do 6.5 speakers fit in the e34?

[RIPN RAY]

i have some nice 6.5 jl audio speakers hanging around. anyone know if they would fit in the kick panel or the rear deck?

[angrypancake]

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/Speakers.htm

[M-what]

i have some nice 6.5 jl audio speakers hanging around. anyone know if they would fit in the kick panel or the rear deck?

Yes you can make the 6.5" JL speakers fit in the kick panel, thats where it will do you most good. Only thing is that the speaker slits in the kick panel is designed for 5.25-5.5". So you can leave the slits as is and install the speaker in the recess hole and attach w/ some sheet metal screws to the body. You may need to add some 1"-2" metal support straps. Then I used some dynamat sheets to seal the space between the speaker and the recess hole.

Now you can stop here and install the kick panels and listen. If you are not satisfied with it, like i was, then you can take the speakers back out. I laid the speaker on the kick panel and centered it on the speaker opening area of the grill and drew a circle. I then cut the speaker grill opening in the kick panel to make sure the 6.5 have the full opening around the speaker cone - when you do this the original speaker mountig bolt location on the back of the kick panel will have to be cut out. I then installed the speaker from the front of the kick panel w/ the grill bracket and then installed the speaker grill that came with the speaker. - hopefully you kept these when you got the speakers. I kept the rear speakers as is and just installed a small sub. Its now sound much better than the stock.
Steve

[Jon K]

I did 6.5" MB Quart Q series in the kicks, 4" on the dash and 1" tweeters in the door... anything can be done!

[M-what]

I did 6.5" MB Quart Q series in the kicks, 4" on the dash and 1" tweeters in the door... anything can be done!

Jon, how much did you have to cut/modify to fit the 4" in the dash? Does the MB 4" have shallow depth? The Cliff design magnet is making it pretty hard to install them in the dash.
Steve

[Jon K]

Jon, how much did you have to cut/modify to fit the 4" in the dash? Does the MB 4" have shallow depth? The Cliff design magnet is making it pretty hard to install them in the dash.
Steve
I had to cut a bunch. I had to cut basically a 3.5" hole, so they are recessed beneath vs dropped in from top. But also, the magnets are deep, I had to trim into the airduct vent area.

[M-what]

I had to cut a bunch. I had to cut basically a 3.5" hole, so they are recessed beneath vs dropped in from top. But also, the magnets are deep, I had to trim into the airduct vent area.

Thats seems to be the only way to fit a 4" in the front vent. Thanks for the info.

[M.Wenzel]

Thats seems to be the only way to fit a 4" in the front vent. Thanks for the info.
jon k is the superman of e34's... he can do anything.

[Incantation]

they will fit fine in both areas. in the front u will have to cut the panel.. pretty easy with a dremel and some careful measuring