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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vanquish" data-source="post: 154912" data-attributes="member: 84">Hi bro,Congrats on your new purchase. The E39 is an excellent platform for ICE upgrade ... even if it's just simple one. Great build quality and the cabin is super quiet even at high speeds.Now, on to your little problem. It looks like your long term plan is to have a full after-market setup eventually in your car ( amp/s, speakers and a sub maybe ) so you'll need to buy hardwares which will grow with your system and not succumb to impulse driven purchases ...First things first, I believe that your E39 mite just have an OEM Alpine amp (factory fitted) in the boot beside the changer - other CKD E39 owners, please chime in and confirm this. But I've heard it in my pal's car and it's only so-so in terms of quality. So, you need to look at aftermarket amps if you're serious about sound. However, there are some factors that you'll need to take into factor -1. Front speaker setup - some E39s have a 3 way front while others are just 2 way. Either way, 5.5 inch mid bass in the door parcel, 2 inch mid units in the upper door parcel near the aircond vent and the tweeters in their housing at the edge of the A pillar are the standard equipment if the E39 comes with a 3 way front setup. Cars with a 2 way set up will not have the 2 inch mid units however. Now, if your plans are to replace this totally, you will need to hunt for a 3 way component set that has a similar range of drivers. Or, you can eschew the 2 inch mid unit and go for the regular and easier to source 2 way component sets. Either way, the stock door parcel takes nothing bigger than a 5.5 inch mid bass unless you're planning to fabricate customs door pods or kick panels. Your choice ....P/S - speaker types and brands are rather subjective and differ from one individual to another. I'm not sure if you're the type who likes your music loud, bright and with lots of detail or someone who prefers a more natural but realistic sounding - well defined instruments, vocals while being able to withstand long hours of play without irritating your ears. We'll get to brands and types of speakers once you've answered this part.2. Once you've decided which speaker set up you're going with, you can start looking at the amps for the job. My thought is to always go with the most powerful amp for your budget - you can never have enough power and more power means more headroom. Now, assuming you go with the 3 way front component set, you need an amp that produces about 75-100W RMS of power - 3 way components needs more juice to sound good unlike their 2 way siblings. A decent amp with about 75W x 4 output will do if you're the type who does not listen to his music at high levels. So, 2 channels goes to the front speakers and the other 2 can be feed for your sub - when you get one.3. Rear speakers - Stock location holds a pair of co-ax speakers if I'm not wrong. I'd change this to a matching pair of co-ax from the same brand as the front speakers brand / type for uniformity sake. Since these are mainly for rear-fill sound, you can opt to run them off the HU's power if needed .... unless rear speaker output is important to you.4. Sub -  what is your preference ? A traditional 10 or 12 inch in a sealed/ported enclosure/bass tube or space saving self-powered mini-sub with its own enclosure. The first one will need power to run - 2 channels bridged from your amplifier should take care of this. You can also run a bass tube ( saves space with decent bass output ) in a similar manner. The second one is ideal if you want something small and can be tucked away in a corner of your boot and still provides a decent amount of bass for general listening. A built in amplifier handles the power requirements - which frees up the 2 channels from your amp for other purposes.A word of caution - I'm not sure how well versed you are with the E39 wiring and onboard electronics but unless you're absolutely sure of doing this DIY, my advise would be to find a competent installer who's is able to handle the task efficiently and spare you of any electronic gremlins later. The E39 is a rather complex car with the amount of wires/cables/wiring looms running around, sensors, fuses and etc hence due care must be exercised. Neway, feel free to speak to the others here who's ICEd up their E39s - Alvin, Yazid, WJ and the rest should be able to share their experience with you.Hope that I've been of some help ....Cheers,.</blockquote>

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