[808MGuy]

Hey guys. I posted this in the M3 forum but since it somewhat applies here I thought you guys would like to see it as well.


I've had my basic hi-fi system upgrade for about 2 years now which included a Zapco DC650.6 amp, a/d/s 344is mids and MB Quart QTD 25 tweeters in the doors, and Morel ADMW 9 woofers under the seats. I've been content with what I had but there was always a little devil in my ear telling me I needed something to fill out the low end. So I finally got around to doing it. I decided to give the musicarNW enclosure with a Morel SC10 a try. I also added a Zapco DC500.1 to power the sub.

Here's how it came out.

In this picture you can see everything mounted and uncovered. The DC650.6 remained in its original location under the trunk floor. The DC500.1 was installed above the OEM hi-fi amp. I still use the hi-fi amp to power the OEM rears.


Here you can see where I mounted to circuit breakers for the DC650.6 and the DC500.1. The circuit breaker for the DC650.6 used to be just under the passengers tail light but I replaced that with another circuit breaker for the entire system and installed individual circuit breakers for each amp here. The breakers are mounted to a sheet of ABS plastic which is secured with velcro.


I originally had the main 12V plugged in to the OEM distribution block using the OEM connector but I was a bit concerned about possibly drawing over 100A from that fused link so I moved the main connection to the battery post. You can see the blue wire tapping the battery post under the OEM distribution block. You can also see the 135A circuit breaker mounted under the tail light on the right side of the picture.


Here's a picture of the musicarnw enclosure with the Morel SC10 mounted. Nothing most people on this forum haven't seen before


Finally, everything all closed up


The install is nothing special. Its pretty much a copy of what musicarnw does as far as placement but my work doesn't come close to their level of quality. One thing that is not detailed in the pictures is the installation of a Alumapro CAP5. I didn't really need the capacitor but I used it more as a distribution block. Since I already had it from a previous car and I didn't want to buy new distribution blocks I decided to use it. I also added a relay for the remote turn on leads for the amps because I didn't want to damage the OEM remote turn on lead by trying to turn on 3 amps with it. I also grounded the symbilink shield which I didn't do previously to try to get rid of a little bit of noise. It seems to have helped.

That's about it! The sub still needs to break in so I haven't done the final tuning yet but from what I hear so far, it sounds like this is going to be a winner!

[ctuna]

The amp under the floor covering looks like it might have cooling problems
as I don't see how fresh air can get to it.
What about the battery and charging system are those stock or modified?

[808MGuy]

Originally Posted by ctuna

The amp under the floor covering looks like it might have cooling problems
as I don't see how fresh air can get to it.
What about the battery and charging system are those stock or modified?

That amp has been there for over 2 years. It did have issues when I was running channels 5/6 at 2 ohms mono but ever since I installed the ADMWs and ran them at 4 ohm stereo I haven't had any issues. The system has been run pretty hard for over 1.5 hours at a time and not gone into thermal protection. Battery is the original battery which is now over 3 years old. No charging system upgrades have been done. I don't believe any are necessary. When the time comes to replace the battery which might be soon because of the age, I will probably look into something not OEM but of the same capacity. Probably an Odyssey battery or similar which is AGM similar to the OEM.

[DSB335d]

Looks nice! What did you use to mount those 9"s under the front seats?

[808MGuy]

Originally Posted by DSB335d

Looks nice! What did you use to mount those 9"s under the front seats?

It's just the OEM enclosure with some work done to it to increase the depth available and jtsherri spacers. It actually is a bit too tall still as the grill gets smashed in a bit by the seat but with the woofers limited to midbass duties, it doesn't throw far enough to matter.

[arod in Texas]

Very Nice!! Love the work. Very clean