I apologize for not taking many pics, but I never think to have a camera around while i'm working on the car.
In early Nov, I bought an '01 LeMans Blue M5. Since engine mods are outrageously expensive on these cars, I went the audio route this time around. I read the many threads on here and M5Board.com and decided on some components.
Head Unit: Alpine INA-W900BT, Sirius, PAC Steering wheel controls and parking brake bypass
Amp: Alpine PDX-5
Front: Alpine SPX 17-REF
These were really easy to install with the baffles purchased from 12v Electronics (www.12velectronics.com). It was as simple as taking off the door panels, replacing the stock pods with the panels, wiring everything and putting the door panels back on. I have a bit of buzzing coming from the passenger side, so I'll take it apart in a while and dynamat the panel to quiet it down.
Rear Fill: Alpine SPR-13C
No drama here except for clearancing the stock rear pods a bit to fit the bigger magnets.
Now the fun part!
Subwoofers: 2x Image Dynamics IDQ12
I wanted to replace the stock 10" subs with something a bit more substantial. I made a baffle and it looked ok, but a friend of mine had a few ideas that made the baffle really nice. He took some measurements from my trunk, put it into a CNC design and made me some really nice looking baffles that mount up with 3 bolts.
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He showed up with the baffle this weekend and we went to work. The woofers mounted in the holes perfectly. When I test fit the baffle, I notices that the shelf dips down a bit and might interfere with the woofer or the surround, so we had to space it out another 3/4 inch. After surrounding the woofers with 2 1/4" foam, and TONS of cussing, the woofers are mounted to my rear shelf. I wired them up to the stock anemic amp and they're ok for now.
Subs mounted:
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Bottom view:
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Mounted in the car, sorry for the low light.
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I'll update this post with the amp/head unit install once my janus-design kit shows up. I've had really bad luck on this front. I ordered an Ebay kit first, which showed up as an E46 kit. After the seller not responding to emails for 3 days, I bought one from Janus and put in a dispute with Paypal. Of course, the seller responded once I put in a dispute but it was too late and that's another story. FYI, don't buy the Ebay kit, I still don't have repayment after sending it back.
The Janus kit shows up and seems to be missing some parts. After emailing their general email, I got immediate responses at many times between 11pm and 6am German time. They had sent me an E53 kit instead of an E39, so I had to ship it back to Germany. I still haven't received the replacement so the amp/head unit will be done later.
In early Nov, I bought an '01 LeMans Blue M5. Since engine mods are outrageously expensive on these cars, I went the audio route this time around. I read the many threads on here and M5Board.com and decided on some components.
Head Unit: Alpine INA-W900BT, Sirius, PAC Steering wheel controls and parking brake bypass
Amp: Alpine PDX-5
Front: Alpine SPX 17-REF
These were really easy to install with the baffles purchased from 12v Electronics (www.12velectronics.com). It was as simple as taking off the door panels, replacing the stock pods with the panels, wiring everything and putting the door panels back on. I have a bit of buzzing coming from the passenger side, so I'll take it apart in a while and dynamat the panel to quiet it down.
Rear Fill: Alpine SPR-13C
No drama here except for clearancing the stock rear pods a bit to fit the bigger magnets.
Now the fun part!
Subwoofers: 2x Image Dynamics IDQ12
I wanted to replace the stock 10" subs with something a bit more substantial. I made a baffle and it looked ok, but a friend of mine had a few ideas that made the baffle really nice. He took some measurements from my trunk, put it into a CNC design and made me some really nice looking baffles that mount up with 3 bolts.
He showed up with the baffle this weekend and we went to work. The woofers mounted in the holes perfectly. When I test fit the baffle, I notices that the shelf dips down a bit and might interfere with the woofer or the surround, so we had to space it out another 3/4 inch. After surrounding the woofers with 2 1/4" foam, and TONS of cussing, the woofers are mounted to my rear shelf. I wired them up to the stock anemic amp and they're ok for now.
Subs mounted:
Bottom view:
Mounted in the car, sorry for the low light.
I'll update this post with the amp/head unit install once my janus-design kit shows up. I've had really bad luck on this front. I ordered an Ebay kit first, which showed up as an E46 kit. After the seller not responding to emails for 3 days, I bought one from Janus and put in a dispute with Paypal. Of course, the seller responded once I put in a dispute but it was too late and that's another story. FYI, don't buy the Ebay kit, I still don't have repayment after sending it back.
The Janus kit shows up and seems to be missing some parts. After emailing their general email, I got immediate responses at many times between 11pm and 6am German time. They had sent me an E53 kit instead of an E39, so I had to ship it back to Germany. I still haven't received the replacement so the amp/head unit will be done later.
