BMW e46 M3 budget build AV system

[NealfromNZ]

Have been lurking around the forum and are a general AV nut. Have an older AV rig , analogue hifi system from the 80s and I a dyi car stereo hobbyist.

The car concerned is a BMW M3 from the 2000s . Its a great car and mine has the circa 2002 factory AV package which has a 16:9 7.5 inch screen , TV tuner and a factory 10 channel hifi package.

A few years back I gave the audio and AV side a revamp with two goals. Budget speaker and amp based on end of line NOS and to put in a system that was still ok for track days and could be removed an returned to factory should I sell it.

SOURCES
RASPBERRY Pi based system running libraelec / Kodi with ESS Sabre 9016 usb dac
Factory tuner
Factory TV tuner with AV input
IPhone X via analogue ashtray dock.
CD Stacker deleted and Kodi unit above placed in stacker case
BLURAY computer drive to cover optical disc.
WiFi connection to sync music collection from home media pc to kodi system in lossless audio formats.

DSP
PPI 192k / 24 bit 8 channel.
inputs
Tosklink to sabre / optical async doc
Analogue to iPhone x
High level to balanced audio outputs from BMW tuner

Amps
Soundstream class ab 110w rms x 4 into components
Soundstream class d 600 rms x1 for subwoofer

Speakers
4x PPI 355cs components (5.25 inch)

Subwoofer
Boston Acoustics SPG555 . Oval shape area similar to 13 inch

Kodi media player ,Raspberry PI 3, USB powered hub , hifimediy ess2016 usb DAC , Asus computer blue ray player , 256gig thumb drive.

 

[NealfromNZ]

Subwoofer build. 1 cubic foot box, 1.5 inch front baffle. one BA spg 555. 1 passive radiator. Tuned to 23hz. Sub can achieve low 130s DB.
Changed one section of back seat for ski bag section through arm rest. Bass vents into cabin via ski bag section.

 

[NealfromNZ]

Factory speakers replaced with PPI comps

 

[NealfromNZ]

Amps and DSP install

 

[NealfromNZ]

System interface. Kodi media player controls mapped to BMW nav control buttons via system bus controller. This was an earlier interface I ran

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Wow... very serious install there... love love love the subs behind the seat and the BMW emblems... very clean and cool looking.

I was going to do an install in my 2012 528i, but ended up selling it for a truck before I ever got around to it. It was going to be very similar to what you did with the subs behind the seat.

 

[tesseract]

Very cool. Gives me ideas for my E46!

 

[NealfromNZ]

Wow... very serious install there... love love love the subs behind the seat and the BMW emblems... very clean and cool looking.

I was going to do an install in my 2012 528i, but ended up selling it for a truck before I ever got around to it. It was going to be very similar to what you did with the subs behind the seat.

Thanks Sonnie , I spent a few years on weekends take the interior apart and then putting things back together for work day use.

Ive had a few car audio systems since the late 80s and with this one set a lower budget as a challenge and brought up end of line stock. On the BMW the ski pass installs for the sub give really clean bass compared to my other trunk installs.

All that is left to do is run through a session with REW as I’ve tuned time alignment by ear and the response curve is more home hifi than running a car curve. Ive had good feedback on the overall sound quality and most don’t believe that it’s run by a $40 raspberry pi.