# BMW E93 M3 Install from Don at Unexpected Creations



## SCtud (Oct 16, 2009)

It took about a year of fiddling around and tweaking designs of the system, but I can finally say that the system is MOSTLY complete with only a few future changes to come. 

Many thanks to Don at Unexpected Creations for being so patient and providing excellent advice along the way. His install skills are top notch and you can see the level of detail in the wiring and careful alignment of speakers. Same goes for the extremely helpful members on various boards - Technic for the info on the painstaking upgrade problems for those of us with Enhanced Premium Sound (EPS), VP Electricity for advice on options on the underseat subs, and 808MGuy for his kickass speaker rings. 

I had several iterations before ending up with this one. I was pretty adamant on doing a single amp system and had chosen the Tru Technology Super Billet 8 for that task (which BARELY fits in an e93 positioned diagonally and requires modified RCAs since there is so little clearance on both ends of the amp). I wanted everything to look as stock and stealth as possible, so the initial speaker choices were Focal 100KRS for the tweets and mids. This evolved into Dynaudio MD102s for the tweets, Esotar 430s for the mids, and a variety of choices for the underseat sub. I had initially bought Hertz Space 8s for that, then wanted to keep everything Dynaudio so tried to see if an MD182 or Esotar 650 would fit, which was not possible. 

The final system ended up as follows:
- Motus Lab AGW+ (located where the OEM amp sits) to interface with the Enhanced Premium Sound MOST output and provide digital sound processing 
- 2x Tru Technology Line Drivers w/ Burr-Brown OPA2604 OpAmps
- Tru Technology B4100 w/ Stage IV and LME op amps driving 2 Esotar 110 tweeters in the stock mids location and 2 Esotar 430 midranges in Jehnert door panels
- Tru Technology B2200 w/ Stage IV and Burr Brown op amps driving 4 Esotar 650 midwoofers wired in parallel in Jehnert door panels (2 midwoofers per door)
- Tru Technology B2200 w/ Stage IV and Burr Brown op amps driving the 12" Esotar 1200 subwoofer running infinite baffle in the ski pass location
- Cascade audio sound deadening and JBL/Straightwire cables

Future upgrades include:
- I may switch out the Motus for a different processor at some point (hopefully the Zapco DSP8 if it ever comes out, and I would have to upgrade to a CIC head unit and program it for balanced RCA output). I am having difficulty procuring an extra set of USB cables from Motus so that settings can be tweaked. Also, the Motus randomly fails to connect at startup and I receive no audio for the entire drive (happens maybe 5% of the time). Very annoying. Anyone else with the Motus have this issue? They seem to be MIA on customer support right now. 
- Switching the two line drivers for the new 8 channel line driver

Comments on the system itself:
- Audio sounds great of course. The system has not gone through a full tuning yet, but I am already impressed. 
- I'm very happy that everything looks OEM and takes up very little space. The trunk floor is lifted a couples inches and I lose the door pockets where the Jehnert's go, otherwise I am losing no cargo space with this install. 
- Now that I've seen how well infinite baffle subwoofers can perform, I don't think I will ever go back to a trunk eating box again if possible. It sounds excellent with the arm rest up as well - no material loss in sound quality.
- There was a bizarre issue with static and cell phone interference getting into the audio chain which did not occur with Don's installs on dozens of other BMW 3-series. Props to Don for troubleshooting it out!
- Anyone in the Tri-State area looking to amp up their audio should give Don a call.


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## dwaynecherokee (Feb 19, 2010)

Nice. Was the ski pass cut or was it already there?


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## SCtud (Oct 16, 2009)

dwaynecherokee said:


> Nice. Was the ski pass cut or was it already there?


Ski pass is already there. The black plastic part around the ski pass normally connects a plastic bag so you can stick skis through there without having dirt and water drip onto the interior of the car. That part was detached, and the MDF baffle was built using that piece as a frame. The subwoofer BARELY fits as you can see. Quite amazing as I thought only a 10" one would work or the square Kickers that some people have used on the E46.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Nice clean setup!

Have you though about a solid skipass grill in an OEM style to protect the sub from prying eyes and fingers when the arm rest is lower for any reason. Something that is removable so you can still show the sub off when you want to.


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## SCtud (Oct 16, 2009)

t3sn4f2 said:


> Nice clean setup!
> 
> Have you though about a solid skipass grill in an OEM style to protect the sub from prying eyes and fingers when the arm rest is lower for any reason. Something that is removable so you can still show the sub off when you want to.


I had thought about that. I saw one install where the armrest was modified with a port, but I wasn't losing any sound quality with it up and didn't want to rip into the armrest. I had a similar grill in my last car, but I ended up never having the armrest down much.

Plus the armrest on the E93 is, as one person describes it, something that "flops out and dangles like balls". Other than putting it down for the ski pass, I don't think anyone ever uses it. 

M3 Forum 2011 2010 BMW M3 2009 BMW M3 BMW E90 M3 E92 - View Single Post - Rear Seat Center Armrest in E90 Vs E92


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Nice, We would all love to see the stages of work that Don and his crew did. 

Bump for some nice AMPS !!


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## m3gunner (Aug 6, 2008)

So... the Jehnert panels hold 2 or 4 drivers, but you didn't mention your final driver setup in your equipment list. What drivers did you use in the doors and how many?

And maybe Don can comment on if he offers the Jehnert door panels for resale to normal customers...


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## 6spdcoupe (Jan 12, 2006)

He has dual 650s per door along with 430s. 110s are in OE location for the 4"ers.
The setup and locations were initally questionable, but after doing this back in February or so with a donor car to 'play with (Exact same vehicle aside from color actually) it worked out very well.

The goal here - for the record- was amazing sound and very, very minimal on 'design' or any eye candy. Despite the pictures, I think Alex would agree the goal was reached.

To answer the question more directly about the panels ... they are available in a few variations depending on coming loaded or unloaded. The loaded sets are acoustically aligned with passives and perform very, very well for the cost. Did a set in a e92 m3 a few months back with a simple DC350.2 and the client was blown away.

The simpler alternative is the newer 'flat line' setup to just fill OE locations.

Doorboards/Soundsystems

and yes, I have them usually available for normal customers, but are any of us here really normal ?


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## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

Good stuff. I would love to hear it. I just hope my little project doesn't last a year.



6spdcoupe said:


> and yes, I have them usually available for normal customers, but are any of us here really normal ?


And no of us are normal. Why else do we do what we do to cars?


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## SCtud (Oct 16, 2009)

m3gunner said:


> So... the Jehnert panels hold 2 or 4 drivers, but you didn't mention your final driver setup in your equipment list. What drivers did you use in the doors and how many?
> 
> And maybe Don can comment on if he offers the Jehnert door panels for resale to normal customers...


I can't find my real digital camera, but here's a grainy cell phone pic of how the two 6.5" speakers and 1 4" speaker are arranged in the Jehnert doorpod. 

You can see that it's designed for three of the Jehnert 6.5" woofers. Don had to do some heavy mods to get the 4" mid to fit as well as the much larger 6.5" Dyns.


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## nepl29 (Mar 25, 2007)

Btw the CiC has balanced RCA outputs without repogramming it. I was the first one to do the retrofit in the states on a 5 series.


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## mattyjman (Aug 6, 2009)

sctud, i just picked up a e93 without really looking too deep into the install issues. i also have the skipass, so i wanted to get your impression of your ib install... hows the bass with the top down? do you get any rattles from the trunk from the barrier, or the top when it's down? 

any insights you can provide would be great


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## SCtud (Oct 16, 2009)

nepl29 said:


> Btw the CiC has balanced RCA outputs without repogramming it. I was the first one to do the retrofit in the states on a 5 series.


are you running balanced rcas to the ms8? 

does it output to both rca and MOST? curious what needs to be done to do this.


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## SCtud (Oct 16, 2009)

mattyjman said:


> sctud, i just picked up a e93 without really looking too deep into the install issues. i also have the skipass, so i wanted to get your impression of your ib install... hows the bass with the top down? do you get any rattles from the trunk from the barrier, or the top when it's down?
> 
> any insights you can provide would be great


The IB seems to work great so far. I haven't had a chance to run it with the top down yet since it's been too cold thus far. There are some rattles I think from the rear deck right now when the bass is turned up - could be the barrier too. I will need to see if Don can sound deaden these out, as I despise rattles.


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

it's nice to see an install don had taken part in, he doesn't post enough pics.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

OT, but Kenny...did you move? I thought you were in MI.

Jay


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

JayinMI said:


> OT, but Kenny...did you move? I thought you were in MI.
> 
> Jay


Yes Kenny moved....  got rid of the SUV and got a G35..


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

yes. yes i did. moved to richmond va, from lansing, MI. waiting on general motors got old.


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## Technic (Oct 10, 2008)

SCtud said:


> are you running balanced rcas to the ms8?
> 
> does it output to *both rca and MOST*? curious what needs to be done to do this.


No, it is only is capable of one type of output at a time.


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## Silent9o8 (Jun 20, 2011)

WOW AMAZING! I Have an 09 E93 and still haven't pulled the trigger yet i have the full esotar set besides the 430 mids and the b2200 and 4100s laying under my bed. I went to the shop and it was just stressful looking at it but I wasn't ready and serious yet this will help out tons CHEERS!


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## MaXaZoR (Apr 1, 2007)

> it's nice to see an install don had taken part in, he doesn't post enough pics.


Can't agree more


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## 98HOE (Jul 11, 2011)

Very clean install man!


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