[sniffer]

Following on from my other posts:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364359

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369193

I today installed the Earthquake SWS-8X Subwoofers.

Bit of a faff, even with spacers I ordered from user jtsherri on this forum. I guess I took my time. Took around 3 hours.

The spacer set contains 4 pieces. 2 spacers for the speaker to the enclosure and 2 pieces between the speaker and the BMW grille. This is nice because it means you are able to keep the factory grilles but not worry about the subs hitting them when they are being driven hard.

I bought the subs from http://www.audioonesavings.com/

Can wholeheartedly recommend them. I was dealing with a guy called Kevin and he was very helpful, communicated brilliantly and the whole thing was a pleasure. Except of course having to deal with Parcel Force in the UK who held the package until I payed up customs charges . . . . they didn't think to actually let me know though. . . so it was just because I went chasing I found out what the score was.

Parts Checklist

1. Earthquake SWS-8 Subwoofers (2nr) http://www.audioonesavings.com/

2. Spacer set for SWS-8 Install (4nr spacers in set) E90post - "jtsherri"

3. Insulated crimp terminal / bullet sockets (4nr) (Maplin - JH84F)

4. 79 strand speaker wire (2m) (Maplin - XR72P)

Other items used for phase 1. Wire cutters / crimpers, yellow electrical tape, etc. I also used a soldering iron as I soldered the speaker wire onto the subwoofers terminals.

Activity list / Guidance Notes

1. Get to stage where you have the sill / kick panel trim off, sub grille off, etc from notes in phase 1.

2. Undo 2 10mm bolts towards centre console which locate the enclosure onto the car floor.

3. Disconnect plug to subwoofer.

4. Slide subwoofer slightly upwards but towards centre console and remove from car.

5. Remove factory subwoofer which is retained by 5 small torx bolts.

6. Solder wires onto speaker terminals and drill 6mm hole in protruding section of spacer. Pass wire through hole and fix subwoofer back into enclosure.

My spacers were unfortunately not large enough to allow the speaker to fit through and I needed to file away the inside of the spacer ring for while to get the speaker to fit. I then got it nearly there and attempted to screw the speaker back into the enclosure, thinking that the spacer would give and allow the speaker / spacer assembly to sit tight. MISTAKE! Stripped one of the little torx retaining threads in the enclosure.

I luckily was able to get round this by using a slightly larger screw I luckily had lying about, after filing the spacer ring some more.

7. Put it all back together. Crimped some female bullets on the end of the protruding wire and plugged this directly into the sub wires coming back from the amp that were there from phase 1. This meant I left the BMW sub plug and taped it onto the wiring loom along the sill so that if I want to reverse it all out and put the car back to standard, it should be pretty easy.

I have not been able to fully test it out yet, but the bass is already a lot deeper and "warmer".

I re set up the gain again this afternoon using some test tones. I used 1Khz for the mids and 50hz for the subs.

The issue I am having is that now the subs are quiter than the mids and tweeters with the gain set correctly. I guess this is because the subs are 4 ohm and being run in stereo - one per channel. The mids and tweeters are 4 ohm. They are wired in parallel, which reduces their load to 2 ohm. I therefore have the front channels of the amp running 2 ohm and the rear running 4 ohm. It may have been an idea to buy 2 ohm versions of the SWS-8X called the SWS-8Xi.

I will experiment with the bass boost setting on the amp, which I guess may resolve this. I am currently running the head unit with the bass up 4 or 5 notches for a balanced sound.

So, audio project finished now.

Have a long journey to do tomorrow, so will be able to test it out properly, but I am very happy for the money I have spent.

It sounds great.

[a1reader]

Great write up!! So how much did the whole thing cost you in total, and how much time did you spend on the complete project.

[sniffer]

Approx:

Amp £150

Subs £250

Tweeters, panels, etc £115

Wiring, connectors, etc £50

So around £550 - £600

In terms of time, definately allow two full days if you are taking your time and it is the first time you have had the car to pieces.

I am pleased I had the spacers, they probably made the sub install easier, although I was unlucky and had to hack my spacers around to get them to fit properly. . . . I also now have a nagging doubt that the subs are not properly sealed against the spacer and the spacer properly sealed against the enclosure, although I am sure this is probably nonsense!

[MOB]

I used sealant as well as the spacers, just to be sure

what amp are you using?

[sniffer]

Vibe Litebox Stereo 4. 90W RMS per channel. Very nice piece of kit. . . so far.

Fits in really nice below the CD changer meccano, so completely stealth and leaves the LHS section of the boot floor empty for a DAB radio at some point in the future.

Thanks for the tip about the sealant. It sounds really good, just need to sort out the gain because of the mismatched impedence between front and rear channels. I think if I were doing this again I would get the 2 ohm version of the subs.

[MOB]

I'll be keeping an eye on your progress - I have added L7 tweeters and mids, and a Pro Head Unit, and also have the SWS-8's and Blaupunkt THA555 ready to fit (all from my old E92)

The Blaupunkt doesn't fit under the boot floor on the 1 series, so if the Vibe fits and sounds nice, I may get one

[sniffer]

Originally Posted by MOB

I'll be keeping an eye on your progress - I have added L7 tweeters and mids, and a Pro Head Unit, and also have the SWS-8's and Blaupunkt THA555 ready to fit (all from my old E92)

The Blaupunkt doesn't fit under the boot floor on the 1 series, so if the Vibe fits and sounds nice, I may get one

If you are banging the amp in and currently have the standard UK audio, you will HAVE to split the wires in the sills and drive the subs from seperate channels or the impedence will be too low and you will blow the amp.

Anyway, used the car for a full day, no overheating issues with the amp. Sounds really good.

Now need to fit i-pod interface as the aux in 3.5mm jack is pants. Currently sounds much better from CD than ipod.

[Dr Dave]

I'd be very interested as to how you find the iPod interface.

[BGM]

pictures?

[sniffer]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

I'd be very interested as to how you find the iPod interface.

Three options:

1. BMW IPod Interface

2. Dension Gateway 500

3. mObridge

Currently gonna go with the Dension. Seems to have the best features (can start inputting letters and the results get filtered), by now has been devloped enough to be stable.

I checked when I had the meccano set out yesterday and all the CD changer wiring and MOST optics are sitting there. . . need to get the car coded though as it does not currently have a CD changer. . .to do this, I need a BMW CD changer really, even if I go to an Indy who has autologic. . .

Today, the IDrive system crashed twice. . . . . . .does anyone know where the IDrive control unit is?? I assume it is NOT the unit in the meccano set next to the CD changer. . .If it is, this is directly above the amp so could possibly be due to overheating because of the amp heat....

[sniffer]

OK, update.

I have just ordered another two SWS-8 subs.

This time I have ordered the 2 Ohm version (SWS-8Xi). I will sell the 4 Ohm versions I have.

This is because I have (belatedly) worked out that the impedence on the front amp channels is currently 2 ohm (factory mid and logic 7 tweeter in parallel).

The subs are currently quieter than the mids and tweeters. . .

The SWS-8X I have is 4 Ohm, so I have an imbalance. Will not cause any harm, but rather than turning the gain up or having to muck around with other ways to balance it out, like having the bass up mid way, I will install the 2 Ohm version of the sub.

This will then also mean I get more power. The Vibe Litebox Stereo 4 I am using will belt out 125 W RMS at 2 Ohm to 4 Channels.

Will make sure I take lots of photos when I do this . . .if it is not f*cki*g raining again!

[Dr Dave]

I have the CDC fitted but need it coding, just not enough spare time atm to get it done.

Quite like the idea of the Dennison unit!

[sniffer]

OK, my 2 Ohm subwoofers have arrived and I installed them today.

I am really, really pleased with the end result of all my upgrades, including the Dension for IPod control.

Attached some photos to show access to the subs, the spacers, etc.

The spacers I bought from Jason did not fit as above. When I compared them to the template today, the X series subwoofers are clearly a different chassis so the spacers not fitting was not down to Jason's workmanship or anything, simply that the spacers were for the older model of subwoofer.

I chose to modify the spacers today, so I used a Dremmel with a sanding attachment. Worked really well and the spacers fit nicely afterwards. I probably had to remove 3mm all the way round the inside of the spacers.

Please don't forget, in these pictures, I am removing other SWS8's which look identical, taking them out, modifying the spacers and then installing my 2 ohm versions. Just in case anyone gets confused:

[sniffer]

So, above we have undone the four seat bolts and then moved the seat to a central position on the runners, where we have then tilted it backwards gently, being careful not to snag or damage the wiring loom which runs up there.

Here, we are removing the sill trim which is on plastic lug clips. The clips slide in a channel, so you are able to slide the trim left and right to ease with taking it off. When you have the trim off, take out the lug clips which remain in the car sill and put them back into the plastic sill trim as shown for later when we need to put it back.

[sniffer]

So, now we can access the speaker grille. Make sure you use the correct screwdriver here or you will easily damage the screw heads.

I am locating my bullet connectors for my sub in the later picture and unplugging them from my amp loom.

[sniffer]

So, undo the two nuts which secure the sub enclosure and remove them by moving them towards the centre of the car, they locate into the sill area so by moving them towards the centre, you are then able to manipulate them out of the carpet and remove the enclosure and sub from the car.

I have taken a pic of a (slightly modified) spacer over the top of the Earthquake template for the SWS-8X series subs. As you can probably see, the spacers internal diameter is too small.

[sniffer]

I modified the spacers internal diameter using a dremmel type tool with a sanding attachment. It worked really well.

If you are going to do this, I would strongly recommend you use a face mask as the spacers give off a very find dust when you sand them which I doubt is very good for your lungs!!

Wiring soldered on and passed through spacer.

Note the blue tac type substance used to block the small air gap where the wire passes through the spacer.

[sniffer]

Darnit!!!

Just been tuning system using a 50Hz and 1 Khz tone.

Blown the RHS front mid speaker!!

I heard a nasty noise and then within a second it went away. I was at the rear of the car at the time, so I assume the noise going away was the speaker giving up.

This was running at around 65 - 70% on head unit volume playing the 1Khz tone. At this volume, the Vibe would have been pumping out around 120W RMS and the standard speakers are simply unable to handle that kind of power.

So I have just ordered 2 x Logic7 Mids which should simply be a straight swap.

They should also have better power handling.