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      05-04-2016, 11:32 PM   #1
Solarphil
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DIY Speaker Install how-to (with color glossy photos with circles and arrows)

I wanted to post a 2-specific thread on how to swap out speakers -- I know there are a lot of other posts pointing to the 3 series, but I found (after I broke a couple bits) that the doors on the 2 are a bit different. It ain't rocket science, but I figured I'd light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.

I'm going to focus this thread on getting access and doing the swap, and not on the name brands of the speakers used. There's lots of threads and a lot of good speakers out there, some even fit, I'm not going to beat that horse (but for the record I'm following Selmeralto's lead for a solid budget upgrade). I've got HK but most of this should be the same for Hifi too.

This post is starting with the front door speakers, but when I swap out the rear ones next week I'll update.

Primary tools needed are a T20 Torx driver, but a set of trim removal tools are super handy. A small screwdriver to unlock some of the electrical connections can help too. I like having a magnetic tool tray nearby to keep me from kicking the screws away into the gravel too.

First, remove the handle trim to access the two screws hidden behind it. I began prying at the bottom edge, where there's a small recessed slot.
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Next, remove the two screws that are behind that trim.
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Two more screws are on the bottom edge of the door. I think these angle *slightly* downwards, so don't bung up the heads by holding your screwdriver horizontal and not angling it just right.
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Next, and this is where I made my little mistake, don't forget to catch the last screw which is hidden behind the recess at the door latch handle. The recess trim piece pops out super easy, sorry I didn't get a photo but it just takes your small trim tool to get under an edge. Behind that trim there's the fifth and final screw that needs to be snagged. If you forget this and try to pop off the door skin, you will break the heat welds that hold the latch bracket in place. Not the end of the world, things can be fixed and put back together but you will be pissed at yourself at random moments for the rest of your life. Don't do that.
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Once you've gotten those taken care of, carefully pry the door skin away from the door. I started at the lower edge, near the hinges. Once you get a small pry tool behind it, you can either get your fingers behind it or another, larger pry tool. Work your way around the door prying straight outwards towards yourself until the bottom and sides are loose, then work your way across the top edge.

Once you get the door skin loose, there are three electrical cables and one mechanical cable holding it to the door. Other videos have shown people disconnecting all of them to remove the door skin totally, however I found if I could release just the top electrical cable that runs to the door latch handle I could prop the skin out of the way enough to swap out the speakers. YMMV but you'll definitely need to release this one.
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The speaker has two electrical connections at the top that need to be unplugged, sorry I didn't get a shot of that. After that, there's three torx screws that need to be removed (these are slightly different than the door skin screws, so don't get them mixed up) then the speaker pulls straight out from the door. The foam on mine had just a little bit of tack to the door, but they peeled right out with a slight persuasion.

The sail panels came off with a bit more prying. They are mostly held in with friction and the shape of the gaskets, but there was a sticky butyl rubber-type gunk sealing the mounting feet to the door, I'm betting to cut down wind noise.
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Once you get the sail panels off, the foam backing pulls away - it's simply held in by friction. The tweeters pop out with a tug, although you might have to give some persuasion to the small tabs that hold it in place. The new one pops right in.

Route the cables to the right places, the tweeter foam has a little slot molded in for routing the wires down. With the Eton speakers the length of the wires and placement of the crossover caps made it a little challenging because they're not in the right place for an easy fit, but it just made it.

For the reassembly, you pretty much reverse your steps. Don't reef down too hard on the speaker mounting screws if your new speakers have a plastic flanges - they need to be solid tight, not gorilla tight. Sorry i didn't get photos of everything going together, but it was starting to sprinkle and I had to get rocking. If I open up the door again to put on some sound deadening I'll catch some more angles if there are any questions or aspects that you guys think I missed.

Finally, here's the difference between the stock HK speakers and the Etons. Night and day.
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Rock on!
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      05-05-2016, 12:32 AM   #2
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good timing! I'm about to install the JL's in the rear and the Eton's up front! Thanks for the write up.
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      05-05-2016, 12:50 AM   #3
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Excellent write-up, Solarphil. Do do the sound deadening - it's well worth the trouble.

Again, terrific set of instructions.
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      05-05-2016, 03:36 AM   #4
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Great writeup!
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      05-06-2016, 09:42 AM   #5
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My hero!! thanks for this write-up.
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      05-06-2016, 10:23 AM   #6
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Some additional notes and comments based on my Hi-Fi install (it's exactly the same except for a couple of speaker- and sail panel-related details) many moons ago:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solarphil View Post
I like having a magnetic tool tray nearby to keep me from kicking the screws away into the gravel too.
This, along with the trim tools, is pretty much mandatory. Even the casual at-home mechanic should have one of these. Also: grab a conventional bowl to keep track of door-panel plugs that pop out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solarphil View Post
There are three electrical cables and one mechanical cable holding it to the door. Other videos have shown people disconnecting all of them to remove the door skin totally, however I found if I could release just the top electrical cable that runs to the door latch handle I could prop the skin out of the way enough to swap out the speakers. YMMV but you'll definitely need to release this one.
True, but you'll need to remove the panel completely to install sound deadening. The tricky electrical connector to deal with is the one for the window/mirror switchgear; it has a silver plastic dual-arm latch that needs to be rotated up and over the harness plug before the connector can be unplugged. That latch is easy to break, so be careful.

Here's the big thing to note, though: whatever you do, do NOT let the door panel touch the ground. The plastic and SensaTec/leather abrades and scratches VERY easily. Use towels to pad where you place the panel on the ground, and never, ever place it face down.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solarphil View Post
The speaker has two electrical connections at the top that need to be unplugged, sorry I didn't get a shot of that. After that, there's three torx screws that need to be removed (these are slightly different than the door skin screws, so don't get them mixed up) then the speaker pulls straight out from the door.
Hi-Fi speakers will only have one connection to undo. Also of note: Hi-Fi cars are NOT pre-wired for tweeters.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solarphil View Post
The foam on mine had just a little bit of tack to the door, but they peeled right out with a slight persuasion.
That foam helps seal the drivers against the ring on the door panel; that seal will improve sound considerably. You can replicate it on your aftermarket drivers with good 'ol regular foam rubber weather stripping. This is what I used; it worked like a charm.
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      05-06-2016, 10:08 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Solarphil View Post
I wanted to post a 2-specific thread on how to swap out speakers --
Thank you!

It's really nice to see the connectors for door panels without guessing or scratching during research.

If I could ask where you picked up the Eton drivers..

Thanks again for the great pics..
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      05-06-2016, 11:13 PM   #8
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Thanks for the good words everyone. Special thanks to Viffermike for filling in the gaps!

I picked up the Etons on Amazon. They shipped from Germany, but got here faster than the JLs from CA - what a world we live in, eh?
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      05-06-2016, 11:33 PM   #9
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I always appreciate someone that takes their time and does a thorough DIY - great write up! Thanks! This will come in handy someday.
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      05-07-2016, 01:16 AM   #10
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Can you post a link to the proper eton speaker for our cars?
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      05-07-2016, 01:23 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocN55 View Post
Can you post a link to the proper eton speaker for our cars?
You can find the information here: http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1236238 .
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      05-07-2016, 11:15 PM   #12
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So today I swapped the door and rear speakers. here are my tips:

1. Check the plastic push retainers after you remove the door panel. Some can stay in the door.

2. The door interior panel clips long the window opening require a pull straight away from the door, not a pull up. If you pull the panel up, the window trim will pull away from the door.

3. The door speaker plug is pretty easy to break when you try to remove it from the speaker socket. I broke one of them. That sucked. I suggest you try to pull it straight out. If you use needle nose pliers, hold the plug from the sides and pull straight.

4. Place a towel under the door while you are pulling the plastic door handle trim. It is easy to drop them and they can get scratched up on the concrete.

5. The gray/tan clip the has to slide forward before the plug comes out of the window switch is only on the driver's side door.

6. Buy a torx bit for the rear speakers and use a small wrench to loosen the screws. After you break them loose, you can turn the bit with your fingers.
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      05-08-2016, 02:52 PM   #13
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Installing the etons and was wondering it if mattered which slot the tweeter should plug into in the midrange, or does it not matter. Thanks!
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      05-08-2016, 03:01 PM   #14
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Here is a detail from Grave's excellent tutorial. It might help.
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      05-08-2016, 04:11 PM   #15
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A few hints:
1) If you break some of the plastic clips that hold the door panel on I found that the Nissan/Infiniti clips from Pep Boys are reasonable replacements.
2) Careful putting the door panel back on. I found the best place to start was the top of the door back by the lock button. You have to kind of "hang" it over the rubber weather seal. Work your way back to the mirror then down the sides and finally across the bottom.
3) Evidently I'm super strong because I scuffed the door panel by hitting it with the heel of my hand to seat one of the clips. Go easy!
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      05-08-2016, 06:43 PM   #16
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another tip I can provide is when removing the door handle cup piece, start from the bottom edge. if you start from the top and you have a good chance of breaking the LED lightpath clear plastic piece.

also, whats up with bmw build quality. i took off my panels to discover each already had a crushed plastic push retainer.
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      05-10-2016, 11:25 PM   #17
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Update with steps for replacing rear speakers:
First, pry up the grills with a thin edge of your trim tool. I think it's a little easier to work on the speakers if you put the rear seats down, although these photos have them up. Live and learn.
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I've got the HK so I've got tweeters, I believe the base stereo doesn't but here's a photo of the stock HK setup for the history books.
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Each speaker is held in place with three torx bits, same bit as the front speakers. You will need a low profile driver, but a stubby torx driver might fit.
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You can then pull up the speaker to find two sets of wires if you have the HK. The ones with the black heatshrink bundle go to the tweeter, and can be tucked back in out of the way unless you're replacing with a component set. I'm using Coax JL's, so I'll just leave the old tweeters there. The wires with the cloth tape are the important ones coming from the amp.
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I used a pick to disconnect the latch. A small screwdriver would work fine too.
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If you're using JL speakers from Selmeralto's post, you'll need to break two tabs off one side.
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Closeup of the electrical connections. Pay attention to polarity, it matters.
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Good crimpers are like sliced bread. Once you use them, you'll never figure out how you got along without them.
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I think I'm ready to rock here. I picked up the wiring harnesses from ebay, search for BMW OEM speaker connector harness.
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You know when I mentioned polarity matters? Well, apparently you can't trust BMW to be consistent. I connected everything up like I *thought* it ought to work, but I was less than happy about the bass response from the rear. Well, it turns out the left and right factory harnesses have the + in opposite spots. F**** f**** f****. Lessons learned - don't just trust the way the plugs fit into the socket, confirm the wires on one side of the plug match the wires on the other side.
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I should also mention that I don't think it's fair to hang this on the ebay vendor - i bought two sets of adapters (4 total) because I wasn't sure how many I'd need, and they're all identical. I think this may be a BMW thing. Or i'm just lucky.

Anyway, back to installing speakers. The stock speaker has three mounting points, and the JL has four (two that you snap off earlier to fit). I could have left it hanging on the two points, but that seemed likely to cause a lot of vibration and noise not to mention crappy sealing. I thought about cutting up some scrap metal to catch the 3rd mounting point when I realized the Jeezus clips shipped with the JL speakers might offer a solution - they had a hooked tang on one side, and the offset of the screw hole was just the right distance. I just had to drill out the snail shell screw hole to clear the stock BMW mounting screws. A 3/16" drill bit worked great. Use a vise or maybe visegrips if you've got nothing better - the clips are spring steel and will grab, which will seriously fubar your fingers if you're silly enough to try to hold them by hand while drilling.
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Here's a shot of the third clip, installed.
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Much happiness. Cervesas, all around!
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      05-11-2016, 05:30 AM   #18
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Great job. Thanks.
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      05-18-2016, 12:04 AM   #19
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Today I installed the JL's and the Etons. The install went flawless with all the pics and detailed instructions from this post. I also have the Bimmertech amp. I immediately noticed the harshness of the HK's were gone. I still have some work to do with the EQ on the Bimmertech amp. I quickly set the EQ to flat as I didn't have any more time to spend on the car. A big thanks to all of you who helped with this install and your recommendations to help improve the sound in the 2.
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      06-23-2016, 07:30 PM   #20
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Just finished installing the JL's and ETONs. Pics and instructions were very helpful!

The sound difference is amazing, getting rid of the HK's really mellows out the sound and takes out that nasty almost screeching highs and harshness. The JL's add some really nice low end as well.

As far as tips, the JLs go in very easily, just watch the polarity (the BMW harness is different on each side).

For the ETON's, the worst part for me was getting the door panel off (fingers are still sore). I started in the lower corner by the hinge, really just kept yanking until I got fingers under there and one pop. Once I got one off, the rest went fairly easily but it does take a good tug. Do the top last, and sort of go a long the top edge pulling straight out starting back by the lock. The top comes off much easier than the bottom and sides.

I only had to remove the wire to the door handle light, the other wires were long enough if I put the door panel on end and leaned it against the door (I had a towel on the ground).

Also the sails are a bit tricky, but I found working from the rear edge (closest to the door glass) and then pulling up and out seemed to work best.
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      06-23-2016, 08:03 PM   #21
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Excellent. And don't forget to have Dynamat or other soundproofing material on hand to install when everything is apart.
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      07-01-2016, 02:23 PM   #22
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Just replaced all four speakers with Focals and just wanted to say thanks for the great directions in this thread. Used the recommended eBay spacers and BMW harnesses and it all went off without a hitch (mostly!). Much better sound overall!

Last edited by mitchfort; 07-01-2016 at 02:26 PM.. Reason: Clarity
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