You people suck. 12 years later, I finally replace speakers.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

So inspired was I by Jay's work on his JL speakers, that I found myself open to the notion of a speaker upgrade in the E53.

That's not entirely true. I've always been a bit of a speaker fiend, but I haven't actually fiddled with speakers in a BMW since the early 90's when I replaced the once-upgraded units in my 1975 2002. Since then, I never found the value prop behind spending money on a system through which I normally listen to news radio, classical radio, and radio radio. I did install the AUX input a couple years ago, so I can at least get streaming digital, but that's more ab something to keep my ears busy than it is a passion for music. I certainly don't care much about symphonic reproduction, accuracy, or any of the other things that have some folks replacing entire OEM audio systems. Not for me.

But what I learned through the most recent threads is that the speaker upgrade I thought was impossible without a BavAuto offering was not only possible, but it could be done for a nominal price, return very nice sound, and retain the OE look, brackets, and connectors. Sign me up, Coach.

And so it was that I found myself out and about faced with a JL Audio set much less expensive than it was online. It was a sign that they had two of them- one for the front and one for the rear.

Now, against the advice from Jay's work, I found these at 6.5" instead of 6". The key here is that they are not 'oversized' 6.5" which are closer to 6.75". Another poster there mentioned that they could be 160mm and would fit with a little encouragement. Indeed, while others cut with a dremel or snips or something like that, I found the metal mounting ring of the speakers was easy to simply shape up and inward with a small pair of flat nose pliers. Once carefully turned upward, the physical fit was fine. We used silicon rather than hot glue for the bond to the OE housing. We put a bead down on the lip behind the speaker and a bead along the top once seated. They're not going anywhere, and they're not vibrating either.

Now the cool part happened when we got lucky with the tweeters in the door. The JL tweeters are WAY smaller than the OE ones, so that presents a challenge for the mount. We looked around for some foam and could not believe how lucky we were to discover this perfect solution.

The tweeters in the door are difficult to remove, but not impossible. Once removed, the opening from the back of the speaker grill is the exactly the same size as the foam insulation for copper water pipe. The 'test fit was nearly impossible to believe:

When viewed from the inside, the speakers appear no different from OE. They do not rattle, and the sound... Well...

I'm more than 25 years older than I was when I did this the last time. What I've noticed is that I don't hear so well. In fact, I suspect that one reason I don't listen to the radio much with the girls in tow is that I need it a bit louder- just to hear the words.

We only got through the rear doors today, but the sound improvement is amazing. For $113, this may be one of the more incredible 'bang for the buck' mods I have done. Just hearing the rear speakers makes me confident that the fronts we do tomorrow are going to be transformative.

We'll do the front doors tomorrow. If there's time, we'll do the BSW sub that I bought this summer. It was on clearance and I couldn't resist having a bit of E53 legend in my own X5.

More to come.

Prop I told you that you would like the JL audio upgrade. Its awesome that you were able to get their 6.5 woofer to work correctly with minimal modification. The front will also prove to be a great improvement once you get them installed. Thanks for sharing your findings.

[crystalworks]

That is why I asked about the impedance Prop. I was worried as well about, basically, overdriving the amp. You are sending double the power, to each of those drivers. Factory amplifiers usually aren't happy with that, especially as you mentioned, at higher volumes. I've had customers with Mercedes try to do this and it ended horribly but they were much older cars with much less capable amps.

If you haven't heard any distortion yet, above your listening levels, I think you'll be fine though.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

That is why I asked about the impedance Prop. I was worried as well about, basically, overdriving the amp. You are sending double the power, to each of those drivers. Factory amplifiers usually aren't happy with that, especially as you mentioned, at higher volumes. I've had customers with Mercedes try to do this and it ended horribly but they were much older cars with much less capable amps.

If you haven't heard any distortion yet, above your listening levels, I think you'll be fine though.

You will be fine the BSW systems used 4 ohm drivers and in some earlier models they used 3 ohm driver (Rainbow drivers).

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by X53Jay4.8is

You will be fine the BSW systems used 4 ohm drivers and in some earlier models they used 3 ohm driver (Rainbow drivers).

I've read BSW also used 8ohm drivers in DSP applications... I can't ever find a definitive answer to the particular model I have in my truck: BSW.mb160r. Next time I have a door panel off though I'll be sure to measure them myself.

As wpoll said, the amp should be happy as long as it is not clipping the speakers. If you aren't hearing distortion you should be fine. With my setup, I hear distortion from the BSW sub way before any is noticeable in the interior speakers.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

I've read BSW also used 8ohm drivers in DSP applications... I can't ever find a definitive answer to the particular model I have in my truck: BSW.mb160r. Next time I have a door panel off though I'll be sure to measure them myself.

As wpoll said, the amp should be happy as long as it is not clipping the speakers. If you aren't hearing distortion you should be fine. With my setup, I hear distortion from the BSW sub way before any is noticeable in the interior speakers.

The drivers that came out of my X5 4.6is with DSP are BSW drivers made by MB quart 4 ohms. The earlier set that I saw in a friend's X5 last year before I became an owner had Rainbow speakers for BSW at 3 ohms. These are my only two physical references that I can point to. I cannot say that at some point maybe BSW switched vendors of their speakers which may have been some 8 ohm applications. BSW use to contract with various speaker manufacturers to come up with vehicle specific applications one of which would be the BMW X5 E53.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

I've read BSW also used 8ohm drivers in DSP applications... I can't ever find a definitive answer to the particular model I have in my truck: BSW.mb160r. Next time I have a door panel off though I'll be sure to measure them myself.

As wpoll said, the amp should be happy as long as it is not clipping the speakers. If you aren't hearing distortion you should be fine. With my setup, I hear distortion from the BSW sub way before any is noticeable in the interior speakers.

I run the JL audio stealth sub driven by a focal mono amp. No distortion here.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by X53Jay4.8is

I run the JL audio stealth sub driven by a focal mono amp. No distortion here.

Yeah, I'm not overly impressed with the BSW 8" stealth sub. It does okay, but can not handle lows very well at all past a certain volume. 80-120hz it handles very well though. So some music sounds amazing... and others (R&B, Hip Hop, House, Dub Step, etc) sound less than stellar.

I'm going to do something custom for a sub solution in the future, but I don't have the time to mess with something that works decently for the moment.

[tmv]

Subscribed.

[wpoll]

Here's why the impedance may be an issue (and why it won't be).

The lower impedance will indeed draw more power from the amp - same voltage swing but twice the current, so double the power (power = volts x amps). This isn't a problem for the amp, as it should designed to cope with running up to its max. power output.

It's max. power output is where it is being driven to the point where it cannot supply any more power. Beyond this point, it will begin the clip the output signal. You will hear this as distortion. Slight clipping won't likely hurt the amp.

With 4 ohm loads the amp. will be driven into clipping at a lower input signal level than with 8 ohm loads, so you need to be careful with the input control. I'm avoiding the term "volume" here, as volume is what your ears hear, not what the amp. makes. The amp. may be at full power at input level "x" with 8 ohm loads but will be at full power with a lower input level with 4 ohm loads - but still sound just as loud.

The short story is - avoid clipping and you'll be ok. Clipping will KILL your speakers. But it sounds nasty well before it kills them, so don't over drive the amp., avoid clipping and your amp. and speakers will be fine.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Okay I know that on the BSW system they used drivers that were 4 ohms and some of the earlier models used 3 ohm drivers for their system. From my installation of the JL drivers they sound remarkably better then the OE system and run really well in the system. The DSP amp does not appear to have a problem supplying the new drivers at 4 ohms.