Has anyone added a sub to their car with the factory radio system? I'm considering doing this and one possibility I was looking at was a powered Bazooka tube. Something clean and not too big. I'm not looking to custom build a cabinet in the trunk, I just think the car is lacking a little bass...

 

i did its not hard at all and no need for a LOC.. i put 2 alpine type r 12"s with a mrp-m1000 amp and it keeps me happy

here is a link on how to wire..
this one has pics for ref...
https://5series.net/forums/topic/116...market-subamp/

and this one has the wires sorted out.. post #13
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=338776

 

Depending on what you are coming from I'll tell you that almost no matter what you do you won't end up with super high quality. I've been deeply disappointed with the quality of bass coming from my car. I added a JL 500/1 with an ARC 12" sub... it's the same setup I used to have in a Suburban that sounded amazing at just about any volume. Since moving into this car I've been unable to get the same quality out of it. The signal that the amp is receiving just simply isn't as sharp at lower frequencies. Don't get me wrong, the sub made a world of difference in quality and I would do it again all over every time because it really is better but it's not the same as it was in a different vehicle with a custom HU sending a sub-out signal to the amp. sigh.

Oh, and I cut my ski pass out to allow the bass into the cabin a little better. It helped a bit so I'd suggest that. And lastly, make sure your sub is facing the rear of the car... that little nugget really does make a world of difference. I had my sub firing into the vehicle at first and it sounded terrible. After getting some advice on an audio forum to turn it around I couldn't believe how something so simple made such a difference.

Good luck.

 

https://5series.net/forums/topic/113...1#entry1341367
Cutting the stock subwoofer area as a poster in the link above did

http://www.autosoundswarehouse.com/s...0-10%22/Detail
Ordering a enclosed box that sits in the corner of your trunk, price varies from $200-400 depends on vendor. I've seen an ebay vendor selling it for as low as $110 in the past.

 

Hey thanks, I had only known about the JBL version which is seriously over priced, or rather more than I wanted to spend on a box and speaker. I will figure something out in the next days and make my order. Going by a shop today to see what they can do or recommend.

 

Ok I went with a 10" bazooka and initially it was mounted perpendicular in the car. I wasn't happy at all and started looking for a box and amp to get more. A friend informed me to turn the tube so that it fires towards the rear and boom! It's now what I was looking for. Not wanting to thump just enhance the sound and by turning it it really made the difference. As for space I would have rather had the smaller box but the overall cost was more than 2.5X... I don't really carry anything in my trunk so I think all should be ok.

 

I added a 12" Alpine Type R to my logic 7 system and it sounds AMAZING!

I also did a ski-port / split fold-down rear seat retrofit so the bass could flow freely...which really REALLY helps the lows sound crisp & clean...the install of both projects was pretty straight fwd too...

 

Hey do you have any pics of the split fold-down retrofit? i want to do something like that to mine then add my sub.

 

look thru this thread i recently created showing some of my modding progress....


the pics are halfway thru the project after removing the stock seats before dropping in the split folding seats. very time consuming, but to be honest, its pretty easy to do.