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M6 Door tweeter replacement

28K views 37 replies 12 participants last post by  whatheheck 
#1 · (Edited)
Here you go. I did this mod 3 weeks ago but just now finding the time to create a DIY procedures for sharing.
Sorry just now posting as too busy at work and at home.


My usual disclaimers:
  • I am posting this thread to share information. In case someone here wants to do this mod too - then here's your DIY step by step procedures. I've done the home work for you already.
  • Please understand that I am NOT posting here asking whether you like this mod or not.
    Remember - "To each is his own".
  • In life, as long as we are happy with what we have - that is all that matters.
  • Remember also that you can never please everybody.
  • So if you like this mod, saying "thanks for sharing the info" is fine.
    Kindly keep criticisms to yourself. Again, I am not doing this to please you.
  • Why I do this stuff? Because I can, and because I want to.
  • Note also that if you do this mod - you are doing this on your own risk.
    I am not responsible for your own work or actions or accuracy of my notes.
Now that we have that out of the way:
Situation:
M6 Stereo system is really nice. Amp is powerful enough and speakers used are good enough.
But I wanted to improve the sound.

So my first priority is the tweeters:
Stock tweeters are harsh sounding so I decided to replace it with my favorite tweets - Polk DB1000 tweeters. These Polk tweeters produces silky smooth highs and are reasonably priced.

See attached DIY step by step procedures.

Hope that helps some of you.

Next post is upgrade of Center Channel speaker. I used Focal CA100 4" speaker.
 

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#3 ·
I am, but we are all different.

What may sound good to me may not sound that good to other people.

What may look good to me may not look so good to other people.

What makes me happy may not make other people happy.

We are all different.

We all do mods to our pride and joy.

At the end of the day, as long as we are happy with our own vehicles - that is all that matters.

To answer your question: Yes, I am 1,000% happy with all my upgrades.
 
#4 ·
Nice... I like the M6's audio system. That said, I do think the tweeters could sound a bit better Do you know the make/model of the factory tweets? If I can easily drop in a set of better tweeters in 20 minutes, to improve the experience within my car that much more, then I'd say it's totally worth it. I just wonder how those Polks compare to the OEM in terms of input/output specs.

Thanks man!
B
 
#5 ·
BMW still insists on using Nokia speakers on most of their cars.
On my E39 M5, it was Nokia Speakers stock. I believe the tweets I removed on my M6 were made by Nokia too.

Nokia doesnt know squat about making speakers.

There are simply much better speakers and tweeters out there.

I like Polk DB1000 tweets. For me, the difference in sound quality is night and day.
Polk DB1000's produce sikly smooth highs.

I wish you live close to me, then you can come over my house and do your own listening tests and you decide if its worth the time and money. I even have ice cold beer and ice cold coke for you.

For now, I recommend you stop by your local stereo shop and listen to different speakers and tweeters and decide what you like best for your own car.

Nice... I like the M6's audio system. That said, I do think the tweeters could sound a bit better Do you know the make/model of the factory tweets? If I can easily drop in a set of better tweeters in 20 minutes, to improve the experience within my car that much more, then I'd say it's totally worth it. I just wonder how those Polks compare to the OEM in terms of input/output specs.

Thanks man!
B
 
#8 ·
Hi Dan,

Thanks for the detailed DIY. I have the Enhanced Premium Sound, not the Logic 7, in my M6 so I'm not planning on doing this speaker upgrade but I found it very informative (about pulling the door panel and how the window lift panel pops off).

A couple of idiot questions, does the trim panel that the tweeter sits in just pull up and out or is it also held in place by the door panel. It looked like you could just slide it up and off without taking the door panel off. Of course that does not give you much wire to play with. And that means that you would not splice before the bass blocker. Which is my next question, does the Polk need the bass blocker or that contra-indicated?

And I was confused by the statement "I believe all speakers used for the M6 are 4” size" as the Polk tweeter is 1" and I know the woofers under the front seats are larger than 4". I don't mean to be picky, just confused is all.

Makes wonder what brand of speakers BMW used in the Enhanced Premium Sound package. I know there are DIRAC electronics, but the speakers have to also be different as my BMW M/Individual contact mentioned to me during the final stages of my car that they cut the leather differently for EPS vice L7, so after the leather was cut there would be no changing the sound package (not that I was going to).
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hi Mark.

There's never idiot / stupid questions so always feel free to ask.

1) I read from other members that Enhanced Premium Sound sounds great.
I havent heard one personally but if that was the case, then that's great, no need to mess with upgrading speakers.

2) The tweeter trim panel can be removed by just popping it up but as you already mentioned, we wont be able to gain access to remove the OE bass blockers.

Bass blockers: When I upgraded the speakers on my E39 M5, I believe the frequency filtering is done by the amp, so there really is no need for bass blockers. However, I experimented not installing the Polk bass blockers and I got better sound with the Polk bass blockers installed.

Simply put, Polk crossover networwork / bass blocker design is better than BMW amp frequency filtering so I decided to install the Polk bass blockers.

3) Speaker sizes: My understanding is - all speakers on E63 M5 and E60 M5 are 4" in size - Except the underseat subwoofers. Sorry I failed to mention that. I dont know what size those are but you are correct, the subwoofers are not 4" size.

I am extremely happy with the undeseat subwoofers. For stock subwoofers - they are actually powerful enough, frequency goes low enough and are installed well enough to massage my rear end when I crank up the amp.

4) Great question on what speaker BMW uses on their Enhanced Premium Sound. Must be better quality as I understand they sound really good. I will have to listen to one soon. Actually, we have a BMW event this Saturday so I will find a car that has the DIRAC system and do a listending tests.

All I know is, on every car that I've owned, I had to replace the speakers & tweeters as there is simply much better speakers out there without spending a fortune.

But again, we are all different, so do whatever sounds good to each of us.

One perfect example, my sister asked me a few years ago for advice as she wants to buy a home stereo system.
She said her budget is $10K.

I took her to our local stereo shop, I asked her to ignore and not even look at prices and just concentrate on listening tests.
Stereo system A was $10K.
Stereo system B was $2K.

I asked which system sounds better to her. She said for her, they both sound the same.
So I said I guess there's no need to spend $10K cause she cant tell the difference anyway, not unless money is no object.
She bought the $2K system.

Anyway, again, whatever sounds good to each of us, and whatever makes us happy : )

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the detailed DIY. I have the Enhanced Premium Sound, not the Logic 7, in my M6 so I'm not planning on doing this speaker upgrade but I found it very informative (about pulling the door panel and how the window lift panel pops off).

A couple of idiot questions, does the trim panel that the tweeter sits in just pull up and out or is it also held in place by the door panel. It looked like you could just slide it up and off without taking the door panel off. Of course that does not give you much wire to play with. And that means that you would not splice before the bass blocker. Which is my next question, does the Polk need the bass blocker or that contra-indicated?

And I was confused by the statement "I believe all speakers used for the M6 are 4” size" as the Polk tweeter is 1" and I know the woofers under the front seats are larger than 4". I don't mean to be picky, just confused is all.

Makes wonder what brand of speakers BMW used in the Enhanced Premium Sound package. I know there are DIRAC electronics, but the speakers have to also be different as my BMW M/Individual contact mentioned to me during the final stages of my car that they cut the leather differently for EPS vice L7, so after the leather was cut there would be no changing the sound package (not that I was going to).
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks for the informative post!

I have a very high-end audio business and sell some pretty crazy stuff. I can tell you that there is no question that even with the Enhanced Premium Sound option, Focal (and others) make drivers that will SMOKE what the factory put in there so an upgrade is well worth the effort if you like music.

I personally don't worry much about my car audio as I have the Focal Grande Utopia EM with associated hardware in my living room and no car audio could ever touch gear at that level so I gave up long ago. It is however somewhat tempting to try the Focal Utopia car speakers but I can't see dumping that kind of money ($10-15K to do a nice system) into something that I will go away with the car.

This is what crazy home audio looks like to those that have never seen it (hint...you can spend more on cables for a system like this then for a brand new M6) ouich :
 

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#11 ·
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your home system must sound awesome!
You have a beautiful home and a great home sound system.

Thanks for sharing pix!

Thanks for the informative post!

I have a very high-end audio business and sell some pretty crazy stuff. I can tell you that there is no question that even with the Enhanced Premium Sound option, Focal (and others) make drivers that will SMOKE what the factory put in there so an upgrade is well worth the effort if you like music.

I personally don't worry much about my car audio as I have the Focal Grande Utopia EM with associated hardware in my living room and no car audio could ever touch gear at that level so I gave up long ago. It is however somewhat tempting to try the Focal Utopia car speakers but I can't see dumping that kind of money ($10-15K to do a nice system) into something that I will go away with the car.

This is what crazy home audio looks like to those that have never seen it (hint...you can spend more on cables for a system like this then for a brand new M6) ouich :
 
#13 ·
Very well said. Stock car stereo systems have indeed come along way.
Much better now but as we all know, everything could use a little improvement and we tailor our toys to our own liking.

I've read guys here that spent over $30K upgrading their stock system.
Hey, if you have the money, why not!

I dont have that kind of money, I just want to improve the sound a bit and tailor it to my liking.
I like silky smooth highs and clear vocals / mids.

For me, just replacing the front tweeters and center channel speakers alone made a tremendous difference in sound quality.
I'm happy now, leave my stereo system alone, and perhaps upgrade the rest of the speakers sometime later when time and money permits.

Stock underseat subwoofer again is good enough for me and I wont be messing with those.

Cheers to all of you.
 
#14 ·
I think your post might have given me the inspiration to put Focal replacement drivers across the front on the stock amp.

I put a big system in every car that I had until about 10 years ago. It was always a battle between good sound and weight as big subs, amps, capacitors, extra batteries, enclosures, etc, all screw up the handling and slow the car down. It also turned out to be too much of a temptation to abuse my hearing in a confined space.

That aside, I think the M6 has a perfect layout for a really over the top system. :fro:
 
#15 ·
Dan,

Thanks for the great instructions. I got around to replacing the tweeters today. Not bad, took a couple of hours. Mostly because the first one I went slow and easy, the second side took about 30 minutes! The tweeters are the same size so there is no issue with the amp, they are a minor draw anyway.

The sound is much better, it is subtle and if you are not an audiophile then it would not be worth the upgrade. But at higher volumes and with certain music the factory tweeters were just too harsh just as you have noted.

The removal is very straightforward just as your instructions show. But on the reassembly I was stumped for about 20 minutes on the first side trying to get the stupid panel back on. I found that in order to get the top "lip" over the top door edge properly I had to leave the tweeter casement off. Once I got the the top of the panel seated I was able to push the tweeter casing on and complete the seating of the panel with the clips.

Once again, thanks for going the extra step and putting together detailed instructions. I am on the regular 6 board in the Bimmerfest forum and had linked your instructions to some folks there. Looks like you are a reference in two forums!
 
#17 ·
I went with the Polk Audio recommendation. I had previously replaced my center channel with the Focal per your other thread. I already had some Kicker 1" tweeters from a previous install but elected to go with the Polk speakers after our discussion in the Focal thread back in Oct. of last year.

I couldn't find the Polk 1000 as they show discontinued, I went with the Polk DB1001 for the same price. I am very happy with the sound.

While I had the door panel off I looked at the door drivers. They look straightforward in that they are held on by 3 screws, there is a bracket that holds them to the door panel frame. I may look at replacing those with some Focal or MB Quart drivers down the road. For now very happy with the sound in this car.
 
#19 ·
Excellent. THanks for the update.

Yes, in my opinion, top priority for speaker upgrade on an M6 is Center Channel and Door Tweets.
Big difference in sound once we got the above replaced. I am very happy with mine.
You cant beat the sound quality of the focal midrange and the polk DB tweeters.

Similar to you, next mod sometime this summer are the door speakers and rear speaker replacment.
And similar to you too, my plan is to either go with Focal again or MB Quarts. Both great speakers for the price.

Kindly post yours if you get to do them first.

Thanks!

I went with the Polk Audio recommendation. I had previously replaced my center channel with the Focal per your other thread. I already had some Kicker 1" tweeters from a previous install but elected to go with the Polk speakers after our discussion in the Focal thread back in Oct. of last year.

I couldn't find the Polk 1000 as they show discontinued, I went with the Polk DB1001 for the same price. I am very happy with the sound.

While I had the door panel off I looked at the door drivers. They look straightforward in that they are held on by 3 screws, there is a bracket that holds them to the door panel frame. I may look at replacing those with some Focal or MB Quart drivers down the road. For now very happy with the sound in this car.
 
#18 ·
Hey Blacksport
Couldn't help not noticing your piano. Can't tell what kind it is (Japanese?), but looks like you or someone in your household is playing a Beethoven sonata (Pathetique?) Pianos are a passion of mine, I have a 9' Fazioli and a 9' Shigeru Kawai in my studio.
 
#21 ·
#25 ·
It is the same procedures as the tweeter replacement. Please see my post number 1 and open up the attachment.

Note: There is no direct plug and play door speakers for the M6 available out there so you will have to trim some plastic door parts and you will have to glue the speaker to the door panel.
 
#23 ·
jbajaria: The door speakers are not easy to do, and there is no plug and play replacement speaker out there yet to my knowledge.

Bavarian Soundwerks is supposed to come out with one but its now 2 years late on their release.

It is a 5 1/4" and if you go with an off the shelf 5 1/4" speaker - you will have to do some cutting and gluing.

I replaced mine with Polk 5 1/4" speakers. I am happy with the sound but it took a lot of cutting and hacking.

I recommend contacting Bavarian Soundwerks and perhaps they will be releasing their E63 speaker upgrade set soon.

Dan
 
#24 ·
Hey Dan,
Great info on the speakers and replacements.
Are the door speakers and center midrange speakers the same size?
Are they the same speaker?
My problem is that one of my door speakers blew on my Logic 7 system. Now I need a decent cost effective replacement,
plus I hate the sound of that center midrange.
 
#26 ·
Hi there Smokin Joe.

Yes, the door speakers and center speaker is the same size = 5.25"

The best replacement speaker out there in my opinion for a fair price are polk audio 5.25 coaxial speakers.
But again, they are not plug and play. BMW uses a stupid 3 hole design whereas normal speakers uses 4 screw mount design.
So you will have to do some cutting and gluing.

If you are interested, I have Logic 7 door speaker in my garage that I removed when I replaced my door speakers with Polk Audio coaxial speakers.
Make an offer?
 
#27 ·
good one, if anyone here wanna go in for the pair i def spilt it with you (PM me)
 
#28 ·
Dan,

Thanks for that thorough instructions. I saw that and will consider tackling this job.
Those details are really appreciated by all on this board. I bet even dealers use these.

I have read some post that suggest the problem is the amp and only sounds like the door speaker.
The dealer said it was the speaker, but you know how on the ball these techs can be. Any thoughts?

Is it actually the same speaker for the center channel as the doors?
So if I bought 2 pairs of the same speaker, I could replace the center and doors, or does center channel speaker have
different specs?

Bavarian Soundwerks has a full speaker kit that lists these speakers as 100mm which is about 4"
That sounds too small.

I may take you up on that logic 7 speaker but honestly have no idea what to offer.
I'll PM you.
 
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