Upgrading the Stereo in a BMW E46?

NickXX

NickXX

NickXX

Soldato
Joined
19 May 2005
Posts
7,049
Hi all,

Has anyone fitted new speakers to an E46 3-Series or generally upgraded the stereo? Does anyone know of any good guides on how to do it/what speaker sizes I can use?

The stereo is dreadful to put it bluntly - I was driving a Mk5 Golf with the 10-speaker stereo which is leaps and bounds over the BMW, so I'm really quite disappointed with it.

Many thanks in advance,

Nick
 
Hi Nick, I hope I can help here. The standard Business Radio (which I assume you have) is complete pap! I've seen Peugeot 307's handle sound better than these things.

Anyway, onto your question, but i'll need some more info. What body do you have, are you a saloon? If you are, do you have three speakers in the front door (tweeter at the mirror location), mid by the arm rest and woofer at the bottom of the door?

If so, you can upgrade each of these speakers independantly, or loose the mid and get a good set of 17cm components with a crossover. HOWEVER, your car will be pre-loomed for the Harmon Kardon upgrade. It REALLY IS (IMO) worth ebaying for the components to upgrade to HK (which includes an amp to go in your boot). The standard speakers will take the upgrade fine and the quality and bass reproduction will improve significantly. You can also swap out the HU with an adapter plate if you want, and you can also get an Alpine Ai NET mp3 changer for the boot which runs through a module to make it compatible with the BMW system.

There is a development module atm which allows all the mp3 information to be displayed on the standard HU display as well.

Let me know if I can help you further.
 
Woah, cheers Oracle - you're going to be a great help, I can't seem to find anything out there on Google!

I've got a 330d Saloon Sport November 2002 (so facelift). I'll go and check the doors now to see which speakers I have.
 
Unfortunately, I only seem to have a six speaker set-up - tweeters up by the mirrors, the two below them at the bottom of the door (rather than under the armrest) and rears in the parcel shelf.

The HK system sounds like a good idea - I really want to keep it as stock as possible. Do you know what the BMW Professional head unit is like?
 
NickXX said:
Unfortunately, I only seem to have a six speaker set-up - tweeters up by the mirrors, the two below them at the bottom of the door (rather than under the armrest) and rears in the parcel shelf.

The HK system sounds like a good idea - I really want to keep it as stock as possible. Do you know what the BMW Professional head unit is like?
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TBH I wasn't impressed by the HK setup, I've swapped out the standard business unit and speakers on my e46 with a pioneer HU (AVIC X1R) and various Alpine speakers which drop into the factory fittings and retain the standard covers to deter the theifs (Componets in the front and some co-axial in the back).

This is also hooked up to the standard sport steering controls for volume/track/channel control.

All sounds very good even running off the HU amp but the only problem is lack of serious bass but I'm looking into that at the moment and would like to put in a Stealthbox as I still need to keep the boot space.
 
Nick, no problem, I just wanted to check as it was mainly the tourings that had the three speaker set up in the front door.

Ok, HK stuff does come up on ebay resonably frequently, however, it seems a bit short at the moment. I have seen a complete HK set (including speakers) for sale for under £150, and that was with the amp!

Right, what actually is your budget here, and are you reasonably mechanically minded, because I can help you obtain the complete E46 Sat Nav system with MK4 DVD computer (TV Tuner, DVD Player, mp3 player, sat nav, etc), 16:9 widescreen and all the wiring for around £1k. This comes with some tuners and amplifiers and greatly helps the sound.

Alternatively, you've got this which you can then chuck something like a Pioneer AVIC in (7" Screen, sat nav, decent amp, EQ, mp3, etc). Or upgrade the speakers and get an mp3 changer like this. Scrap that module and get the Intravene 100, which is a new module which allows all the mp3 information to be displayed with the HU.

Now, i've seen this intravene work with the standard business HU and the 16:9 screen, and on the 16:9 screen all i can say is WOW. All the information, track name, album, details, everything is displayed.

If you go 16:9, all the onboard computer functions appear on the screen too. It looks so good! Anyway, i'm getting excited now!! lol, let me know if I can help further, give you links, etc, etc
 
Oracle said:
Right, what actually is your budget here, and are you reasonably mechanically minded, because I can help you obtain the complete E46 Sat Nav system with MK4 DVD computer (TV Tuner, DVD Player, mp3 player, sat nav, etc), 16:9 widescreen and all the wiring for around £1k. This comes with some tuners and amplifiers and greatly helps the sound.
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I have a 2005 (54 plate) 330d sport and would be interested to know where you can pick up the complete 16:9 sat nav kit for a grand??

Cheers

Steve
 
ebay and install your self my friend. I've done about 3 of these now, ranging from tourings to coupes. Each model requires slightly different parts, but I have the parts list for all three, and as long as your not opposed to removing some trim and the passenger seat, its less than half a days labour.

Knowing BMW tho, theyd void your warranty on such an aged car!
 
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Oracle said:
ebay and install your self my friend. I've done about 3 of these now, ranging from tourings to coupes. Each model requires slightly different parts, but I have the parts list for all three, and as long as your not opposed to removing some trim and the passenger seat, its less than half a days labour.

Knowing BMW tho, theyd void your warranty on such an aged car!
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Could you send me the part list for a saloon please. (i managed to get the etk cd but can't make head nor tail of it).

Its something I have been tempted to do in the past, have no issues removing the trim but have found it quite restrictive cos the parts seem to change every year.

Cheers

Steve
 
Right. Found it

Nick, I can make your E46 look like this and use Steve's Intravention Module which you can demo on his new site

HTH ;)

Let me know if you want anymore info.
 
wakey99999 said:
Could you send me the part list for a saloon please. (i managed to get the etk cd but can't make head nor tail of it).

Its something I have been tempted to do in the past, have no issues removing the trim but have found it quite restrictive cos the parts seem to change every year.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Steve, the part do change, but you dont have to 'listen' to them tbh! Any MK4 DVD computer with any 16:9 screen will work, BUT, the latter DVD MK4 comps will have later firmwares, however, these can be updated by either BMW or a BMW specialist, so its not the end of the world.

I'll hook out the parts list. Can you trust me your email please.
 
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wakey99999 said:
Erm Newbie alert, how do I do this??

Cheers

Steve
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Dont worry, heres mine

w00t100 (at) btinternet (dot) com

I'll email you the retro fit kit number which will list IN FULL DETAIL all the parts you will need, including looms, wires, screws, etc. Now the large items, such as tuner, MK4 comp and screen, even the loom can all be got from ebay. DO NOT be afraid to use a user registered in Lithuania. All his stuff is legit and works in the UK faultlessly. I can give you his username if you like.

The rest of the parts includes brackets and things (some of which you should have if you have a changer), a new part for moving your Climate Control to the slot below, so the screen can fit, etc, and screws, which you may as well get from BMW. As I say, some stuff you wont need, so check fisrt.

Type the retrofit number into your ETK. If it doesnt work, let me know and i'll PDF the parts list and FULL BMW fitting instructions for you.
Steve
 
Just a bit of input re the HK as my new E46 has it fitted

While it is fairly good it is quite a way short of a decent system that you could put together form decent components
 
Yes, it is, but it can be retro fitted as a very good value for money upgrade, costing less than a new HU and speakers
 
Oracle said:
Right. Found it

Nick, I can make your E46 look like this and use Steve's Intravention Module which you can demo on his new site

HTH ;)

Let me know if you want anymore info.
Click to expand...

Awesome - where do you live roughly mate, and how much do you reckon a DVD/TV stock setup, with fairly decent audio would cost?
 
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