The mounting holes for the OEM speakers are tres weird. You need to do something about that.

The OEM harness ends in a connector for the OEM speaker. It's not a connector you're likely to find at Rat Shack! You need to do something to attach your new speaker to the wiring.

I chose to use a hi-temp silver-bearing solder to make pluglike ends for the wires I soldered to my new speakers, sticking the ends into the OEM connector. Works a treat.

And do the rear speakers -- yes they are a PITA, but you only have to do it once. For those, BMW screwed up and used a mounting hole pattern which is common to the industry -- I re-used the OEM mounting hardware. You still have to deal with the OEM connector, though.


have fun!

 

That depends on you. Most people cut and splice the connections, some soldering them. I made a set of wire/ tabs that allows me to plug into the existing connections, then tape them securely so I can go back to the original drivers if I ever decide to sell my MINI. I basically took male blade connectors and ground them down to fit in the factory connector, then secured them with electrical tape. If you're going to cut and splice, then soldering is probably the most secure, but you could also use virtually any male / female electrical connector and secure with electrical tape.

 

+1 on that!

 

The focal k2's that i put into my friend car fits perfectly... Well sorrta the only thing that didnt line up was the screw holes.

 

This is really nice I think by this same logic we should shut down all the forums.
I am simply trying to help people get better sound for less money if you don't see that I am sorry(Don't we all come here to learn about Minis?).
Believe it or not there is some science to sound and there is a correct way to put a system together even if people have a "personal preference".

I think not putting rear speakers in the back is valid alternative to reading the how-to and spending lots of time replacing something that for the most part does not need to be replaced.

We are all here to learn about Minis in all areas, most poeple are not educated properly on audio in general, again I am simply here to educate .
I have learned tons in other parts of this forum I am simply trying to give back in the area I know very well.

Sorry if advice and recommendations are "banter" to you.

Forums are not for everyone

This is great news !! Now I know my Utopias will fit

 

This is an example of what I consider "banter". Here is a person who has found what he considers a reasonable deal for products he is comfortable installing, but you come across as some grumpy old self proclaimed "audio god" and with a "it's my way or the highway" attitude. You may be the most learned audiophile on earth, but the implied attitude you portray in your posts just turns other people off, which defeats your stated intention. I, for one, completely discount anything you post because of this. If you really want to teach people about audio, you need to display the slightest glimmer of tolerance towards other peoples choices.

Remember, not everyone's the same on the NAM site- you know nothing about what drives their personal choices, their financial situation, the type of music they listen to, etc., etc. The only real thing you do know is that they have excellent taste in cars.

 

I think the only reason this person is considering the Infinity speakers is because if you read through this forum it appears to be the only speaker along with the Focals that will fit.
I know you are one of the main people making the Infinity recommendation so I understand why you want to attack me. I am not here to prove you wrong , I am here to open up people eyes despite if YOU feel I am turning people off with my attitude.
If there is anything I am guilty of it is being passionate about audio and Mini's.
You recommended the Infinity speakers so you are guilty of this as well.
I really don't need to know anyones financial situation to make a recomendation when they are about the same price.
Type of music ;I will give you credit ,that would sway my decision a little bit but still would never make the recomendation you did regardless of music taste.

I am sorry we don't see eye to eye on this matter and I am even more sorry you could not take this as friendy advice, and you needed to turn this into something it is not.

If you would like to discuss this further please PM me so we don't clog up this thread

 

Veg1515,

If you carefully read my previous posts, you can see that I did not ever recommend the Infinitys. I only described what I used, said they fit, and that I thought they sounded great, which are all facts based on empirical data. On several occasions, I am careful to offer other alternatives and never imply that what I have done is the right thing for everyone. I never attack anyone's choices, or degrade any particular manufacturer (other than the OEM equipment). I believe that if you re-read your posts you will see the difference I speak of. That's what ticked me off. I really could give a ***** whether you like Infinity or not, all I care about is that whether I am happy with my setup.

Also - you are making comparisons of a $4000 setup to a $400 setup. I sure hope it sounds at least 10X better, or you have wasted your money. Once you actually have purchased a MINI and installed your system, I'd love to hear it - I'd expect it to sound awesome.

For me personally, I'd never invest $4000 in a system to listen to compressed music like MP3's and AAC's - which is what I listen to in my car. Maybe you don't listen to MP3's, maybe you plan on installing an optical drive of some type or only listen to CD's. But either way, I would not publicly question your choices - because I have no data to form an opinion on.


I'll leave it at that, and I promise that if I have any more to say to you that it will be via a private message.

 

Yeah. People who are planning to do sound systems in your car. Just remember sound quality changes from person to person. An audiophile are not people who just like one sort of music. It's people who are enthusist to audio it self, and try to meet their likeing via buying Boston, focals, infinity, kenwood, pioneer, and etc. Just try them out before you buy, and see what you like. If you can't find it in stores; then just ask some people on this forum. m sure there are some members on here that have those brands, and willing to let you listen.


So just enjoy your sound your way :D

 

Ok you two... I thought a page or two back you both said you were stepping off your soap boxes.

Edit: Yup, I was right.

 

Oooo, good catch!

 

Ok, for those (like me) who have desired pictures of the A-pillar removal and MINI's hi-fi tweeter...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fishber...7617116639868/

 

fishbert looks good...especially the new Escort 9500...I still got the 8500 X50 until it dies..... Did you choose fuse 30 for power?

 

I haven't finished it yet... it was getting dark that day, so I am waiting until this weekend when I have some time to pull off that kick panel around the fuse box and tap onto a proper ground within reach of the ground wire I have. Besides, I can hide all the other bits behind that kick panel as well and make it a very clean install. I plan on using an add-a-circuit at whatever fuse is assigned to the park distance function (30? 32? ... something like that).

 

Can you say TROLL?

 

After ~2 years of listening pleasure me and a friend completely took everything out of my 2007 S and put it back to stock in just 3.5 hours.
This includes: Front and rear speakers, two amps, crossovers, rockford 360.2 signal processor, subwoofer, all the wiring, and associated bits.

I'm tired.

Everything will be going into my 09 JCW but I'll let the pros do it. It took the pro a couple full days last time (not including custom subbox build) and I can see why after pulling all the wires and stuff out. He did an awesome job installing everything (that I hadn't done myself) last time.


I guess this thread has come full circle for me.

 

 

Well after all the whailing and gnashing of teeth, I fianlly did it. I tried the easy addition of a sub to my "hi-fi" system and that didnt do the trick. I himmed and hawed about whether or not and when to do a speaker replacement but it all came to a head when I left my wife sitting in the car while I went into the store to get something and I came out and she said "honey this stereo sounds like ****". Nuf said and the replacement wheels were put in motion. Now a lot has been made about Crutchfield and brand this or that so I went to Crutchfield and the online advisor was no freaking help. If I had the room I would attach the transcript where he said "sorry I cant help you because we dont have that much data on your MINI". SO...I looked around a bit and decided on some Clarion speakers all around. The install in the back was the most difficult part but the seats came out smooth and I simply pulled the plastics out from the bottom and held it open with a piece of wood about a foot long and viola I did the swap with 3-ways. The fronts on the '09...WHAT A BREEZE!!!! None of the horrid tearing things apart at all. Simply pull the large door panel off and replace the mid with a mid. It (the Mid) however came as a component set of speakers with a separate tweeter (which I didnt know when I purchased) so I took the liberty of replacing the A-pillar tweeters as well which were a snap! I also replaced the smaller door speakers with some two ways. I cant tell you the difference it has made and it is so clear and well the sub went bye bye...dont need it anymore. A lot has been made about cost of this brand or that but all total I spent a little under $350 to replace all the speakers and it sounds fantastic! By the way...the fit was perfect. Just had to redrill a couple holes for the door speakers. Cheers!

 

The tweeters you got fit the OEM mounting? Or did you have to do anything fancy to mount them in the pillar?

What speakers were they?

 

I just received my Infinity Reference 3022's and 6022's and have a quick question that I haven't been able to find an answer to. The 3022's came with what appear to be passive crossovers. Is it necessary to install these and if so, where's the best place to put them?

 

That's strange .... did you order 3022cf's? Mine had no crossovers. A quick check on Infinity's site makes no mention of them.

Do you have serial numbers?

 

Might they be these?

 

No they're 3022 cf's. The crossover (or whatever it is) doesn't look like that kind that comes with components - it looks more like a big diode about the size of my pinky. They look similar to the "bass blocker" passive crossovers I've seen before

EDIT

I found some instructions online. Not sure why I needed these instructions as this was how I thought it should go, guess I just needed a little hand holding lol



The ones that came with the 3022cf's are 100Hz cutoff and are bipolar as opposed to the axial ones shown above

 

Sorry _ I did recieve these - I thought they were bass blockers and were unnecssary if doing the wiring swap in this thread - only works for non-hifi.

 

Thanks to the wealth of information in this thread, I swapped out my old door speakers the other day for a set of JL TR400 and 650 CXi's, and I couldn't be happier with the improved sound quality. My mirror switch popped off, but it honestly wasn't that difficult to get back together at all after you see it in person. I think the hardest part of the entire project was prying those door panels off and popping them back on, those clips are numerous and unforgiving!

It did definitely point out just how bad the rear 6x9's are though, I've practically faded them out completely now. I think I'll just leave them alone and add an SSL Soundstorm USS8 in the near future. Adding a sufficient amount of bass to the front speakers just sounds goofy past a certain volume level, so I'll need a real sub for sure. Not looking forward to running 4 wires all the way back from the X9331 to the rear for it though!

(Just so I'm reading correctly on this, on the standard stereo, you need to run the wiring from the RF and LF speakers to the 6-pin high level input on the USS8, right?)