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12-12-2019
#1
2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
I got this car around 2 1/2 years ago to replace my Dinan 540i wagon. I miss that car, but this one is lighter, has a motor that's just as nice, and has a clutch pedal. Add in a Dinan suspension, and it's as close to an ideal daily driver for me as you can get.
I wanted a system that maintained the stock appearance of the car but that also had a bit of flash underneath, and there's a few installs in this forum from the fine folks at Simplicity in Sound that caught my eye. And after hearing the blue F30 that they did, I really didn't have to do a lot of research for what components I wanted. A big thanks to Bing for being a great vendor for all the speakers, and for the system demo.
Equipment list:
- Helix DSP
- Arc Audio XDi 1200.6
- Arc Audio XDi 600.4
- Morel MT-350 tweeters
- Morel Hybrid 4" midrange
- Gladen 8" underseat woofers
- Audiofrog GS10D2
So, spoiler alert, there's not going to be a lot of originality in this install. I don't have the time right now to reinvent the wheel (although I'd like to) and I know the potential. I've got a good amount completed and will be posting some progress updates shortly. This is also on DIYMA, but I want to catch up here.
Last edited by ejeffrey; 12-12-2019 at 12:24 PM.
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12-12-2019
#2
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12-12-2019
#3
Re: 2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
I recently bought a Porter Cable router and a circle jig and this was the perfect time to try them out. Man, sure beats having just a jigsaw. I cut a speaker baffle out of 1/2" MDF, and then two trim rings out of 1/2" and 3/4" and glued them together. I then routered a quarter round on the outside of the trim rings.
Since the sub is pretty heavy, it took a while to get the ring positioned just right. It also helps to use a good glue gun... After that was done I made a bracket out of an old steel bike rack bracket I had laying around. A notch was cut in the enclosure with a Dremel and a small cutting wheel (thanks for letting me borrow it, mom!) and then the bracket was bent on a vice with a hammer and trimmed. Finally, I bolted the bracket in and sealed up everything with silicone. This will be what holds the enclosure to the car on the top, where one of the existing plastic carpet rivets will go through.
With that out of the way, I wrapped fleece around the whole thing. I also learned that you have to really soak fleece with resin otherwise it won't go all the way through. Off came the first piece and on went a new one along with almost a quart of resin, then two layers of fiberglass mat.
After that was allowed to cure, I put a thin layer of body filler on and did a lot of sanding with a belt sander and an orbital to get it trimmed.
When I routered the baffle/trim ring, I accidentally set the bit just a hair below the surface. Not that it would have made made a real difference if it were flush, but it turned out to be a good thing because it left a small step before the round, so when I sanded away the fleece it was easy to see where I should stop sanding.
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12-12-2019
#4
Re: 2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
When I went to test fit the enclosure in the car, I found that the edges had shrunk in almost 1/8" on some sides making it fit pretty loose. Is that common with fleece in general, or is that a result of using poor-quality resin?
A good solution I found was to put a small strip of trunk liner on the edges where it was loose. I'd rather not have to do that, but it actually looked great when I tested it with a piece of trunk liner.
I put on another layer of filler and sanded it down, so now the thread is caught up to my progress. The next steps:
- test the volume with water
- add the sub mounting hardware
- upholster the whole thing
- add the speaker wire.
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12-12-2019
#5
Re: 2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
Installed t-nuts, painted the speaker baffle, and checked the volume of the enclosure with water. The box that Audiofrog suggests is 0.7 cu. ft. gross volume, or about 20 liters. I ended up with 24 liters, so I made a block off plate out of MDF for the top right and sealed it off with silicone. I was also able to fill a couple pin holes at the same time.
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12-12-2019
#6
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12-12-2019
#7
Re: 2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
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12-12-2019
#8
Re: 2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
For the sub grille, I routered and stacked two pieces of MDF and put a 1/8" round on the top edges. I've never pressed a grill before so I really didn't know how it was going to turn out, but to my surprise it was exactly as I envisioned. Super, super happy with how it came out.
I made a jig from just 1/2" MDF and glued it together, then used the circle jig and the router (absolutely loving these new toys) and made the male/female pieces. 5/16" bolts were more than sufficient for the force required to form the aluminum. If I do another grille like this, I'd say that without a press, 3/4" MDF would probably be better, especially if the press height is anything over 1/4". Putting a 1/8" round on the inside (male) disc ended up working out well, and I think you'd definitely need to do that for press heights over 1/4".
I found that the metal part of the sub grille would rattle the slightest amount when tapped on, so mounted it with some very thin foam which fixed the issue. It's fastened with small nails instead of the preferred staples because the lip is only 1/4" thick, and I didn't want to chance a staple going through or cracking the top.
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12-12-2019
#9
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12-12-2019
#10
Re: 2009 BMW 335i SQ Build Log
I made my own signal cables. For the actual wire I used Canare L-4E6S, and the ends are Switchcraft 3502ABAU. Markertek had great prices on both with the added bonus of free shipping, so I was able to get custom cables for about $90. Can't wait to get these things in the car.
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