Please help me with my install! (Pics)

[sweetride01]

Okay, some questions. Numbered responses are appreciated.
1. How do I get to the tweeters? And do I tap them into the midbass speaker wire?
2. How do you remove the rear speakers? I want to let bass flow into the cabin.
3. I presume the amps and the enclosure should be drilled to the seatback, for security and practicality?
4. Should I use one or two layers of RAAMmat sound deadening in the trunk?
5. Should I keep the old deadening that came with the kicks, and just deaden the metal by the speakers, or should i re-deaden the plastic kick too?
6. These red wires were apparently for the rear speakers, although most of them seem to end. Whats the deal?

7. What's the vent? And does it matter that I chippend some of the paint down to the metal?

Thanks!

[optimusp517]

wow seems like with those questions you shouldn't even be doing this... lol

may I suggest maybe going to a shop and have them do the work...

[marakka]

I'm not flaming here when I say this, but its the truth.... These are elementary questions you are asking about. If you don't possess the mechanical inclination to figure these out on your own it may be in your best interest to have this install performed by a shop. THat said I'll do my best to answer....

Okay, some questions. Numbered responses are appreciated.
1. How do I get to the tweeters? And do I tap them into the midbass speaker wire?

I've never owned a car (e30) with tweeter pods in it. I would assume the proper way to reach the tweeter wires would be in 1 of 2 places. Either at the tweeter OR in the kick panel behind the midbass or above it where the wires from the door enter the cabin. I am not profiecient in BMW wire colors so maybe Luke can chime in (or someone else) and help out.

2. How do you remove the rear speakers? I want to let bass flow into the cabin.

I'm no help there as I've always had new rear speakers installed in my coupes when I got them. I could tell you how to get them out of a touring.

3. I presume the amps and the enclosure should be drilled to the seatback, for security and practicality?

My personal opinion is to NOT drill sub boxes into the car UNLESS the customer so desires. It poses more problems than it solves in most cases. The amps I would say mount on the seat back. Thats where I mounted mine along with many many others I have done. It gets them out of the way and keeps them nice and secured for "anti-theft" purposes. Leave the sub box free incase you want to take it out one day to put your golfclubs in or something..... or get your spare out....

4. Should I use one or two layers of RAAMmat sound deadening in the trunk?

As many as you want. It gets expensive quick. I usually only use that kind of stuff where its needed as it is terribly ugly and heavy. Trial and error will tell you where to put it.

5. Should I keep the old deadening that came with the kicks, and just deaden the metal by the speakers, or should i re-deaden the plastic kick too?

Not exactly sure what you are trying to accomplish here? Kicks have that factory matting on the back of them.... leave that be. Maybe stuff some cotton in the kick behind the speaker but other than that if you are using Dyanmat on anything back there its just over kill really.

6. These red wires were apparently for the rear speakers, although most of them seem to end. Whats the deal?

What in the hell is goin on in your car mang? Was there a large system installed before? Was this car factory amped? Was the factory amp in the trunk? Do you have ANYTHING in your car right now as far as stereo stuff goes?

7. What's the vent? And does it matter that I chippend some of the paint down to the metal?

Thanks!

THats just an air vent. Don't get any ideas about runnin wires through it. Its just for circulation. Why did you chip the paint down to the metal? Are you using it for an amp ground? There are better spots than right there I'm sure..... but if you aren't using it for a ground, then take some spray primer or paint and just dab it so it doesn't rust. After that take care of the rust in your wells before that rots through....

Good luck.

[sweetride01]

Thanks for your responses marakka. I am certainly climbing the learning curve, but getting a shop to do everything would be expensive, and I'd learn little.

A few questions to your replies.

1. Presumably, the sub box must be secured in SOME way to prevent it sliding around. Also I plan to drive w/o my spare now to save weight.

2. All the blue/white wires that go down to the right are new ones installed by a shop for my setup. 2 speaker wires, 2 rca's, and a remote wire. I'm just wondering WTF all the red ones are from... all my car currently has are f&r stock factory speakers... so maybe the car had an audio system before that was removed? The red wires are made by Rockford Fosgate. They seem to go all the way to the HU. Orange wire is for the alarm.

3. Chipping the paint was accidental, happened when I removed the old deadening.

4. Where do you recommend grounding the amps? And should I still deaden the whole seatback if the amps are going there? I guess just deaden around the amps.

Sorry for askin so many questions, it's usually the small details like these that screw me up though.

[DSchultz325e]

Just grind down a little area toward the driver's side between the seatback and spare tire well in the trunk and then sand it down to bare metal. I didn't run into any problems and I have two 8ga. wires grounded there.

Due to the retarded expensive price of dampening materials, I don't like to start laying stuff out until I am noticing the panel resonating. I sourced a complete Dynamat trunk kit for 50, so I DID do pretty much the entire trunk. I left the seatback metal bare, though. I don't recall nor feel like searching how you were wanting to mount your sub, but the only real resonation I was getting was from the actual trunk lid and the rear shelf. Both of those can be quieted with a little expanding foam.

If you really want to find out the deal with the wires, take an hour out of your time to remove the rear seats and door sills and track down where they route under the carpet.

[marakka]

Thanks for your responses marakka. I am certainly climbing the learning curve, but getting a shop to do everything would be expensive, and I'd learn little.

Yeah... 2 amps, head unit, subs and speakers would have run you (at my old shop) $200 to get installed so I feel your pain.

A few questions to your replies.

1. Presumably, the sub box must be secured in SOME way to prevent it sliding around. Also I plan to drive w/o my spare now to save weight.

I wouldn't worry about it for now. Both boxes I've had in my e30 have never slid around noticeably. I always used to use the velcro trick.... Take a piece of velcro and tape it to the bottom of your box. It will take a few pieces usually, but it will keep the box in place. If the pieces of velcro wont stick I just shoot some screws through them to hold them in place.

2. All the blue/white wires that go down to the right are new ones installed by a shop for my setup. 2 speaker wires, 2 rca's, and a remote wire. I'm just wondering WTF all the red ones are from... all my car currently has are f&r stock factory speakers... so maybe the car had an audio system before that was removed? The red wires are made by Rockford Fosgate. They seem to go all the way to the HU. Orange wire is for the alarm.

Ok.. I'm going to make assumptions here so sue me if I'm wrong. I think the factory amp was in the trunk. The red wires are used to "bypass" that amp. Basically.... the old stock HU put out a signal. That was carried by wires to the amp. The amp processed that signal and sent it out via different wires to the speakers. So.... what was done with those red wires was they were attatched to the old "output" wires from the amp. So basically all those wires should go to the back and then from there to the speakers. If they are behind the dash at the head unit location you can test this by using a 9v battery like you would put in your smoke detector at the house. Take the bare ends of the wires and touch them to the 9v. One to pos one to negative on each set of wires. If you here a "crunch" at a speaker you have just identified what those wires do AND which wire runs which speaker. The blue wires are a mystery? Where do they run to? The "alarm" wire is for the trunk trigger.... if someone opens the trunk the alarm will sound.

3. Chipping the paint was accidental, happened when I removed the old deadening.

Just hit it with some spray paint to cover it so it doesn't rust.

4. Where do you recommend grounding the amps? And should I still deaden the whole seatback if the amps are going there? I guess just deaden around the amps.

I grounded mine on the passenger shock tower. I used a wire wheel attatched to my drill to rub all the paint off. Shot some screws into the metal to hold the ring terminal down and then siliconed over it. As far as deadening.... Deaden only after you install everything and see what needs to be done. Even in my Olds Toronado I didn't deaden everything and that car was strictly competition. DO NOT USE spray foam. Its a GREAT sound deadener but at your level of expertise you'll end up bowing panels and such so stay away from it til you have a better understanding...

Sorry for askin so many questions, it's usually the small details like these that screw me up though.

No problem. Consider this my good deed of the year.

[sweetride01]

marakka, please could you post a pic of the screws you put in the shock tower, and mention exactly what kind they are? I would be worried about damaging something or hurting the integrity of the car by doing that, so I'll need a pic first. :D

Thanks!

[marakka]

I don't have any pictures. I'm 4500 miles from my car right now so I can't snap any. I used 3/8" self tapping "washer" head screws. I've had a few boxes layin round since my installin days so I can't direct you as to where to get em. I used 3 to keep the ring terminal well anchored. As long as you use short screws, shooting them through the tower shouldn't hurt anything.

[sweetride01]

Thanks again marakka.
Some more ?'s

1. Why is there a thin plastic layer on the inside of the door? Is it ok to remove it?
2. There are 2 wires going from the factory tweeters: grey/green and grey/yellow. The grey/green seems to go to the factory mid. Grey/yellow goes to a blue connector, which splits into 2 grey/purple wires.
There are also another 2 wires that go from the bottom of the mid: grey/purple and grey/red, and two similar wires for the passenger mid. These go into the trunk, as shown by the arrow. They have been cut (by the stereo people I guess). This seems to make little sense, but I guess marakka is right by thinking the factory amp was in the trunk. Please explain. And would it be easier to just mount the tweets in the kicks?

[marakka]

Thanks again marakka.
Some more ?'s

1. Why is there a thin plastic layer on the inside of the door? Is it ok to remove it?

Thats a "vapor barrier". If water makes it inside the door its to keep it from condensing and making it in the car. Yes you can remove it but I wouldn't unless you have to. Usually you can pull it back and get it out of your way and replace it once you are done.

2. There are 2 wires going from the factory tweeters: grey/green and grey/yellow. The grey/green seems to go to the factory mid. Grey/yellow goes to a blue connector, which splits into 2 grey/purple wires.
There are also another 2 wires that go from the bottom of the mid: grey/purple and grey/red, and two similar wires for the passenger mid. These go into the trunk, as shown by the arrow. They have been cut (by the stereo people I guess). This seems to make little sense, but I guess marakka is right by thinking the factory amp was in the trunk. Please explain. And would it be easier to just mount the tweets in the kicks?

Ok.... thats what I thought. In the original wiring there was an amp in the trunk. The mids are wired in parallel with the tweets (at least I think they are). What the BMW uses is a common ground system. DO NOT REMOVE ANY OF THE WIRES THAT ARE IN THE CAR. Someone has already rewired this car to make things easier. Nothing has been cut except for the connector for the factory amplifier. Its been cut off to allow the stereo people to wire new wires to those wires and use them to get to the factory speakers. As you mentioned before the red wires go behind the head unit. Those are the wires you want to use. Are you planning on running an amp to your highs? If so then we have another matter to discuss. If not, use the 9v battery trick like I told you about to figure out what wire goes where and you can hook it up to whatever cd player you'll be putting in.

An explaination of why those wires are done like that is easy. I've mentioned it before but here goes again... Factory head unit put out no power. Only a low level signal. It is sent by wires to the factory amp located in the trunk. The amp processes the signal and sends it out to the factory speakers ON DIFFERENT WIRES. Those wires are the ones that are tapped into. Its easier to go to a place that the wires are all at rather than tear apart the car in search of each set of wires. I bet that once they hooked all those wires up they used the battery trick to figure out what wire went where. This is called a "factory amp bypass" and probably cost the PO a good deal of money. I used to charge 50 to 150 depending on what kind of car it was and how gullable the owner is. If you were local I'd offer to help you.



EDIT: You sure that those wires you have pointed out are the ones that come FROM the speakers and not from the deck?

[sweetride01]

Ok.... thats what I thought. In the original wiring there was an amp in the trunk. The mids are wired in parallel with the tweets (at least I think they are). What the BMW uses is a common ground system. DO NOT REMOVE ANY OF THE WIRES THAT ARE IN THE CAR. Someone has already rewired this car to make things easier. Nothing has been cut except for the connector for the factory amplifier. Its been cut off to allow the stereo people to wire new wires to those wires and use them to get to the factory speakers. As you mentioned before the red wires go behind the head unit. Those are the wires you want to use. Are you planning on running an amp to your highs? If so then we have another matter to discuss. If not, use the 9v battery trick like I told you about to figure out what wire goes where and you can hook it up to whatever cd player you'll be putting in.

An explaination of why those wires are done like that is easy. I've mentioned it before but here goes again... Factory head unit put out no power. Only a low level signal. It is sent by wires to the factory amp located in the trunk. The amp processes the signal and sends it out to the factory speakers ON DIFFERENT WIRES. Those wires are the ones that are tapped into. Its easier to go to a place that the wires are all at rather than tear apart the car in search of each set of wires. I bet that once they hooked all those wires up they used the battery trick to figure out what wire went where. This is called a "factory amp bypass" and probably cost the PO a good deal of money. I used to charge 50 to 150 depending on what kind of car it was and how gullable the owner is. If you were local I'd offer to help you.



EDIT: You sure that those wires you have pointed out are the ones that come FROM the speakers and not from the deck?

Ok, what has been done so far: I DO have a new HU. I DID cut the wires to the rear speakers (at the speakers). MY stereo installer DID disconnect all the old speakers so that the signal would not go to them. My new wires are the blue ones, that go down to the right in the pic. As far as I know, the red ones are now disconnected, though I could check with the battery trick or a multimeter or whatever. I am not ENTIRELY sure about the wires I pointed out, but I can't seem to find any others that colour, so I'm pretty sure that they go to the mids, not the deck. It may be that MY installer cut those to stop the signal going to the speakers, since they do not have caps on them like the red ones do.
What do you mean about the amp powering the tweets? What is the normal way of powering them?

[marakka]

I guess I should ask: What the hell are you trying to accomplish? *LOL* What you just posted confused the fuck out of me. Are you trying to put a HU in? What is the problem you are having? Are these pictures you have shown the current condition of the car?

[sweetride01]

The pics are the current condition of the car. I am trying to install 2 amps, 2 components, including 2 tweets, and a sub.
My current problem: installing the tweeters. But I guess I should ask where the crossovers come into the wiring picture as well.

[marakka]

And no rear speakers? I'll go on that assumption as to what you need to do.


There aren't any speaker wires running from the HU to the amps needed. Only RCA's. So.... those speaker wires you ran need to go to the location where you will mount your crossovers (xovers from now on). The xovers need to recive their input from the output of whatever amplifier is going to be running the components. They are given an input and have 2 sets of outputs on them which should be marked as tweeter and midbass. These are pretty straightforward. Run each one to each speaker. The tweeters are going to be the hardest part to wire. I've never done this in an e30 but from what I remember looking at the door "pass through" where the wires go into the car from the door.... its a PITA cause thats a plastic housing with no room in it. So you can either figure out a way to run wires through there from wherever the xover is mounted OR find the factory wires coming from the tweeter location and tap your tweeter wire coming from your xover into those. At the end nearest to the tweeter location you can tap in again and wire up your tweets. Basically when you do amps to power everything in the car you rewire the whole car. Good luck with this. Ask away if you have any more ?'s

[sweetride01]

Thanks for all that info Marakka. I feel like an idiot now; I should have remembered the crossover, it makes the wiring seem easy now.
Do you know which tweeter wire is positive? The green/grey that goes to the speaker? Also should I splice, or solder, into the factory tweeter wires? Are the factory speaker wires of sufficient quality?