Pics of my new baby...

[torque124]

I love it, it is sooo stable and predictable, perfect car. 1999 limited edition, no. 51 out of 70.
Acceleration and sound track is awesome

[Black_Bat]

Congrats mate, nice and clean, you should join us on the cruise on the 28th.

[f1ran1ky]

Well done mate! Very nice...Its soo clean!

[davodinkum]

wat a beast....

wanna swap??? lol

haha good job. how did the inspection check on the car go? all good?

[Dazza-mate]

very nice, looks like there's not a scratch on it...

The bay looks so damn clean, well looked after I guess

[torque124]

The engine's done only 40,000 kays... pulls like a bull

Inspection was good, the only problem that I found later and inspection did not reveal was the battery tray holder in the back was broken, I had to weld it back this weekend with my brother in law, he used to be a welder...

Otherwise perfect. I love it.

How would one go about upgrading the sound system, are the speakers or the head unit the weak point, or both ? Is the factory Harmon Kardon worth it ? This is the stock I suppose, no HK imprints anywhere?

If HK sounds good, I would like to keep is original and upgrade to a factory HK unit/speakers...

Thanks

[davodinkum]

my stock speakers were fine.... i just cut the bass for the stock speakers and put in 2 subs.... sound is incredible except for the parcel shelf rattle too much bass pressure from the subs.

stock head unit lacks a lot of power so i'd consider the head unit a starting point.

if you find your stock speakers lack quality then consider changing them but personally i think their fine

[Scotty89]

All components of the stereo in the E36's are a weak point IMO.

If I was lucky enough to have an M3 like yourself, I'd do it properly - pull all speakers, headunit & wiring, and do it properly yourself.

You don't need to go massive with 15" subs and excessively powerful speakers - a single 10" or even 8" quality sub in a sealed box will take up minimal space and fill in those sub-frequencies that speakers simply cannot. Almost any branded aftermarket speaker is going to beat the nokia or harmon kardon speakers from the e36 era (90's - 2000).

If you don't want to go sub + amps, some decent 50watt speakers and maybe 6x9" for the parcel shelf will sound butt-loads better than the factory sound, and can be powered by most aftermarket head units (usually have 40-50w 4 channel amps built in).

Its also much very much worth it to add sound deadening (dynamat) to your car while you're running new audio cables, it is worth deadening the boot and cabin if you can.

A couple of bulk kits is sufficient and won't add more than 10-15kg to your car. It will deaden the road noise significantly and reduce most of the audible rattles that a proper stereo will bring out - it will make your ride feel much more solid and sealed inside, like any BMW should.

[Scotty89]

Almost forgot to mention: the car looks absolutely superb! very nice buy!

(treat it well please )

[torque124]

Thanks Scotty...

I had a look at replacing the speakers, and you won't believe my findings...

Bought this to replace the tweeters in the door and mid bass in the kick panel :

Ryda Car Audio - Clarion Car Audio SRP1320M 5" Split System($156.95)

and the tweeters have added so much clarity and spacial sound to my stereo, unbelievable, sounds much much better.

BUT, the big but is , that the 150dollars or what not fiber glass speakers sounded WORSE than the paper cone, 40w speaker inside the car !!!

I know you might not believe me, but they are back in, and they have much deeper bass than the new ones ... The Clarion ones were sort of plasticky or not sure how to put it, did not sound natural any way..

all in all, I might change the head unit to a single din 7" display , something like this ( it is not to flashy and you can make it look orange so it might blend in OK with the car ) :

7" TOUCHSCREEN BLUETOOTH CAR DVD GPS FM MP3 IPOD PLAYER - eBay, Navigation, GPS, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 02-Jul-09 20:24:41 AEST)

Not sure yet, what do you think ?

Thanks

[torque124]

Originally Posted by Scotty89

All components of the stereo in the E36's are a weak point IMO.

If I was lucky enough to have an M3 like yourself, I'd do it properly - pull all speakers, headunit & wiring, and do it properly yourself.

You don't need to go massive with 15" subs and excessively powerful speakers - a single 10" or even 8" quality sub in a sealed box will take up minimal space and fill in those sub-frequencies that speakers simply cannot. Almost any branded aftermarket speaker is going to beat the nokia or harmon kardon speakers from the e36 era (90's - 2000).

If you don't want to go sub + amps, some decent 50watt speakers and maybe 6x9" for the parcel shelf will sound butt-loads better than the factory sound, and can be powered by most aftermarket head units (usually have 40-50w 4 channel amps built in).

Its also much very much worth it to add sound deadening (dynamat) to your car while you're running new audio cables, it is worth deadening the boot and cabin if you can.

A couple of bulk kits is sufficient and won't add more than 10-15kg to your car. It will deaden the road noise significantly and reduce most of the audible rattles that a proper stereo will bring out - it will make your ride feel much more solid and sealed inside, like any BMW should.

But it is a convertible, you can't put anything on the parcel shelf, you don't have one

And you don't need to deaden the cabin, you want to hear that exhaust and the engine in the M3, trust me . This car sounds sooooo good.... If you feel upset or not 100% or had a bad day, you just need to pull from a set of lights and rev over 5000 rpms in second and third and all your worries are gone

The boot is VERY deadened by the extra box in there hosting the roof mechanism..

Cheers

[davodinkum]

here are some snaps of my system setup....

all installed by myself. nothing special

[torque124]

Originally Posted by davodinkum

here are some snaps of my system setup....

all installed by myself. nothing special

Which head unit is that ? Does it play divx and mp3 of the USB sticks ? How much and where from ... I want to upgrade my head unit, but I think I need to upgrade the rear speakers also , they sound awful.

[davodinkum]

Originally Posted by torque124

Which head unit is that ? Does it play divx and mp3 of the USB sticks ? How much and where from ... I want to upgrade my head unit, but I think I need to upgrade the rear speakers also , they sound awful.

its an older model pioneer. brought it over a year ago for $800. theres a new model you can pick up at ryda for around that price.

[blacklove7777]

not crazy about the verts but its a M YOUR SO LUCKY!