# e28 IB in rear deck, 3-way active project



## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Alright, I was going to wait till I had a bit more done but I couldn't help it. I started work today on my e28 535is. I got the power wire run although I didn't get pics of it. I also started fab on my custom rear deck IB setup. The setup will be:

Clarion DXZ785usb
2 US Acoustics USX2100's
1 Cadence VA300
1 Cadence Z9000
Vifa/Peerless d26nc-05 tweets
MBQ PWE100 4" Mids
Seas L22RN4X/P 8" Midbass
2 Fi X 12" subs 

Plus I am making all my own cable's RCA's included.

Right now I am pretty tapped so there isn't much going on for sound deadening yet. Planning on some mlv topped with 1/2 of neoprene pretty much covering everything. 

So on to the pics of the equipment:

The car









Equipment


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

beautiful old beamer. Very clean looking. Actually, your install reminds me a lot of what I am planning on doing with the Fi X series 12" in the rear deck of a classic old car.

What do you think about those subs in IB? Have you gotten any suggestions about it? I was told they are not the greatest candidates for it due to the low qts.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

This is what I got done today:

Here is the first side of the rear shelf baffles. I routed them down 1/4" so the sub will sit in a bit. Then I am going to do another 3/4" mdf layer on top so the entire shelf once carpeted will be flat and you do not see the subs underneath. I will probably need to fab up some grills to cover them and maybe find some really thin carpet so it doesn't muffle the subs, but that is later.




































Here you can see my $20 router from harbor freight. I had to fab up a little jig but it worked out well. On the first baffle pic you can see the bit came loose, but if you make sure it is tight before every run the thing works a hell of a lot better then I thought it would. 









This is the rear shelf as it sits. The baffles will be bolted and sealed here.









I also have to re-include the rear center tail light. I am going to mount that on the first layer of mdf that way it will be a bit counter sunk and maybe look cool. 

Anyway, more to follow tomorrow.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Well I asked around here and on SSA forum and really didn't get much. I figure I have them so wtf, might as well try 'em. I am limited on space to nothing bigger than 12's will fit. I personally think they will do alright, especially since I don't listen to much bass heavy music. More metal, and more sane volumes. If they sound tight and clear I will be happy 

Thanks btw, I like your car as well. I didn't know you had a pair of Fi X's as well. Let me know what you think if you beat me out.


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

Geez, you even have the same router I do .

Well I have barely even gotten past the planning portion of my install, so most everything is either in the mail or hasn't been ordered (for the front stage/car pc), but I have the subs and sub amp of course, you can see the old box they were in in the thread. I haven't gotten past measuring and making sure it will fit yet, so hopefully I'll be able to start cutting everything apart this week or next weekend. You'll probably beat me out.

That said if you dont like it, you can always do a front mount aperiodic membrane over it with almost NO modifications, which should suffice if you really don't listen to loud bass 

But with the way these sound in the sealed box, I can safely call these the SUB deal of the century for SQ! (i'm assuming you got them in the clearance too )


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Oh yeah dude. $75 each I thought what the hell! I have not heard mine yet, I was going to run them in a protege 5 I had but left that alone with a single sealed old school flat cone e120. I have for my home setup a pair of eD ehqs 8's in a ported custom box and they are all I need, so I don't think I will disappointed. Have you used your router yet? I am really surprised at how good the thing is. Plenty for what I need it for. I use a jig saw mostly. 

I wish my car looked as good as yours. Although I am glad mine is not black. I have a bunch of dings down each side of mine I need taken out but hopefully with an m-teknic kit it'll look good. 

Here is another shot. 









I had some BBS Rs's on it but sold them for cash for this. I will probably get some 17" style 5 like newer 5 series wheels eventually.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

So today I did not have a lot of time. At first I made the second layer for the rear deck. 









Turns out the edges did not clear the window and were too thin to route them down to fit. I decided to make a different surround for the subs. I made a mounting area and I am going to make a mesh grill that covers the raised section. I am going to cover that in speaker cloth and carpet the rest.


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

Nice.

Gah I went to work on mine today and realized I could only possibly fit one 12 in the rear deck because of something that is probably essential to the functioning of the fuel system that sits under the rear deck . I guess one will have to suffice. If not it looks like I'll have to be moving on to something with more output. That said one in a small sealed box in the trunk is PLENTY for me, so I think I will be ok (I took the other one out for test fitting and such).


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## Jayvuu (Dec 11, 2007)

just wondering, what city do you live in? that looks a lot like my aunt's neighborhood.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Well one will be easier to work with. So that is a plus. That sucks though about the tank and such and how it is positioned. 

I live in the Highland Alpine area south of Salt Lake.


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

Nice to see another e28 owner! My first e28 was Lachsilber is.


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Looks like it's coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Thanks guys. Mine is lachsilber as well. Great color imo. What do you have now?


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## ws6 beat (Jul 14, 2005)

beautiful background. snow on the mountains ane beautiful homes. I coach football and we are gonna play pineview high in utah.


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

Kpg2713 said:


> Thanks guys. Mine is lachsilber as well. Great color imo. What do you have now?


Alpineweiss on red/black combo.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Looks awesome. Are those BBS RS's on there?


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## Mless5 (Aug 21, 2006)

Kpg2713 said:


> Looks awesome. Are those BBS RS's on there?


yep.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

I got some more progress. The rear shelf is cut, covered, and ready to mount. When I get it mounted tonight, I will post up the pics. From there I have to make the amp rack and some cables.


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## ron2002si (Dec 4, 2007)

Kpg2713 said:


> I got some more progress. The rear shelf is cut, covered, and ready to mount. When I get it mounted tonight, I will post up the pics. From there I have to make the amp rack and some cables.


Can't wait to see the progree!


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Well no progress tonight. I broke my speaker grill/cover and had to redrill some mounting holes in the rear deck.I was generally in a bad mood so I decided to stop before I broke more stuff. I need to make a new one tomorrow and recover it. Then I'll take some pics of the deck installed and subs in as well.


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

Well I can't wait to see how you like it. I have made 0 progress as I decided to finish the front stage and carputer first. Sub's just aren't my biggest concern and I have plenty to do elsewhere.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

So I have been laid up with the flu... Here is the expandable foam in the rear deck, and the deck finished.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

So, here it is installed. I am making a new grill cover because this one was too flimsy so disregard this one.


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

je dig.

Looks pretty sweet. Hows it sound ?


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

I'll review it once I get the deadening in (comes in saturday) and finish my amp rack


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Lol, I was trying to figure out what that red stripe was in the top two pictures. It is our trailer just behind my car. I looked all through the car thinking it was a red marker or something, sheesh.


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## arrivalanche (Jun 27, 2008)

looks like your cover doent fit that well for some reason. is it not sitting flat or something?


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

The cover has the wires for the rear brake light stopping it from fitting right and flush. I didn't bother installing the light right since the cover is crap and I am making a new one to fit better and not break like this one did. This will be my third cover, lol. Third times a charm right?


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## slvrtsunami (Apr 18, 2008)

For those Monster's I would have used about 2" wood thickness to help with vibrations and flexing. You will have NO problems with sub bass!!!


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## arrivalanche (Jun 27, 2008)

i would definitely do something more than Velcro to hold it down and also make sure you have enough room for excursion.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

slvrtsunami said:


> For those Monster's I would have used about 2" wood thickness to help with vibrations and flexing. You will have NO problems with sub bass!!!


They are not really monsters fyi, but if you look back at the previous posts I tried two pieces of 3/4" and it didn't work out. There just isn't enough room to mount 12's width wise on the deck without cutting the outer parts so thin they break because there is only a small amount of clearance between the edge of the woofer and the window. I am just not working with enough space to do a 2" baffle. However, it is mounted to some pretty solid sheet metal. Plus these things are gonna be at about 100 watts and have about 16mm x max so I am not too worried about it. They are far from beasts. 

As far as the velcro, that is temporarily holding on the temporary broken cover. I said a couple times the whole grill cover is getting scrapped for a new one. Thanks though. 

Last thing almost  was excursion clearance. If you look back I routed the first part of the baffle a hair so that way when another layer of 3/4 is added on top gives me plenty of clearance. Never mind the grill cover which gives me another 1/4 to 1/2" clearance. 

Honestly, I appreciate all the points you guys are picking out. Makes me stay on top of things and not screw something up. 

Lastly, I spent the day installing my freshly rebuilt drive shaft so I have no audio updates. Tomorrow though.


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## slvrtsunami (Apr 18, 2008)

my bad. I have mostly seen Fi being used as hi output type of subs. Other forums talk about their high BL. 

"Lastly, I spent the day installing my freshly rebuilt drive shaft so I have no audio updates. Tomorrow though."

Gotta have one of those to enjoy your system once its done!! Have a good weekend, may you make good progress.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Yeah, all the other Fi's are like that but this is an older discontinued lower output SQ sub. Easy mistake to make considering. Thanks dude.


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## drocpsu (May 3, 2005)

Kpg2713 said:


> Yeah, all the other Fi's are like that but this is an older discontinued lower output SQ sub. Easy mistake to make considering. Thanks dude.


I can only assume that this was replaced by the Fi.Q, which is supposed to be a great SQ sub. So they're not ALL SPL monsters! The IB looks awesome. Can't wait to hear how it sounds.


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## slvrtsunami (Apr 18, 2008)

true, the magnets still look imposing. I wonder how my TC-1000 (12dvc2) will sound....gota model more and look closer.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Compared to my old flatcone eD e12o's they are smaller. 

But anyway so far today I started with deadening in the trunk. You can see my power wire hanging out there looking stupid. 


























The moved on to some RCA's.










These include outs to high's, mids, and subs for now. I will make the midbass rca's when I figure out where the hell I am going to put them. 

Back to work...


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Lol, that yellow cup is catching oozing leftover 3 day old Great Stuff. I ruined my hat and I was pissed so I put the cup there to catch the rest. I think it is about done now.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Got the rca's and the speaker wire run. Tomorrow, make the amp rack and mount the amps. Hook the **** up and tune...Hopefully.


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

Looks solid. What are you using for deadening?

Yeah, they aren't high output, but they are very sensitive, which is a huge + in low power SQ subs. Without too much power these can still get loud. You don't have to through 1000 watts at them before they open up .

These weren't replaced by the Q, per say, as there was a small time when they were both offered. This was kind of intended to be a low power version of the Q, for lesser output high SQ systems. From what I have heard, the Q is an unassuming beast. Sure, its designed for SQ, but when you push it... well its still made by Fi! And it will sound great all the way there. (dont quote me on this, I've never used one)


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## ianbiz (May 13, 2008)

Very cool E23. They are cool cars when modded. Almost better than the E30 because its more rare.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

Well budget edead right now. I still plan on doing the mass loaded vinyl and some closed cell 1/2 foam when I can afford it. Edead is only 80 cents a ft right now so I just got enough to get the trunk sealed and decent. I am going to do the other side of the back seat tomorrow so I will have some pics of that. I have just a bit more great stuffing to do on the other side to completely finish sealing the trunk. I had to wait till I had my wires run to finish though. 

Btw, I am sure you meant it but it is an e28 not e23. Thanks


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

So today I started by deadening the back seat.









Then I got to work on my tweeters. I started with the factory tweeter mount and tweeter. I had to beat the hell out of the stock ones cus they were seriously bonded to the panel. Then I mounted my D26nc's in there. 









































Got them in the car and wired. The made the baffles for the mids. I had to take them out and paint the baffle cus a bit of it showed, they are black now. 









Anyway, thats about what I got done. Didin't make it to the amp rack. That will be sometime during the week after work. As far as the midbass, I need to go smaller. I decided on where I can put them but there is not room in either spot for an 8. So I gotta go to a 7.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

No pics cus it was dark, but I got it together. No midbass in yet, but **** do those X's sound good. I am from now on an IB man.


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

So I got everything in. Here are the pics. This shows the tweets modded into the stock panels. Also you can see the mids behind the stock grills as well. The deck really looks good in the car and matches the factory lighting well which was important to me considering the car is kinda old in styling. 

























I still have to finish off the cover for the rear deck. I am also waiting on the grill covers for the mid bass. Once the grills come in I can cover them up so you won't even see them. The factory carpet covers them perfectly, and when the grills are on people won't be able to kick the crap out of them as well. I made new baffles which are routed down for the speaker to sit in a bit more. Right now they sit flush with the edge of the seat, but once the grills are on I want that flush with the seat edge

















The amp rack is "finished" but the wiring is not tidied up because I am waiting on my new 4 channel to come in. Don't worry, the Power Acoustik OV is temporary. I need to make some longer rca's as well. Turns out my measurements were not good enough. When the amp comes in I will also finish the ground cables. You can see them sticking out the side right now. I am going to techflex the blue one. My driveway is getting redone right now so I can't pull the car in to finish this last bit up till Thursday. 









So all in all I am really happy. I have been tweaking the system non stop since I got the mid bass installed. I was worried about the positioning being behind and below you but it works well. I have them t/a'ed to 16ms and crossed at 400. I would run them lower, but the 4" mids don't cut it down low enough. I tried running L-R but it wasn't working out to well for me. Only in select songs can you really tell there is some voice coming through behind you. I have only noticed it listening to Opeth, he has a deep growl that most bands do not. 

As Far as the subs, I am very happy. The deck only runs 3-way so I have the amp running crossover duty for the subs. They are getting 150w each and have plenty of output for me. They are very clear and detailed as well. Not overpowering. No complaints whatsoever with the subs... At all.

The mids.... I have been trying to eq and adjust the mids but they seem so flat and boring. I don't know if it is the speakers themselves or if the placement is the problem. I just can't get them to keep up with the rest of the system. They sound like junk to me. I have tried lpf them from 6k down to 2k and maybe I am in the wrong area here but nothing helps. Parametric EQ to me is new, but I have been trying to help the midrange and no luck either. Any tips?

Tweets are great. I actually have them EQ'ed down a bit at the very top because they seamed a bit harsh to me. Other than that, I am pretty happy with them.

I'll show the finished mid bass and subs as soon as they are done.


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## ianbiz (May 13, 2008)

well done.


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## ehiunno (Feb 26, 2008)

hope it sounds as good as it looks . I bet it does 

couple of things I noticed:

I'm surprised that midbass location worked out well for you. With the crossover as high as it is, front/back localization might be a slight problem, but my biggest concerns are the fact that the left midbass is to the right of you, etc. What happens to your imaging if you play a track with a bass guitar or some other low freq instrument with a distinct left or right presence?

Also, I am a little surprised you can't cross the MBQ mid over lower than 400. I don't know anything about that driver though. But most 4"ers can go lower than that...


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## Kpg2713 (Feb 10, 2008)

I have the MBQ running hpf all the way down. They play lower than that, MBQ says 59hz to 7900 hz. It just doesn't play lower very well. They sound very unexciting. The Infinity Beta Sixes are LPF at 400 so they play 400 and down. It looks as if the Beta's are too my right but the drivers side one really is right behind me. With the seats in the way, it really blocks a lot of the highs so I honestly can't localize them 75-80% of the time. Which is good enough for me considering I really had no where else to put them. Normal voice or guitar pretty much stays in front of you. I also have a feeling that once I get the grills on there and the factory carpet back in, it will block more high frequencies and get me to 90%.


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