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2003 E46 316ti Compact - Modded Facia for single din headunit

19K views 40 replies 9 participants last post by  m@tty 
#1 · (Edited)
2003 E46 316ti Compact - new system install


This is my first post so hope its in the right place???
Bought a 2003 E46 Compact about a month ago and Im very happy with it but was having problems with the Business CD player it kept going off and on intermitently and then I went on hoiliday for a week parked it up and when I came back to it it never turned on again.
I liked the OEM look of the Business headunit but they hold there value well secondhand and I had already had one F!"££ up on me so didnt really want to buy a secondhand replacement so started looking for an alternative that wouldnt look too out of place.
I decided on the NAKAMICHI CD300 and decided to go with the Genuine BMW Facia.
And I did a bit of glueing and cutting to the original slot behind the facia to convert it to take a single din unit centrally and then fitted it all but it looked crap.
So I decided to do a bit of modification to the facia and fit the headunit behind it rather than into it and came up with this!
It took a bit off work but I am now quite happy with it.
Going to maybe start on the speakers soon!!!!

M@TTY
 
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#4 ·
Got he Nakamichi Head Unit for a good price
http://www.caraudiodiscount.com/stereo-mp3-players-300-mp3-car-stereo-p-15759.html
And only fitted it at the weekend.
I probably would have stuck with the Business Head Unit but it broke!
The Nakamichi does sound good and Im still using the stock speakers but they are next on my list of upgrades as I dont think they are very good

Not sure what speakers to get? But I dont mind a bit of fabrication to get them to fit and improve quality of sound.
Was thinking maybe these
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/focal-access-130-a1.html
or these
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/rainbow-slx230.html
But I am open to suggestions(and I am also on a bit of a budget)
M@TTY
 
#5 ·
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#12 ·
Nice :thumbsup

Glad the photos came in handy :thumbsup

So are those 6.5's?
 
#14 ·
Thats a good job you've done there mate.. you happy with the speakers?

I had focal access 5.25"s in my last compact, was very happy with them running off an alpine 4x45w headunit!

You going to get a small sub/amp in the boot now to finish the system off?
 
#15 · (Edited)
Very happy with the speakers:hihi
Will be upgrading everything a little at a time and now
My Headunit only has a left and right pre out no forward and rear so doing away with rear speakers getting a 4 channel amp to run fronts and one sub in custom enclosure
Also going to be swapping the LEDs on the Head Unit as I want it amber:thumbsup
Will keep posting along the way so watch this space !!!

M@TTY
 
#17 ·
Update on the build! Had to do some serious thinking as I use all my boot space very regularly and a Box in the boot would have been a pain so made some compromises and took delivery of a set of these through the post today £90 posted from CDT but got stung by HM Customs for £25:thumbsdown
http://www.cdtaudio.com/series/subwoofers/hd_690cf.htm
going to mount them hidden in the rear quarter panels and was thinking of something along the lines of this
http://www.dls.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_102
to power the comps in the doors and the 6x9s run parallel of the Mono sub channel!
Have to wait till pay day to get the amp so hopefully can get the rears in place before then!!!

M@TTY
 
#18 ·
Another update! Changed my mind on the Amp and went for a Audiosystems Radion 90.4 got a really good deal on it as its been superceded by the 100.4:thumbsup
still not sure exactly what to do bass wise but started installing a four channel amp today and initially will just be running my comps of the front two channels!
Modified the empty CD changer rack as the amp will fit in here perfectly still have to tidy it up a bit and give it a coat of paint!



And here it is with the amp in place:thumbsup!


The only problem Im going to run into is its going to be a real pain to change my bulbs :(
M@TTY
 
#23 ·
Got the rack for the amp all finished and painted!

and started on the wireing still got to run the power cables but got the fuse holder and distribution block installed fitting 0 guage to the distribution block then 4 guage to the Amp and everything is in place if I want to add another amp at a later date:thumbsup!

Got an Imagedynamics 10" sub coming in the post so will be making a custom sub box for the other side of the boot as soon as I get some more spare time!

M@TTY
 
#25 ·
Didnt get a lot done today as I was working but wasnt happy with screwing my ground terminal straight onto to the floor of the boot so after work knocked up this :) going to weld it onto the boot floor and then I will bolt the ground terminal to it:thumbsup!




M@TTY
 
#26 · (Edited)
Hopefully will get the earth mount welded on today if the rain holds off but made a start on the + wireing this morning!


Hard to get this 0 guage cable looking neat as it doesnt bend to well!

didnt get the earth mount welded in due to weather but got all the 0 guage wiring done:thumbsup
M@TTY
 
#27 ·
Bit of an update been working twelve hour nights so havent got much of anything done but got a Nakamichi CD 400 and installed it and also refilled and painted the facia as I wasnt happy with it!


Its a closer match to the amber of the rest of the dash. Its not a perfect match but its much easier on the eyes than the red and white of the CD 300!

M@TTY
 
#28 ·
Excellent skills mate! I've just changed my business CD HU for the Pioneer MVH-8300bt and the next most important step is to change the front speakers. I was going to take the door panels off today to measure the mounting depth available but I just read that it's about 2" which doesn't leave much choice of decent speakers. I always wanted to fit the Focal Access A1s but have not done any woodwork since school! Is there any chance you could post the dimensions of your spacers and/or a guide on how you made them, please? Would be much appreciated.

I will probably change the rear speakers but run them of the headunit for now and use an Alpine MRP-T220 I already have to power the fronts for now. I'll lay in 3 pairs of RCAs to allow for 4 channel amp and/or sub later. Planning on paying someone to lay the lines though!

Cheers, Rich

PS. I wonder if these would fit the front of the e46 compact? http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/auto...1-front-door-130mm-speaker-adaptor-p-956.html
 
#30 ·
A standard E46 has about 2" to play with but luckily a compacts inner door skins are different and you have about 70mm mounting depth to play with and can easily fit some 6.5"s. Cant help you on if the mini adapter plates will fit but if you want to make some baffles its not to difficult just use the plastic baffles as a template and cut out some baffles from 18mm MDF you will need to sandwich to thicknesses of MDF together to get a baffle 36mm thick. if you are interested Im changing my speakers next week and could post off these baffles to you (will be moving on the speakers as well for a very good price)
Hope this helps

M@TTY
 
#29 ·

This is my first post so hope its in the right place???
Bought a 2003 E46 Compact about a month ago and Im very happy with it but was having problems with the Business CD player it kept going off and on intermitently and then I went on hoiliday for a week parked it up and when I came back to it it never turned on again.
I liked the OEM look of the Business headunit but they hold there value well secondhand and I had already had one F!"££ up on me so didnt really want to buy a secondhand replacement so started looking for an alternative that wouldnt look too out of place.
I decided on the NAKAMICHI CD300 and decided to go with the Genuine BMW Facia.
And I did a bit of glueing and cutting to the original slot behind the facia to convert it to take a single din unit centrally and then fitted it all but it looked crap.
So I decided to do a bit of modification to the facia and fit the headunit behind it rather than into it and came up with this!
It took a bit off work but I am now quite happy with it.
Going to maybe start on the speakers soon!!!!

M@TTY

Have you got any info on making that facia. Like the look of a central facia.
 
#31 ·
You need to get the central facia from BMW but its not cheap and then I used the face plate suround from my stereo glued it to the BMW facia and filled the gaps and painted it.
It was quite a lot of work to get it to the finished stage though.

M@TTY
 
#32 ·
Very interested. Focal Access 165A1 components, right? How long have you been running them; are they in good condition; do you like them and why are you replacing them. Sorry - lots of questions! Will it then simply be a case of removing the door interior and bolting the baffles on? What are you looking for for speakers and baffles?
 
#33 ·
Bit of an update
Amp power wireing finished

New components Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2s:cool

New sub Image Dynamics ID10 V.3

RCAs Braided ( 3.5Meter RCAs ran down the center of the car)

Made a start on the Sub box


Fitted a speakon connector on rear of box

All cables braided and colour coded
Sub

Components


New Baffles


Painted and fitted with closed cell foam rings

Decided on here for the crossovers

So set about the cubbyhole with a dremel

And braided the cables from amp to crossovers

Then ran all the cables


M@TTY
 
#35 ·
Put a join in the cables behind the kick panels so that if I decide to move the tweeters to the A pillars it will be easier and then ran some cables into the doors
Hacksawed the original speaker cables of the multiplug going to the door

And a little work with the dremel and a file and got this
Male side of multi plug

female side of multiplug

Just enough gap for a run of 14 guage and a run of 16 guage speaker cable

Tweeters mounted to OEM mounts

Tweeters braided
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content

Tweeters fitted



M@TTY
 
#37 ·
Liking this :thumbsup

M@tty, how hard was it to re fab the amp rack? I'm looking to change mine around to hold an Alpine mrv-t420 amp and the O.E bluetooth unit on my compact.

I think i'll need to turn my amp sideways and slide it in on an angle though, maybe a bit more work needed :(
 
#38 ·
Liking this :thumbsup

M@tty, how hard was it to re fab the amp rack? I'm looking to change mine around to hold an Alpine mrv-t420 amp and the O.E bluetooth unit on my compact.

I think i'll need to turn my amp sideways and slide it in on an angle though, maybe a bit more work needed :(
Just took a look at the dimensions for that amp and I think you will really struggle to make it fit I have a space of 390mm by 205mm for my Amp rack and probably about 130mm of height to play with.
hope this helps.

M@TTY
 
#39 ·
Another update.
Bulk pack of sound deadening from silent coat
soundproofed the doors! inner and outer skins!

Used some plastic to fill inspection holes in doors shaped it with a hot air gun!


Then totaly sealed the doors with Silentcoat

Then a layer of closed cell foam on top

More deadening on the doorcards

Had some issues with the Amp so upgraded to a Mosconi One 120.4
Had to re route the cables but this amp is tiny so wasnt to much of a problem


M@TTY
 
#40 ·
Slung the box in to have a listen

All I can say is WOW havent begun to start dialing in the sound but its sounds ACE pretty much straight from the box with minimal adjustment.
So put the boot trim back in

And cover back on and was pleasantly surprised that with the smaller Amp I can also fit the 12v socket back on the trim panel :)

Also put the doors back together


M@TTY
 
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