# 2001 BMW E46 Touring



## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

After many delays and some false starts I am making some progress on the install in my BMW.

For a source I will be using a Pioneer DEX-P99RS with a GEX P920XM tuner for satellite radio, a JBL MS-8 for signal processing and a Metra Axxess ASWC to retain my steering wheel controls.

Speakers will be Hybrid Audio Clarus 6.5" components in the doors, an Alpine SBS-05DC for a center channel and a JBL GTI MKII 10" sub in a sealed enclosure.

Power will come from a Soundstream Reference 4.760 for the mids and highs and a Soundstream Reference 1.1000 for the sub. The center channel will be powered by the MS-8.

So far I have the head unit and MS-8 installed and I'm using it on the factory speakers. I also have the sub box about half way built and I'm sorting out how to mount the amps. I decided to take over the massive spare tire well in my car for the sub and amps to keep the rear hatch usable and everything out of sight. I only use this car in town and can toss the spare back in if I need it.

Here is the car a few weeks after I bought it about a year and half ago. It looks pretty much the same now but I removed the front plate mount and wrapped the front grills in brushed titanium vinyl to tone down the chrome. I also painted the silver trim around the windows black.


325iT by willtel, on Flickr

So far I have the head unit and the MS-8 installed and now I'm working on the sub box and the amp mounting. This car has been a real pain to work on. It had navigation and the factory Harmon-Kardon system and for some strange reason the actual head unit is in the trunk on the wagons. The dash unit was just a display and controller so some of my wiring has to run under the center console and back into the trunk area. I bought a single DIN trim ring from http://www.mybimmer.net and then realized that there is no DIN carrier in the dash. Rather than pay $125 for a euro BMW part I made one out of my old head unit and some aluminum stock, I'll add pics of that later as it is currently a mess.

Here is the base of the sub enclosure with the recessed ring mounted up. I'm trying to get it centered and leveled correctly here.


IMG_0346 by willtel, on Flickr


IMG_0347 by willtel, on Flickr

Close enough.

IMG_0349 by willtel, on Flickr

Here I have the shape of the enclosure set with resin soaked fabric and I placed the 1.1000 in the area where it will live.

IMG_0357 by willtel, on Flickr

Here the 4.760 is in also. It will float over the sub amp.

IMG_0358 by willtel, on Flickr

You can see how the two amps will sit in the spare tire well without the sub in the way.

IMG_0352 by willtel, on Flickr

Much more to come...


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

Subscribed. Love these cars.


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## derickveliz (May 15, 2009)

*Very nice car to set up a front stage, PLDs work out great! in this type of vehicles*, I'm curious to see the output using a P99 with a JBL MS-8 and why are you going this way?

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## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

derickveliz said:


> I'm curious to see the output using a P99 with a JBL MS-8 and why are you going this way?


That wasn't my original plan. I was going to keep the factory head unit and use the MS-8 but right after I installed it someone broke into my car and stole the MS-8 display and remote. I tried for 4 months to get replacement parts from JBL but the display was always on back order so I just bought the P99. Two days after it was delivered I found a user in the classifieds selling the MS-8 parts I needed so now I have both.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Very nice use of the spare tire well - that will nice to have amps and sub tucked away and a usable hatch area. 

I'm curious to see your method of door installation - I'm not sure if you have doors like mine or like the e46 M3's (with HK). My '02 was very challenging. 

I'm looking forward to your evaluation of tuning with the P99 vs the MS 8 as well.


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## derickveliz (May 15, 2009)

willtel said:


> That wasn't my original plan. I was going to keep the factory head unit and use the MS-8 but right after I installed it someone broke into my car and stole the MS-8 display and remote. I tried for 4 months to get replacement parts from JBL but the display was always on back order so I just bought the P99. Two days after it was delivered I found a user in the classifieds selling the MS-8 parts I needed so now I have both.


Just curious...What are *your goals *in terms of SQ and *Staging*? 

.


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## derickveliz (May 15, 2009)

derickveliz said:


> Just curious...What are *your goals *in terms of SQ and *Staging*?
> 
> .



What I mean, is are you going for a *front stage* or some thing more like a *5.1 home theater system*. BTW I have no experience with MS-8


.


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## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

derickveliz said:


> What I mean, is are you going for a *front stage* or some thing more like a *5.1 home theater system*. BTW I have no experience with MS-8.


Front stage.

For this system I want something fully active since I have never had an active system before and I want a dedicated amp for the sub. All my previous systems have been run with 3 or 5 channel single amps running all the speakers. I'm going to try out the center channel because I have heard good things about using them with the MS-8 and I have a single DIN hole to fill on the dash so the Alpine my work out well. I'm not planning any rear fill.

I'm also far from an expert on tuning and my understanding of crossover networks is limited so the auto-tune function of the MS-8 is attractive to me.


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## derickveliz (May 15, 2009)

*You sound like me* 2 years ago, it's good to play with these toys if you like, you are going to learn a lot. 

You have a very good advantage... *your car!* PLDs will be in your favor.

*I use the P99 and I don't need a center channel at all.* It also auto tunes! and it's not bad.

Here is what some 1 wrote about my system a few weeks ago:

*"heh, all about sq. The little sub is amazing, but your system really puts in perspective having a fully functional well working group of high end speakers with a head unit with all the toys to make them shine.

In all the years of being around people that call themselves audiophiles I've never heard a system that literally lets you "see," "feel," and hear exactly where a sound comes from as well and exact as your system does.

It was like going to see a band in a small coffee shop, but for every type of music. I don't know how many artists even thought of systems that sound like this, but listening to it you know the lead singer is in one place, the background singers are in another and the instruments are coming at you from wherever they are.

Every recording was almost intimate, and the music separated itself depending on where it was and what it was doing. Hearing is believing.

Not to mention the sound literally came from the dash, yet the main speakers were in the kick panels and only two little tweeters were up top.

As weird as it is to say, the quality being amazing was almost secondary. I'm used to that. Derick's system sounds just as good as a 5.1 home system. I've had the pleasure of really being able to listen to many, from cheap ones to really high end expensive ones, and for sound quality Derick's car is just as good as any of them.

Derick's system is set up to be all up front, literally like the musicians are in mini playing on the dash. And of course with great recordings it sounds so much better than going to see live music.

I love that this system proves you don't need insane volume to have a top notch system. Derick really has built a system that should inspire everyone.

Amazingly quiet. From the windshield wipers, the blower motor for the air, and then almost zero road noise. We took a short drive on the highways and his car is easily lexus quality quiet. And he still gets 43 mpg."*


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## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

I got the display of my head unit and the MS-8 color matched today. I used a lighting gel used for photography. It could be a shade darker but it is pretty close.

I also got the center channel stuck in the dash and wired to the MS-8. I'm planning to build a new grill to cover the entire hole and I have some more tweaking to do to the head unit surround before I will be happy with it.


IMG_6483 by willtel, on Flickr


IMG_6484 by willtel, on Flickr


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## aalasley (Jun 20, 2012)

Looking good so far


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

Is the spare tire well centered? On the E34s it is offset to the left (when looking at the rear facing towards the front). Also, why did you put the sub forward as opposed to the very rear?


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Have you fired up those SS REF amps yet?

Just a tip for the amp mount.....place the 4.760 on the bottom of the stack so both amps can be seen.

Stagger them slightly if you can.....couldn't tell from the pic if you have any lateral room to play with.

And yeah....center channels are for home theater....not car audio.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Any progress on this install?


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

mires said:


> Subscribed. Love these cars.


Until they breakdown:laugh:


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

GlasSman said:


> And yeah....center channels are for home theater....not car audio.



x2...EXACTLY!!!!!


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## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

GlasSman said:


> Any progress on this install?


Nothing photo worthy. I've tied up some loose ends on the steering wheel controls and other wiring but it isn't very exciting.

I actually had the car in the shop for the last two days as I had a check engine light I couldn't get rid of. I replaced both CATs recently and all 4 O2 sensors but I still couldn't get the light to clear. It turns out I just plugged the O2 sensors back into the wrong connectors. Now that the check engine light is gone I can take my emissions test and get to work installing a Vortech supercharger kit I bought this spring.

As far as the audio install goes the next step is the front doors. I need to order some sound deadening materials and hope that it stops raining every afternoon.


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## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

I'm still plugging away on this thing. I now have the speakers mounted in the front doors, it was an epic pain but other than a little more trimming on the passenger side door panel it is complete. The tweeters are mounted in the factory location in the sail panel and the 6.5s in the doors where the originals were on some baffles I built.

I also have the hatch area about finished. The bulk of the amp wiring is in place and I built some aluminum legs for the amps to rest on out of some round stock. With any luck I'll finish the fiberglass on the top of the box this weekend and get everything mounted up with some pics.

In the meantime I've been screwing around with the head unit install and trying to make everything from the front seat look decent. I bought a centered trim ring but no mounting cage so I made my own out of the old head unit and some aluminum angle. It is solid but the bezel has been a pain to get aligned correctly.

Here is the mount for the head unit. The black portion at the top was sawed off the of the factory head unit and then the aluminum was bent and epoxied to it.









Here it is with the bezel in place. The top needs a little more tweaking.









This is the start of what will be a speaker grill for the center channel. It is a frame made from balsa wood and I plan to contour it to the dash and then wrap grill cloth around it. If I get it right it should stay in place by press fitting it.


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## cobb2819 (Jan 13, 2011)

I have a double din kit for this car...if you're interested.


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## MoparMike (Feb 14, 2012)

I wouldn't use those vertical spacers between the center channel drivers to avoid reflections, unless you have tried it and that is not an issue.


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## willtel (Dec 18, 2008)

MoparMike said:


> I wouldn't use those vertical spacers between the center channel drivers to avoid reflections, unless you have tried it and that is not an issue.


When I'm finished the vast majority of those pieces will be trimmed away so I'm hoping they won't have much effect.


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## vcoke (Aug 21, 2012)

willtel said:


> Nothing photo worthy. I've tied up some loose ends on the steering wheel controls and other wiring but it isn't very exciting.


Would you mind posting your experience with the Axxess installation? Photos too? :surprised:

I also have a 2005 325it and would really appreciate it, as would some other guys on the E46 Fanatics Forum.

Was curious too, had you put any thought into putting the sub inside the side panels? What made you decide on using the spare tire?

Very excited to see this complete! Looks awesome so far!


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