BMW E36 Blog

Installing stock speakers inside your BMW E36 without making any damages!

27th January 2007

Installing stock speakers inside your BMW E36 without making any damages!

posted in Audio, Do It Yourself, Technical Info, Tips & Tricks |


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Hi Friends,

 

As I promised you, I’m writing today about how I upgraded my BMW E36 sound system without doing any damages to my car. I was not happy with the standard sound in my car as I kept recalling the sound system that I used to have in my previous BMW E30. It was a sound system with (Kenwood speakers, Subwoofers, Boschmann amplifier and a Sony Xplod headset with a CD changer). So, I wanted to do a similar change to my new car, but I didn’t want to make any damages to the car as I had to cut through the metal to place the speakers and the subwoofers in my old car. I found a new way which I think it’s away better than the old one and I’m going to explain it with photos next . So enjoy and I hope you’ll find this article very interesting.

 

Disclaimer: Use this procedure at your own risk and don’t blame me of any trouble 😉

 

With that said, we can start now. . .

 

The first thing that I had to do with is to remove the covers that BMW used to hide the rear speakers. By using a screwdriver, you can easily do that but you have to be careful in order not to break them. After you remove that cover, you’ll be able to see the rear speakers. See screenshot below:

 



 

and this one:



 

Now, after your see this, you can use the screwdriver again to remove the 2 screws that hold each of the rear speakers. After you remove the screws, you can easily remove the rear speakers, but you should do that from the trunk side, not from the room side. Don’t forget to unplug the speakers first, see screenshot below:

 



 

Now that you’ve removed the speaker, it’s time to put the new speakers. See screenshots below:

 



 

Now, you have to remove the speakers cover, like screenshots above. This will give you the ability to stick the rounded area of the speaker which holds the small speakers (Tweeters) in the whole of the original speakers.

 

After that, you’ll have to use the drill to make two small wholes (or four) from the trunk side for each speaker to hold it using screws. This was a little bit hard for me because there’s no much space in the trunk to do it, but after some hard tries/fails, I successfully did it.

 

The next step is to connect the wires of the original plug of each speaker to the new one. After you do this, it should look something like the screenshots below:

 



 

So, now we have the speakers placed in the trunk and without cutting anything in the car steel. After that, you should put the rear covers back in the same way your removed them (from the car room side) and everything will be done.

 

In the next few days, I will be writing about connecting the new CD headset. I’m putting these photos for the headset after it’s installed for you to see.

 





 

So what do you think? I’ve tried the new sound and it’s so cool. Of course, there’s more to do to get a very good sound, but the budget is out now, so I will have to wait before proceeding with this.

 

Are you looking for more do it yourself procedures (DIY) ? I recommend the Bentley BMW 3 series service manual for you. I got it and I think it’s a gold mine for us -BMW E36 Owners-. If you didn’t grab your copy yet, get it right now! I’m sure you’ll find this book worth every penny you’ve paid for. Get the Bentley BMW 3 series service manual

 

I’m done for today, see you soon guys.

 

Wait for more on … BMW E36 Blog.

 

best regards,

Tony Sticks.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Audio, Do It Yourself, Technical Info, Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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There are currently 19 responses to “Installing stock speakers inside your BMW E36 without making any damages!”

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  1. 1 On December 23rd, 2007, hicham said:

    Hi dear friend,
    First, i would thank you. I found many importants informations in your blog.
    I would like to know the size of the pioneer speakers that you have installed so I can do the same.
    but I prefer Kenwood.

    Thank very much.

    Br.
    Hicham Aroussi.

    posted on December 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 am

  2. 2 On December 23rd, 2007, Tony Sticks said:

    Hicham,

    They are 6″x9″ speakers. About the Kenwood speakers, I agree with you 100%. The kenwood speakers are better and provide better sound (at least that’s what I think too). The problem is that I couldn’t find them at the time when I was looking so, I had to take the second best. so I bought these.

    What is the sound setup the you’re looking for. Are you going to install subwoofer(s) too and maybe and amp?

    posted on December 23rd, 2007 at 9:26 am

  3. 3 On December 26th, 2007, qw said:

    Great log, how is the sound, I took it to a audio specialist and they wrecked the rear panel and installed same size speakers. 🙁
    thanks

    posted on December 26th, 2007 at 12:02 am

  4. 4 On December 26th, 2007, Tony Sticks said:

    The sound is good taking into account that I didn’t install an Amp or Subwoofers. I basically connected them to a sony cd player and the sound is really nice.

    posted on December 26th, 2007 at 8:53 am

  5. 5 On February 28th, 2008, Baback said:

    Hi,

    I went totally left of field and bought Blaupunkt 6.5″ component for the rear. I installed it on top
    of the rear metal but under the original speaker grill. It sounds ok, any ideas as to how
    to improve the bass response. I have noticed that there are lot of open spaces around the
    speakers that could be making the bass escape, so to speak.

    Any suggestions would be great!

    posted on February 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

  6. 6 On February 28th, 2008, Tony Sticks said:

    Hi Baback,

    I’m not sure that the Blaupunkt 6.5″ speakers are going to be that good. I think the Pioneer speakers like the ones I got will give you a better sound and bass. It’s not perfect, but it’s better.

    If you’re a fan of bass, I think you should read my post:
    Upgrade Your Car Audio System Easily

    posted on February 28th, 2008 at 5:47 pm

  7. 7 On May 2nd, 2008, Upgrade Your Car Audio System Easily | BMW E36 Blog said:

    […] I used to simply because I don’t have high quality sound system. I wrote previously about installing Pioneer speakers inside my car without cutting through metal. This gave my audio system a push, but I still don’t like the sound that much. The only […]

    posted on May 2nd, 2008 at 7:52 pm

  8. 8 On March 30th, 2009, Matt said:

    Sound is supposed to come from the front. ;P

    posted on March 30th, 2009 at 4:48 am

  9. 9 On April 3rd, 2009, James Craft said:

    Hi, I am changing my speakers tomorrow on a 316 compact and I stumbled across this thread. I was planning to put my new 6×9 speakers in the parcel shelf, is there any chance I could do this on a compact model or will there not be enough space to do this?

    Cheers

    James

    posted on April 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 pm

  10. 10 On April 14th, 2009, Robert House said:

    Hi, you can now get adaptors for the 6×9’s on ebay.

    posted on April 14th, 2009 at 9:37 pm

  11. 11 On April 18th, 2009, Gatis said:

    HI I sugest put on speakers from trunk side a box, dimensions need calculate, and only then you will have a “good” sound this method is prufed.

    posted on April 18th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

  12. 12 On April 19th, 2009, matt said:

    Gatis, that would be a good idea for a subwoofer granted the woofer fired directly into the cabin. Speakers again should be in the front.

    posted on April 19th, 2009 at 8:48 pm

  13. 13 On May 2nd, 2009, Tyler said:

    Hello,

    I have a BMW 316i saloon, really nice car, looks like an M3, yeah.. i paid a lot to make it look like that. Anyway, i took this car to a lot of people to get a sound system installed and they were all iffing and saying it’s too complicated and would cost me a lot to do – FORGET THAT! So, i’m thinking to do it myself, JUST replacing the rear speakers on the parcel shelf with speakers that promote good bass, my questions is, i do not need to connect any wires to the front do i ? I already have a Song X-plode CD player, but reading what you said and the procedure, all i have to do is remove the rear small speakers, and put new ones. The only complex bit is the drilling, am i correct?
    Thank you

    posted on May 2nd, 2009 at 8:36 pm

  14. 14 On May 3rd, 2009, John A. Garay said:

    after reading your install of rear speakers on the E36, I had removed the factory speaker that was blown and replaced it with a Kenwood 4″ and it was easy thanx again

    posted on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:20 am

  15. 15 On May 4th, 2009, John A. Garay said:

    ok, I now have removed and replaced one speaker on the driver side footwell, quick and easy no problems. Now on the passenger side Iam having a hard time trying to remove the cover without doing any dammage any hints or tips?

    posted on May 4th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

  16. 16 On September 9th, 2010, sam said:

    Hi there,nice and smart work there….I have a 2 oval Pioneer speakers in my trunk (taken out from my older ride) and waiting to find someone who can cut the lower iron panel of the speakers….after reading your article I’ll try it out….hope it’ll work in my case since I haven’t taken measures yet…My ride 1994 316i with 2 OEM speakers…

    posted on September 9th, 2010 at 11:26 am

  17. 17 On September 10th, 2010, Baback said:

    Hi All again.
    I installed my 6.5 Blaupunkt splits in my car and yeah the the stereo I had did do those speakers justice. In the end I upgraded and put in a Power Amp and now the Blaupunkts are sounding awesome. Totally enough bass for me, even the side mirrors vibrate.

    P.S What happened to his blogg, its been idle for I don’t know how long.

    posted on September 10th, 2010 at 12:53 pm

  18. 18 On January 16th, 2011, coop said:

    Anyone know how to remove rear panels on a ’98 m3 evo convertible so i can replace broken speakers?
    Advice on decent speakers? i dont want to bother with the usual common crap like sony,jvc,kenwood,pioneer etc. want something a bit better.
    Thanks.

    posted on January 16th, 2011 at 12:42 am

  19. 19 On March 5th, 2011, rasser80 said:

    best way buy adaptors for front door(5.25) and rear shelf (6X9)9,99 each pair and fit your speakers,i am use phonocar speak and ampf.

    posted on March 5th, 2011 at 2:10 am