spindrome

i've got it mounted inverted on the rear package tray, just below the left rear speakers. (per another post) - i'm not worried about it overheating as the heat sinks are off to the side and there's plenty space around the amp, and heatsinks are on the side of the amp.

It's a mono sub amp, and with the subs wired in parallel, i'm drving the amp at a 2ohm load. the power is more than enough and the amp doesn't even get hot. i get decent enough spl for my wife to tell me to turn it down and for the door panels to rattle when playing rap/hip-hop.

People that sit in the car will listen and ask "where's the sub box?" They'll be surprised when I show them an empty trunk.

I'd definitely recommend at least 200W though to drive these subs. They aren't the most efficient (86db 1 w/1m) probably due to their slim design, but they are the only option to drop into the factory sub enclosures under the E60 seats.

I bet the stock subs would sound decent as well if you just replaced the factory amp with an aftermarket one.

bruce_miranda

Lesson 2 : Amplifier placement and install.

This was probably the most time consuming task in terms of getting the right sized amp that could fit somewhere discreet. And where more discreetly could I put this besides where the current amp is. However any amp that is capable of driving a 150W RMW subwoofer is almost never going to fit where the stock amp is. But I came up with a solution.

I don't have any extra units over my left wheel arc so there was a lot of place there. Besides that is the best place for anything that needs to stay cool because there are air flaps just over the wheels.

After many months of looking at eBay I finally found an amp that was both the right size and power.
I built a platform for the amp out of some mdf, made some brackets out of aluminium and it was a perfect fit. You will notice that there are screw sockets already in there and I made use of them itself without drilling a single hole into the chassis. The black hex nuts that I used are BMW OEM Parts No 07119902932.


I needed to use right angled phono sockets so that the entire thing would fit in.

I had also realised that my standard left wheel boot trim would not work but Radioham let me have trim that is used for the cars with the DVD changer etc BMW part no 51477122193 and oddment tray 51477074479. This is not a picture from my car but you see the part I'm talking about here (forgot to take a picture of this part before it got dark today).

Once done there is no signs of an aftermarket amp. I've yet to tune the system because I've yet to install my sub-woofers. That will become Lesson 3.

spindrome

nice job again, Bruce!

Is there enough ventilation with the new quarter panel? Will you need to create some hole(s) for the amp's heat to dissipate
Did you get your power from the grommet as well? The power cable seems thick enough gauge and the stock amp already has a 30amp fuse in the boot fuse compartment above the battery.

Have you tried hooking up the amp to the stock subs? If so, I'll be you'll be impressed with just the increase in power.

Let me know if you had any mounting problems on the right side sub enclosure. Mine did not sit flush with the enclosure so I had to get a dremel tool and cut out a lot of the plastic injected molding around the sides and bottom.

bruce_miranda

I don't intend to make any holes or anything. There is plenty of room in the space for the heat to escape plus as mentioned the air flaps are just above the amp itself. If I do feel that the heat is getting excessive I always have the option of simply not installing the oddment tray, then the amp can use the entire boot to dissipate.
All connections including power are taken from the car's wiring harness itself that was going to the OEM amp. See my first post you'll see that all the amp's wires terminate at the DIY plug itself. The wire gauge is 4mm and that should be good enough for my intended volume level. Ofcourse if I was the thumping type then that wire may be a tad too thin for the power. But as mentioned I'm truely impressed by the quality of the BMW OEM wires and thats the reason I spent money and bought them as spares. The BMW dealer must have never sold BMW wire to anyone before :-)

spindrome

keep up the good work bruce. let us know how it looks/sounds when all is said and done.

bruce_miranda

Hit a problem with the subwoofer install today. When I actually opened the sub woofer I noticed that one of them was not quite correct. The cone was not moving freely and the dust cap had come away. I've written to the person I bought these speakers from to see what options I have. I could really scream at this point but am trying to be clam.

I just thought I might as well finish my article as much as I can.

LESSON 3 : Install under seat subwoofers.

Installing the speakers should be the easiest bit of the entire process if you have the right speakers. The EARTHQUAKE SWS-8 8" SHALLOW MOUNT are the best for the job because they fit perfectly inside the enclosures under the seat.
I found the easiest way to get to the enclosures is by removing the 4 large Hex nuts from the seat rails and then simply tilting the seat back. Then remove the speaker grill.


Next you need to remove the speaker screws. You may find it easier to remove the trim holding the carpet down to get to the outer screw.
To get to the screw near the pillar simply put your screw driver into the hole in the carpet which allows the grill screw to pass through. Much easier than having to open up more carpet. Once all 4 speaker screws are out you need to slide the speaker out towards the front.



The speaker is connected to the car's wiring harness via an OEM plug. You can buy two Pin Housings BMW Part No 61136901731 and four contacts BMW Part No 61138364835 and then insert them into the plug. This will give you access to the speaker cables.
The Earthquake speakers have normal terminals but one is a miniature one. Use two Fully Insulated Crimp - ?Lucar? Female Terminals for the earthquake speakers (Maplin's code JH81C and N22AN). Connect a 2.5mm gauge wire between the Lucar Terminals and the BMW contacts 61136901733. That way you don't have to slice the cables or remove any plugs etc.

Put everything back and then tune your system. I'll post more pictures when I actually replace my subs. But for now this project of mine is on hold because I can't simply replace one sub.

Black BMW530iA

Nice pictures To bad about the broken speaker
Good luck with the rest of the project.
How deep is the box for the sub under the seat?

Black BMW530iA

On a scale from 1 to 10, how good are the original speakers in the E60 if you have the Logic 7?

Russ1974

I'm sure some people are aware that I'm the seller of these as I sold them through an advert on this site. Please rest assured I'm sorting Bruce out to ensure there is no bitterness over the transaction

Russ1974

From the general comments on the people on the forum;
Pre LCI - very good
Post LCI - not so good !