Installed Viper 550.2, disappointing results

[ClayMan 10+ year member]

The woofers are mounted in the stock kickpanels of my BMW 325is (5.25" holes beside the feet)

The tweeters are semi-surface mounted (don't ask) in the stock tweeter location, which is around shoulder-chest level.

It's powered by a bridged 4-channel Cadence amp, getting 150x2 W. So power is definitely not the issue (the components are rated at 100W RMS) They are currently full-passed (no sub)

The tweeters sound great. The vocals and percussion are simply amazing... Almost piercing before I got used to it (had to turn them down -6dB on the crossover, since they are a lot closer to the ears relative to the kickpanel woofers)

However, the system has NO bass whatsoever. I use the parametric EQ on my HU to boost (or lower) the 80Hz frequency, and I hear almost NO difference... Which suggests to me that the woofers aren't going outputting anything that low. They're supposed to be rated down to 65Hz, though I understand I shouldn't be expecting perfect results (due to quality of installation, other factors etc.)

Also, I tried covering up the tweeters and listening to just the woofers... They sound really muddy, and the bass isn't that clear.

Is there something wrong with my woofer install? Could it be leaking air? (I didn't use MDF spacers) Or do 5.25" components just have no bass at all...

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[ClayMan 10+ year member]

oh just wanted to note what I'm comparing the sound to - a kenwood KFC-P602 set of 6.5" components in an Accord coupe, 2x75W. A relatively low quality set, supposedly, and it uses just a passive crossover. The mids/highs are definitely worse, but the bass is a lot stronger.