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Rear speaker replacement custom adapter

47K views 28 replies 15 participants last post by  havnfun328 
#1 ·
The rear non-hk speakers in the e46 are horrible and so I decided to replace them. Instead of going with 6.5 inch speakers I opted for 5.25's. First thing I noticed was the discrepancy in the number of screws which hold the original speaker in (3) and the number of screw fittings in the after market speaker (4). There are adapters which solve this issue but after some thought I decided to reuse the frame from the factory speaker.

The crap speaker


Use a flat head screw driver to remove speaker paper


Upper speaker removed


Use a hefty cutter to cut plastic holding the speaker magnet to frame


Speaker magnet removed


Use the new 5.25 as a guide to making holes in the speaker frame


These are the screws i picked up from home depot


These clips help keep the speaker in place


Fits nicely


Final placement in housing


In the car
 
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#4 ·
Very nice, PbSun. Crutchfield sells an adapter bracket for 5 1/4 " speakers, but I like the way you MacGyvered a free solution.

We used Infinity Reference 6022si speakers in the back of my son's '01 coupe. They are 2-ohm speakers just like the originals (so the impedance matches) and the "si" stands for shallow mount. They are 6 1/2 " speakers, and the '01 325Ci has a plastic basket that the speakers drop into. We cut off the mounting tabs on the Infinities and glued them into the plastic basket with a bead of silicone around the edge. Fit was excellent.

Eman, unless the 323 coupe is real different than the 325, these should fit in your car - the top mounting depth is 1 and 13/16 inches. The newer model (6032si) is only 1 15/16, so it should work too. Both models are great sounding and reasonably priced - you can find them for around $60 a pair.

We also cut out the connector built into the old speaker (visible in the 3rd and 4th pics above) and soldered it onto the new speaker wires so we didn't have to cut the existing harness.

The other nice thing about the Infinities is the tweeter doesn't stick up beyond the top of the woofer cone (unlike the ones above) so you can still use the stock speaker grill.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for posting what you did. A couple guys put in infinity kappa 6.5s but it was a sedan, I didnt know if there was a difference with the coupe

Crutchfield has the E46 adapters, I hear two sets will get me front 5.25 kappas and rear 6.5 kappa separates. Tweeters in the rear sidecard, not ideal, but meh wtf do I care. I don't sit in the back. :) Only thing I am wondering now is how to mount the front tweeters (hot glue may be it) and if a 6.5" JL/Kickersub will fit in place of the HK 6x9 'sub'.

I am wanting to keep the install as invisible as possible. I will be modifying the CD shelf and mounting the amp and crossovers on the CD shelf, somehow.
 
#6 ·
That's creative, I do have a point of observation. If I am seeing the pictures correctly, it looks like you did not seal or fill the gap between the old speaker ring and the new speaker. The speaker will not perform as designed with that gap present. Each side of the speaker needs to see it's own isolated airspace. For example a sealed box or in this case an infinite baffle.

You could use a thin peice of MDF to bridge that gap, the sound quality and volume should improve.
 
#10 ·
We put components in the front - separate tweeters and mid-bass - and 2-ways in the rear deck. The built-in tweeter in the 2-way doesn't do anything because the crossover has already happened at the amp, but it cost less and there's no rear tweeter in the coupes anyway.

The spec to pay attention to is "top mounting depth". Unless you want to cut sheet metal, you're limited to about 2 1/2" in the doors and 2 3/4" in the rear deck. The 60.9s have 2 7/16 depth so you should be OK in the rear. The 50.9s have 2 3/16, so you should be fine in the front too.

The midrange is 2 3/4" diameter and about 1 1/4" deep. We didn't replace those because they sounded OK.

The midrange and mid-bass speakers are 2 ohms, but the tweeters are 8 ohms (go figure). We haven't put the (2 ohm) tweets in the front doors yet, and I'm a little bit worried about the impedance mismatch - at the very least it will require the treble to be cranked up a bunch and at the worst it could fry something. :yikes: I'll post after we do it.

Good luck with your install. PM me if you need more info.
 
#11 ·
The spec to pay attention to is "top mounting depth". Unless you want to cut sheet metal, you're limited to about 2 1/2" in the doors and 2 3/4" in the rear deck. The 60.9s have 2 7/16 depth so you should be OK in the rear. The 50.9s have 2 3/16, so you should be fine in the front too.
2 3/4 in the back of the Coupe? I haven't tried to replace mine yet, but I was thinking about trying the Kicker 6.5" shallow mount woofers in the back. The stated top mount depth is either 2 13/16" or 2 7/8"... I wonder if that would fit.
 
#12 · (Edited)
It's kinda weird back there - the pocket where the speakers fit slopes to one side, so the depth depends on where you measure it. Right in the center there's almost 3 1/2 if I remember correctly, but then it slopes up to one side. If the Kicker magnet is not too big in diameter, it should fit.

But take a look back there - it's real easy to take the old speakers out and measure. Pop off the grill, remove 3 screws and lift the speaker out. If you have the mounting lug for a child's car seat, you have to take that off first.

Edit: Not sure I explained this clearly. If the speaker magnet is say, 4" in diameter, then you want to measure 2" off center toward the shallow end and see if you have enough depth. If it's 6" in diameter then measure at 3" off center, because the space is getting shallower the farther away from center you go. Hope this helped.
 
#13 ·
Bandersnatch... you've be a lot of help. Thanks.

I placed my order today for 50.9s 60.9s and an amp. I will probably add 2x mids to the rear doors and sell the tweeters. I couldnt tell if the 2x kappa would fit under the grill so it was a bit more for the 60.9 just to get the woofer than a 2x, but hopefully someone will want a tweeter for a few bucks and it wont be too bad.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I recently bought some Focal speakers that are exact 6" replacements. They dropped in the rear deck baskets when I removed a slip-on rubber cap on the bottom magnet. Nice fit, easy install and great sound.

*EDIT* see below for fixes, not exact fitment and Diamond Audio not Focal. Overall shoot me for posting inaccurate info, my number one pet peeve on information forums.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I must be getting old, memory loss. :facepalm: Actually a total fail of a post because I'm wrong on so many points.
I pulled out photos of the install and forgot i had to glue the speaker to the basket ring, so no the mounting points weren't the same. The Speakers were Diamond Audio 363 . I'd pull my whole post, but leaving it to answer your question although it makes me look like an idiot(rightfully so).
 
#20 · (Edited)
I can verify that the Kappa 60.9CS woofers will not fit in the rear deck baskets. You must remove the baskets and mount to the parcel tray itself. Which is bad since the support is actually the basket. If you mount to the parcel tray you can use your baskets as speaker adapters by cutting off the basket from the mount ring, the Kappa diamter is a perfect fit, just not its depth.

I drimmeled away about half the basket to allow the 6.5 to fit depth wise in the basket. I then saved about half the speaker support. I am happy with the kappa setup. I am running CDT 6x9 subs, 50.9CS fronts, 60.9CS rears w/the high pass filter pressed on the rears to keep the rear from being too bright. Powering it is a Kappa 5. It gets very loud and far clearer than the OEM HK setup I had. Plenty of bass too with the 6x9s.

My objectives were reached: maintain OEM apperance, improve sound.

Nothing looks non-oem except the amp power cable running under the panel where the spare tire spot/mobility kit spot which cannot be seen until you remove the trunk lid. Overall I think the setup was pretty perfect. No perm mods to the car.
 
#21 ·
Dan, see the 2nd and 3rd to last pics in the very first post.

PBSun cut the plastic frame off the OEM speaker. It has the oddball 3-hole mounting system that BMW uses. Then he screwed his speakers to the plastic frame. The gap all around the speaker is because he used 5 1/4 inch speakers.

I would think that the 6 1/2 inch Infinity 6022si's would drop right in with no gap. Use silicone to seal the bracket to the speaker all the way around. If the fit is too tight, I'm sure you can use the plastic basket as the mount like I did.

I think the bracket from the original speakers is a better solution. There was a little bit of slop in the fit to the basket, but the speaker bracket fits down inside the lip of the basket, so the bracket is a hair smaller than the basket and the fit might be perfect.

Good luck.
 
#22 ·
thanks, awesome. As long as its just modifying the plastic bracket from the old speaker and a little solder, it should be no big deal. Now - the question is do I want to go for the infinitys that I know will fit....or go for something with a little more low end punch for around the same price? I'll probably stick with the infinitys if theyre an improvement over stock, but since I have no plans to upgrade this further, some 6.5" subs in the rear would be appealing.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I would modify the baskets rather than mount the speakers to your parcel tray. I thought it might sag overtime so I wanted the basket to support as much as possible. Its actually a snug fit.

Here is what I ended up with for the 60.9CS woofer. Don't worry about messing them up, a new set is like 20 bucks, and yes, it took me two tries of experimenting. You can cut the entire basket off though and just use the ring as a mount. As I said I didnt like this since it left the speaker hanging on the parcel tray.




 
#25 ·
those are the same kappa's that I used - or at least they look the same. Mine fit without modifying the cup. However, I used one of the grill plates from the box to mount it down to and now it bounces off the grille when installed. I need to go back out and figure how to adapt it to the cup without the grille-ring so it sits lower. It might not fit by the time I figure that out..
 
#24 ·
old thread, but very helpful. one of my rear speakers blew and so i am replacing them. one thing that i wonder about is why the rear speakers are not in a sealed enclosure? as you can see from the pic in the post right above, the "basket" that the speaker sits in has like a grate at the bottom of it that is open to the trunk. perhaps the stock speakers are designed to be "free air"? its been my experience that just about all speakers sound better when in a sealed enclosure.. even if its a tiny one. anyone know what the deal is?
 
#28 ·
Has anyone found rear deck speaker adapters for 6.5" speakers in the US

I have reviewed the solutions previously mentioned and would like to make use of purpose-made adapters but the only source still appears to be the UK with a cost with shipping of $30. I would like to cut the basket off of the old speakers, but the previous owner only left one behind. The use of MDF or plywood and black paint appears to be the only option left for a clean look.

Has anyone found another option yet?

Geiger
 
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