E46 Audio options

Six6siX

Six6siX

Six6siX

Soldato
Joined
25 Nov 2004
Posts
4,788
Location
Hertfordshire
I have come to realise that the standard audio setup is pretty dire for what is supposed to be a premium car...and from what i can see the factory HK upgrade is not much better!

so im looking to go after market, just speakers for now. keeeping the stock amp and HU for the time being.

I have done a bit of research across the various e46 forums and the speaker sizes i have found are 6.25" , 2.5" , 1" in the front in a 3 way setup and 6.25" , 2.5" in the rear.

has anyone done any upgrades to the audio on their e46, recommend any threads with info or speakers that work well?

to save the hassle im seriously tempted to get one of the bsw stage 1 packages which are apparently just rainbow custom speakers... however i want to explore the fully custom options first.

any advice?
 
yeah i plan on changing the amp at some point but want to take it a step at a time.

I could stick my pioneer HU and amp in but having seen pics of some single.din units in the e46 it doesnt look all that great.
 
I really dont think you are going to see much improvement from changing the speakers and keeping the stock HU, but try it, if it works I'll follow you :p
 
lol well my reasoning is that im going to have to change them anyway if it works then thatll be a stop gap till the amp+hu get changed...if not then ill have to do those as well! :p

doesnt the system have a basic amp anyway??
 
I took mine to a professional audio shop in Birmingham and another in Leicester to find out what exatcly I needed to do.

After hours and hours of testing the conclusion they both came to was the speakers are decent enough for a small performance increase, but the HU is the big weakness and will need to be replaced in order to get a crisper sound.

Adding an amp will not suffice as the sound quality (although louder) was still noisey with whatever equaliser settings used.

Changing the speakers made it sound slightly crisper but still punchy so not really worth it unless the HU is changed.

The only thing that sounded "decent" when using the standard HU was a sub with seperate amp... but this merely drowned out the noise with the deep, wallowy bass and so the audio was still not crisp enough.


Yeah, so they said to me the starting point for an audio change in my E46 will have to be the HU. I'm still looking around for one I would like to fit... it's been a good month or so since I had them look at my car and I have still not found anything I would like :(


EDIT:
Only thing I like is the double DIN touch screen satnavs but I'm not sure about fitting in the a/c converter (moving the a/c down a level to just above the fag lighter) in order to fit a double DIN... I have not been able to find an a/c converter which compensates for the tire pressure reset button as well as the DSC (but to be honest I haven't looked too hard).

I may just throw in a really expensive sub with seperate amp to generate a deep, mellow bass without being punchy to override the crappyness of the standard speakers (by override I mean "loud enough so you can't tell" ha ha!)
 
Last edited:
Yes E46 speakers are very good, you'd be fooled into thinking a small sub was in the back as well - it doesn't kick out thumping rude boy bass, no, but it does go low and it doesn't distort. But in order to make use of their capability you must change the HU, an amp change simply won't do.

Even the HK speaker package isn't good enough because the HU remains the same.

It's why I opted for my HU swapout. It doesn't look as clean as OEM but it looks clean enough (lights/display match the dash colours perfectly) and sounds excellent.
 
That sig quote is awesome, *approves* :)

I have a Pioneer DEH-5000UB, will take a pic later on. My steering control unit brokedededed recently though so cannot use steering buttons until I get a new one :(
 
If you go single din after market HU be sure to get the adapter that makes it sit centre, the ones off to the left dont look right.
 
*awaits Khaaaaan's perfectly angled photo of his head unit that doesn't show it being off centre or poking out at the top* ;)
 
interesting. I may shop some pics to get an idea of what my pioneer will look like...as it is a good HU!

changing the HU also raises the question of connection to the existing system. can you get an adapter to convert ISO to the BMW loom? or is it just better going for an amp at the same time?

as for a sub, apparently the boot is pretty well sealed so subs sound didnt get into the cabin too well. the best option was a custom mount on the shelf for subs or punch through the center ski hatch... any truth in this theory?
 
The speakers are completely crap in the E46 / E39. I'm being relative to spending a small budget of £100 on some components here. In fact all BMWs have rubbish speakers except those with upgraded components (logic 7, Harmon Kardon (although I would rate them about as good as a ninja with no limbs))

However, changing the speakers alone will not help produce a better sound stage. They might take the bass better but the control of the frequencies from the standard HU is so limited that it would be a nonsensical upgrade IMO.

It needs an amp, even then it sucks as the signals the amp processes are still pathetic. Ideally, it needs a new HU, aftermarket, but BMW did a good job in making your dash look gay with anything other than a stock HU in there.
 
Last edited:
For what it's worth I don't find the OEM head unit to be that bad when amplified. I had an inline ISO amp in my 325i coupe and I have the non-HK hifi option in my 325i touring which really impressed me given the size of the cabin. Both of these made a HUGE difference over the stock head unit without a seperate amp.
 
Wicksta said:
*awaits Khaaaaan's perfectly angled photo of his head unit that doesn't show it being off centre or poking out at the top* ;)
Click to expand...

hey I'll take new pics with my phone so there will be no perfect angles or anything this time round!

Six6siX said:
interesting. I may shop some pics to get an idea of what my pioneer will look like...as it is a good HU!

changing the HU also raises the question of connection to the existing system. can you get an adapter to convert ISO to the BMW loom? or is it just better going for an amp at the same time?

as for a sub, apparently the boot is pretty well sealed so subs sound didnt get into the cabin too well. the best option was a custom mount on the shelf for subs or punch through the center ski hatch... any truth in this theory?
Click to expand...

I would not bother installing a sub - you really don't need one if your HU has manual control for the audio.

Pioneer > BMW ISO adapters exist, you need to know if your existing connector is round or flat pinned though. Mine is a 2003 car but uses round pins which are often found on pre-facelift models which was strange so check yours!

Adapters are cheap enough online but with steering unit boxes thrown in it can add up to around £30~

Cramming all the extra cables is also a fun time :p I managed to do it though and route a USB connection to the glovebox (which in itself needs to be removed and is a 2 piece 15 odd screw out job!).
 
Khaaan! said:
That sig quote is awesome, *approves* :)
Click to expand...
:D

Khaaan! said:
I have a Pioneer DEH-5000UB, will take a pic later on. My steering control unit brokedededed recently though so cannot use steering buttons until I get a new one :(
Click to expand...
So the HU was compatible with the steering wheel controls before it brokeded?

Nick1881 said:
If you go single din after market HU be sure to get the adapter that makes it sit centre, the ones off to the left dont look right.
Click to expand...
Surely that's a given? Who leaves their unit offset?!!

Six6siX said:
apparently the boot is pretty well sealed so subs sound didnt get into the cabin too well. the best option was a custom mount on the shelf for subs or punch through the center ski hatch... any truth in this theory?
Click to expand...
Yes the boot is quite dampened (sp?!) but more so to the outside rather than internally, the noise level is slightly muffled BUT wouldn't warrant punching through the ski hatch as that would be overkill in my opinion.

Lucero said:
The speakers are completely crap in the E46 / E39.
Click to expand...
For stock speakers the car audio people told me they were decent, although obviously after markets would be a big improvement
 
Last edited:
ok so ill need a pioneer to BMW adapter and a steering wheel control adapter, both specific to whatever my car uses?

considering i already have the headunit, i may try this first ... as long as it looks ok... can anyone link me to a facia and or examples of wiring adapters? just so i know what to search for when i get home
 
This is what mine looks like but if your car uses flat pin connectors then you'll probably need something like this

You won't need a Pioneer HU adapter and a steering adapter individually, one of the above will do both jobs.

:D
Click to expand...
Gism0.jpg


So the HU was compatible with the steering wheel controls before it brokeded?
Click to expand...
It's an extra addon because by default the steering controls won't work, you need to have the steering control unit installed between the ISO and the HU with a lead plugged into the steering socket on the HU if yours has one.

Surely that's a given? Who leaves their unit offset?!!
Click to expand...
:o Honest it doesn't look bad because the display on teh HU is aligned perfectly with the climate control display too.

Edit*

Pic:
interior_hu_normal1.jpg


I still need to tuck the cables behind the HU further back as the fascia pokes out slightly at the edges, I had to remove the lot last week to take out the steering control unit to get a new one so ignore it sticking out at the edges a bit.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom