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Re: Alpine Alarm, Installed

>I've got a 93 318iS. <snip>
>I'd like to keep the head unit but was thinking about a speaker change and an
>in-line amp. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Since the amp is in the head unit, you cant get around it.  You could come
off the speaker outputs of the BMW head unit, through a step down
transformers, to the amp inputs.  Some amps will take speaker level inputs
but not many and not the better quality ones that I know of.  The down side
of this is any distortion coming from the head unit will go right into the
amps and the transformer itself will probably add some, don't get a cheap-o
one.  The key would be to set it up so that the amps hit peak power when
the volume knob on the head unit it about 1/2 way or less (before
distortion gets too bad).  I saw a spec on the 325 stereo, and at the rated
wattage, it was at *10%* total harmonic distortion :-(.

Installing tweeters behind the factory grills on the door is quite do-able,
but not real easy.  The speaker and the grill are all one piece and must be
cut apart.  Expect to pay $50-100 for a shop to do it.  If you decide to do
it yourself, let me know and I'll tell you how I did it.  I installed 4"
MB-Quart stealth mount speaker in the back in the existing enclosure.  If
you are not going to do subs, you may want to look at how you could get
some 6 1/2" speakers in the back (would require cutting.)  The biggest
problem in these systems is no Bass, which is no wonder w/ only 5 1/4's up
front and 4" in the back.

Oh yeah, MB-Quart has a 3-way set designed just for the BMW 3 series now.
The tweeter and midrange both go into the size hole that is the tweeter on
a 318 or the midrange on a 325.  It is the same speaker I put in the back
of my car, but it has a grille and mounting hardware for 3 series doors.
It is black, but you could have it custom painted to match if you wanted.
A 5 1/4 in the kick panel goes along w/ the door-mounted mid and tweeter.
They would be a breeze to install, sound great, but be fairly expensive I'm
sure.

>IMHO, Alpine shouldn't let BMW spec such a wimpy unit. The Nokia
>speakers are another disappointment.

Could not agree more, the system is far below what one should get in a
$27,000 car.

Jim