E38 Factory Sounds

[MISS BM 712]

Hi all,

My E38 still has the wonderful sounds of the factory rolling throughout, and looking to upgrade before the poor speakers fall apart.

The previous owner did some work for the back back speakers, however he did the awesome thing of removing them all before car was moved along. I now only the stock speakers in the doors.

So Questions are, is there any potential for a DIY job, Hooking up the sounds to my E36 was easier done than said, however I don't want to mess around with the E38 going in blindfolded...

OR

Is it best to get this done Professionally, I normally use Jonvy Auto, but any other places to recommend?

Cheers

[aja540i 1906]

Hi, I did diy sounds in my e39, it is a massive pain in the arse! I assume the e38 will be similar (or worse)

There is a huge amount of wiring involved, and if you don't know what you are doing it is easy to bugger it up.

If you are just replacing speakers, go for it, but a head deck, amp, sub etc take it to the pros.

[yng_750 247]

for just speakers my e39 (think the same as e38?) had three speakers in each door.

optional for big speakers on rear deck but mine has sun shade instead.

i replaced just the biggest speaker of the three in each door which is 5 1/4 inch

got them from supercheap for about $45 a pair if i recall.

made a huge difference, had to wait a few weeks for stock as they are not overly common.

wouldnt recommend doing a complete change unless you want to spend big dollars.

you can buy adaptors for ipods etc that replace the stacker.

[M5V8 337]

yes they are all the same unfortunately.

It really depends on what music you listen to and how you listen to it.

If big thumping bass is what you are into then a simple speaker upgrade wont do it.

But if you are looking for just sound improvement then replacing the speakers with larger units isn't that hard.

I replaced all the speakers in my E39, re-used factory amp & wiring. I just had to make a couple of customwood speaker rings to mount them in the doors. But there's plenty of room in there.

Binned the 5.25mm speakers for a good set of 6.5's and tweeters (front & rear). Huge improvement.

Kept the headunit etc & added in a dice audio ipod input from richard@gadgetman.

Works well for me. Nothing super tricky, there's plenty of info online about how to strip the doors and speaker locations. Great wknd project.

[MISS BM 712]

yes they are all the same unfortunately.

It really depends on what music you listen to and how you listen to it.

If big thumping bass is what you are into then a simple speaker upgrade wont do it.

But if you are looking for just sound improvement then replacing the speakers with larger units isn't that hard.

I replaced all the speakers in my E39, re-used factory amp & wiring. I just had to make a couple of customwood speaker rings to mount them in the doors. But there's plenty of room in there.

Binned the 5.25mm speakers for a good set of 6.5's and tweeters (front & rear). Huge improvement.

Kept the headunit etc & added in a dice audio ipod input from richard@gadgetman.

Works well for me. Nothing super tricky, there's plenty of info online about how to strip the doors and speaker locations. Great wknd project.

Yeah decided to go with a component set and put them in all the doors, and just leave the back deck for now.. I tried hooking up my 6x9 in the back slot there, but the wiring must be buggered as it didn't even run. Someone has previously run a sub as there are after market wiring going into the boot. .. Not touching the head unit.. And in order for me to get my back tray running again with just the stock size speakers, need the cases/adapters for them to sit in. my back tray is very very naked, just wiring through out.

Am planning to put these in the doors. (http://www.jonvy.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&path=58_225&product_id=2796) Me and mate going to do it over a day (we hope).. Just remembering when I did my window regulator and getting the door card on and off then.. sh*t that was a mission. at the moment, just want clear sound so I can listen to a song without it farting everytime we attempt to turn it up

[M5V8 337]

Yeah decided to go with a component set and put them in all the doors, and just leave the back deck for now.. I tried hooking up my 6x9 in the back slot there, but the wiring must be buggered as it didn't even run. Someone has previously run a sub as there are after market wiring going into the boot. .. Not touching the head unit.. And in order for me to get my back tray running again with just the stock size speakers, need the cases/adapters for them to sit in. my back tray is very very naked, just wiring through out.

Am planning to put these in the doors. (http://www.jonvy.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&path=58_225&product_id=2796) Me and mate going to do it over a day (we hope).. Just remembering when I did my window regulator and getting the door card on and off then.. sh*t that was a mission. at the moment, just want clear sound so I can listen to a song without it farting everytime we attempt to turn it up

JBL make good value for money units. What you are replacing is like for like with better materials.

If you really want to improve the sound I would highly recommend you go for bigger components.

There's plenty of room for a 6.5" speaker with a very large magnet in the door. the amount of work to get that in will be exactly the same as the 5.25".

If the setup is the same as the e39 (which i suspect it is) factory is a 5.25" speaker with tweeter in the sail position.

the 5.25" woofer uses a plastic tube as a 'box' to enhance the sound. With a better quality speaker you will no doubt have a bigger magnet meaning you will loose the ability to mount in the tube unless you can hack the tube to fit somehow.

chances are you will have to ditch the tube and just mount with a custom wood mount anyway.

this is what I did:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt...e-your-speakers

the $ difference between a 5.25 & 6.5 isn't alot. But the sound difference is huge.

good vid to watch (shows the plastic tube well):

http://stereo-installation.wonderhowto.com...bmw-e38-143467/

Edited August 5, 2013 by M5V8

[MISS BM 712]

JBL make good value for money units. What you are replacing is like for like with better materials.

If you really want to improve the sound I would highly recommend you go for bigger components.

There's plenty of room for a 6.5" speaker with a very large magnet in the door. the amount of work to get that in will be exactly the same as the 5.25".

If the setup is the same as the e39 (which i suspect it is) factory is a 5.25" speaker with tweeter in the sail position.

the 5.25" woofer uses a plastic tube as a 'box' to enhance the sound. With a better quality speaker you will no doubt have a bigger magnet meaning you will loose the ability to mount in the tube unless you can hack the tube to fit somehow.

chances are you will have to ditch the tube and just mount with a custom wood mount anyway.

this is what I did:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt...e-your-speakers

the $ difference between a 5.25 & 6.5 isn't alot. But the sound difference is huge.

good vid to watch (shows the plastic tube well):

http://stereo-installation.wonderhowto.com...bmw-e38-143467/

Yeah I upgraded a mates golf to 6.5s.. Never needed anything bigger, and sound quality was almost up there with a 6x9.. And I loooove my 6x9s for a good dose of bass without a sub.

Didn't know you could go to 6.5 in the E38! Thought it would be similar in the housing department to my front E36s and would need hacking and drilling to get one in.

did you purchase the Custom mounts or make your own? Im not handy with the wood work side of things, so not sure how I would go making my own. Could I chuck the 6.5 in without the wooden mount or too much of a Mish? Sorry for all the questions!

Would defiantly like to go up to 6.5s if possible, but how much extra will the costing be for the mounts (not worried on speaker costs), and just the ease of doing it would become a lot harder?

Thanks in advance, and again sorry for the questions.

[M5V8 337]

Yeah I upgraded a mates golf to 6.5s.. Never needed anything bigger, and sound quality was almost up there with a 6x9.. And I loooove my 6x9s for a good dose of bass without a sub.

Didn't know you could go to 6.5 in the E38! Thought it would be similar in the housing department to my front E36s and would need hacking and drilling to get one in.

did you purchase the Custom mounts or make your own? Im not handy with the wood work side of things, so not sure how I would go making my own. Could I chuck the 6.5 in without the wooden mount or too much of a Mish? Sorry for all the questions!

Would defiantly like to go up to 6.5s if possible, but how much extra will the costing be for the mounts (not worried on speaker costs), and just the ease of doing it would become a lot harder?

Thanks in advance, and again sorry for the questions.

questions are what a forum is for.

No i didn't bother with their mounts and just made my own. It's simple as using the speaker tube as a template and using a jigsaw to cut up some customwood. Alittle bit of fidding and I got one sorted right and used that to template the other door.

Seriously I'm no woodworking genius either. But it is just draw a pattern and cut it out. Adjust to fit.

If you are concerned any audio install shop should be able to sort for you for a reasonable coin as it's not that difficult an install.

Like I mentioned. I believe whether you use good 5.25's or 6.5's you will still have to make these mounts. So why not go big??

When you compare the factory speaker to the the aftermarket you will see what I mean. The aftermarket speaker's rear will be substantially larger. That's why they are better speakers. Bigger magnets. Better materials.

The factory 5.25 only just fits in the tubes. I highly doubt any decent aftermarket speaker would fit or if they do it probably wouldn't be any improvement sound wise.

My 6.5's are in the door. In the factory position. No cutting of the door card or any internal door parts. Just simply replaced the tube & speaker.

Edited August 6, 2013 by M5V8