35 Cent

Anyone have subwoofers in your trunk w/out fold back seats? I'm trying to get the most bass out of my sound system but my E60's trunk is practically sound proof. I heard of cutting off the top sheet metal for improve bass.

Heiss5

I've got subs in my trunk w/out the fold down rear seats, and I have no problem getting plenty of bass inside the cabin.

Then again I've got over 1000 watts running to my subs so you're bound to hear something. What I like about my particular system though, is that I have a seperate bass dial that I mounted on the side of the center console just about perpendicular to the shift knob. It's very concelled and allows me to adjust the bass to whatever I want it to be. I ran the wires inside the small piece of carpet trim that runs alongside the console and then all the way back to the amp.

Either way, no matter what you do, do not cut the metal in the trunk. I can almost guarantee this would void your warranty, not to mention I've heard this piece adds stability to the body of the car which I would not want to compromise. There are a lot of other members on here who have successfully mounted subwoofers under their seats, in the rear center armrest and in the trunk who have no had any problem with bass sound. So I would recommend looking around the forum for another way of adding bass besides cutting stuff.

subterFUSE

The problem with the E60 trunk is becoming a more common one with newer cars today.


I had the same problem in my 1994 Acura Legend Coupe.


Basically, the trunk is so airtight, that it impedes the movement of subwoofer cones.... which can limit the volume. Speaker cones must move back and forth to create sound. If the air pressure inside the trunk is high, then the speaker cones can't move out as far as they want, and won't play as loud.

As a test, try listening to your system with the trunklid open or ajar.... and then have someone close the lid and just notice how the bass instantly will be reduced.



Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to solve this..... short of cutting an air passageway in the tirewell to allow the subs to breathe. Venting into the passenger interior can help some, but not to the same degree as outside venting.

The other guy is right, power is really the best way to overcome this. More power is always better.... not just for volume, but for sound quality. A strong amp running at a moderate level will sound better than a weaker amp working at full tilt.



However, the acoustic properties of the trunkspace which seem to be causing problems for people, can also be a benefit. I think the E60 trunk would be an excellent space for building an aperiodic membrane enclosure.

mclc26

I have a single 12" Kicker Solo L7 in the factory box, which is small and occupies very little trunk room. It's connected to a Rockford Fosgate 1500.1 amp, which is putting out about 750 watts RMS into the sub. It sounds INCREDIBLE in the car! I was very surprised by how much nice clean bass was coming into the cabin without having to do any mods to the interior or trunk area. It is very important to have a lot of power pushing this sub, as I had the same sub with a 350 Watt amp in my 540i and got nowhere near the same quality. I had also entertained the thought of 'swiss cheesing' the metal plating behind the rear seat or drilling holes in the rear decklid to get the sound into the cabin in the 540, but didn't want to void the warranty. Having enough power is definitely the key and the Kicker L7 is an amazing sub which doesn't require a lot of room. I highly recommend the combo of the two.