DIY: E36 budget SQ stereo-system installation

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

wait leopard print what



are you completely getting rid of the dead pedal on a track car???



cant tell if trolling



The leopard print cloth will not show - the pod will be painted black to match the rest of the interior.



The lack of dead pedal in a track car could be an issue - but only time will tell. I thought through this quite a bit and did some spirited driving to see how I used it. During this spirited driving I found that my left foot was hovering over clutch most of the time; at most it rested on the dead pedal - never did I press against it. My bigger concern is if an instructor drives my car (as they do in BMWCCA HPDE) and tries to push himself back into the seat with it; hopefully the pod is angled enough such that his foot would slide off.

[m3f_cracky_88af6b7d5a]

badass work. Look forward to the progess.

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

Things are moving right along --- a little slower now that we are into the workweek though. Yesterday I completed the fiberglass resin and I'm very happy with the form and strength of the pods. They are much stronger than the factory kick panels, but nowhere close to as strong as I would make for a subwoofer enclosure. I used a spandex of sort, but for more strength I would have used fleece, and for the ultimate strength I would have used a fiberglass cloth.


Pictured here are the pods after being painted with the fiberglass resin. Note that I wrapped the grilles in a plastic bag and forced them into the pod so that the countersunk grill would take form.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0749.JPG


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0750.JPG


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0751.JPG


Here is the pod after it dried with the grille removed.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0757.JPG


This shows that the work is going to be all worthwhile. I test fitted the kick panels now, before I spent all the time with Bondo and sandpaper. I'm only in them about 10 hours at this point, and a complete redesign would be tolerable --- but not after the 20 hours I am going to have to put into finishing.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0758.JPG


As it turned out, the test fit did show that I would benefit from a little more room for the clutch foot during action time. I made a quick correction to the drivers-side pod to facilitate this little bit more room. It is going to affect the appearance a little, but I just keep in mind that when downshifting for the corkscrew at Laguna Seca I don't want my foot getting hung up. The below two pictures show the edge that I took off.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0762.JPG


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0763.JPG


And finally, after the first coat of Bondo is applied. I am very liberal with it and I'm not afraid to get in there with my finger to smooth it and blend it --- it'll mean less sanding later.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0764.JPG


Now, while the fiberglass resin was drying I took the opportunity to get the wiring complete. As I had mentioned, I had early in this thread, the Clarion head unit was already installed. However, I did need to pull it in order to a) hook-up the RCAs, b) hook up the Remote turn on, and c) disconnect the factory speakers from the headunit. So, as for now - no tunes - how's that for motivation to get this job completed.


This picture shows the intense wire management issues on this deck that has about 5 inputs and 3 sets of outputs.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0753.JPG


I had to remove the glove box to get the RCA cable through back behind the head unit. I could have fought with it some more, but having the glove box out helped with wiring altogether. This is the RCA (Monster did a nice job with putting 4 channels into one insulator) and the RTO wiring.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0752.JPG


And viola - all the wires are in the trunk. Note that I found the factory 1/0 power cable running from the front of the car (alternator and loads) to the back of the car (battery). This wire runs right under the passenger seat. Getting that RCA as close to the center console was important. And let me tell you, I have never felt carpet as thick and unbendable as this stuff --- I was cussin' big time. If I were to do it over again, I would remove the center console and both seats to do it.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0756.JPG


It may be awhile before the next group of photos because I am working. Next weekend I am going to be spending considerable time finishing the kick panel pods. Note that I plan just to paint them - not vinyl; therefore, the sanding job will need to be perfect.


Still no idea what I am going to do in the trunk ...

[m3f_unclesam]

One of my least favorite parts of doing stereos in cars is having to run the wires, nice to get that out of the way.

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

One of my least favorite parts of doing stereos in cars is having to run the wires, nice to get that out of the way.



No kidding - having it completed is a load off my mind. Now, after the front speakers are completed I get the joy of fabrication of an amp/processor rack and sub enclosure. Much more fun than running cables.

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

It has been a busy evening. I a pleasantly surprised to say that the Bondo/sanding expedition that I expected to take 20 hours is going to take significantly less than that. Granted, if I was going to be competing or if this was a show car I would definitely take that long, probably longer. However, based on what people will be able to see in the car, I expect to spend another 5 hours.


I spent 2 hours doing the following: Sand, sand, sand (80 grit), sand some more. Sanded with a Dremel, with a drill attachment, but mostly by hand. Then I applied a coat of paint. I gave it about 30 minutes to set up, and I sanded by hand with 150 grit. Applied another coat of paint. At this point I'm pretty shocked at how fast this is going. I sanded a little more and then hit it with about 3 coats of paint, while only waiting for the previous coat to get tacky, not completely dry.


There is much left to do - at least another few hours with some 250 grit, but it doesn't look horrible. If I were covering it with vinyl I'd be done.


That said, I'm bummed that the paint I bought is so glossy --- it was supposed to be satin. I am afraid that it is going to be so glossy, and the surface so smooth that it will be a distraction. I am probably going to go with some heavy texture paint (such as Krylon Obsidian Stone) for the final coat.


Also note in the pictures that my main focus in the beautification of the pods is where the casual observer is going to see. I am not going to spend hours making the back side of the pods look nice --- they'll be black, and that is enough.


Here are some of the latest pics:


One of the pods sanded with 80 grit after Bondo.


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0765.JPG


And then the first coat of paint


http://www.mydinanm3.com/images/stereo/DSCN0766.JPG

[m3f_Braymond14_63960d99c1]

That isn't your final preparation, color and texture is it?

[m3f_Kross]

That isn't your final preparation, color and texture is it?



Hope not.



Good job so far though. Very intrigued.

[m3f_hcaleman_e2771eaa1d]

If you are going the track the car heavily it would probably be easier to keep the stock locations despite the issues with imaging. Would time alignment help with such placement?



It looks like the work you're doing is all reversible with a new set of kick panels so it's not a big deal. Looking forward to seeing the final product.

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

That isn't your final preparation, color and texture is it?



Nope, not done. Much work left to do. I hope to be done by the end of the week so that I can focus on the trunk this weekend.

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

If you are going the track the car heavily it would probably be easier to keep the stock locations despite the issues with imaging. Would time alignment help with such placement?



It looks like the work you're doing is all reversible with a new set of kick panels so it's not a big deal. Looking forward to seeing the final product.



First, the reason I like kick panel pods is that it addresses two issues. The first is the quality and accuracy of the sound, and the other is the depth of and accuracy of the sound stage (imaging). And believe me - I know that the two are related very closely; but I separate them out to address "reverberations" and "timing" as two separate issues. Using the kick panel location helps address both issues, whereas only one of which can be solved with delaying the drivers-side speakers.



The quality and accuracy of the musical reproduction: The tweeters can be angled, but there are many directional frequencies that come from the 6.5" speakers. The on-axis sound (that which comes from the center of the speaker) is natural, but when the speakers are mounted perpendicular to the listener's vision the off-axis sound is very prominant and its inaccuracy colors the music. Additionally, when a speaker fires into a footwell (i.e. towards the center console) reverberations occur and can also color the sound. Ideally having the speakers facing directly to the listener would be the goal, but in a car, the best that can be achieved (in most cases) is angling up towards the center of the vehicle. 45 degrees would be great, but I didn't quite get that here because it would have protruded into the footwells too much.

Using kick panels is also a great way to get the speakers away from the listener to reduce the difference in time when the sound wave is received (from right to left); and this is where the spacial imaging can be improved. Delaying the drivers side speaker is one way that we can improve the spacial imaging; but then it screws it up for the passenger, right?



Trying to achieve sound quality in a car has a lot of challenges, the kick panel pods only addresses a couple issues. If you could drive the car from the center of the rear seat, this whole imaging issue would be easier to solve. But you still have the issue of road noise, confined space and the required equipment such as seats, steering wheel, people's legs, etc. Needless to say, you can achieve so much more in a home stereo.



Good observation on reversing the mods with replacement kick panels. I'll take your point one step further - removing the kick panels and tucking the wires inside the stock speaker locations at the track would be a simple evolution. No need to have kick panels in a car while on the track.



In fact, I think this might just be what I will do. Silly I didn't think of this before. Load off my mind to be honest. :shiftdriv

[m3f_hcaleman_e2771eaa1d]

Yeah that is probably the best solution. Just get a spare dead pedal for a few dollars and pull the panels out the day before your event.


I'm going to change my setup soon. I have the full BSW setup and otherwise fully stock (well a basslink). Ditching it all to do an active 2-way setup up front using an eclipse time alignment capable headunit (really would like an old 800prs though for their plain looks). Plan on going with some kind of small 5-channel class-D amp in around the stock location and an 8" JL in sealed box hung from the parcel shelf so it's easily removable.

[m3f_EXQUZ M3]

Quick update: Everything is going well with the bondoing, sanding and painting of the kick panels. Although it is going slow because I only get a couple hours every evening to work on it.



The biggest challenge I have right now is that the "satin" paint is too shiny and the "flat" is too flat. I am still searching for the perfect finish.

[m3f_PurduinaM3_5769f9ad51]

Nice man! I used to be really into systems back in the day, but haven't tweaked with them in a while. I still have the same setup in my M3 from 4 years ago, and I haven't had to mess with it at all since I built it which I love. I'm running a JL 10W7-3 on a JL 500/1 with old school MB Quart Premiums running off a JL 300/4... definitely sounds great!

[m3f_hcaleman_e2771eaa1d]

A good alternative to paint would be to cover those panels in some matching felt or alcantara and color matches grilles. Would keep it fairly low key and probably easier than matching paint.