BMW X5 Dream System (From 1999) Spoiler - Fairly Mundane by CAJ Standards

Sept 24 - 26, 2021

Got the dash speakers completed, remaking the mounting plates out of .5" MDF. They came out okay. The suede and beveling help to make them look like they weren't just stuck on the dash. Had to sand off the gold on the Infinity grills too. Would have driven me nuts. Also used some BMW pigtails I had laying around to make them plug and play with the truck's harness.

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Made a junkyard run to grab the sacrificial OE speakers as I did not want to hack up the expensive BSW front stage kit the previous owner had installed. Also grabbed a bunch more BMW speaker harnesses and pigtails. Everything in the first pic was only $41. The harnesses and pins I had priced out new were over that. Lined up the 3 door woofers for fun.

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Then got to work mounting the new Infinity woofers into the factory speaker buckets. This was not overly bad to do other than taking the dremel to brand new speakers. Once over that it was fine. Used VHT tape as a foam gasket and to hold the driver until the silicon around the edge on the top had cured.

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Up next, some damping of the door. This was the first time I have done this so if it looks odd or I did something wrong, that's why. I think I put probably 60-70% coverage on the outer door skin and used a speaker foam ring behind the driver. Had to cut the thickness down as it interfered with the window slightly. Also wrapped all the wires in fabric tape of varying fuzziness.

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I wish there was something I could do (within reason) to stiffen up the part where the speaker mounts, but I don't want to go crazy. Some of the stuff you guys do to your doors is amazing, but I could EASILY hear a difference in the door's "deadness" with the work done so I'm happy. I took before and after videos and the the door skin, even with the door panel off sounds more quiet than the rear door does closed and with the door panel on. Any suggestions though will always be considered. I can't put the panel on anyway until I get my new door handle carrier (decided to break at just the right time I guess) and the tweeter "oh shit" capacitors in.

Oct 1 - 4, 2021

Got my Parts Express order and added the inline cap and a BMW pigtail to the tweeters. Thanks for the input from the board on that. I know technically the caps aren't needed, but as pointed out, a bit of idiot proofing is a nice thing. And I tend to have bad luck so why tempt fate.

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Finished up the sound treatment on the front doors. Had to address some broken plastics on the door panels. Anyone familiar with BMWs will know what I am talking about. You can see the clamp to re-secure the top plastic piece that clips onto the door. I preemptively added adhesive (I like to use Permatex black) all around the different plastic attachment points as well. Also added a bit of dampening to the large plastic cubbies. These doors close like bank vault doors now, and it's a beautiful thing. Forgot to grab a pic with the vapor barrier installed before slapping the door card back on, but I was anxious to hear everything.

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After getting everything together I was impressed at how much better (and more output) the Infinity Kappas sounded than the old speakers. I don't think the JL 500/5's were very happy with the varying ohm loads they were being presented with. Old BSW tweeters were 3.2 ohm, dash mids were 6.3 ohm, and the door woofers were 3.4 ohm. They were designed as a drop in replacement for the top end (at the time) Lear DSP amplifier that BMW used. And they sounded decently on that. But not good at all on the JL. All of the Kappa drivers are 2.5 ohm which delivers more output, but also keeps the loads balanced, which I've read the JL's appreciate. They seem to run cooler now too. They were getting VERY warm before. Warmer than I was comfortable with.

I did have a bad noise going through the system. Was presenting as a spike on the DSP. I had mentioned it before. Well, unfortunately, I traced it to my JL 1000/1. If I plug anything into the left RCA channel (right one seems fine) it back feeds noise into the system. This is both a relief and a bummer. I was worried it was a grounding issue or something that was causing it which would have sucked. Everything would have to come out AGAIN. I have not been able to find any info regarding the issue with a Google search, but I think the amp will probably need repair. Any thoughts on that? I was going to take a video and post a separate thread on the issue so the noise can be heard.

After unplugging the 1000/1's inputs I was able to play the system and do some tuning. All I can say is, wow, I am a convert. DSP and sound treatment from now on in every car that I install in. Rivals the wife's B&O system with just a 20 minute tune and no sub yet. I am getting very excited now to complete the setup.