Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

How-To articles are in here.
flybobbie
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 4015
Joined: Sat May 25, 2013 8:27 pm
Location: Stourbridge

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by flybobbie » Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:03 pm

Interesting just read this.
Only noticed recently that i have no tweeters and was looking to fit.
Have already had the doors off as i fitted some puddle led lights into the bottom of the doors and foot wells.
I took a feed wire from the dome light to drive a relay to switch the lights.
I used a wooden cooking spatula to remove the door panels.

Mharv
Member
Member
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:05 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by Mharv » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:20 pm

nice upgrade which part numbers did you use for this... thanks

Alberto8100
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 1:29 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by Alberto8100 » Sat Oct 26, 2013 2:44 pm

Done a superb job! The display you present for us is inspiring and very professional. It looks like you put lots of time into that work. I am also work on my z4 tweeters. This is good for taking ideas from there.


Luxury cars at ava-tieman
Last edited by Alberto8100 on Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Alberto
Love is not blind – it sees more and not less but because it sees more it is willing to see less. (Will Moss)

flybobbie
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 4015
Joined: Sat May 25, 2013 8:27 pm
Location: Stourbridge

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by flybobbie » Sun Oct 27, 2013 12:21 am

Just bought these;
http://www.maplin.co.uk/1.5-inch-3.8cm- ... ers-217928
When you unscrew and take the unit apart the tweeter fits perfect into the 1 1/2 inch hole.
Have yet to wire up.

User avatar
metal licker
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 7510
Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:14 pm
Location: In the mosh pit

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by metal licker » Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:55 am

flybobbie wrote:Just bought these;
http://www.maplin.co.uk/1.5-inch-3.8cm- ... ers-217928
When you unscrew and take the unit apart the tweeter fits perfect into the 1 1/2 inch hole.
Have yet to wire up.
A few pics and a write up of install would be nice :thumbsup:
718 4.0 GTS Boxster in YELLOW :driving:
718 Guards Red Boxster .........Gone!
A35 AMG saloon .........Gone!
JCW ...........Gone !
E89 35i Msport VO ................Gone !
E89 23i SE DSB ................Gone !

Hello to Jason Isaacs

flybobbie
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 4015
Joined: Sat May 25, 2013 8:27 pm
Location: Stourbridge

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by flybobbie » Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:23 am

Finished yesterday and well worth the effort. Sounds ok.
You can if careful get away with just removing the screw behind the door handle and pulling the door trim back from the top.
If you remove the tweeter housing, grip at the top and pull outwards, when free, pull up as the bottom locator fits into a keyhole shape.
You will then see the wires for the mirror. Grip the door panel where the wires go behind the door panel and pull. There's just enough room to reach down to the twisted pair to the speaker. Use a scotch bloc, as there's very little free wiring to play with.

Maniac
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 8202
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by Maniac » Mon Oct 28, 2013 11:00 am

If you get the proper BMW tweeters the connector already exists to clip on to the main speaker, no need for scotch-blocks and is much neater. It also has a crossover built into the tweeter to match the BMW OEM mid range speaker.

E89_Gaz
Member
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:50 am

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by E89_Gaz » Sun Nov 09, 2014 9:50 pm

Further to Maniacs wonderful work above, I have progressed this a little further; Although the BMW Hi-Fi tweeters add about another 50% to the upper frequency range, the existing mids were still trying their best to make a mess of it, which resulted in too much treble and very little mid range. After some investigation it transpires that some of the MINI's (Coopers and above) use a similar mount and share the same front profile but are designed purely for mid range. They are also much cheaper on Ebay than the E89 Specific unit. (The E46 and similar have a 1 cm lip protruding from the front which will not fit into the E89).

I think the BMW tweeters used in the E89 are unique as they have a very shallow profile. The Hi-Fi tweeters were £24.00 each whereas the Top version was almost £70.00 :o
Image

Mini Unit on the Left showing a much bigger magnet and voice coil, but have the same depth and almost flush front mounting ring. I managed to get a pair of Mini Cooper Mids for 25.00 delivered and they are so much better when used with the BMW tweeters. There seems to be plenty of them on FleaBay so they are quite cheap.
Image
Image

Part Numbers are shown below. The crossover for the tweeter is built into the harness.
Image

User avatar
channy106
Member
Member
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:57 pm
Location: Chorley

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by channy106 » Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:57 pm

To add to Maniacs good work. Found this whilst googling.

http://youtu.be/TJ3FkjeL9TE
15 15 Z4 E89 35is Mineral White :evil:
13/15 63 640d F13 MSport, Alp/White
12/13 Z4 E89 3.0i, Sp/Grey
11/12: 57 Z4C E86 3.0si Sport, T/Silver
10/11: 57 335i E93 Aegan Blue
09/10: 07 320d E92 S/Graphite
08/09: 06 Z4R E85 3.0si Sport, T/Silver

Maniac
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 8202
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by Maniac » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:39 am

That video is a very nice find. Though the latter part where they remove the cable in the door isn't required for the tweeter upgrade. I just placed the door card, wires in tact, on a pile of towels under the door. If anyone feels like removing the entire door card as in the video, I'd suggest taking a picture of the panel before you start unclipping the cables because there are a lot of clips and you might struggle a bit to put it all back without a guide.

flybobbie
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 4015
Joined: Sat May 25, 2013 8:27 pm
Location: Stourbridge

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by flybobbie » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:22 pm

Just fitted some in the rear speakers, the one's just behind your ears.
In my car it's blanked over so drilled it out with a hole cutter and wired through to the front bass speaker.
Sounds good.
That and the speakers I fitted behind the seats, all sound reasonable for the standard hifi.

petrolhead
Member
Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 9:03 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by petrolhead » Fri May 08, 2015 7:21 pm

Sorry to resurect but this is probable one of threads thats needs to be kept live :)

I have just fitted the BMW tweeters to my car. These have improved the stereo separartion and also helped to lift the sound stage.

Its got my car audio juces flowing and I must resist having just installed all my car audio gear into my Freelander, which is my main transport (well it will be once the honeymoon period is over)

If I was to upgrade I would go one of two routes.

1) Audison Bit ten, JL Audio 2 channel amp and three way speaker setup
2) Audison bit ten, JL Audio 4 channel amp and either a 3 ways speaker setup or 2 way and bass speaker.

It always perplexes my why people spend time upgrading their rear speakers. The soundstage should be at the front

petrolhead
Member
Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 9:03 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by petrolhead » Fri May 08, 2015 7:30 pm

E89_Gaz wrote:Further to Maniacs wonderful work above, I have progressed this a little further; Although the BMW Hi-Fi tweeters add about another 50% to the upper frequency range, the existing mids were still trying their best to make a mess of it, which resulted in too much treble and very little mid range. After some investigation it transpires that some of the MINI's (Coopers and above) use a similar mount and share the same front profile but are designed purely for mid range. They are also much cheaper on Ebay than the E89 Specific unit. (The E46 and similar have a 1 cm lip protruding from the front which will not fit into the E89).

I think the BMW tweeters used in the E89 are unique as they have a very shallow profile. The Hi-Fi tweeters were £24.00 each whereas the Top version was almost £70.00 :o
Image

Mini Unit on the Left showing a much bigger magnet and voice coil, but have the same depth and almost flush front mounting ring. I managed to get a pair of Mini Cooper Mids for 25.00 delivered and they are so much better when used with the BMW tweeters. There seems to be plenty of them on FleaBay so they are quite cheap.
Image
Image

Part Numbers are shown below. The crossover for the tweeter is built into the harness.
Image
Re the mids, how are the high end frequencies prevented form getting to the mids? I would have thought a xover would be needed

E89_Gaz
Member
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:50 am

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by E89_Gaz » Sat May 09, 2015 12:58 am

That little bit of heatshrink at the bottom of the last photo contains a capacitor. :)

petrolhead
Member
Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 9:03 pm

Re: Standard Hifi - Tweeter Upgrade

Post by petrolhead » Sat May 09, 2015 7:21 am

E89_Gaz wrote:That little bit of heatshrink at the bottom of the last photo contains a capacitor. :)
I relise that, thats for the tweeter and is a high pass filter, however the mid will still be getting all the frequencies, inc high. Thats possibly why the sound stage is poor

Post Reply