| Generally speaking...no subs, no bass. One of the necessities of producing bass is cone size. No matter how expensive or high-end a particular set of 5.25" speakers might be, they'll never produce great bass because of their size. Creating bass means moving lots of air and you can't do that with small drivers. I guess it depends on your definition of "decent" bass. That's pretty subjective. I'm sure you're aware that subs in a proper box produce the best bass.
I had a 91 318is (e30 of course) for 12 years and tinkered around a lot with different setups. I'm am not sure what your concern is about having subs but for me I don't like to give up any storage space in my trunk and I didn't want an unfinished looking system (aka, a hack job). So many sub boxes are just too big and leave no space for anything else.
I ended up with a small box that fit right against the rear seat which used the entire width of the trunk and just under 1 foot of depth. The box left ample storage space and getting to my full size spare was not affected whatsoever. I actually had more space in the e30 with the box than my e36 cab trunk with no equipment. The box held two 10" subs and sounded awesome. On the back of the box I had 2 amps and an electronic crossover and it was all finished with a matching carpeted trim panel so it looked super clean and not flashy.  | 
04-06-2003, 01:29 PM
Linear Mode
