· #15 · Dec 2, 2013

have you ever done a passive radiator setup before? I am wanting to do one 10' PSI platform 1 and two 10" PSI PR in my FR-S.

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #16 · Dec 3, 2013

Fr3ek, sonic had them for a while as did woofersetc. However , neither are listing them now.

mrnurse , I ran a Boston c110 for about 10 years. This had a 10 inch sub plus one 10 inch passive radiator. Produced a nice punchy and tight baseline. It would never win any spl contest but was very musical. Main advantage is the smaller enclosure size and having some of the characteristics of a ported box.

Mrnurse

· #17 · Dec 3, 2013

I'm not looking for spl, I am wanting a good solid foundation for the rest of my system. But I don't want to lose all of my trunk for a big ported box.

NealfromNZ

Discussion Starter · #18 · Dec 3, 2013

Sound like we have similar objectives.

I didn't want to loose boot space as I need to get a baby stroller in the car from time to time.

Another thing I like about passive radiators is the ability to customise the q setting by simply adding or subtracting weights. Makes it easy to customise the bass response according to personal tastes without having to alter box sizes.

Mrnurse

· #19 · Dec 3, 2013

See I am so interested in doing this.

Mrnurse

· #20 · Dec 3, 2013

How do you calculate box size?

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