[tlow98]

Alright, well, this is a bit long overdue, but without further ado...

Car is a 2009 E91 with Hifi audio. Stock stereo is pretty rough on my old ears. It frequently makes me cringe, is fatiguing and has an awful static noise all the time.

Goal
Goal with this project was to accomplish an 80% satisfying upgrade for as little hassle and money as possible. I did not use any sound deadening material or get fancy with the install. In the past I used a lot of sound deadening material, and was satisfied, but since I always used it I wasn't really sure if it helped the sound as much as I thought it did. Plus, this car has far better door cards than my old Saab, which was my most recent build.

The Saab had some really nice Hybrid Audio 5.5" components and 100watts of A/B power to them. Sounded great.

My only hope is that I like the sound of the MB Quarts...bc, if I don't I'll likely be buying some Morel$. So, here's to hoping I'm satisfied with this budget build.

Stuff
Mb Quart QM200.3 (b/c Gladen Look-a-Like on the cheap) 229$ shipped
JL 400/4 1 week used, supposedly 210$ shipped
Used Technics Harness 6 channel - used 60$
KnuConceptZ * guage amp power kit - 23$ shipped
- A lot of wire for cheap!

Total = $522

The MBs look alright. I'm not used to seeing tiny neodynamiumiumium magnets, so that's a little disconcerting, but overall I can't fathom anyone paying $600 for these. The crossovers look like the nicest part.

If I were paying anywhere near 600$ I would have gone with the Morels that MusicarNW sells, because I'm sure they sound freaking fantastic and are true plug-N-play.

MBs



Install Part I - Speakers - Hope these tips can help someone!
Did the 3 way system in about 5 hours total. Things went together as expected with the following exceptions. I sure hope all OE wires with brown on them are negative, bc that's how I wired them

- One 4" woofer did not have a rubberized foam sealing ring on it as new out of the box. Odd. I used 3m double sided sticky foam. Already had the tape, so good enough.

- The 8" woofers do not have a complete full surround of sealing foam. I added some 3m weatherstrip sealant to ensure a nice seal.

- The tweeter set-up doesn't snap in so I cloth taped it where it needed to go then added some bolstering foam to make sure they stay there. My least favorite part of the MB set for sure. I understood this going into the project, but still these were $6 bills msrp and billed as somewhat plug and play ...c'mon, Mb Quart, get your shit together.

- The E90 door panels are of greater build quality than the E46/36 examples! Makes working in the panels quite nice and feels reliable.

See here:



See how I laid things out on the door panel here. I cloth taped the wires after this pic then secured them using more cloth tape. This was my mock-up stage.



Nope, I did not buy any BMW connectors.


Impressions Part I - Speakers only
Note: I left the crossovers in the -3db setting for the tweeters, aka, the middle setting.

Wasn't expecting much, and true to form, as others around here have suggested, not much of an improvement to be had with just speakers. There is better low end extension, and it's certainly cleaner, but the overall 'voice' of the OE amp persists. It can also get louder with less speaker-sourced distortion, but still makes me cringe a bit. Changes are specifically evident when fading front to back vs the rear OE speakers.

The MBs are definitely better at doing what the amp tells them to do, but what the amp is saying isn't all that clear.

Looking forward to installing the amp.

Install Part II - AMP install
Installed the amp. The system definitely is much cleaner sounding and can be ear-splitting loud. I'm still playing with the fine tuning, but the MBs seem bright to me. This only seems to occur on certain tracks at quite high volume levels, however, it is there for me. To others it may not be there.

After some playing with the crossover setting and the amp HP/LP setting I will re-assess.

Current amp settings:
Channel 1&2 : High Pass ~146 Hz
Channel 3&4 : Low Pass ~128Hz





I also really like not having the rear speakers playing. System is much more focused up front now.

Overall, I think the upgrade is easily worth the ~$500. In the end it just comes down to personal preference and matching the ear to the right speaker.

I'm certainly open to trying settings that have worked for others! Thanks

[tlow98]

Alright, so the speakers sound really good with electronic music and most any really high quality recordings.

They are a bit rough on grunge rock and some rap/hip hop.

I've powered the gain up a bit, as I realised I was getting into the distortion zone of the HU previously. I also dropped the crossed over points two notches each and this seemed to help, as well.

Current amp settings:
Channel 1&2 : High Pass ~136 Hz
Channel 3&4 : Low Pass ~118Hz

I would like to maybe even go lower, but will continue to let the speakers break in before I take another step.

For anyone using the MB 200.3, I hope this helps!

[tlow98]

Alright, update #3. Adjusted both amp gains up to about the 3/4 (slightly less for under seats) max area. Sounds substantially better.

[Rulz]

good one, and thanks for the advise

[Saico]

Hey, I am planning to connect this amp to my hi-fi stereo.
Could you please tell me where did you take the signal to the amp from?
Did you use a Y splitter to connect all channels?

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Saico

Hey, I am planning to connect this amp to my hi-fi stereo.
Could you please tell me where did you take the signal to the amp from?
Did you use a Y splitter to connect all channels?

Go straight to this guy. They're the best OE integration harnesses.

https://technicpnp.com/

[ctuna]

Technic Harness is so worth it.
Throw one lever uninstall the old Amp .
The Technic Harness splits out all the signals they are labeled .
No Cutting and Crimping or Tapping into the wire Harness required.
You don't want to leave the old amp in it's crap.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/attac...3&d=1329017429