17cm (6.5") Rear Speaker Install E46 Coupe

[Dicky]

BMW E46 17cm (6.5”) Rear Speaker Installation

Into Factory Location

Right well here is my guide to installing 17cm rear speakers into the BMW E46 3 Series. Now the factory speakers aren’t up to much but if I was going to upgrade I wanted a better bass response from them which meant I didn’t want to go for 13cm speakers using the Autoleads adaptors as although this would have been nice and simple those extra 4 cm make all the difference

Now I didn’t want to cut into the metal work in the rear deck at all and I wanted them to be hidden behind the factory locations so it didn’t look like I have been up to anything, which meant I couldn’t go for anything with a really high tweeter. Obviously this is aimed as a guide and this is how it worked on my car, don’t forget yours may be different in someway, I have just done this as a point of reference for people who fancy doing the same mod giving you something to go by.

So I decided upon the Pioneer Speakers as I have used them in a number of previous install and always been happy with there performance and I knew that there tweeters were going to be of a reasonable size to squeeze into the space available.

Anyway here is what I started with, Pioneer Components for up front and Pioneer two ways for the rear, I also got some MDF adaptor rings from the USA, which would allow 16cm (6”) speakers to be installed.

So first up you need to remove the headrest to give you some room to work.

These just pull forward with a bit of force.

Next up panel lifter or carefully with a flat bladed screwdriver lift the grill and remove it.

Once removed take the sponge ring out and then undo the bolts holding the speaker in and remove it.

Unplug the speaker and remove it out of your way.

[///Marty]

Ah i've been looking forward to seeing this. What's next? lol

[Dicky]

Next up you need to remove the plastic basket which is held in by metal lugs at the bottom and can be quite tight to get out, but it will pull out.

So I laid out the old with the new to see what we had to work with.

Once again the adaptors needed loads of work as they wouldn’t fit the car and the speakers wouldn’t fit them either!

So once again it was out with the Dremel to make it all fit.

So now the adaptor fits the car.

The speaker now fits in the adaptor and is screwed in.

[Dicky]

I then decided to leave the factory plugs on in case I put the old ones back in, and I just spliced and soldered my leads on for the new speakers.

Now install the speaker and ring into the car.

Then you can reuse the factory bolts to hold it all back in place.

Now if you put the grill back on at this point it will stick up a little.

So out with the Dremel again and shave a little off the front and rear of the grills to allow them to fit properly over the new speakers as they sit a little higher than the factory ones, I also had to take a small amount off the lip at the back of the speaker as it was still a little high.

There you go all installed and no one would be any the wiser except when you sit in the car and listen to it as they sound so much richer than the factory standard speakers with a far better bass response and a lot less distortion at lower volumes.

Now yes I know I could have upgraded all the speaker wiring, but at this point I just wanted to upgrade the speakers and I will probably do all the wiring at a later date when I install the amp

Now I am sure there are things people won’t agree with or would have done different but that’s modding each to there own

[///Marty]

That looks cool dicky and i can vouch for the sound quality

I see those ones have the tweeters built into the speakers like the ones i showed you in my boot at the pod. Do you think i would be best sticking those in the rears and saving up for some componoents for the front or doing what we said and hooking them up with the standard tweeters in the front?

Top DIY by the way,

To coin your phrase......

Good Skillz.

[Dicky]

Cheers mate,

PM me a pic of those speakers again or give me a model number and I will see, I think the tweeters may have been to high on them but can't remember for sure

They will sound even better once I stick a big amp on them and rewire them all

[DaveDunlop]

nice one mate, good write up aswel.

[budgie]

Just like the front speaker guide a top job. Full marks!

[Adam]

Much improvement on the HK Speakers?

[///Marty]

Cheers mate,

PM me a pic of those speakers again or give me a model number and I will see, I think the tweeters may have been to high on them but can't remember for sure

They will sound even better once I stick a big amp on them and rewire them all

Nice one dude. Will double check the model numbers. I know they are JL audio but can't remeber the last bit. Will let you know when i get five minutes.

[ccfj1]

Very nice indeed, I used to use pioneer speakers ages ago and always like the sound they produced, nice write up.

[j666gak]

Hi mate, good tutorial there.

I am thinking of upgrading the speakers in my coupe. Where can I get the speaker adapters from to fit aftermarket speakers, and did you say that the Autoleads ones aren't any good? I like the Vibe branded speakers, and have heard good reviews about them.

What kind of mounting depth to I have to look out for, especially in the front with electric windows etc.

Cheers

[DJ Syxx]

I didn't realise you could get bigger speakers in there, good to know and nice write up.

[Dicky]

Hi mate, good tutorial there.

I am thinking of upgrading the speakers in my coupe. Where can I get the speaker adapters from to fit aftermarket speakers, and did you say that the Autoleads ones aren't any good? I like the Vibe branded speakers, and have heard good reviews about them.

What kind of mounting depth to I have to look out for, especially in the front with electric windows etc.

Cheers

I got those adaptors from here - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E46-6-5...emZ360094247573 they still needed some work though!

The Autoleads ones are fine, just they only accept a 13cm and the MDF ones will allow for 17cm

The mounting depth in the rear is pretty good, just you need a fairly shallow tweeter to get the grills back on

As for the fronts it was a lot less, when I get a minute I will check the box to see what the mounting depth of my fronts is, as I can't find the answer on the internet

[ninja750]

awesome write up dood...

[Waney]

Loving this, gonna have a bash myself I think

Dave

[benji]

Hi all. I know this is an old thread but I found it useful so thought I'd give it a bump.

I actually drive an E36 (I'm on E36coupe.com) but my missus has just bought an E46.

I found these adapters which seem to be a better version than the MDF ones from years-gone-by, they look thinner for a start.

I'm intending to fit them when we come back off holiday in a couple of weeks with some old Pioneer TS-series I never got around to using.

I'll post an update as to how they fit (with some photos) when they're done.

Oh yeah, does anyone know where I can get some replacement grilles (for the parcel shelf, kind of beige/white coloured)?

I'm bound to c**k up the old ones and get a bollocking from the missus... better safe than sorry!

Cheers for now.

[benji]

Just looked at these again and noticed they say "door speaker adapters"... can someone tell me please if the door speakers and parcel shelf speakers are the same size?

Thanks.

[Sunil]

Hi benji,

I'm also planning on upgrading my speakers with this guide.

Re: "door speaker adapters" the add states Front & Rear Door Fitment and the E46 doesn't have rear door speakers so do they mean parcel shelf speakers??

Edited September 8, 2012 by Sunil

[Mediaman]

Hi Benji,

Did you get those adaptors? If so, how did they work? I was going to cut my own out of Lexan on a laser engraving machine but if these are good it's not worth the hassle. Feedback please.

Cheers,

John

Hi all. I know this is an old thread but I found it useful so thought I'd give it a bump.

I actually drive an E36 (I'm on E36coupe.com) but my missus has just bought an E46.

I found these adapters which seem to be a better version than the MDF ones from years-gone-by, they look thinner for a start.

I'm intending to fit them when we come back off holiday in a couple of weeks with some old Pioneer TS-series I never got around to using.

I'll post an update as to how they fit (with some photos) when they're done.

Oh yeah, does anyone know where I can get some replacement grilles (for the parcel shelf, kind of beige/white coloured)?

I'm bound to c**k up the old ones and get a bollocking from the missus... better safe than sorry!

Cheers for now.

[Nimraynn]

Having a bit of trouble here. Picked up a set of JBL GTO629 speakers but when I try to fit them, the hole is only ever so slightly too small to fit them. Is there anything I can trim back safely to make them sit right? Also, I think the tweeters might be too high for the cover. Are there any aftermarket covers to compensate?

[sag2]

Nice write up mate,was looking at putting some in my rear shelf on my saloon,give me some good ideas,cheers for that

[Nimraynn]

I've managed to mount the speaker OK now, but it looks like even with a few bits of trimming on the cover, it's still not quite going to sit right. Any ideas what I can do with these? Tempting to get a spare set and try cutting a hole in the middle to allow the tweeter to sit above it