Simple but effective upgrade

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martyb
Joined: Thu 10 Jan, 2013 16:53
Posts: 308

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Simple but effective upgrade

Post by martyb »

Hey guys im looking for a little help here.

When it comes to electronics im absolutely useless, slightly handy with mechanics but not even slightly decent with wires.

So in my car i have a jvc head unit, that im not gonna lie is pretty much garbage. I want to upgrade this and the speakers.

Am i right in saying that there is only two speakers at the bottom of each door (4 inch?) and two tweeters are the top of the doors?

Id be looking to get them fitted by someone locally but it was to see if some of you that are more experienced could recommend some nice subtle speakers with a good high output. Iv been to the local halfords and listened to a few sets but the ones that sounded clear enough with just the right amount of bass had some pretty horrible looks.

So is there anything i need to look for in particular aswell?

Cheers guys!
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
Posts: 6436

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Southernboy »

Generally the Z3 has 6 speaker points. There are 2 in the L & R footwells, the 2 tweeters at top in the doorcards, and 2 more L & R behind the seats. The 2 footwell speakers can be upgraded to 6 inches..the tweetters I used were Phillips, and actually pump out some sound, and the 2 rear speakers I fitted are Reference Infiniti dual cone 4", which just fit with little alteration. What is important is the head unit and it's capacity to drive the speakers. So a decent head unit is as important as decent speakers. The sound system in the Z3 is still pretty crap even after I had done all my speakers and added a Becker Grand Prix headunit. I eventually fitted 2 more speakers to the doorcards - also Reference Infiti's 4" and made special surrounds and grills to fit the very restricted area available...This has made a huge difference to the sound coming through and I can actually have listenable sounds at 120 with the top down.
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The Auto-radio guys are always quite ingenious at fitting things into cars though, and you are likely to get a heap of advice from the forum members too. Between all this you should be able to make a confused decision... :wink:
"Normal is overrated"
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Z3 Upgrades and Additions
Caledonian
Joined: Sun 31 Oct, 2004 15:26
Posts: 71

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Gourock

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Caledonian »

http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... 18&t=30471

There is a knowledge base article that shows you the set up. As mentioned there are generally 6 six speakers unless the car has the Harmon Kardon system.

Two woofers, one in the footwell behind trim panels.
Two tweeters, one in each door panel behind the grilles.
Two midrange, one behind each seat.

The slight complication is the footwell speaker in the passenger side also has an amplifier / crossover unit on the back, which feeds both footwell speakers and both tweeters.
If you already have an aftermarket head unit, this may have been removed already. I just fitted a new head unit (it still had a BMW cassette player with a CD changer in the boot !!) and found the speaker amplifier wasn't working anyway so just by-passed it. (You will need a soldering iron or some through crimps) It might be worth checking this yourself, just put the fader fully to the front and have a listen.

I didn't change speakers this time, as having done it with my last Z3 a number of years ago, the results weren't that great anyway. As Southernboy mentioned, the speaker cavities aren't the best so there is no great depth to the sound. I took a punt on a head unit I saw on ebay , a Phillips 3000B DAB. I think it sounds OK and I also have the bonus of DAB digital radio. I bought one of those splitters that's supposed to let you use the original FM aerial without modification and it worked a treat. (Kinetic brand I think)
martyb
Joined: Thu 10 Jan, 2013 16:53
Posts: 308

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by martyb »

Thanks very guys for the detailed responses these have became very useful in trying to find an appropriate upgrade.

Although gutted as I am to say this i dont have 6 speakers. Mines is a 97 1.9 and I dont know if its the 2.8s that come with an upgraded sound system but mine has only two tweeters in the top of the doors at the bottom are two cubby holes. As for speakers I have 2 in the footwells and i think that is it no evidence of any ever existing behind the seats. Now you see my need for an upgraded system.
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Robert T
Site Admin
Joined: Mon 12 Jun, 2006 10:35
Posts: 10170

  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Cheshire

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Robert T »

Well you learn something every day. I thought the basic stereo system (as fitted to my car) had six speakers and that it had been like this since day 1 of production. Both the Hi-Fi and Harmon Kardon systems have eight speakers and a sub-woofer - in both the tweeter pods also contain a mid-range speaker in these setups - the HK setup has the addition of an amp in the boot.

However, on looking at the lateral trim panels, I see there are two variants, one which says "only applies to loudspeaker", which implies one is pre-cut with a speaker hole, the other isn't. So after a bit more digging, I found that when you select an early car, the part numbers for the rear speakers disappear for the basic stereo system, indicating that they weren't fitted to those models.

Very interesting, and it means that if you want to fit rear speakers, you either need to change or cut the trim.

Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
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Captain
Joined: Thu 28 Jun, 2012 06:43
Posts: 520

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Durban

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Captain »

As Robert T says you learn something everyday, I thought all Zeds had rear speakers. I'm pretty sure the wiring will be there, I would cut the existing trim as the standard trim comes with a small 2" speaker, I upgraded mine to a 4" unit which made a nice improvement to the sound.
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
Posts: 6436

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Southernboy »

Before you go cutting the trim, best get the speakers and check if the speaker covers will fit into the area you want to place them. The curvature ov the rear side trims means that the size of the speaker covers may not fit flush to the trim. A real PITA the restricted space in a Z3...every square inch seems to be critical...also, the speakers should preferably be as "flat" as you can get...ie not much depth back there....The largest speakers I managed to fit behind the seats were 6 " Sony's..the speaker covers were a slight problem, and in fact once positioned they extended about 8mm above the join line between the rear side trims and the "boot" shaped upper trims...I have since downsized to 4" speakers which deliver as much good sound but fit better. The 6" speakers went into the footwells - L&R...
"Normal is overrated"
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Z3 Upgrades and Additions
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Althulas
Joined: Fri 13 Feb, 2009 00:55
Posts: 818

  M roadster S50

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Althulas »

I have some spare rear trims in black with the small 3" speakers in situ if you want to use those instead of cutting up hour own.
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Zee3
Joined: Thu 19 May, 2011 11:49
Posts: 94

  Z4 roadster 3.0i

Re: Simple but effective upgrade

Post by Zee3 »

While were on speaker, do all Z3's have the tweeters in the door card. There are holes in the panels for mine, but no tweeters
Zee 3.......But now have a Zee 4
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