Dynaudio Esotec 242... whos installed in E30?

[burkey001]

Have some 242's hoping to put into the old E30.

I'm just putting this out there I think the tweeter will be challening to contain in the sail area of the door, its a large dia thing and super deep.

Ditto the MW162 woofer... Anyone got some pics of one of these installed in the kick panel?

Obviously some custom fab is needed, just looking for inspiration or even swapping them out for an MW162 GT or even a MW152, as both are a little more compact..

inspiration welcome :)

ta
burkey

[burkey001]

Let me answer my own question:

With a 18mm spacer, the MW162 does not fit in the stock size kick panel speaker cutout. The basket is too wide.

With a 25mm spacer, the MW162 does fit. This introduces other fitment issues, such as the dash panel and bonnet (hood) release).

Will continue to work and advise.


I will avoid something like this...

[burkey001]

Let me answer my own question, in case anyone ends up in a similar situation.

The cast basket woofers (MW162) are a little too wide to fit in the kick without a thick spacer. Thick as in 18mm+.

MW162GT's (steel basket version) fit without a spacer, but fit better with a small 6mm spacer to adapt the bolt hole differences between the kick panel and the speaker (for those of you who don't want to drill holes in your car.



Some kick panel trim fabrication will be needed obviously enough, but it fits

[MC Hammered]

Is your setup is similar to the Dynaudio System 220 in size.

I am interested to know what your solution is going to be as I have a Dynaudio System 340 setup and may steal some placement ideas from you.

[burkey001]

Esotec 242 is the same size as 220 yes. Updated T/S specs, same physical dimensions.

I don't like your chances of an 8in the kicks. The MW130 & tweet will be a breeze.

my system will be pretty simple. and all kind of old stuff
- Clarion HX-D2 for active crossover & time align
- System 242 front (kicks and sail panel)
- MW160 rear fill
- Peerless 830847 woofer in 1.1 cu sealed (probably too small)
- OLD PPI Powerclass 450
- OLD MTX 2150x

I may do the front active and dice the rear fill however, HX-D2 is little picky about configurations and what crossover options it gives you across its 8 channels of output.

[MC Hammered]

I know the System 340 is going to be a challenge to install. I was thinking the mid and tweet will going into a custom kick panel and the driver into custom door pods where the map pockets are... that is the plan anyway.

I recently sold my System 220 and from your findings it would be a lot easier of an install once you get the spacers worked out.

Your system is a very nice 'basic' setup you have there, I'm going old school as well.

Nakamichi TA25 or Alpine 7909L
Dynaudio System 340
Image Dynamics 10
McIntosh MC432
Audio Control EQTs

You will probably be done with your sound install before I get moving on mine.

[burkey001]

Sounds like a good setup.

I was in car audio ~10 years ago. Dug out my IASCA 1997 test CD to set some levels the other day...

Only recently interested again as I upgraded my daily from a 2009 335i w. individual audio to a 1990 318is and well don't factory systems from the 90's suck? How easy we forget.

Anyway what is with car audio these days?... everything looks like cheap Chinese-made crap. Not to solely associate China with low-quality goods but I am sure you get my drift.

Lucky I had a couple of good-ole US made amps lying around. Should have kept my PG Zero Points.

I'm not sold on the woofer. I think a 10is a better fit for the amount of space I'm prepared to give up. QTC of the box was way too high for my likes, despite what I was being assured by some dude

7909 is nice, I had a 7939 back in the day in my last system. Feeding to an Audiocontrol DAC348 through an MVC and then out to Audison VRX 6.420 and VRX1.500. Morel 8,3,1 front all active and 3x Phoenix Gold Xmax10's. That was a good system.

[StereoInstaller1]

So. If you want to think of a whole new idea to allow your car to still be useful, consider adding slider to the glovebox and motorizing it. If it didn't hinge down, you would have an assload more room. The hood release can be spaced away from the body of the car with longer screws and a block of aluminum of MDF or whatever.

Good luck!

Luke

[burkey001]

Well it all worked out pretty well. Everything fits, including dynaudio grills within the width of the OE kick panels, so all hood release & glove box etc all work fine.

I dropped a lot of dynamat extreme all over the front and in the kick panel area and sealed up the kick panels as much as can be. Result is pretty good midbass. Quite pleased.

Fiddled with time alignment today, roughly measuring distances to my head, works really pretty well. brings the subbass not quite ALL the way up front but now feels like its under my feet rather than behind me

ticks all round for a 'simple' system :)

[Brian D]

Well it all worked out pretty well. Everything fits, including dynaudio grills within the width of the OE kick panels, so all hood release & glove box etc all work fine.

Any pictures of the finished install? I like this idea, would love to see how it turned out for you.

[burkey001]

Will take a picture.
It's pretty basic mind you because it worked well enough I'm not fussed to dress it up.

I machined up a 10mm steel ring, used the OE speaker screw holes to attach that to the car, then drilled & tapped the BCD for the Dyn's onto the steel spacer. Using the factory Dyn grilles gives quite a simple look. I just traced a circle on the plastic OE kick panel, the end result is that the Dyn grille is effectively flush with the plastic kick.


Sealing up the kick cavity with a bunch of dynamat extreme and gaskets seems to have worked quite well, pretty reasonable midbass.

A pic will tell a thousand words....

[Brian D]

Will take a picture.
It's pretty basic mind you because it worked well enough I'm not fussed to dress it up.

Excellent, thanks! It sounds like this is the way I'd like to finish my system.

[burkey001]

Like I say, not my best work but its functional and I'm OK with that

[MC Hammered]

That kick panel looks great!

How does the other side look?

[Brian D]

Thanks for the pic, that's what I was hoping to see. Not quite as "stealthy" as my original plans, but very clean and tasteful. I like it a lot. And to be clear, it fit (using the adapter) without a lot of sheetmetal cutting?