E30 BMW Sub Install

[acsE30 0]

Here's a simple install in my 90 325i. I was on a budget since this is pretty much my daily beater car. Sub, amp, wires, and materials all totaled around $150 but still sounds clean and clear. Plays loud enough for my tastes as well. Guessing around 120db. Will use a cheesy Radio Shack meter on the dash to get a rough estimate when I have a spare moment. Main goal was to keep it compact and still sound good. Didn't need earth shattering, just clean and clear. I can still rattle my side views and rear view pretty damn good though if desired.

Equipment details. Kenwood KDC-X889 HU. Alpine Type R 3 ways up front. JL Audio 12w4-4 bridged on a POS Sony Xplod (insert crappy model number here). I'm hoping the "800w" sony is putting out around 200-300rms to the JL which would be a nice match. Box is 1.25ft^3 sealed... I usually prefer sealed boxes as, to me, they sound cleaner. Wire are 8awg + and ground... can't imagine this POS requiring any more than that. If it has a problem overheating or something I'll go bigger. I'm only using it because I picked it up clearance with my employee discount at Circuit City. Yep, I'm an installer at CC... you want to fight about it. Just kidding... been doing installs on my own for about 5 years and only worked at CC for the last 5 months. So don't flame me too hard I was trying to bring some quality and credibility to the place.

Impressions: Sounds surprisingly good for a budget build. Image is crap because the e30's speaker positioning is terrible. It would be much better with components and having tweeters on the door sail panels. Clarity is decent and output is pleasing. Reproduces at least 95% of the tracks I've thrown at it to my tastes. I listen to music from ALL genres so that's saying something.

On to the money shots... btw I am aware you can see some bare wood if you look from the sides where the amp is. I am going to paint the box so that will not be the case in the near future. Thanks for looking, comments, questions and suggestions are more than welcome.

Will post my other install when complete... that car gets the good stuff including a 12" AA Havoc and a few other goodies.

[Duran 387]

Yes there could be better equipment in there, but if it satisfies your musical needs don't let the other guys get you down. Looks great

[ncacoates 104]

Good install but i wanna see some sundown and an I-con in there =P

[Duran 387]

Good install but i wanna see some sundown and an I-con in there =P

XCON

[ncacoates 104]

Good install but i wanna see some sundown and an I-con in there =P

XCON

agreed :bigclap:

[Godsmack 361]

VERY impressive!!!!

Keep up the good work man!!!

[acsE30 0]

Thanks for the compliments guys... I am really actually quite pleased with the quality of the JL Audio 12w4-4. It's an old @ss sub but it is quality. I got this one new remanufactured in original box for $80 bucks on ebay. LOL the box for this thing is hilarious circa 1998. Check it out below.

I dog on the amp, but in all honesty, this sub only requires 250w RMS anyway. So it should do the job just fine. As long as it lasts longer than a year I'll be a happy camper. It really does sound quite clean as far as the low frequency reproduction is concerned. Sounds a ton cleaner and louder than just about anything ppl buy from Circuit City and cost less than a quarter of the price. If ppl who shopped there only knew quality builds make quality sound. LOL the other installers were dogging on me until they heard it. Told them they've only heard dirty bass from the stuff that CC carries. They've come around now though and ask for pointers. Only thing really suffering is my soundstage from the stock placement of the speakers.

Can't wait to get to the "real" install going on my other bimmer. That one will be louder and cleaner (hopefully). I haven't had any experience with the AA Havoc 12, but I've heard really good things.

[Duran 387]

It's good you are trying to make a difference, good job not conforming

[Adrian_D 520]

Very good looking install

[filtor1 13]

I think it looks just fine. Old school JL FTW too!

[P-Dizzle 1]

W4's were great subs...

[efxtruck 0]

nice install... Clean

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Great work, love the car.

[acsE30 0]

Thanks again guys... much appreciated. As stated above, it isn't the loudest sub setup in the world... but it does a really good job of filling in the lows and low-mids on my system. Which is exactly what I wanted it to do since it's my daily beater car. Get's louder than I need it to (115-120db maybe?) and plays clean for long periods of time without over heating.

BTW I've started my other e30 build with a 12" AA Havoc, clarion DXZ785USB receiver (one of the ugliest receivers ever, but fits the car's lighting and dash nicely), Performance Teknique ICBM Digital amp, Performance Teknique 774 4 ch amp, and rockford fanatic q 6.5" components. I'll start another build thread for that shortly.

Edited January 29, 2009 by acsE30

[knightwhosaysni 0]

Nice! Looks good with the beauty board up! Good work on a tiny budget!

[Tmax98 3]

great job!

i love the beauty panel!