Hi all,
Figured I'd start a thread to track the progress on the build of my car. I'm located in Boston, so I've got a solid 6 months of the e30 being off the road to do some winter projects. All the work is being done by a friend's shop in Boston, whom I've done a number of projects with in the past. Mostly ICE work this winter, with a few other goodies thrown in there.
Winter 2024 Projects:
Headunit:
- Porsche Classic 1 DIN headunit.
Positives:
- fits in single DIN spot without overhanging
- "retro" look, sorta looks like it belongs
- screen isn't huge, but Google maps is actually sorta useful, and of course I have Spotify etc.
- supports Sirius (yes, I still use Sirius)
- reliable, stable
Negatives:
- no native wireless CarPlay. Adapter in glovebox to make it wireless. NBD
- doesn't support a reverse camera. More on that later.
- Pricey.
Speakers:
- All Audio Development with neodymium magnets to accommodate the shallow space to fit them...
- T100 tweeters
- W50 front midrange 5 1/4
- W500NEO rear 4"
Positives:
- Wanted to use stock speaker sizes; not a ton of high-end options for the fronts.
- Italian made Audio Development makes a very, very good speaker.
Subwoofer:
Illusion Audio C10 shallow subwoofer.
Positives:
- C10 works in shallow enclosures, ton of power potential (500W)
Subwoofer box:
- Custom made-footwell sub box from my friends at Sound-in-Motion in Boston. 20+ hours of custom work to make this box. Pricey, but when you want the absolute best custom work, you got to Sound-in-Motion
Amps:
Mosconi Pico 1 mono sub amp
Mosconi Pico 6|8 6 channel DSP amp:
Positives:
- Mosconi makes great amps. And they're small. The two of them will fit on a custom enclosure under the passenger seat. The 6 channel amp will individually power each speaker and the DSP will handle corssovers.
Misc other things I'm doing to make me happy:
Flush mounting the headunit.
We tried a few of the 3d printed brackets that were available on the internet, but ended up custom making a bracket. I use the Euro clock instead of the OBC, so we needed to make something custom.
Reverse camera.
Rydeen CM-DUO3HD Rock solid, reliable camera. The preferred camera of my install shop. I have the same model in my ZHP convertible.
Reverse camera mirror.
BOYO VTM43TC. Also has a compass in it. Looks very similar to new-model BMW mirrors. Biggest problem was needing to transplant the mirror stem from the original mirror to this mirror. Was a pain, but the shop worked it's magic and got it done.
Homelink Garage Door Opener.
Homelink 60-HMLKV5ALL. I really wanted a built-in garage door opener, so I bought this model on Amazon. When I installed the M-tech I 370mm steering wheel last year, the airbags came out of the car, so I replaced the (now useless) BMW tell-tale with a blank from AM Innovation. Perfect (and familiar) spot to keep the Homelink.
OEM Carpet Replacement.
Amazingly, OEM carpet is available in black still. Took a while to arrive from Germany, but it arrived. Getbmwparts.com ordered them for me. ~$1400.
51471942689
51471942691
Custom e46 Armrest and Cupholder.
More on this to come later. Tons of custom work.
Seats being Reupholstered
More on this to come later. Seats are going to @bmwrestoredseats in CT. They do incredible work.
Rear antenna replacement
- Got rid of the power antenna and replaced it with an e46 sport stubby antenna. To make it work, you replace the interior base on the e30 with one from a Z3/E36. Part # 65218375159. Grabbed a used one on eBay that was in decent condition. It's an all internal part in the trunk, worked fine. Then I replaced the long z3 antenna with the e46 short sport one, part # 65202296761
Figured I'd start a thread to track the progress on the build of my car. I'm located in Boston, so I've got a solid 6 months of the e30 being off the road to do some winter projects. All the work is being done by a friend's shop in Boston, whom I've done a number of projects with in the past. Mostly ICE work this winter, with a few other goodies thrown in there.
Winter 2024 Projects:
Headunit:
- Porsche Classic 1 DIN headunit.
Positives:
- fits in single DIN spot without overhanging
- "retro" look, sorta looks like it belongs
- screen isn't huge, but Google maps is actually sorta useful, and of course I have Spotify etc.
- supports Sirius (yes, I still use Sirius)
- reliable, stable
Negatives:
- no native wireless CarPlay. Adapter in glovebox to make it wireless. NBD
- doesn't support a reverse camera. More on that later.
- Pricey.
Speakers:
- All Audio Development with neodymium magnets to accommodate the shallow space to fit them...
- T100 tweeters
- W50 front midrange 5 1/4
- W500NEO rear 4"
Positives:
- Wanted to use stock speaker sizes; not a ton of high-end options for the fronts.
- Italian made Audio Development makes a very, very good speaker.
Subwoofer:
Illusion Audio C10 shallow subwoofer.
Positives:
- C10 works in shallow enclosures, ton of power potential (500W)
Subwoofer box:
- Custom made-footwell sub box from my friends at Sound-in-Motion in Boston. 20+ hours of custom work to make this box. Pricey, but when you want the absolute best custom work, you got to Sound-in-Motion
Amps:
Mosconi Pico 1 mono sub amp
Mosconi Pico 6|8 6 channel DSP amp:
Positives:
- Mosconi makes great amps. And they're small. The two of them will fit on a custom enclosure under the passenger seat. The 6 channel amp will individually power each speaker and the DSP will handle corssovers.
Misc other things I'm doing to make me happy:
Flush mounting the headunit.
We tried a few of the 3d printed brackets that were available on the internet, but ended up custom making a bracket. I use the Euro clock instead of the OBC, so we needed to make something custom.
Reverse camera.
Rydeen CM-DUO3HD Rock solid, reliable camera. The preferred camera of my install shop. I have the same model in my ZHP convertible.
Reverse camera mirror.
BOYO VTM43TC. Also has a compass in it. Looks very similar to new-model BMW mirrors. Biggest problem was needing to transplant the mirror stem from the original mirror to this mirror. Was a pain, but the shop worked it's magic and got it done.
Homelink Garage Door Opener.
Homelink 60-HMLKV5ALL. I really wanted a built-in garage door opener, so I bought this model on Amazon. When I installed the M-tech I 370mm steering wheel last year, the airbags came out of the car, so I replaced the (now useless) BMW tell-tale with a blank from AM Innovation. Perfect (and familiar) spot to keep the Homelink.
OEM Carpet Replacement.
Amazingly, OEM carpet is available in black still. Took a while to arrive from Germany, but it arrived. Getbmwparts.com ordered them for me. ~$1400.
51471942689
51471942691
Custom e46 Armrest and Cupholder.
More on this to come later. Tons of custom work.
Seats being Reupholstered
More on this to come later. Seats are going to @bmwrestoredseats in CT. They do incredible work.
Rear antenna replacement
- Got rid of the power antenna and replaced it with an e46 sport stubby antenna. To make it work, you replace the interior base on the e30 with one from a Z3/E36. Part # 65218375159. Grabbed a used one on eBay that was in decent condition. It's an all internal part in the trunk, worked fine. Then I replaced the long z3 antenna with the e46 short sport one, part # 65202296761
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