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December, 2024

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Some car audio questions? Wiring question too. Please help me out!

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SlurbnBeef
Posts: 1462 - Karma: 321
Hello all!
I have a 2006 BMW 325i and I was wondering what a good quality cheap radio that will fit is. I am getting two 12" subwoofers, so is there a specific one that I need to get to be able to hook the subs up? I am not that good with car audio so I needed some opinions. I would like it to be under $150.

Also, will I need to get an amp also, or is just getting the subs ok?

Is there any good way to wire the subs from the trunk to the radio??

Sorry I have a lot of questions! Any other info I might need to know would be greatly appreciated!
Apr 13 2013 11:17PM
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GIF
Posts: 468 - Karma: 1,279
I don't know a thing about in-car audio.

But your car sounds pretty dope and I'd totally drive it all around the blocks
Apr 13 2013 11:20PM
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A_Unicorn
Posts: 129 - Karma: 249
Your gonna want an amp bro.
Apr 13 2013 11:22PM
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Chief.
Posts: 276 - Karma: 399
you dont need an amp just wire the sub directly to your door handles and the only deck that will fit is a jvc 1004e7
Apr 13 2013 11:38PM
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AlexFromTarget
Posts: 533 - Karma: 59
1to find a deck go on crutchfield.com putin all your car info and itll give you all your options
2 you will need an amp aswell id reccomend a mono amp but depending on the subs your getting you might even need to run two. Also depending on power usage you might need a capacitor
3 running subs from the deck (radio) can be done all youll need is more wire and some knowledge of removing plastic panels on your car
Pm me with sny other questions.
Apr 13 2013 11:42PM
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qeefmasterflex
Posts: 662 - Karma: 1,522
My brother knows all about this. Oh and 2 12's is generally too much especially plug your car is not new. Go for two tens trust me
Apr 14 2013 12:22AM
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cum
Posts: 308 - Karma: 8
If you need to get a head unit, amp to power two 12's, wiring kit, etc...good luck getting it for under $150. A decent amp will run you more than that by itself. Installation alone is gonna run you atleast $70, unless you're putting it in yourself in which case i would recommend you do some research.
Apr 14 2013 12:28AM
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SlurbnBeef
Posts: 1462 - Karma: 321
The 150 dollars was just for the radio. I have more for everything else. Thanks!
Apr 14 2013 12:50AM
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Justin.B
Posts: 2257 - Karma: 721
$150 is a good base to start for the deck, when it comes down to it just pick a trustworthy brand (Kicker, Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood are good places to start) and check out what they've got in your price range, do some research and find some reviews to make sure it's a good deck and has the features you're looking for. You'll also need the wiring harness adapter to go from the bmw's stock wiring into the new wiring from the new deck. You're gonna need a mounting kit too in order to mount it into the car where the stock deck was, any car audio shop can help with that just give them the year and model of your car and the model of your deck for the harness and mounting kit.

As far as the subs though don't do what that guy a few posts above me said and get a mono amp. The way mono amps work is you're essentially taking one channel of power, and splitting it right and left between the 2 subs which is something you want to avoid. Check the power rating of the subs (watts RMS) and find a 2-channel amp that doesn't exceed the power of your two subs combined (ex. 2x300w RMS subwoofers= 2channel 600w RMS amp or bigger). Be wary not to over power your subwoofers from the amp or underpower the subs. Keep in mind what ohm's the amp can load out when purchasing and how much power the subs are rated for depending how you wire them, there's a lot to explain when it comes to ohm's and a sub's impedance but you can read up about it here if you plan to install yourself http://www.crutchfield.com/S-g61kjraEz12/learn/wiring-subwoofers-ohms.html

Hope this helps and feel free to pm me if you have anymore questions, I've done a ton of car audio installs and have worked with home theater and arena sound systems for a couple years so i'm sure I could give some help
Apr 14 2013 4:09AM
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Dingo69
Posts: 1330 - Karma: -171
.
Apr 14 2013 4:13AM
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Charlie_Kelly
Posts: 11954 - Karma: 12,302
You need a HU (head unit), amp, wiring kit, and subs. If you get a dual box for your subs than you can run one wire from the amp to the box which will split it to each sub. That way you could use a mono amp. Most likely you will need a stereo amp, or it splits the power into wither 2 or 4 channels. I'm sure you can find a wiring kit that is setup up for dual subs. Try crutchfield.com.

My experience, I've setup 3 cars with HU's, subs, and amps. One of those cars a completely rewired (aka wiring to each speaker and sub, it was a huge pain in the ass, two days of work).

Hope that helps!
Apr 14 2013 10:00AM
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KEVTRON
Posts: 3545 - Karma: 1,222
If you don't know anythi g about wiring I highly siggest having someone that does install it for you and just shadow them while they do it. I did it by myself the first time and it was a pain in the ass. Once you get it though and do it once its extremely easy to do. Everyone else has already said what you need so look at a few of the posts above cause they are spot on.
Apr 14 2013 10:18AM
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Spinoza
Posts: 12763 - Karma: 3,846
I tried installing my own stuff but failed halfway. Ended up paying someone to do it.

btw, is your BMW white?
Apr 14 2013 11:51AM
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SlurbnBeef
Posts: 1462 - Karma: 321
Yeah, Im going to have to see how much someone would do it for, it might look nicer... and its black.
Apr 14 2013 12:24PM
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SlurbnBeef
Posts: 1462 - Karma: 321
Thank you VERY much 10/10! I might be PMing you soon with some questions, but this really helped.
Apr 14 2013 12:25PM
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shocker611
Posts: 2599 - Karma: 423
haha this just brought up bad memories. I bought a double din because I thought my HU in my car was going out. Spent probably 6 hours getting everything set, turn it on, and zero sound. Tried EVERYTHING. about a week later after being pissed off at life I decided to take it in and see what they would say. Turns out I had blown my amp and nothing was wrong with my wiring or my old HU. I was fucking pissed. Moral of the story if you don't know what you're doing I'd recommend having someone do it for you, its really not terribly expensive
Apr 14 2013 2:45PM
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first_rodeo
Posts: 2385 - Karma: 7,781
BMW are so powerful the engine is good enough to power 2200 watt sub i got the mtx jackhammer in my trunk wow its such good bass from my BMX  enigne
Apr 14 2013 2:49PM
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