My audio system

[OverRev]

Hi, guys, i recently purchased a 2005 E85 3.0i and i have the premium hifi system in my car, which does not play MP3. after doing some research online and found that there are 3 types of audio systems for E85 z4. as many of you already know the lowest level is the basic 6-speaker system which you can simply changed the factory head unit to any aftermarket deck with a simple harness. the next level up is the premium hifi system with 10 speakers and an amplifier in the trunk next to the battery. i have seen some debates saying that you can install an aftermarket deck into this system as simple as the bacis system, but the truth is not. the bussiness cd head unit uses a 4-channel single-wire output instead of 2-wire / channel analog output, so there is no way you can make an aftermarket deck to work with the factory amp. and for top hifi system (carver), it's the same 10-speakers but the head unit uses fiber optic outout and the subwoofers are upgraded. in simple words, if your deck has DSP function (hifi and top hifi system with bussiness cd head unit), there is no way you can use the factory amp with an aftermark deck. and since all 10 speakers are either 2ohm or 10ohm (subwoofers), you cant even hook up the factory speakers directly to an aftermarket deck.

so i decided to get an aftermark deck, a 4-channels amp, front 6.5" components and rear 6x9 coaxials and rewire the whole sysem.


my Z4 with 19" staggered Bremmer Kraft:

[OverRev]

Head Unit:

I picked a Pioneer deck that plays USB drive and SD card. it has iphone/ipod control and supports mp3 and divx formats.

because the deck has a 3.5" screen, the face is a little bigger than regular single-din deck. in order to make it sit flush to the dash trim i had to cut out the factory head unit support and trimed the scoche kit to make it fit.

[OverRev]

Front speakers:

Alpine Type-S components. 3-way components are too expensive and i like the simple inline crossover design of this type-S system, so i picked these.

I used 1/4" MDF wood to cut out brackets that fit the speakers and matches the factory screw holes.


i had to strip the type-s tweeter all the way so it's the same size as the factory tweet and i hot-glued it in place.


It'd be a pain in the butt to run wires into the door for the tweeters, and the factory wires for the kick-panel speakers are good enough for the type-s speakers so i decided to use the factory wires. I didn't cut any factory wire but just taping the signal to the factory wires, so later on if i sold my car i can totally return it back to stock with ease.

[OverRev]

Rear speakers:

Alpine Type-S coaxial 6x9s. if you like heavier bass you can run the factory 10ohm subs in parallel so they become 5ohm mono. but I m not a bass-addict and i believe 6x9 can produce sufficient mid-bass for my taste.

3/8" MDF brackets to fit the 6x9, and this is not a easy fitment since the factory opening can barely fit the 6x9 housing. And the factory speaker covers need some trimming to fit back in. (it's easy tho)

[OverRev]

Amplifier:

Apline 4-ch MRX-F30, it puts out 75W RMS @ 4ohm, way better than the factory amp, and it's a good match for the type-s speakers

for wiring, i taped the wires to the output wires from the factory amp, they're all in the trunk and are easy to get to, i remove the factory amp and mounting bracket to there're more space next to battery to kit tools and accessories.


there is a little square session in the trunk which is a good spot to mount the apline amp, since the size fits so well and it does't take up much space mounting it vertically. but pls beware that there is a module mounted to a steel bracket behide the carpet, so i made a wood bracket with 3/8" MDF and mounted it to the factory steel bracket without drilling into the module and any wires, and then mounted the amp to the bracket with 1" wood screws.

[OverRev]

after installing everthing and some tuning, i found the rear speaker is a bit too loud and it kinda take way toe focus to the front speakers, so i faded the balance toward the front a little set the HPF to 220Hz for the rear channels, in compare to the factory system, first thing i notice is the sound comes out alot clearer, sharper and lounder, althought these are inexpensive equitments, i can hear my music so loud and clear even when i'm driving with my top-down on hwy @ 120km/h. for bass-wise i'd say it's equally good as stock if not better. however if i could choose again, i would consider running the stock subs in 5ohm parallel and bridge the rear channels to get more power/bass. This way it'd save me installation time and money for rear speakers, and frankly all you want it bass from the back, but not vocal and tweet anyways.

i hope this information help, because it took me a while to search for info for aftermarket system with not much result, so i decided to share my experience and if anyone need more info or help, pls feel free to post it or msg me. my next project is to hook up an alarm with remote starter, remote top-down and remote audio turn-on with motion sensor and iphone control, it may take another couple weeks.

[Tseel]

Awesome thread !!!!

[Black911S]

can you repost your pictures?

[Meaper]

What was your total cost for this project? I believe my car also has the 10 speaker DSP system.

[krisfnbs]

Originally Posted by Meaper

What was your total cost for this project? I believe my car also has the 10 speaker DSP system.

The reason why his rear speakers sounded louder than the front was the rears were larger speakers.

I know this install was a long time ago, but he would have been better off installing 6.5" subwoofers in the rear instead of speakers, and instead of a 2 way component system in the front, a 3 way would have been more ideal, to keep more of the vocals in the midrange & tweeter higher up, as the woofer is down in the kicks.

The great thing about these cars is the factory amp sells for $300-400 on ebay. Selling that, and spending $100-200 out of pocket can get you a completely overhauled system including head unit, amp wiring, amplifier, 2 6.5" subwoofers for the rear, and 3 way component speakers.

All of the Z4 stock audio systems are horrible...

Feel free to message me if you need help designing a system.