speaker upgrade

[millerman1ac]

seeing the threads with big massive speakers got me thinking??

how easy it would be to upgrade the speakers in my X?

is this something i could do myself and what sort of cost is involved.
Come to think about it i dont even know how many speakers are in the car!!

[Sanj]

Easy and u can do DIY. Just need to prise the door card off and u have access to the front speakers. Then u can fit component units (tweeter, cross-over and mid setup), which are very effective as a first part of the speaker upgrade process.

Need to know if you have speakers just in the lower part of the door or up near the mirror AND in the corner of the dash by the windscreen, grill should lift up. Also, look in the rear doors, you'll have some in the bottom BUT have u got some higher up too? If so, u have hi-fi speaker upgrade from factory.

[millerman1ac]

sanj i'm going to investgate1!!

if you dont mind i'll be back?

;o)

[Sanj]

Any time bud - just holla!

If you want to keep it cheap - nice components up front and a sub, you'll be surprised at the output. Check out BSW on xoutpost too - great write-up there.

[Turks]

I might have a look at upgrading my speakers... very tempted by that BSW Sub. I have Hi-Fi and DSP but my old E39 sounded much better! The E39 had the Individual Stereo upgrade though so it had two big subs in the parcel shelf - sounded amazing!

Was there ever an Individual upgrade for the E53?


Turks.

[kena]

I had my speaker system upgraded about 3 months ago from the basic setup.
I added Rockford Fossgate component speakers/tweaters to the front and rear doors, Rockford Fossgate amp and a 8" shallow subwoofer in the rear where the factory sub normally goes. It was all fitted by a local ICE dealer and cost £650 installed. The difference in sound over the stock speakers is unbelievable

[squeaky2]

What with the new headunit turning up this week (alledgedly) my thoughts have turned to speakers........I cant really go down the route of having a sub as there is nowhere for it..........the cubby hole in the boot is full of Fire extinguisher....jump leads etc. Have 2 dogs that take up most of the boot space. Am thinking about getting rid of the speakers in the dashboard as they are rubbish and getting components for the front door and installing the tweeter in the mirror housing thingy. I suppose its just a full range set for the back doors.

Has anyone got any advice as to what speakers might fit and sound best. Ta Steve

[Turks]

[quote=""kena""]I had my speaker system upgraded about 3 months ago from the basic setup.
I added Rockford Fossgate component speakers/tweaters to the front and rear doors, Rockford Fossgate amp and a 8" shallow subwoofer in the rear where the factory sub normally goes. It was all fitted by a local ICE dealer and cost £650 installed. The difference in sound over the stock speakers is unbelievable [/quote]

Hi Ken,

Did you have the DSP in your 4.8is?


Turks.

[CondorX5]

[quote=""Turks""]I might have a look at upgrading my speakers... very tempted by that BSW Sub. I have Hi-Fi and DSP but my old E39 sounded much better! The E39 had the Individual Stereo upgrade though so it had two big subs in the parcel shelf - sounded amazing!

Was there ever an Individual upgrade for the E53?


Turks.[/quote]

I've got the Hifi and DSP upgrade in my 4.8 and I think it sounds great, my 3.0 strangely also had DSP / factory speaker upgrade too, which also sounded good - is it just an individual thing or do guys just like to upgrade car sound systems whatever the factory kit was???

[bullethead]

YEP

[millerman1ac]

[quote=""Sanj""]Any time bud - just holla!

If you want to keep it cheap - nice components up front and a sub, you'll be surprised at the output. Check out BSW on xoutpost too - great write-up there.[/quote]


so from what i can make out i have sound on all 4 door cards, also sound from the 2 speakers right under the windscreen.
but no sound coming from what looks like speakers next to where the wing mirrors are...

is it possible to just change the speakers for better ones to improve the sound quality?
also if my car had a sub as standard where would this be?

really just looking for a cheap solution to improve sound quality, There are no local ICE companies around inverness.
I can live with it the way it is, but would be nice just to have that bit more quality..

cheers John

[Sanj]

You have a standard setup then. And yes - buy component speakers (tweeter seperate speaker and a midrange seperate speaker) linked by the cross-over that comes with them. Try to get a small enough set with tweeters that will fit in that grill next to the wing mirror - there is space behind it.

The sub would be in the boot in the right-hand side compartment. That is a bit more tricky to install as you would either need a seperate amp and sub with correct enclosure or the all-in-one units (the good ones are dearer). Jig will be doing a How To so you can figure out where to take feeds from for an amp. Then just a case of what fits your budget and quality.

[millerman1ac]

cheers sanj - ill look into it..

might be a little out my depth though withs amps and stuff!! lol

[Sanj]

We'll help where we can. Amp is easy to wire up.

Positive feed (to the battery with an inline fuse)
Earth/Negative (to the chassis of the car, nice earth point I can tell you to go for)
Remote connection (tells the amp when to turn on and off)

Then just the speaker wires - 2 pairs to come into the amp to supply the signal from the left and right (positive and negative of the cars rear woofers).

Then the single pair that will go to the sub (usually the amp will allow you to bridge that single output, making it more powerful).

Do a google and a youtube search to make life easy and familiarise yourself with what you are trying to achieve. And ask any and as many questions as you wish.

[Turks]

[quote=""CondorX5""]
I've got the Hifi and DSP upgrade in my 4.8 and I think it sounds great, my 3.0 strangely also had DSP / factory speaker upgrade too, which also sounded good - is it just an individual thing or do guys just like to upgrade car sound systems whatever the factory kit was??? [/quote]

The HiFi and DSP in the 4.8 I agree is good but it can be improved. My E39 sounded fantastic and I wouldn't have changed a thing about it and that was from factory (Individual Audio Option). I would like to try and get close to that sound quality from the X now. It's like anything, once you have had something so good... it's hard to go back. The only reason I haven't done anything with my X yet is because it is good enough for now. I really think that it is just the subs that let it down a little and I think that is what made the E39 sound so good!

My friend had a 3.0d X5 with the standard system and after having my E39, there was no way that I would have bought my X without it having the HiFi and DSP. I haven't seen one with the Individual Audio Option... was this an Option from new? If so, I wonder where and what the improvements were.


Turks.