# Driver Selection? Upgrade factory 3-way Speakers, BMW E46



## okeydokey (May 12, 2009)

Here it goes folks; I have a 2000 BMW 328 Coupe. I have the factory stereo, amp, speakers, and a 10" JL in the trunk. 

The Factory amp drives the 3 way setup in the door, my goals here are to replace the garbage speakers with something that I can turn up and listen to while the windows are down. My budget is ~100 I have a million other projects going now, and don't need to be spending $1000s on a audio installation... (Although it is on the list for the future ) I have removed my rear speakers and only plan to upgrade the front door speakers.

Here are the specs I found for the factory amp:
BMW E46 10-Ch Amp Mod for Boston Acoustics Pro60SE Speakers

*Woofer:* 40w 150-430hz (It looks like it is a simple process to modify the amp to change x-over 28-430hz)
*Midrange:* 35w 1.25-5.35khz
*Tweeter:* 35w 6khz

Here is what my door looks like, the tweeter and midrange are next to one another, near the door handle.









The woofer mounts to the door panel I believe I can fit a 6.5" speaker, I don't think I am ready to be cutting into the doors metal to mount the speaker. 
Here is what I was thinking about using for drivers, I'm not real sure what to look for except that I want Qts to be >.5 and that higher Spl is a more efficient driver is. Now here is where I am looking for some input from others with experience, looking for some speakers that will match with each other well, have decent off axis response and other things I can't read from looking at a spec sheet. If you post up a speaker please tell me why it is you think it would be a good choice, rather then a simple link. 

*For the woofer:*

Creative Sound Solutions EL-166 Creative Sound - Product Details

Dayton ND140-4 Dayton ND140-4 5-1/4" Aluminum Cone Midbass Driver 4 Ohm | Parts-Express.com

*Mids:*


Tang Band W3-1053SC 3" Tang Band W3-1053SC 3" Full Range Driver | Parts-Express.com

Dayton ND65-8 2-1/2" Dayton ND65-8 2-1/2" Aluminum Cone Full-Range Driver 8 Ohm | Parts-Express.com


*Tweeters:*

Peerless LR10DT Peerless India LR10DT 1" Silk Dome Tweeter | Parts-Express.com


Thanks everyone!


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## The Baron Groog (Mar 15, 2010)

Try amping your factory speakers 1st:

The BMW amp has no balls
Using the same amp will give them same power output so changing the speakers will not have huge impact on volume-which appears to be your primary concern
The mid-bass in the bottom of the door has an aperiodic membrane(of sorts) on the back of it to improve the midbass/bass output swapping the driver and not mounting to the metal door and venting into the door leaves no air space for your replacement driver to play in-no bass

Solution?

High power 4ch amp to drive the fronts, with a passive 3-way croosover, and a subwoofer off. Disconnect your rears


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## bimmerman11 (Aug 27, 2009)

I have to agree with The Baron. I had the same car as you many years ago (2003 330Ci) and I had a Diamond Audio (when they were still made in the USA) 4 channel amp power the factory HK speakers and the rear speakers were unplugged.

The sound was amazing! You should definitely do this- I'm speaking from experience.


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## okeydokey (May 12, 2009)

I understand where you guys are coming from in regards to replacing the amp, to achieve a better louder volume. 
But as is I was hoping that replacing the speakers with something that is more capable of playing cleaner and louder would be a better choice.

Baron, did you build you crossover, or use a pre-built one from somewhere?


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

As said previously, swapping drivers will achieve a cleaner sound but not louder (factory speakers are usually more efficient). 
Replacing the factory amp will get you a louder and cleaner sound. 

You don't need a big amp, just a clean one 

Kelvin


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Also, check out the integrety of the OEM drivers. They might not be doing too well after _10 years_.


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

^^ Good point ^^

Kelvin


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## The Baron Groog (Mar 15, 2010)

okeydokey said:


> I understand where you guys are coming from in regards to replacing the amp, to achieve a better louder volume.
> But as is I was hoping that replacing the speakers with something that is more capable of playing cleaner and louder would be a better choice.
> 
> Baron, did you build you crossover, or use a pre-built one from somewhere?



As others agree change the amp-not the speakers(unless as others have said they may be knackered after 10yrs). Think of the speakers as your tyres-put F1 tyres on your car and is it going to go any faster (Louder) or just give you more grip (Sound Quality)?

There are off the shelf 3-way crossovers-but the frequencies will be pre-determined and may (most likely) not suit your drivers, so better to build your own. If in your situation I'd use the info you provided and build passives to suit the driver's already fitted.


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## TxnBluDvl (Nov 29, 2009)

I just went through this on my E46. Ideally, you're going to change everything out at once. It's less costly and less of a headache in the end. Unfortunately, that's the way things go with these particular cars.

If you change only the speakers, be aware that if you have the HK amp, the crossovers are built into the amp. You'll need to either find speakers which are direct replacements or need to fashion your own passive crossovers.

If you change only the amp but keep the speakers, you'll most likely have to go active. This will allow you to internally set the crossovers. The thread you posted and the crossover points are accurate -- I've tuned according to his slopes and filter points and it sounds good.

If you're looking at doing an amp replacement, look for Technic's plug and play harness instead of hacking up the existing wires. You'll find it in the Classified's -- Technic's a standup guy and you'll find lots of his contributions over on e46fanatics, m3post as well as here.


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## TxnBluDvl (Nov 29, 2009)

Also, if you're going to use the factory wiring, also be aware that while the setup for the factory front stage is three-way, it's wired as a two-way, with the tweeter and midrange on one set of wires and an inline resistor (which I assume is another "crossover"). To really go three-way, you're going to need to do another wire run to each door.

Having been there and done that, my honest advice, with just $100 to spend is to not bother. You're going to have a worse sounding system than what's in there right now. 

And if you're going to do only one thing -- do the amp. The factory one absolutely sucks and a replacement will be more portable to your next car than speakers, which can be more car-dependent for fitment.


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## okeydokey (May 12, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the input, I guess I will start looking to replace the amp I was thinking something ~100w rms 2 ch. 

And I think it might also be easier to buy a set of components rather then try to design a crossover for the factory speakers, I really don't have any experience with it. Perhaps a set of Bostons or something. 

As far as I know the factory amp is driving each speaker independently, So I would assume they are all wired direct to the amp, the mids and tweeters are not sharing a channel. I posted a link to a page that pretty well dissects the factory amplifier. 

Thanks for all the input.


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## TxnBluDvl (Nov 29, 2009)

A two channel won't cut it if you don't replace the existing speakers at the same time. 

To power all speakers in roughly current configuration, you're going to need:

6 channels
accepts balanced output
cross-overs

A good candidate is the JL Audio XD600/6, but that's roughly $400.

If you want to go with a two channel amp, you'll need to go with coaxes for the front stage and nothing else. Unless you're firm believer in front stage is all car audio should be and you can get a quality set of coaxes, I'm not sure you're going to like the result.

Seriously, is that the route you want to go? I know the HK amp and speakers suck relative to what most people put in their car aftermarket, but doing this type of upgrade right really requires an outlay. You may not be happy with the results, otherwise.


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## TxnBluDvl (Nov 29, 2009)

okeydokey said:


> And I think it might also be easier to buy a set of components rather then try to design a crossover for the factory speakers, I really don't have any experience with it. Perhaps a set of Bostons or something.
> 
> As far as I know the factory amp is driving each speaker independently, So I would assume they are all wired direct to the amp, the mids and tweeters are not sharing a channel. I posted a link to a page that pretty well dissects the factory amplifier.
> 
> Thanks for all the input.


Agreed -- you're better off going with a set of components and just doing amp/speakers at the same time.

The post you linked to is a good start, but you're better off first reading this one:

DIY post - Complete E46M3 H&K Upgrade (long!) - Audio/Video Message Board

It should explain everything in much more detail.


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