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I had many of the similar questions as you when I first got my 2 series (non-HK)! I decided to take it step by step and I would recommend that you do the same. I did front speakers (Etons- coaxials) and sound deadening first. I have been in other cars that have the sails installed and personally, I would not say that it is worth it. IMO the minimal change in sound stage is not worth the investment, and a good quality coaxial speaker can sound better than a component one. But again, depends on how much you value fidelity.
Anyways, I wasn't very happy with the sound at this point because the change was fairly minimal. This mod changed it from around a 2/10 to 3/10. Mind you, I am one for louder/ more exciting music with a bunch of bass, although I do enjoy the clarity and fidelity. I felt as though the amp was lacking and so I scoured the second hand forums and found an amp/dsp combo. This paired with the ASD delete brought my system up to a 7/10. The amp was now able to fully utilize the front speakers. There was only maybe a 20% increase in volume but the soundstage, detail and general 'fullness' of sound had a significant jump. At this point, the my biggest complaint came from the low end, where the flat OEM underseat subs were just not capable of reaching the sub 60Hz range with sufficient clarity. I have since added another amp and a trunk sub and I have eq'd out a majority of frequencies that would regularly be sent to the underseat subs. I would say I'm at a 8.5/10 now. Different schools of thought here- half the people on here will say that you are better off just replacing the underseat subs! Once I eliminate more cabin and road noise and other rattles and vibrations in the car, I will be closer to 10.
In your case, for clarity at average volumes- I would recommend the ASD harness, new speakers, sound deadening and door weatherproofing (I havent installed this yet but others in the forum have seen a 10% decrease in road noise). If youre not happy after that, I would look into a new amp.
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