Mounting speakers in E39 door panels

[Jon G.]

I have a set of Focal 5-1/4" woofers that I need to mount in the doors of my '02 530i. But it turns out that these speakers are too deep to mount in the factory pod.

Have others run into this problem? How else can the speakers be mounted?

I have noticed a few other annoyances:

-the factory grille is actually smaller than the face of a 5-1/4" speaker, is there any audible affect to this overhang?

-if you "top mount" the woofer to the door panel the aftermarket grille interferes with the other door features like the arm piece.

-as above, but if you move the speaker down the the door panel then, as it conforms to the contour of the door, it actually points downwards towards the floor. Again, is there a sonic problem with the orientation?


It seems that a very simple speaker upgrade is turning ugly!

-Jon

[billB]

I hope you will find better answers here.....Good luck

regards
billb

[da_bull]

Mounting the speaker in a factory pod is usually the most solid mounting. They are usually plastic and can be modified relatively easily.

The opening in the grill should be 70-75% of the speaker size (i.e. 5.25" speaker should be 4" or bigger)

Pointing the speaker towards the floor will destroy your sound stage. It will make the singers sound like they are underneath your seat.

hope that helps....