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Neal

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Posts posted by Neal

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Damn, you guys either have way to much time on your hands or needa get a life (maybe both) ;)

    I might get 1-2 torrents a week and my 2TB drive has about 500GB of movies/shows, which about half of i haven't enough time to watch probably in the next 2 years haha

    Lets just say that I run links between Data Centres that can move your entire libiary between Wellington and Auckland in 3.3 minutes (20 Gbits/sec). This stuff is my life. :unsure:

  6. Posted · Edited by Neal · Report reply

    Was a Jap import so quite a basic car spec bar electric seats hence the factory 15's. Ride quality isn't too bad , more comfit than sporty. It has a more compliant ride than the old E36 with Msport 225/55/16 on my 325i and easier on the kidneys on bumpy back roads.

    yer nah , talking through a hole in my head. Handles like sh!t compared to M3.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    That is a quick fire way of saying good by to the SMG. This is a kit you can buy from the states, comes with everything you need, plenum, all the coolers, new DME plug and play type. I looked at it for a while but then saw the price. $4,500NZD.

    Suspect the SMG would be fine. HPF have done some 1100hp M3 Turbo builds with this gearbox

    http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/partdetail...ts/E46_M3/11037

    If I win lotto , I'm sending the car to the USA.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Sorry, wheels are the standard sedan 15 inch , All I could get locally in the end was a set of the Dunlop Direzza Z101's which seem ok in the dry. I pointed out that the e36 needs at least 225/x/xx. Hopefully this will be the last set of tyres before replacing the Car.

    Suspect replacing the wife would come in around new Ferrari price before getting a new wife. Would love to change it to an X5 or e60 but I'm not game enough to argue with a pregnant financial accountant, I've seen alien verse predator. The outcome was not great.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    I was looking at switching to Telstra too!

    4.79 and 0.73 with Xtra, though am assuming my 2 year old 1gb ram laptop may have something to do with that also!

    Won't be your laptop , I get 11/.7 on my netbook over wireless. Netbooks speed wise are similar to 2006 laptops.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Agree with Nath , Have had 6 sets of Bridgestone Tyres , I've only had cracking on one tyre out of 24. I considered that one to be faulty , even then was after being on the car for 4 years and 30,000 kms.

    Ring Bridgestone NZ , The RE002 Are surposed to be an entry into the elite Potenza range. This should not happen if used normally or a slighly spirited style of driving.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Cheers Rogan , Did notice the Soundstream rebadge of the latest PPI 3 ways. It sounds like PPI are no longer making speakers in the states to stay in business. Thanks for the offer of the subs.

    I was going for a Boston spg555 as it mimics the shape of the Ski Port (13x9 inch) I brough the passive radiator and was going to buy the sub , but her indoors put the brakes on spending for a while pending new / first child.

  14. Posted · Edited by Neal · Report reply

    the great thing about the INTERNET is that people share there knowledge.

    Connecting into the factory E46 system is easy enough if you willing to make audio sacrificesis. The easy route would be to add the amp line outs into the speaker in on the amps. While the weak link in the factory system is the speakers I don't like the idea of having two amps in line before hearing the sound. Less is more ! Better to go closer to the source which in my case is the factory BM53 Tuner / mixer / pre-amp. (Pitty it wasn't the later dual tuner BM54)

    The BM53 Tuner has 4 channels out Front L/R & Rear L/R . It's a very cleaver piece of electronic engineering for it's time. It will mix in nav audio with you music interrupt audio if a phone call comes in, Will switch and take over video inputs and the like. However , BMW & Becker decided that the line audio would use differential balanced audio which is great for it noise canceling over long cable runs. Typically the sort of thing that used to be run between mixers and pa amps in studios and rock concerts. Problem is that most after market car audio amps don't accept these pre-amp outputs. You can buy Balanced to standard unbalanced audio converters but they can leave their signature in the sound

    Issues: Don't want to use speaker out inputs , don't want to use balanced / unbalanced convertors , my amps don't support balanced

    Answer: Add RCA outputs straight off the pre-amp opamp outputs before they are changed to balanced outputs.

    Photo one , The BM53 Tuner , Photo two , the NE4558's are the pre-out op amps. Solder RCA leads to the top capacitors. Note , use low heat as it's easy to have surface mounted components come off (Don't ask how I know :rolleyes: )

    I though about upgrading the opamps for better sound quality but decided I'd end up spending days on re-working the audio stages. The BM53 NE4558 op amps aren't too bad and have been used in a few analog studio mixing desks. They aren't the most transparent opamp but finding replacements that can take varying car voltage changes and the cold / heat range proved challenging.

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  15. Posted · Report reply

    Audio System

    It's largely a re-use of my old E36 system

    Speakers

    The e46 is currently running 6 inch mid basses in the doors and parcel shelf. Some larger 6.5's will fit but require mods to the factory mounts. Some people go as far as cutting holes in the door metal to give them a larger enclosuer. However , I believe this would make it too large and give boomy uncontroller midbass.

    I'm staying with 5 1/4's as replacements as the rear magnet will fit within the gap available.

    Speakers

    Componets

    A.D.S marketed a series of good sounding car component speakers in the mid 2000's . It turns out Percision Power was the OEM for these. For a while they made 5 1/4 speakers with smooth sounding silk tweeters and nicely built crossovers. They were PPI 355cs's with an NZ retail of around $1200. The first pair weren't far off this price , but as they are an old model they can be found on Ebay for around $400 NZD landed. I will be running these front and rear in passive mode.

    Sub Stage I

    I've had an old boston C110 for 12 years now. It's a small 10 inch box with a 10 inch passive radiator and rated for up to 850 watts. It has a nice tight sound is great on different styles of music. It won't make your ears bleed but can still do high 120 db's if cranked. I'll use this intially.

    Amps

    Soundstream is a brand thats been around for a while. A few year back they brought out the Stealth Series Amps which have a smaller footprint. They are designed for us older ones who don't want a boot full of audio and are unlikely to run them near maxium output where ideally you'd have larger heatskinks.

    Models chosen where the 600d (600rms on class D design) and the 680 (4x120 rms on class AB design) Plenty of power and control and have reasonable sound quality for the price.

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  16. Posted · Report reply

    Audio System Source / Control

    Going for Netbook rather than building in carpc , Andriod device, Tablet / Ipad

    Thinking behind this has come down to open source software that will communicate with BMW ibus system and easy to add 1 TB+ of disk as media collection grows. Easier to run windows derived software at this stage.

    Netbooks also have lower power consumption and you can manage the startup / sleep modes easier with having in built battery rather than timers and relays.

    Source

    Acer Netbook , Atom Procosser, 250 gig drive (will change to 750 gig when full) , wifi , 3g data via USB vodem

    Windows 7 & Winamp for audio playback

    Riderunner software with skin by "Reborn" http://www.mp3car.com/rr-released-skins/13...-5-17-12-a.html

    Isus USB Blu Ray player

    Jaycar VGA to Video Converter

    Bluetooth 2.1 (100 meter standard) dongle and bluetooth Keyboard

    Rolf Resler IBUS to USB adaptor and driver software ( http://reslers.de/ )

    7 port USB Hub

    12 Volt 40w netbook power supply

    Will add freeview USB Tuner at later date (Looking to do BMW diversity Aerial intergration)

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    • Like 1

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Thought I'd write up improving the factory E46 10 speaker audio system.

    I'm going down the intergation with the factory system route which is $$$ debatable when you consider what a Dynavin can do and how easy it be to put a couple of amps off the back. I'm doing this as a techincal challenge as I work in IT communications and for my sins Manage staff rather than do much of hands on these days.

    Project Objectives

    Entry level home hifi sound quality in E46 M3

    Use Factory Nav system as system control as much as possible

    Use Netbook PC as System Source for multi media Control

    Ability to 7000 track lossess audio libaray including flac and 96khz/24 bit Audio files

    Keep factory look in interior

    Choose Audio componets for Sound Quality with an eye on value for money

    Have a usable boot that's not clutered amps / sub box

    Resist the tempation of using neon and led lighting.

    Learn about the e46 Ibus communications protocol

    Learn more about the componets that are in the factory nav system

    Do mods in a manner that car can be returned factory state later on

    CD / DVD / Bluray capable system

    The Factory system

    6 inch Mid Bass in each front door. Tweeter & possbile midrange speaker top of doors

    6 inch Mid Bass in rear pacel shelf , wider range tweeter in rear side pannel trip

    Factory 16:9 Wide Screen with built in MD player ( I suspect Alpine brand)

    Factory Alpine 6 CD changer (Analog out and Ibus controlled , but also look like it has SPDIF output)

    Factory Lear TV tuner (not freeview capable)

    Factory BM53 Tuner / preamp (Becker Brand) , System is pre MP3 firmware but supports basic RDS and maybe MD track tittle

    Retrofited Mk4 Nav computer

    Deleted JBit2 Telephone system (voice pre-wired with snap in box / mic etc)

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    • Like 1

  19. Posted · Report reply

    It's just a stage 1 on mock at this stage . I suspect that small 10 inch C110 will cause it to rattle. Stage 2 will see it's big brother the spg555 which will no doubt shake the car if pushed. I'll more than likely remove the plastic flap and replace it with speaker cloth. The SPG555 is similar in shape to the ski port. :D

  21. Posted · Edited by Neal · Report reply

    Tell me about it ! shows the affordability of BMW's

    At 20 years of age in 1987 I brought my first BMW an E21 323i with 90,000 kms for $22k The M3 was $130k at the time . Inflation adjusted thats $41k or enough good example E46 M3 price in todays terms. The dollar goes far these days.

    Would have been great to have an M3 when younger when my reaction times were quicker :mellow:

    At 18 I had a 10 speed !

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