Ratch's 318iS Resto is back!!!

[Royalratch]

Lol they do indeed.

I fired the ICE up today and it sounds awesome with some material and totally awful with others - I can only guess it's the different quality audio files on my iPod though I do have some lossless AAC on there. Radio sounds good - have yet to try a genuine CD in it.

None of it is properly bolted down yet either and the door cards are not bolted in / pressed in either so I'm sure that will tighten things up - disappointed with the bass level a little - there is next to no porting and I wonder if it would help to open up the through holes a lot more...?

Also, the crossovers are for a 5'25" set of components from a different brand - would that also affect the SQ, perhaps by not sending lower frequencies that a 6.5 could handle that the 5.25 they're meant for couldn't?

[E30BeemerLad]

Are those Alpine DDD Drive speakers in the front?

[Royalratch]

Yes. Tell me they're SHITE lol...!

[e30topless]

ratch you hero, this is looking great

the front end looks super ,

as for the speaker pods they are a 'bit' council but the door pockets on an e30 are fookin useless so why not ?
those builds are probaly one of the best i have seen ,glad you didn't go down the 6x9 route

I really like a nice sounding system and the front kickpanels are hopeless , what are you going to use on the rear shelf?

[Ollie_bwoii]

Looking awesome! Love the door cards

Although isn't the front number plate surround a bit high up, I thought they finished flush with the top of the bumper?

[E30BeemerLad]

Yes. Tell me they're SHITE lol...!

They were an expensive component set a few years back. I have a set with the tweeters & crossovers, they were on the rear shelf of my old lachs turd. Think my mate paid about £160 for them new.

[Royalratch]

@e30topless - Yeah it looks good, nothing like what you got going on though!
Have some Inifinty Coaxials in the back with external passive crossovers - very impressed with those. It's a touchy subject with these door pods as I do acknowledge the councilness despite my best efforts to make them look normal. However, I'm into my tunes and I just couldn't bear the standard shite anymore and didn't want to mess with subs in the boot etc. So I though I'd try this and if they are awesome they can stay and if they are 'okay' then it's back to door pockets and shit sound. At the mo they are on the limit but I haven't set it all up 100% yet so we'll see.

@Ollie_bwoi - I though that too but didn't bother changing it - good shout.

[Royalratch]

Yes. Tell me they're SHITE lol...!

They were an expensive component set a few years back. I have a set with the tweeters & crossovers, they were on the rear shelf of my old lachs turd. Think my mate paid about £160 for them new.

I got these brand new for £50 (RRP £350 at the time) but they were minus the crossovers. Would using a different crossover affect SQ?

[E30BeemerLad]

really don't know mate. I will dig mine out the garage and see if there is any info on them about the frequency ranges etc. Wouldn't expect a massive difference to be honest

[Royalratch]

Would be cool. Perhaps crossovers vary from 6.5" - 5.25"

[FMH]

Ratch, do you mind me asking, how much do those speaker pods cost and where can i buy a set?

[Felix79]

Nice to see it comming along Ratch. I wish I had orginal speaker covers for the gastly things that are curropting my lovely interier. Also the colour looks so nice with the IS exteier. It's great to see so many clean uncouncil examples around these days.

[Royalratch]

@FMH - They are from www.audiosport.co.uk and are about £80 - I phoned and got free postage...

@Felix79 - cheers pal, get some pics outside soon as temp drivers seat is bolted in and needs a a run before MOT and Tax.

[toby]

Perhaps crossovers vary from 6.5" - 5.25"

The principle of separating low/high frequencies shouldn't be too affected by the speaker size I would guess - but if any audiophiles no better then please say...

You'd find out by reading the technobable on the box (or off t'internet if you can find it) - then comparing it with the 6.5" - if the frequency ranges are the same then it makes no difference.

I've done a similar thing to you with non standard tweeter (Alpines set into the custom fit mirror pods) replacing the standard tweeters in a cross over system. They seem fine but I'm not convinced that it's the best position for a tweeter anyway - but it looks good there.

[Alex]

looking good ratch, i like the door pods, i usually think they are utterly council but somehow when done properly they can look oem.

is dynamat worth it, do you put it round where you mount the speaker?

[b4gga83]

Beautiful!

[Royalratch]

looking good ratch, i like the door pods, i usually think they are utterly council but somehow when done properly they can look oem.

is dynamat worth it, do you put it round where you mount the speaker?

Definitely worth it - lol!

I would certainly say use it where any speakers are mounted. Tightens up bass and clarity with the side effect of reducing road noise but the more you use the better it gets. Too many users have sung it's praises for it be BS and it really worked well on my rear shelf set. Some people say don't bother with any ICE install unless you use it heavily.

Just fired up the system again with different source material and it sounds rad. Seems anything 'downloaded' is crap, vs purchased iTunes material (especially the new hi-bit rate 'Plus' format) lossless encoding, radio and original CD all sounding great.

Encoding audio files is a black art it seems. Now just to secure the door pods with 8 bolts all round and refit vapor barriers and it's off to collect the new interior - woith a very tasty addition in the pipeline too ...

[Alex]

[Royalratch]

Tried to go out for a spin in this thing - it's been ready to rock the past few days bit upon removing some old redundant alarm / immobilizer (factory option, well installed but redundant without fob) the car won't start.
Almost certainly electrical - rescue thread here:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

More soon as I get it sorted, nice pix out in the sun, and some tasty new extras to top it all off!

[Royalratch]

Update for the sake of an update.

Picked these up a few weeks ago for the summer. Yes they are original, no they are not 8J at the rear - but even though the mighty M42 could benefit from wider rears to tame it's M20-crushing power, for coasting around town 7J is fine.




The BBS on there are mint and will be kept - all E30 owners should have a set in the pocket!

[kieran325]

The BBS on there are mint and will be kept - all E30 owners should have a set in the pocket!

Very true and I have 2 sets

[inlovewithRWD]

Wheel porn!

[Royalratch]

Cleared the boot out today to give it another dose of Waxoil and just to tidy up. I cannot tell you how good it feels to see rot-free arches.

Some places have discoloration but it's not rust - I think it's a mixture of dirt, old waxoil and old rust inhibitor - hoovers up nice and clean.








Have never fitted this yet, had it for ages even though it's brand new.




Spare 15" - will go for a refurb. Tyre still in great condition (vintage Goodyear lol) but will be swapped for a Conti as per the others.





I will vax the boot trim and fitting a new bulkhead trim with the ski-hatch cutout as I will be fitting a genuine ski-bag in there, even though I have an E30 snowboard rack. Some bits of new trim around the boot latch area also and that's that.

Interior will be ready next week I think then I can get a proper valet and get cracking on a possible re-map to better suit my needs.

[e30topless]

Cleared the boot out today to give it another dose of Waxoil and just to tidy up.
I cannot tell you how good it feels to see rot-free arches.

thats a scary sight ,
where has all the rust 'dust' come from? have you been drilling/grinding in there at some point?

have you had a good poke around the inner arches ?

[bss325i]

Thats what i was thinking.

This area especially as it looks like its coming through from wheel side of the inner the rear arch

[Royalratch]

It's not rust dust - it's literally dirt and dust. I have a regular poke and waxoil every year there's no rust anywhere - see the previous quarter panel arch shots, footwells, scuttle etc etc.
The two times I have found rust was the roof (!) and the lower rear valance which got snagged on a rock in Spain, some localized rust appeared so the whole thing was replaced soon as I got back.

All other metal is original going on 19 years now.

Close-up pic after a wipedown:

[cro320]

I would kill for those Alpinas..

[Bump]

fantastic thread, read all of it last night. great to know you've kept it for years and are going to keep it on the road for many more

I'd love to know if the dynamat makes a significant difference in terms of road noise.

I've got my carpet out at the moment so I spose now would be the time to do it..pricey though

[Royalratch]

I haven't had it out on the road yet! I've had very good reviews of it. It's important where you put it and that you install it properly, the more the better
Dynamat's website has excellent guides.

[Nay]

Looking good Ratch!

The speaker setup seems to be going well. When you were talking about audio quality it more than likely is to do with different file types being converted to this (probably) '.AAC' format which MAC/iTunes is so fond of. As you said, try CDs. The only other thing I could think of is if your headunit has an 'auto-balance' function like some of the later models. This can quite easily mess up the frequency balancing of the different channels.

Good luck with the rest of the car!

[Royalratch]

Cheers dude.

After putting some decent source files in and messing with settings (Sight bias to rear makes a huge difference in an E30) and this units 'Surround Sound' feature which is actually pretty good, a touch of EQ (5-band) and it is tons better. So the door pods will stay.










For now.

I wouldn't mind trying some current generation 6.5's as though these are premium speakers they are fairly old. But they are beautifully made and solid and I like the low key design.

[Nay]

Problem with most new speakers is their jap crap styling. Wheres the top quality, less show stuff gone? And sometimes its not just the facia's, but the actual speakers too with crap colours and chromie centers and stuff. They just look dire.

A friend mounted a sub in the rear, behind the arm-rest in the center and facing towards the front. That, with some good speaks sounds really nice from the front, but will always piss the passengers in the back off as they can't hear anything.

[Royalratch]

I rarely have passengers though and I definitely won't after this re-trim.
I have this notion that it will be cool to say 'nobody has sat in the rear seats for past 20 years...'

[b4gga83]

Updatings?

[Royalratch]

Lots - just need to get all the pix uploaded. Lost my bloody Alpina Wheel key didn't I -