Questions about Install in E36 - '95 318i - BMW Forum

Banshee · 04-26-2007, 08:56 PM

I am helping a buddy of mine out with an install in his '95 318. It has the mid-fi system (3-way up front).
He got his 5.25 woofers up front replaced with pioneer 3-ways and also the rear speakers were replaced as well. This was done by a shop. His system still sounded like crap.
Today we replaced his crappy old pioneer head with a new one. His system sounds a bit better, but still not too good.

I know my share about car audio and installs, but i have never worked on a BMW and hear they are a pain.
I am going to be putting a sub/amp in his car...so i will be running RCA's up front. Battery in the back FTW.
I also want to completely bypass the crap stock amp and get a cheap 4-channel to power his pioneer speakers. I will also disconnect the stock mid and tweet in the doors. This will require another set of RCA's and 4 sets of speaker wire.
The process is easy enough...but how hard is it really to do? I know in my car it would be a breeze, but is it even worth it in his? I don't want to spend a week trying to run wires. I would rather just leave the sub/amp and call it a day...maybe have it done professionally later on.

I just realized i made a pretty long post, sorry about that, but i would really like some input on this situation. any help is greatly appreciated. thanks!

da_bull · 04-26-2007, 11:25 PM

If your replacing everything (headunit, amps, and wires), its time consuming but not that bad. These cars are well put together, so in turn, they will be hard to take apart. It's definitely worth it IF he's going to keep the car for a while. If he's not, wait til the next car, and start fresh. Bypassing all the factory stuff is really the way to go in these cars. If you think about it you have a car that is relatively unchanged since 1992 (on the 3-series), and probably further back than that on the audio portion of the car. So now you have speakers, headunit power, audio design, etc. that is dated back 15 years, plus the components themselves are 10+ years old. Swap em and enjoy the new found sound...

Bill