Advice needed on new system in 97 BMW Z3

[TJM1959]

I need some advice on installing a new system. The car is a 97 BMW Z3 roadster. Only 2 seats and not much room. I purchased this car in July/1025. I needed to address some mechanical issues when I got it. Factory system had a cassette deck HU and a 6 disk CD Changer in the trunk. I did remove that and replaced it with an Alpine HU that added BT & USB that has allowed me to stream and play off of my phone and iPod. Sound still lacked power but worked while I completed the mechanical issue.

Now it's time to replace everything else. Here is what makes up the rest factory system.

2 - 5-1/4" speakers in the foot well kick panels (Max depth: 2-5/8")

2 - 1" tweeter & 2- 2" mid-tweeters in the door

2 - 4" speakers behind the seats (Max depth: 2-5/16")

1 - Amp in the trunk behind a trim panel and has an output of 20-25W per channel (Max size to mount in factory location: 16"x8"x2")

No Sub

From my research on the BMW forums most agree the system *****. The Amp has a THD of 10%!

I gathered most of this info from the BMW forums since my car is currently in storage. My goal is to have something that sounds good and keeping the interior of the car as close to stock as possible. I don't need tons of bass I just want it all to sound good with the top down when cruising on the highway.

So this is what I'm thinking of buying to complete my upgrade.

Amp:

Rockford Fosgate R400-4D

Speakers:

Polk Audio DB5252 5-1/4" Component speakers (Will run off of channel 1/2 on amp)

Rockford Fosgate Prime R14x2 (These will run off the HU)

Sub:

Kicker 43CWRT672 (I'll bridge channel 3/4 on amp)

All the factory wires run to the sub in the trunk and then to the speakers so I'll reuse them. The factory amp also has built in crossovers so I'll need to use those with the front component speakers. For the sub I have purchased a used factory sub enclosure that came from a car that had the factory Harmon Kardon system. This enclosure had a 6" sub thats damaged. From what I've read I'll have to do some modifications to get the Kicker to fit.

I also considered going with a 5 or 6 channel sub but decided to use the 4 since the rear speakers are behind the seats and a lot of people have these disconnected. Plus the RF speakers are rated at 30 RMS.

So I'm looking for input on what I have planned and suggestions on gear that might be better or give me more bang for my $$. Trying to keep my budget below $500.

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[dsw1204]

With a $500 budget, you won't be able to do to much. Your selection of equipment and how you will implement them is okay, but I've never been a big fan of Kicker. That Kicker sub is 6.75"? That's a odd number. I'll recommend to you the DD Audio 506 (6.5") or 508 (8") sub, if either they will fit. DD makes great subs! Your car is getting fairly old, so I'd recommend rewiring it with OFC cable. Or, maybe deaden the doors for the remainder of your budget.

 

[TJM1959]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion. Sadly the DD Audio is to deep to fit into the enclosure I have for the location the sub will be installed into. I didn't mention that I only have 2-7/8" of depth so I need a shallow mount sub, thats part of why I'm looking at the Kicker since it has a 2-3/4" mounting depth. I also picked this sub because others have gotten this sub to fit into the enclosure with a little modification. Some people have suggested a sub made by Pyle or Pyramid. I really don't know anything about those and some of the people have removed them and replaced them with the Kicker and said it was a big improvement. So if you have a suggestion for something better than the Kicker that is no bigger than 6-3/4" and 2-7/8" deep I'd consider it.