Steviejay Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Am told the speakers are the same in the back as they are in the front, they even have the same part number........ Are they 6.5inch?? or 5.25" (13cm), not being a guru on this, if this is the size, is that from speaker hole to speaker hole or is that the size of the "internal" diameter ie speaker is 6" in diameter, but the distance between the screws is 7".....so I need a 7" speaker??? Am confused as Fcuk. Also whats the depth? is it true they drop into what is pretty much a metal cup that may need to be cut out if the speakers are too deep?? Also can you replace them without taking the door card off?? Does the fronts just pop off?? Would rather ask than start snapping plastic! And last but not least, does anyone have any pictures with the speakers removed so I can see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 If you take out the factory speakers and then use some speaker adaptor plates you can put a 13cm (5.25") in both the front and the rears as they are the same size in there. If you get the adaptors from Autoleads the part number is SAK-1206 for a pair. You will need to remove the front door cards to change the speakers, this is easy, there are three screws in the bottom of the armrest and then one in behind the interior handle under the small cover and then there is one uder the Airbag popper at the rear of the door this just pulls off. All the five screws are torxs screws T20 or T25 iirc. Then just carefully pull the door card off from the bottom and it is all poppers than lift it up a bit at the top to clear the door pin. Life is a lot easier if you have a panel lifting tool. There is a plastic cup that the speakers into and speakers with larger magnets may need the back of the plastic cut out. But then you need to be carefull that they are not to deep that they hit the window. You can always make you own adaptors to fit larger speakers but this is a lot more work. There is a company on Ebay that do adaptors made from MDF to take a 17cm (6.5") which will give you a much better bass response than the smaller speakers but again magnet depth may be a problem. Hope the above all makes sense, anything else just ask. Any ideas what I use to do for a living Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviejay Posted April 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 If you take out the factory speakers and then use some speaker adaptor plates you can put a 13cm (5.25") in both the front and the rears as they are the same size in there. If you get the adaptors from Autoleads the part number is SAK-1206 for a pair. You will need to remove the front door cards to change the speakers, this is easy, there are three screws in the bottom of the armrest and then one in behind the interior handle under the small cover and then there is one uder the Airbag popper at the rear of the door this just pulls off. All the five screws are torxs screws T20 or T25 iirc. Then just carefully pull the door card off from the bottom and it is all poppers than lift it up a bit at the top to clear the door pin. Life is a lot easier if you have a panel lifting tool. There is a plastic cup that the speakers into and speakers with larger magnets may need the back of the plastic cut out. But then you need to be carefull that they are not to deep that they hit the window. You can always make you own adaptors to fit larger speakers but this is a lot more work. There is a company on Ebay that do adaptors made from MDF to take a 17cm (6.5") which will give you a much better bass response than the smaller speakers but again magnet depth may be a problem. Hope the above all makes sense, anything else just ask. Any ideas what I use to do for a living haha Your a bloody Ice Installer or unemployed with to much time on your hands.......or you work for BMW. ?? Thanks mate thats really handy.......so any speaker that says 13cm will be just fine then? Tried looking for the MDF ADAPTORS but cant see them..... If I "could" get hold of these 17cm adaptors how will that work? how will the speaker still fit inside the hole if its only 13cm diameter in the first place? Do the fixing screws have a new location because i would guess if the speaker size diameter is 2cm bigger, then the holes will be 1 cm apart on each side??? Bollox to this s***................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Yeah I was an ICE installer for about 8 years. But I gave it up 5 years ago. Right the original speaker mounts are different to standard speakers and the normal adaptor allows 13cm speakers to be installed, I use to do loads of these back in the day. As you can see the three outer screw hole locate to the factory hole to mount the adaptor and then the four inner holes are used to mount the new speaker. 5.25" Adaptors These are the ones from America which I haven't tried 6.5" Adaptors To be honest I can't see any real difference between the two from the pics and I am tempted to get the MDF ones just to see and try them as even if they don't accept a 6.5" then they will make a 5.25" sound better. God I am getting lazy these days, years ago I would have just knocked a set up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony325ci_51 Posted May 1, 2008 Report Share Posted May 1, 2008 Am told the speakers are the same in the back as they are in the front, they even have the same part number........ Yes, if you have basic OEM head unit (like BMW business stereo), no external amp, 2 speakers (+ tweeters) in the door and 2 in the rear shelf, as is common on UK e46 Coupe's (as is mine). (US models tend to get amplified systems, some UK systems amplified, some HK, these have extra speakers in front doors and rear of different sizes). Are they 6.5inch?? or 5.25" (13cm), not being a guru on this, if this is the size, is that from speaker hole to speaker hole or is that the size of the "internal" diameter ie speaker is 6" in diameter, but the distance between the screws is 7".....so I need a 7" speaker??? Am confused as Fcuk. Replacements need to be labelled 6.25" (or 158mm or 16cm or 6 1/4") diameter (rarer and harder to find than your average). These will fit using the Autoleads adaptors, with a little modification to the adaptor ring. Or smaller 5.25" (or 5 1/4" or 13cm or 130mm) fit directly straight in using the Autoleads adaptors. Note - You will NOT get any bass using 13cm / 5.25" speakers, you just won't. Bear in mind if you're only using an OEM BMW head unit with no amplifier there's no point fitting high power speakers (like 150w rms), your stereo won't be able to drive them properly. Typically you require high efficiency speakers that work well with a low RMS value (like 35w). These will be fine for crisp highs and clear mids. Fit a powered subwoofer to take care of the bottom end. Also whats the depth? is it true they drop into what is pretty much a metal cup that may need to be cut out if the speakers are too deep?? Also can you replace them without taking the door card off?? Does the fronts just pop off?? Rear covers pop off easily, remove a speaker to measure depth of hole. I didn't have any problems dropping standard Pioneer's in there Door card's require removal. Front's don't just pop off, they don't make it that easy. And last but not least, does anyone have any pictures with the speakers removed so I can see? See my posts for more exact details of speakers fitted, and links in thread for more on the subject: Remember that although the how-to's contain great photos a lot of the advice relates to US amplified models and HK systems. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=556718 http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=245914 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNL Remapping Posted May 1, 2008 Report Share Posted May 1, 2008 I've looked into this, & Halfords do the speaker insert adapters for around £10, but you will have to order them, might be changing these myself soon, Good Luck!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviejay Posted May 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2008 Nice one tony, thats VERY helpful, thanks for taking the time to put all that down, should help everyone that wants to upgrade!!! Powered amp is maybe the way forward and some slightly better stock sized speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony325ci_51 Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 I've looked into this, & Halfords do the speaker insert adapters for around £10, but you will have to order them, might be changing these myself soon, Good Luck!!!! You'll find the Autoleads SAK-1206 at most online ICE stockists (just google) or on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Posted May 5, 2008 Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 I have now got the wooden 6.5" adaptors for the front and the rear from America, i will try and get some speakers soon and get them installed and once I do I will get some pics up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviejay Posted May 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 Good boy, will be interesting to see now good it sounds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
