Rear Speaker Deck: New Carpet & Speaker Mounting

[GOT8SPD]

So I've had my E30 for over 2 years now and haven't really done any mods except install new speakers since my stock ones weren't working when I got the car.

The rear speaker deck i hated...the speakers rattled because it couldn't be mounted properly and i hated the gray carpet. Just didn't look right...looked faded and beat. I wanted to give it a new look.

I decided I was going to fix how the rear speakers mounted and change the color of the carpet. I actually used a thin black product that's used in as a trunkliner...pretty cheap stuff.


First I removed the deck lid and pulled the old carpeting off...which was much easier than I thought. And much cheaper than I thought...Its just like a mold-ed cardboard.


DUH the speakers don't mount right....


So I cut a piece of 1/2" MDF to lay on top of the old speaker deck...


Speaker in it's new home...


With the extra added weight of the MDF, I thought maybe I should strengthen it so i fiberglassed it, used liquid nails all over it after it was dry, then placed my piece of MDF on top.


Used some bindery clip thingymajiggys and tested the shape first. Then I used a spray adhesive then stretched it again and clipped it.

More updates later...

[German Audio Specialties]

Wow. I assumed you would be doing a speaker size upgrade from the Pioneers, but it seems that is the final choice? Those are fine speakers, but it sure seems like one hell of a bunch of work for rear speakers in an E30, which are so heavily rear biased acoustically as it is.

Looks like stellar work, though. That glass is laid as pretty as it gets on these kinds of materials. Props to ya for the attention to detail, thats for damn sure.

I hope it is worth the effort in the end!

Luke

[valleymotorwerks]

Someone has a wide variety of skills... I need to change the color of the rear deck in MY M3. I bought a used one to play with.. I was going to just spray paint it but maybe recovering is better...

[GOT8SPD]

When I bought the e30, it had 5 1/4" in it, and to be honest, I didn't know anything about the e30 and never knew you could put bigger speakers in, so when I went out and bought the same sized speakers.

I just adjust the fade/balance on the stereo so that it sounds good from where I sit...I rarely have a passenger in the car...

This is actually the first time I've ever used fiberglass. I just watched a dozen or so YouTube videos...I would recommend that you use fiberglass cloth...the fiberglass mat is messy. Make sure you wear a mask so you don't breathe that crap in. Even with the mask it smelled pretty bad and you DO NOT want to breathe in that fiberglass.

First time i've ever used played with the trunk liner cloth too. It was pretty easy to use because you can stretch it.

I have to thank a lot of people on r3v because I did go through a lot of people's projects and stuff...you just learn here and there and add it all together.

Let me know if you guys have any questions....This whole project has cost me like...50 dollars? Not too bad...

[GOT8SPD]

To "wrap" the carpet liner around, i spray some adhesive on the backside of the speaker deck, and then use my bindery clips to hold it in place. What i've found is don't spray too much, it seeps through the fabric.


Test fitting the speakers and everything finally....doesn't look that good with the grey speaker grills...


So i painted it black....looks better i think?

I was gonna put the speaker deck back in, but i'm going to go get the car tinted. I want them to tint behind the 3rd brake light, which requires removal of the speaker deck to access the nuts that hold the speaker deck in place.

[GOT8SPD]

My finish product...I finally put it in...LOL

[illest318i]

Looks clean!! A++
Good job :D

[Threehz]

Clean! Looks great!

How easy is it to remove that rear deck lid?

Also did you get any pictures of the sheet metal underneath?

I ask because for a while I've been wondering about mounting a couple 8" woofers into that deck, along with the 5.25" speakers, thus eliminating the real need for a trunk woofer.

[bmwguy325is]

...How easy is it to remove that rear deck lid?..

Its easy. Take seat take out speakers bam.

[Threehz]

Well that's good to hear, I'll investigate this more in that case.

[5Toes]

Man I need to do this! I got some really nice fabric to recover it with. Fiberglass isnt a bad idea..

[dubdub]

Looks nice. I did similarly on my last E30, but have not done so on my new one... looking at your result makes me want to revisit this.

Nice job.

[c4nnon8411]

Man that looks amazing, My rear deck is nothing more than a moldy piece of carpet but now im motivated to restore it.

Those alpines look great too in the recovered deck.

[GOT8SPD]

Man that looks amazing, My rear deck is nothing more than a moldy piece of carpet but now im motivated to restore it.

Those alpines look great too in the recovered deck.

Honestly...I think it's changed the look inside the car...It just looks so much better without that old grey nasty looking previous carpet bit. Yeah the last thing was 22 years old...It just looks "fresh" now. Great mod...what sucks is recently since it's been in the low 80s recently, the car smells like fiberglass resin...blah, but the smell is starting to go away.

Great mod...easy to do...I think you can actually do it in 1 day if you don't fiberglass it. I just fiberglassed it because I felt like the MDF would make it a little heavy so i wanted to add some strength.