Esoteric 1M Car Audio Enhancement

[E30 Racer]

When considering the limited options available for the 1M, the upgraded stereo was one I didn’t spend much time thinking about. Having been pretty underwhelmed by past offerings from BMW, the idea of spending nearly $900 for something I knew I wouldn’t ultimately be happy with was something I had no interest in pursuing. So, the car delivered with the standard E82 HiFi system.

Although I only had limited critical listening time, it was pretty clear the HiFi wasn’t going to cut it. Honestly, I was surprised how mediocre the system was. I wasn’t expecting much, but wow. So, with 896 miles on the car, the upgrading process began.

Going into this build, I had a few key requirements:

1. No permanent modifications to the vehicle; everything had to be 100 percent reversible
2. Dynamic and accurate, strong midbass, crystal clear highs, no shrillness
3. Once installed, everything had to be completely hidden. The car had to appear stock. A false floor in the trunk was not an option for this build.

After weeks of research online, and working directly with Ken from MusicarNW (http://www.musicarnw.com/), the following parts were gathered:

1. Morel Hybrid Ovation II (front doors)
2. Jehnert midbass drivers (underseat)
3. Technic HiFi harness
4. JL HD 600/4

Parts from MusicarNW included nice steel adapters for the Morels, modified and pre-wired Jehnert adapters with connectors from BMW, prototype 1M amplifier mounting platform, and all wiring.



The steel Morel speaker adapters were sprayed with self-etching primer and re-gasketed using 1/8" thick foam weatherstripping.



Most details regarding installation of the individual components have been covered in other threads, so I won’t emphasize the entire process here. However, I found a few gaps and/or did some things a bit differently. I’ll hit on these points; hopefully people will find this info useful.

Front Doors

First, the door panels came off. However, before doing so, I marked the location of the panels with respect to the door with blue painters tape. This was help guide installation of3M 5430 squeak reduction tape to reduce the potential for door panel “creaking” from the vinyl rubbing against paint as the stiffly sprung car is driven over rough pavement. The 3M part number for the 1” wide, 3 yd roll is 06356; available online or at your local Napa.

BSW has a few videos on YouTube I found to be very helpful. Of particular interest was how to remove the door handle trim, mounting screw locations, and where to insert the prying tool to pop the panels free.

From my car:




With the panels off the car, the squeak reduction tape was trimmed and installed on the door. A hairdryer was used to soften the tape, allowing it to easily conform to the various bumps, etc., and to activate the adhesive.





Replacing the tweeters was very easy since MusicarNW includes new parts with the Morel tweeters pre-installed. Old parts are removed (recall BSW video), the foam sound deadener exchanged, and the new parts installed.





Preparing the door panel for speaker replacement was also very easy. The HiFi mids were removed and replaced with the Morel parts using the MusicarNW adapters. The tweeter configuration was -3dB, the crossovers slopes set to 12 dB/octave.



For the E82, there’s really only one logical way to install the Morel crossovers. Mine are held in place with Velcro and are quite secure. Since there were identification stickers on the door panels where the crossovers were to be located, they were relocated to available real estate.



The wiring was neatly routed and secured with gaffer tape provided by MusicarNW (a nice touch). Foam weather stripping was used between the wiring and panel at points I thought to be susceptible to damage over time.

Before:


After:






Note that I secured the wiring around the speakers using cable clamps at each mounting screw to eliminate the possibly of rattling. In hindsight, I probably should not have done this. I suspect one of these clamps is preventing the door panel from fully seating upon re-installation. More on this later.



Before re-installing the panels, I replaced all mounting clips. Some were broken during panel removal; others just looked a bit stressed. Three different part numbers are used (quantities for both doors are in parentheses):

(18) 51 43 7 001 491
(10) 51 43 7 001 492
(2) 07 14 7 133 419

I also replaced the small lower mounting screw covers for each door, as the originals were scratched during removal.

(1) 51 41 6 975 691
(1) 51 41 6 975 692

Another item I’ve not seen performed before was covering each of the three connectors between the panel and door with a thin foam cover. Again, the idea was to avoid rattles from the connectors rubbing directly against the speaker basket.



The panels pop back on easily. If necessary, consult the BSW videos for instructions on how to connect the door handle cable.

Underseat Woofers

Replacing the underseat woofers has been extensively documented so I won’t go into great detail here. A few pointers:

1. Bring the seatback as vertical as possible
2. Remove the four seat mounting bolts, but do not remove the seats from the vehicle.
3. Using thick towels on the rear passenger floor allows the front seats to be moved a bit past the rear on the rails and tilted back toward the rear seat without damaging the carpet or mats. I used a 2x4 covered in a towel to hold the seats in this position.
4. I did not disconnect the airbag mat or the battery during this part of the install. Keeping the battery connected allows the electric seats to move around, if necessary.
5. Don’t forget to tighten the seats to the correct torque after the woofer swap.
6. Gaffer tape can be used to keep the wiring tidy, and to position the woofer connector to be in reach of the corresponding connector from the BMW loom.





















Amplifier

By far the most time consuming part of this install was determining how to best mount the amplifier and run the associated wiring.

Ring terminals were pre-installed from MusicarNW. I went one step further and sealed the ends with silver solder. Quite a bit was used to properly sweat the solder into the wire and achieve a smooth finish at the connector. Process was repeated for the ground.



The battery tub of the 1M differs from the other E82s. After a few iterations, the best path for the positive lead was identified.



The negative lead from the battery was traced back to where it was bolted to the chassis. This required partial removal of the passenger-side trunk carpet. Here’s the location before I added the amplifier’s ground.



Power and ground wires were run from the battery tub, over a pinch-welded ridge at the back of the trunk, then under the amplifier mounting platform. Using this path, the load floor sits completely flat, as it should. To keep the wires from rubbing against the paint, Velcro fabric was used…



…and the wires pushed into place.





A lot of time was spent iteratively removing sections of MusicarNWr’s prototype 1M amplifier mount to allow the factory loom to be run under it while simultaneously allowing the trunk carpet to fit above the amplifier without rubbing at either location. Much of this was necessary because the JL HD-series *barely* fits within the confines of the E82's stock HiFi amplifier location. Brackets and mounts were fabricated from 6061 aluminum. I was very happy with how this came out. Furthermore, I retain the flexibility of adding MusicarNW’s trick subwoofer enclose at the left-rear should I decide to do so in the future (coincident with an exchange of the HD600/4 with an HD 900/5, which is dimensionally equivalent).







Anticipating the addition of a DSP, I ran some 2m RCAs from the Technic harness and to the amplifier. They were temporarily connected together so I could set the amplifier gains and break in the speakers while trying to decide which DSP to use. The Audison BitOne.1 is at the top of the list, but the Zapco DS8 could be an interesting alternative if it ever becomes available. Ultimately, I’ll either (A) have to run one more pair of RCAs back from the DSP to allow independent control of the Morels and Jehnerts, or (B) add two set of RCAs to add the subwoofer.

Current State of Affairs

The amp is in, and the gains are set. The Morel channel gain is up a touch from minimum, the Jehnert channel gain is at the minimum. The brackets worked great, and all wiring looks good. I’d like to replace the main fuse holder with something capable of powering the amp and DSP, and when the DSP arrives I’ll finalize the related wiring. The red wire nut on the amplifier’s remote lead will not be retained.

Before:


After:


The Sound

I’m sure most people would be blown by this system, especially those used to the base or HiFi offerings from BMW. Personally, I’d give the overall sound quality a solid 8.5/10. While that may sound surprisingly negative given the expense of the equipment, it’s important to recognize that I’m *extremely* critical when it comes to audio equipment and the components are still breaking in. Some key takeaways:
1. The Jehnerts are definitely a musical woofer. Midbass is clean and tight, if not a bit warm.
2. The tweeters have an edge to them, but it’s very dependent on seating position and I’ve been told they really change after 12 or so hours of listening. We’ll see.
3. I’m really looking forward to adding a DSP to significantly improve imaging, which is now quite directional.
4. Even with the amplifier gains set at or near minimum, the system can be played very loud. I’m not sure I’ve ever be able to safely realize max volume while driving.
5. I’m not sure whether I’ll actually need a subwoofer! The low end extension of the Jehnerts is really, really impressive. They can only move so much air (you won’t win any SPL competitions), and I’m not sure I’d blast megabass-enhanced tracks at max volume, but the accuracy of the low frequency response is pretty amazing.

The Assessment

Overall, I’m very pleased with how things are going so far. MusicarNW has assembled a great kit that brings an opportunity for a high-end install to be put into the hands of a moderately skilled installer; and to do so without carving the car up. I’ll report back after break-in is complete and I install/tune the DSP. Should be an incredible conclusion!

[AW128i]

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[Dackelone]

Great writeup and photos! I would really like to do this to my car.

[JohnnyDrunko]

Sweet, now im really looking forward to getting my stuff from MusicarNW.

[Papethova]

Wow, THANKS for this

[Simsims]

the music from that TT I6 didn't sway you?

[nato-main-man-5am]

Excellent write up. And some of the best pictures of any upgrade, in that it really is like a walk down memory lane! (There are steps or details covered in more detail elsewhere, but this really gives the flavor and steps in the process a nice coherent visibility -- with some notes and pictures no one else has posted, but all of us doing an upgrade would see.)

I followed an opposite path, started with the DSP, then moved on to speakers (half way there, with the same morels as you, but nothing upgraded under seat yet), and soon an amp. I'm definitely under-utilizing my setup due to the order in which I am doing things. You have the right path :-)

[taibanl]

Beautiful job

[Simsims]

tbh I think the engine drowns out everything...

[nato-main-man-5am]

By the way, what's with the molex connectors on the morel 4"ers? Something custom musicarnw put together for you, to connect to a compatible new wire from the crossover? Cool. Little touches like that make a kit very user friendly.

I assume the kit also included a female connector to take the main speaker cable (which pops out of the door there near the 4incher's location) and route it down to the crossover. Because I couldn't easily find a female connector for the factory plug on the end of the speaker wire, I hard wired mine to the crossover. Another advantage of your kit experience is that such a "hack" is not necessary. Looks very clean.

[Pete_vB]

Nice job. You mention you give this system an 8.5 out of 10. I'm curious how you'd rate the stock system, and the optional upgraded stock system if you've listened to it?

[nato-main-man-5am]

Amp questions:

1) Looks like you have a four channel amp. I guess the rear deck is now silent? Not a big loss in my opinion (though for now not an option for me since part of my DSP unit is a Logic 7 option that makes use of the rear deck for surround/ambience). Curious to know whether you even notice it's gone?

2) Do you handle the crossover between the underseat woofers and the door panel speakers via a crossover on the amp? Are you following the standard crossover of 200hz, 24db slope? I keep trying something lower than that, but keep coming back to 200hz as the most musical and seamless. What are your thoughts after living with it for a couple of days.

---

Finally about your comments on the tweeters: I cannot say for sure what the break in period is because I bought my speakers second hand, but I can tell you that they are much smoother, play lower (by ear, anyway), with better imaging than the stock hifi tweeters (you and I had the same factory system). But what really takes the prize is that the sizzle, brittleness, and edge of the factory tweeters is a thing of unpleasant memories now :-)

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by Pete_vB

Nice job. You mention you give this system an 8.5 out of 10. I'm curious how you'd rate the stock system, and the optional upgraded stock system if you've listened to it?

I guess it really depends on what kind of music you listen too. Overall, I'd rate the E82 HiFi as a 6/10. Even at low volume it was so flat. No depth or sparkle. Interestingly, the system seemed to sound the best with techno/trance played at low to moderate volume (bass: 0, treble: +2 to 4). The enhanced bass tracks must shock some life into those poor speakers!

(edit: after having revisited a stock HiFi system, I'm down-grading my rating to a 5/10. Pretty weak...)

I haven't heard the base or Harmon Kardon (top HiFi) E82 systems, so I can't comment on those. I certainly wasn't impressed by the H/K system in my E46.

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by Nathan_h

1) Looks like you have a four channel amp. I guess the rear deck is now silent? Not a big loss in my opinion (though for now not an option for me since part of my DSP unit is a Logic 7 option that makes use of the rear deck for surround/ambience). Curious to know whether you even notice it's gone?

Yes, the HD600/4 is a 150Wx4 class D amplifier. No rear fill. Thought I'd miss the rear channels, but I don't (yes Ken, you were right...). When contempating the decision I drove around in my E39 for a week with the fader set full forward. After that I returned the fader bias to 0. It was a bit louder, but you could hear the soundstage be pulled back from the dash towards my shoulders.

Originally Posted by Nathan_h

2) Do you handle the crossover between the underseat woofers and the door panel speakers via a crossover on the amp? Are you following the standard crossover of 200hz, 24db slope? I keep trying something lower than that, but keep coming back to 200hz as the most musical and seamless. What are your thoughts after living with it for a couple of days.

The crossovers are set at the amp. I beleive the tweeters/mids are at 174 Hz (high pass), and the Jehnerts are at 160 Hz (low pass). No subsonic filter. Slope for both settings is at 24 dB/oct. At reasonable to uncomfortable-but-not-stupid volumes, I have yet to hear the Jehnerts bottom out.

As an aside, the Jehnerts seemed to sound better with the polarity reversed. In anticipation of the DSP, I've switched them back, but definately plan to play with phasing later on.

[nato-main-man-5am]

I thought polarity and phase were different , but I'm often wrong!

Are you deliberately playing the underseat woofers with the phase reversed from the doors, with better imaging? Essentially running the positive and negative wires opposite?

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by Nathan_h

I thought polarity and phase were different , but I'm often wrong!

Are you deliberately playing the underseat woofers with the phase reversed from the doors, with better imaging? Essentially running the positive and negative wires opposite?

They are.

The only convenient way I could manipulate the output from the amp to the Jehnerts (other than the gain and x-over settings) was to change the polarity. This was done to combat some low(er) frequency resonance issues I had initially experienced.

[Blue55]

Fantastic write up. Wish I lived closer to Portland. I'm not equipped to do an install myself.

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by Blue55

Fantastic write up. Wish I lived closer to Portland. I'm not equipped to do an install myself.

It's really not that bad, just time consuming once the OCD kicks in. MusicarNW has assembled the right parts, a step that goes a long way to insuring everything will come together properly.

Carefully review the details of the various installs available online, there are some good ones out there. For me, the most intimidating part was pulling the door panels...I did *not* want to mess them up! Have a game plan going into your build and don't rush things; you'll be fine.

[nato-main-man-5am]

And musicarnw has relationships with various installers in other places, so that might be an option. Didn't work out in the sf bay area, but I don't know about LA.

[flzrider]

Is the 3M anti-squeak tape installed in this image?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...sking_pic2.jpg

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by flzrider

Is the 3M anti-squeak tape installed in this image?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...sking_pic2.jpg

Yes. If you look carefully, you'll see the edge....it's about 1" inboard of the masking tape. It's fairly transparent, but not clear. Hard to see on a white car, more apparent on other colors (which really doesn't matter since you won't see it once the panel is back on).

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by Simsims

tbh I think the engine drowns out everything...

Truth is that I haven't had the car on the road since the install. I've only started it up to confirm there's no alternator whine. That said, I don't think 600W will have any problem over-powering the drone.

Update: Having recently spent a few hundred miles behind the wheel, I'm happy to report the system is indeed fully capable of playing louder than the drone, even at far less than max volume. It's actually a pretty surreal driving experience. I've never been in a car so smooth and fast with a stereo this nice.