E46 Coupe install (ADHD? Go away) by StereoInstaller1

Closer look at the screen

So, while the car was being unstrapped, we got busy planning our install.

We had come down the day before to "template" the car, as we had not yet had the opportunity to do proper test-fitting on the Coupe, which features folding seats in the rear. Turns out that BMW chose to use a completely different chassis for the coupe, so the height, width, the size of the steps and the angle of the seat back were all different...go figure!

We built a box for this car in a big hurry the night before. Since we did not have the car to "test fit" our design, we were very happy to see the angle and shape were absolutely perfect and that we would be able to achieve a complete seal against the face, achieving that "Cabin Sealed Bass" that is so crucial to our design goals.

Here is the box with just a tiny bit of trimming on the top corners: 

closeup of how tight the fit is:

Here is a shot of the seat back with the face of the box pressed against it. The angle is perfect!

Perfect clearance on the steps:

Height is just perfect too. This shot does not show it, but this car is equipped with the HK system, this just barely clears the HK (LOL) "subwoofers"

So, now that we had a box all fabbed up, it was time to get busy upholstering it. Our first step is making a gasket under the upholstery and a final test fit after upholstery:

See how perfect that angle is? The woofer has to be offset to make sure it will fire through the ski pass...er...armrest. Turns out we get to modify the seat to get that skipass to work!

As you can see, there is a ton of trunk space left too:

Now for those that don't know (or just wanna talk trash) the stock BMW speakers are of excellent quality. Those who love BMWs as much as we do should not be surprised. The quality of materials and construction should be of no surprise to anyone...but they do sound really anemic and flat, don't they?

Well, the solution is simple...MOAR POWA! The issue is that it is almost impossible to simply add more power, since the stock amplifier runs the speakers directly. There is roughly 3 watts per speaker (!) assigned to them via the internal electronics of the amplifier. BMW claims 300 watts from this amp, but somehow I doubt it. Audio has never been as important to the Germans as it is to us, but no mater how you slice it, the speakers need more power...LOTS more power.

The solution is simple: use passive crossovers and aftermarket amplifiers. Yes, there are several active crossovers on the market today that can run the stock speakers just fine, as long as you are willing to use several amplifiers to do so. The goal of this particular install was lightweight and small plus easily removeable...11 channels of power just will not happen.

Conveniently enough, Justin and I have developed a passive crossover network that does just that: it allows a HUGE increase in power using the stock speakers and the stock wring.

This, ladies and gentlemen is the G.A.S. E46 H/K PCN:

Those who have seen or heard our passive crossover networks know first hand that this is a far superior solution to using aftermarket speakers in a BMW. This has better sound quality and better power handling than pretty much any aftermarket speaker kit. I know it is hard to believe, but this is the most logical solution to high-performance sound in this chassis.

BTW, this has also been designed specifically for this chassis, not some random display board. As far as I know, there is not one speaker system developed specifically for any particular car, so this is truly unique on the market. Another huge advantage is if you do happen to pop a speaker, replacements are easy to find and cheap. 

The quality of the components used here are far superior to pretty much any aftermarket component system. We use "Perfect Lay" air core inductors, arranged asymetrically so they inherently block crosstalk from each other and from outside sources...another industry first. The capacitors we use are 400V Metalised Polypropylene and allow for much better power handling and sound quality.

So, back to the install!

Next, we took the car apart and ran the RCA cables and Subwoofer Level Control cable. Sadly, we did not get any pics of that process, but I can say it is easier in an E46 than it is in an E30!

The amp we chose is just tiny, the JL Audio XD700/5. One of the goals was keeping the thing lightweight, and this was a great choice due to its tiny size.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5c8EQw4...ml#details-tab

We used a 10W3V3-2 woofer, as this client has an excellent experience using JL before, so we stuck with it. We test fit it, no issues, so we proceeded with the install.

We bolted the crossover and the amp to the box, making sure that there was room for the amp rack and began the wiring:

Once tidied up it looked more like this:

In our goal to make this removable, we used a "Anderson Connector", which is a logical choice for a quick disconnect for the power cables. We used the plugs on our crossover to disconnect the speaker leads and are currently using the RCA and sub level control plugs at the amp as our disconnect points.

I think we are gonna do some work on the overall plan for this, though. If there were a "patch panel" that has the 6 RCAs and SLC cable, we could attach the RCAs inside the amp rack as we normally do...but even so, it looks pretty cool to me:

The nice thing is we were able to achieve the fit and meet the goals of our client. The sound quality far surpassed his expectations, here are his words from our FB page: (sorry, he likes to talk a lot too)

"My E46 M3 has never sounded so amazing...I am literally blown away that these speakers are capable of the sounds that come out of them...and the BASS!!!! WOW! I had a smile on my face for quite a while and in all honesty my ears are a little sore after listening for 15min as I could have the volume so high and still have crisp, clean music. Secondly the most insane thing about this...if the doors and windows are closed there is literally no noise pollution which is something I like. Now if you like to share these beautiful orchestra of music with the world just roll the windows down and everyone gets to listen to the clarity. So here is how dedicated Luke and Justin are...I messaged them a couple days in advance and said I would love their setup but found out they lived over 2 hours away from where my car was being worked on. They drove those 2 hours to the shop where I was at...scoped out the job and drove back that night to build my box which was the first one they had developed for the E46 M3. They came the next morning with box, tools, and all materials in hand...they spent the whole day doing the full install...keep in mind this was the first setup they had ever installed in an E46 M3 (coupe)...so they came to a few challenges but solved them almost effortlessly. I also had a very unique challenge that I requested to them and that was to have my system secure enough that it wouldn't go anywhere and be highly resilient to theft but be easily removable by myself...well they succeeded. I can take the whole system out within 5 minutes for a track day or racing event...in all honesty I don't think the whole setup added more than 30lbs which is what my stock exhaust used to weigh and if I wanted to drop a few pounds myself I could make that up on the track lol...but regardless I have the option which is awesome. Again I can't say anything but great things...they are highly experienced where I am not...and they left me with a product that I am very happy with so much so that I had to write about it. They cut no corners, they are very clean, no scratches, all proper connections with clean cable management and all safe connections to not cause any harm to your baby...they don't mind the company if you like to watch and encourage lots of questions. Lastly if you were on the fence with these guys...run off of it and get ahold of these guys...one of the best mods to my M. Thanks again Luke and Justin...I normally don't do reviews but the effort that you guys displayed this evening was amazing and worthy of a little effort from myself to write this review. I can only hope that you guys continue doing what you do well. Great job guys...so happy."