How To Guide Z3 Single Component Speakers Upgrade

[Zephyr]

so… here it is. You can listen to the result with your headphones.
sound is set to the maximum twice in the video.
for the rest of the time it is four to five clicks below max.
kept the amplifier, and installed everything plug and play. Just a swap of the oem speakers.
used no-name single components, 4ohm 40 wats, total cost 120€ (speakers, some wire connectors and two sound insulating sheets I used in the panel behind the seats).
Much more clarity, little to no distortion and more pleasant to the ear.
Hope you agree…

View: https://youtu.be/lS4BLWyWYc0

 

[GDavis]

Thanks Eddie, much appreciated.
having said that I have decided I don't have the courage of my convictions...so I didn't remove the original amp.
My Sony head unit puts out 52w X 4 so without cutting the wires I can't really find out if it would improve it going direct
I have done pretty much the same as Zephyr.
I've taken the original speakers out and replaced with JBL stage 3 coaxials, 2 @ 5"in the footwell and 2 @ 4"behind the seats.
Tweeters are still in and operating, though practically useless.
I did half a job and replaced the Right side of the car first, so I could do a direct comparison between old and new.
Rears were not as dramatically improved as the footwell, where the difference was obvious, but it's definitely better overall now.
When I'm out and about in the spring I'll have a better idea and might put a sub in, we'll see.

 

[GDavis]

By the way, I forgot to add a bit of info.
The speakers cost me £ 95.00
When I put the head unit back in (everything is out so I can remove carpets) it wouldn't work. Checked the Live, that was OK.
Eventually discovered the Earth on the aeriel needs to be connected to complete the circuit.
So if you remove the powered aeriel be aware of that.

 

[Mus Musculus]

Hi @Zephyr

Would you be willing to share the exact set-up you went for? I mean, the mid-rangers, woofers, and twitters you used. Want to re-vamp my set-up...

Also, there's what seems an unused spot next to the twitters. Is that part of a more elaborate set-up?

 

[GDavis]

Hi Zephyr
It seems that there are numerous factory speaker set ups out there, depending on the spec' of the car.
Mine was not completely basic but not too far off.
Two 5" component speakers in the footwells with 2 tweeters in the doors. Coupled with two 4" speakers in the plastic bulkhead behind the seats.
That was it.
Others have a built in sub and use the second port in the door for a larger tweeter. Amplifier/CD player in the boot etc...
I reckon mine has wiring for additional parts so I assume there was a standard loom for the Z3 and only the ordered system was wired up.

As I said previously there's a limit to the speakers available, according to the amount the tweeter protrudes in a coaxial speaker, (not an issue with component speakers obviously) and I went for the JBL stage 3 527's @ £49 and the 427's. @ £43.99 which I sourced on Ebay and Amazon respectively
Just a straight swap out really, no cutting or rewiring required.
I could have gone for Rockford Fosgate's at a similar price, or Focal.

 

[Zephyr]

Hi @Zephyr

Would you be willing to share the exact set-up you went for? I mean, the mid-rangers, woofers, and twitters you used. Want to re-vamp my set-up...

Also, there's what seems an unused spot next to the twitters. Is that part of a more elaborate set-up?

Hi
the unused spot is for high end systems and nests another small midrange. No need to use this unless you have a decent amplifier.
my setup is a cheap no-name set from a local shop. Just went there and asked for specific dimensions, ohms ans watts.
the woofers are paper/cloth midbass 60-5000hz 4ohm,
the midrange are also paper/cloth 97 db/w/m 200/ 18000 hz 4ohm
And the twitters are 3.3mF - 100V 4ohm silk dome
try to find whatever has a neodymium magnet, they seem to be the best.
and use the little amp. It works.

browsed the internet for days for a good price and decided to visit a shop as was not sure about fitment and specs. I had my original speakers with me as I did not want to drill or cut anything.
the bloke at the shop was very helpful and as I said he had sold tons of them to bmw owners, so he knew exactly was I was looking for.
please remember that he also suggested the “taramps” amplifiers that we knew nothing about, but browsing on youtube, I realised that these are quite good and cheap also.
so, yes, I know I went cheap on this setup, but what is the point of a super clear high end stereo on a roadster unless you are always with a hardtop on? Road noise, air, weird cabin, thick seats would ruin the experience anyway… why bother? I just wanted more volume and less distortion.

 

[Zephyr]

mine has wiring for additional parts so I assume there was a standard loom for the Z3 and only the ordered system was wired up.

i can verify that for a 2001 model. Everything is there.

 

[Mus Musculus]

so, yes, I know I went cheap on this setup, but what is the point of a super clear high end stereo on a roadster

Yeah, I agree!

A friend of mine bought an old MR2 for £2800, then took the car to Cambridge Car Audio and spent £2000 on a sound system package.

Anyway, thank you for the information— really useful.

 

[Mus Musculus]

Actually, if you want to have a good laugh, here are the packages from Cambridge Car Audio for the Z3:

BMW Audio Upgrade

The top package is £18,750

 

[bombur]

Actually, if you want to have a good laugh, here are the packages from Cambridge Car Audio for the Z3:

BMW Audio Upgrade

The top package is £18,750

but they do provide professional pictures....

 

[Mint]

Actually, if you want to have a good laugh, here are the packages from Cambridge Car Audio for the Z3:

BMW Audio Upgrade

The top package is £18,750

I'd love to see how they fit the Audison Prima 8″ under seat subwoofer on the passenger and driver side

 

[Mus Musculus]

I'd love to see how they fit the Audison Prima 8″ under seat subwoofer on the passenger and driver side

Even though I selected the Z3, I think the list of packages is for BMWs in general.

 

[Zephyr]

but they do provide professional pictures....

For that price the pictures have to include a MaxPower babe installing the stereo… naked…

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've been thinking about upgrading my system. It's a 2001 3.0, but I'm not sure what all is still there. My dad had the factory head unit removed and replaced with an Alpine unit so that he could get satellite radio. I have no clue if they did anything with the speakers or the speaker mounted amp/crossover. I do know it sounds like dog meat.

I'm a bit confused/disturbed to find out it's so "proprietary". That makes updates a bit more daunting to do myself and even a but worrysome at a car stereo shop as they may not understand how the existing rig is wired and designed to work.

With the image showing the speaker/amp with instructions for removing the amp/crossover, I'm assuming the wires that you simply connect together are for the speaker on the other side of the car?

 

[GDavis]

I think its safe to assume that the removal of the amp is simply a case knowing which feed in relates to which feed out.
Join the two together without the amp and you are going 'direct' from the head unit to the speaker.

 

[Zephyr]

View: https://youtu.be/J2hWoAt5emE

This guy does it the proper way.

 

[Daz7401]

I’m in the process of updating mine at the moment. The amp in the left hand footwell had already been removed and bypassed by the previous owner.
My car had the basic six speaker set up and so far I have replaced the footwell and rear speakers. Ran out of time yesterday to change the tweeters so that and a Vibe Powerbox ISO amp are next weekend’s jobs. Sounded pretty good yesterday with the change so far. The headunit is a CD43 with the Bluetooth adapter that replaces the CD changer and using Audison Prima AP5 and AP1 component speakers in the front and APX4’s upside down in the rear.
I don’t think the BMW amp mounted behind the left speaker has a crossover in it. There aren’t enough wires and the front speakers are wired in parallel with a capacitor on the tweeters. I will be replacing the capacitors with a crossover when I fit the new tweeters.

 

[ExMX5owner]

I’m in the process of updating mine at the moment. The amp in the left hand footwell had already been removed and bypassed by the previous owner.
My car had the basic six speaker set up and so far I have replaced the footwell and rear speakers. Ran out of time yesterday to change the tweeters so that and a Vibe Powerbox ISO amp are next weekend’s jobs. Sounded pretty good yesterday with the change so far. The headunit is a CD43 with the Bluetooth adapter that replaces the CD changer and using Audison Prima AP5 and AP1 component speakers in the front and APX4’s upside down in the rear.
I don’t think the BMW amp mounted behind the left speaker has a crossover in it. There aren’t enough wires and the front speakers are wired in parallel with a capacitor on the tweeters. I will be replacing the capacitors with a crossover when I fit the new tweeters.

If you can get hold of the driver parameters or build them using spltrace, its free. Xsim is an excellent freeware for calculating capacitor and inductor values, with anticipated response. You can tune to taste, or as flat as possible which is the best way to go. Of the shelf X/O's rarely do any set of drivers justice unless you are really lucky.

 

[Zephyr]

I’m in the process of updating mine at the moment. The amp in the left hand footwell had already been removed and bypassed by the previous owner.
My car had the basic six speaker set up and so far I have replaced the footwell and rear speakers. Ran out of time yesterday to change the tweeters so that and a Vibe Powerbox ISO amp are next weekend’s jobs. Sounded pretty good yesterday with the change so far. The headunit is a CD43 with the Bluetooth adapter that replaces the CD changer and using Audison Prima AP5 and AP1 component speakers in the front and APX4’s upside down in the rear.
I don’t think the BMW amp mounted behind the left speaker has a crossover in it. There aren’t enough wires and the front speakers are wired in parallel with a capacitor on the tweeters. I will be replacing the capacitors with a crossover when I fit the new tweeters.

way better than my cheap solution, this has to be one great setup. Please share the connection to the amp, also have the bluetooth to the cd and tempted to try this.

 

[137699]

Not understanding why everyone is so keen to bypass the amp? I have it in mine (admittedly coupe so perhaps the speakers are better?) and the system sounds bloody excellent - running from the CD43.