My ghetto E36 ICE install

[Dr. Z]

The 325i I bought already had the makings of a semi-decent ICE installation, but it was time to hit the bay with a vengeance and snipe me some bargains to really round things off.

To start with, the car had a Sony CDX-GT616U - not a bad head unit really, USB port on the front, reasonable amount of power, decent number of inputs/outputs on the back for messing about with etc. I had a choice between this and a similar Kenwood HU that I had in the MR2. The Sony is MUCH faster at reading my 4Gb USB flash drive, so I went with it for that reason.

The red also goes better with the BMW dash IMO.

http://www.statichiss.co.uk/BMW/hudark.jpg

I have no desire to take apart the trim down in the front footwells to find out what speakers are down there, but they are definitely not the stock units - for a start the cones are blue! They sound reasonable anyway (although the fact they are down at my feet isn't exactly brilliant!) and the tweeters in the door are extremely effective.

The rear speakers have been replaced with Toxic 6x9s. I really, really dislike the presentation 6x9s give you, but these are there and they are free and to be fair to them, they are ridiculously bassy considering. They are also completely invisible from above, the stock BMW grilles etc have been retained so that unless you knew they were there, you wouldn't know that the stock speakers had been removed.

http://www.statichiss.co.uk/BMW/toxic.jpg

I got lucky and found a sub for an astonishingly small amount of money, and an amplifier for a hell of a lot less than that again - I couldn't believe it!

http://www.statichiss.co.uk/BMW/sub.jpg

http://www.statichiss.co.uk/BMW/amp.jpg

After some head-scratching and investigation I found a 'convenient' hole to get the wiring through:

http://www.statichiss.co.uk/BMW/bootwall.jpg

Finally, in place amidst the junk in my boot:

http://www.statichiss.co.uk/BMW/subfinal.jpg

I sat in the car and tinkered with the EQs and levels for about an hour until I was happy with how it sounded and considering the whole thing set me back less than £40 including the petrol to collect the sub and lunch on the way, it sounds pretty damn sweet :D

[Burble]

I need to get a sub in the R32. The OEM speakers are perfectly reasonable with the exception of next to no bass. The problem is I don't want a sub taking up boot space and there is minimal space under the front seats. Oh well, it'll be a challenge.

£40 for that setup does seem a bit of a bargain :)

[Matblack]

The Bass in the MINI is excessive on the HK system, I need to turn it down so it doesn't interfere with the whine of the supercharger :D

MB

[Burble]

I'm not after anything excessive, far from it, but at the moment there is so little bass it spoils my enjoyment of the music. That said, the combination of my right foot, a 3.2litre V6 and a Milltek exhaust do more than make up for it ;)

[Blackstar]

Does that mean i can have the other headunit back? :p

[Wossi]

I'm the opposite, I've got a sub, amp and speakers sat in my room as I can't put them in the company car :( All decent stuff aswell.