1996 BMW 3 series speaker replacement reccomendations

[Ne1 10+ year member]

Ok, its bonus time, so I've budgetted out money for the subs I want (atlas 12's) and money for build materials. Now I'm looking at the front end. My bmw has a 3 way set (5 1/4 , 4 I think, and a tweet) and I'm looking for some reccomendations as to what to upgrade to. The budget is $500 or less. Decent sound is desired of course, prefereably with a textile tweeter. Power will be from an Xtant 2002, rated at 100 per side at 2 ohms, or 50 at 4. Equalization will be from an eql ( or a sweeeeet clarion pro audio unit if i win the bid //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif . Anyone care to field a suggestion on what I should look into? Thanks!

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[DFW40 10+ year member]

I have the 2001 325i and stock is 5.25 but with a plastic adapator it is easy to fit 6.5's. Mounting depth on mine was an issue but they eventually cut holes in the doors to fit JL XR's. I have since added Diamond M661's and they are greatness. The mounting depth on those is very shallow 2 1/8 inches. I do not know about your doors but the stock 3 ways I have are a tweet in the a-pillar and a 5.25 and then a 2.5 not a 4 inch. Either way I just would go with the 6.5's and a tweet.

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

Here are the Diamonds I have and really like. The tweets are metal.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=12431

 

[plazman 10+ year member]

Here are the Diamonds I have and really like. The tweets are metal.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=12431

Stock speakers are 6 inches, you can fit 6.5s with little mod to the door panel and adapter. I custom made brackets out of birch to fit my diamon m6s in there.

Personally, i hate the m6, i had it in my bimmer.

ne1, you might be interested in these

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=239054

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Rainbow has the IQ line-direct replacement speakers for many European cars-

Check out their other lines-top notch stuff

A high end german car deserves no less than German, hand built audiophile grade speakers

Look into Dynaudio , DLS, Seas as well for other nice goodies...

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

Stock speakers are 6 inches, you can fit 6.5s with little mod to the door panel and adapter. I custom made brackets out of birch to fit my diamon m6s in there.
Personally, i hate the m6, i had it in my bimmer.

ne1, you might be interested in these

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=239054

What did you not like about them?

 

[plazman 10+ year member]

What did you not like about them?

overall sound.. dunno how to describe speakers...

maybe cuz i was using my stock HU

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

M6's are not so great- although the new Diamond D6's are such an improvement, nice speakers and they come as braxial/convertible versions as well- stick to the silk tweets

 

[soccrstar 10+ year member]

yeah, i got the new diamond audio D661S and i love 'em. its nice to replace 10year old speakers with brand new 2005 speakers.

i'm just thinking how i should run it. either run the rear speakers thru the RAF of the D661X cross-overs for rear fill or run it off its separate channel (amp)

[edit]

rear speakers = diamond audio CM361

 

[elduderino 10+ year member]

I would seriously look at the DLS UR and UP 3-way series kits. The dome mid and dome tweet should fit in the 3-way setup very well, and the three-way xover would let you run your two-channel amp.

See, if you are in stock locations, and you run a 6/tweet kit, as the mid cone driver goes up in freq its off-axis dispersion gets narrower and narrower - this is a physics thing. So you need a tweeter that plays LOW if you want to fill the hole at the top of the midrange. (If you have kicks FACING you, the flashlight beaming issue is not a factor).

So go with a tweeter that plays lower than the Diamonds, or a 3-way for optimal door off-axis performance.