Custom Subwoofer Enclosure and Amp Installed

[admranger]

Infinite baffle setup then X5Dawg?

[m5james]

KidSquid, you're definately luck to have that stock enclosure. After looking at how well it uses all the little gaps, I wish I had one to use.

Today I spent about 5hrs total today working on the open space where the enclosure is going to go, cutting metal edges to give me more room, trimming stock plastic pieces, rewiring the amp to the other side, and making a cardboard version of the Zero's box for the hell of it - jesus there is a lot of room being wasted w/ that box!!! I spent about 2-3 of those hrs starting from scratch, making my own templates and fine tuning all the cardboard, making sure the box could be removed. The sub is supposed to arrive tomorrow, then I've still got to take my cardboard templets and convert them to the wood. I was half tempted to do 1/2" MDF all around as to not waste internal volume, but then I decided to use 3/4" on just the sides, then wrapping the side pieces w/ 1/2" on all the fronts, tops, bottoms, etc. so I've at least got a thicker materials to screw into.

[neurostudy]

it is with great sadness that i am trading my x5 hopefully to get another! anyway, i have the pioneer sub, alpine amp and enclosure for sale. its built to the specs in essams threads and is awesome. if you search this thread you can see the pics i posted. I will take $300 for the whole deal shipped to US or maybe Canada. please email me if interested. [email protected]. please dont send a pm as i dont check this often.

[m5james]

Bump for Bimmernoob and X5dawg

[m5james]

Originally Posted by KidSquid

I was going to build a wood box, but thought I could never maximize the airspace that the factory plastic box has.

I measured the volume and I believe it was around .53~.55 cu ft so it was a perfect fit for an 8" woofer.

Cut the face of the box off, fit a piece of MDF to it, fiberglass'd it on, and bolted in the subwoofer.

Just did a quick and dirty job cause no one will ever see it.

I was so tempted to stuff a 10" woofer in there.. but it would have been choked.

Sounds great... hits harder than I ever thought an 8" would.

I highly recommend it!

Depending on the price after shipping, I might be able to get my hands on a factory subwoofer enclosure and do the same thing you have done. I finally relocated and rewired my amp this evening, but I have yet to finish the templates of the custom MDF enclosure I was going to make. I made a cardboard version of Zero's box, but it left a lot of room around side. I'm hoping that if I can get my hands on the factory enclosure, I'd do the same fiberglass/MDF combo you've done, along w/ enlarging the left, upper rear corner since I removed my gas door lock, so I'd fiberglass a bumpout for that extra bit of airspace.

How much, if any, polyfill did you stuff in there? I got the L5 instead of the L7, so I know it'll fit for sure after you posted up your initial pics

[KidSquid]

Originally Posted by m5james

Depending on the price after shipping, I might be able to get my hands on a factory subwoofer enclosure and do the same thing you have done. I finally relocated and rewired my amp this evening, but I have yet to finish the templates of the custom MDF enclosure I was going to make. I made a cardboard version of Zero's box, but it left a lot of room around side. I'm hoping that if I can get my hands on the factory enclosure, I'd do the same fiberglass/MDF combo you've done, along w/ enlarging the left, upper rear corner since I removed my gas door lock, so I'd fiberglass a bumpout for that extra bit of airspace.

How much, if any, polyfill did you stuff in there? I got the L5 instead of the L7, so I know it'll fit for sure after you posted up your initial pics

Not that much... as a guess I'd say loosely filled bottom 2/3 of the way and the top about 1/3ish. I just wanted to slow down the waves to quiet down any noise from the enclosure being plastic.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you...

It's funny, I actually get alot of PM's about this... maybe I should start a new thread with my info heh...

[m5james]

It's all good, I'm still waiting for a guy to reply to me about buying his factory enclosure. Did you reinforce it at al? I just wondered if there would be any benefit in placing some bracing inside and maybe even scuffing the exterior and putting a layer or two of fiberglass on it.

[malcris]

Hi All,
Just started reading through the thread and I'm just wondering if anyone has thought of using the driver side compartment where the factory amp/cd setup is. I've already got rid of the factory cd changer in favor of an ipod 2point5 kit see this link: BMWE53V2IPKG. I've got a Jl 10w6v2 and I'm considering using mdf to replace the factory cover for the compartment. I figure I can relocate the factory amp and use the entire compartment which is definetly larger than the one on the passanger side (no fuse box, no fuel latch). Also, I figure I can remove the plastic block used to hold the spare tire compartment cover in favor of more box space. If I carpet it to match the interior it should be pretty good. Also, there are a couple of factory screw holes for mounting near the top of the compartment (to the left and right of where the factory compartment cover's latch is).

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I'll post pics as the project unfolds...

BTW. I've got the factory non-dsp non nav system. I'm in the process of doing a complete gut saving only the factory head unit (love the factory look and my steering wheel controls).

Here's the list of gear I currently have:

Front speakers: DLS iridium 6.3 3 way seperates
Rear Speakers: DLS iridium 6.2 2 way seperates
LOC (to convert high level signal from factory amp): Rockford 3sixty.1
Subwoofer: JL Audio 10w6v2 DVC
Amp 1 (Front/Rear): Old School PPI Art Series 404x (4x100)
Amp 2 (Sub): Jl Audio 500/1

Total Gear cost: About $2500 (The PPI is really old and I've had it for a long time, I forget what I paid but for those in the know, there is no substitute)

[m5james]

Using the passenger side compartment is easier and has the same amount of space w/o the need to relocate the amp. I hope you're not making the same initial mistake I did which is not realizing that there is also room under the floor. Search for some of the other subwoofer enclosure threads on here and you'll see what I mean. I don't see any benefit of relocating everything from the drivers side to the passengers side when both compartments are identical to each other. The fuse box takes up minimal space above the enclosure, and I removed my fuel door latch and the welded bracket (just wiggled back and forth till it came off) to make a hair more room for my total internal volume.

[malcris]

thanks James,
I wasn't anticipating using the space under the floor as extra enclosure space so much as a good place to use the factory screw posts as added support for the enclosure. Also, I plan on using mdf to re-create the factory hatch, have you tried this? if so how did you secure the bottom of the hatch (i.e. my thinking using the factory posts underneath the plastic piece on the side. I figure I can put some felt or something underneath it so it won't rattle. As far as using the driver's side, I'm eliminating the factory amp and housings anyway so it's no big deal using this side. I'm still not sure If the AM/FM tuner located in the tire well is directly connected to the head or if it runs off of the factory amp, haven't taken it apart yet to see. Also, I plan on using the Passanger side to mount my amps as they are too big to fit on the factory rack on the drivers side and I don't think they'll fit in the tire well. Side note: Have you experienced any problems with the electrical system in the car. I've heard that the computers in these things are a little touchy and adding a 70-100 amp draw sounds scary....Any suggestions...deep cycle battery/gel cell?