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expressly forbidden and a violation of international copyright law.  Any violation will result in prosecution to the full extent available under 

the law! 

 

© 2006 Bavarian Soundwerks, LLC.

 

2195 Defoor Hills Rd., Suite D, Atlanta, GA 30318 

P: 404.963.8857 | 

www.bavsound.com

  

 

Stage 1 Audio Upgrade (BMW Speakers) Installation Instructions 

for BMW 3 Series, M3 Convertible ‘00-‘06 (E46) 

 

Tools Required: 

(All the below are readily available at your local auto 
parts store)

 

 

Phillips Head Screwdriver 

 

Panel Removal Tools 

 

Torx bit set 

 

Small, Straight Pick Tool 

 

8mm Socket Wrench 

 

13mm Socket Wrench 

 

Hot Glue Gun w/Glue Sticks 

 
 
 

 

Brain 

 

Before you Begin 

 

 

Please review and familiarize yourself completely with these instructions 
before starting work on your vehicle! 

 

 

Insure that your bass and treble settings are set to their default middle positions before 
installing your new speaker upgrade.

   Once you’ve installed your Stage 1, you can reset the 

bass and treble settings to taste.  Keep in mind that we generally recommend keeping them both 
very close to center as large adjustments introduce distortion into the audio signal and will lower 
performance of your system. 
 

 

Perform the installation one door at a time.

  Since there are many small parts that you’ll remove 

when completing the project, limiting the work you’re doing to one door will prevent you from 
confusing which parts go with what door. Take a quick listen to confirm that the speakers are 
functional, 

but wait until all of the speakers are installed for a complete audition

. Installing the 

speakers into one door and comparing them to the rest of the factory speakers will not yield the 
desired results of the upgrade. 

 

 

 
The Process 

As each customer’s installation is unique, it is important to remember that installation is essentially the 
reverse of the removal process outlined below, though you will need a certain level of personal ingenuity and 
certain tools outlined above. Variations occasionally occur, so if anything seems out of line with what is 
contained in the pages that follow, don’t hesitate to contact us. 

 
If you experience any issues with your installation, please consult the troubleshooting guide located 
at the rear of this installation packet. 

 

We’re going to proceed as follows: 

1. Front 

Doors 

2.  Rear Side Panels 

 
 

Summary of Contents for E46 Convertible

Page 1: ... mind that we generally recommend keeping them both very close to center as large adjustments introduce distortion into the audio signal and will lower performance of your system Perform the installation one door at a time Since there are many small parts that you ll remove when completing the project limiting the work you re doing to one door will prevent you from confusing which parts go with wh...

Page 2: ... at the bottom of the handle and one more towards the rear These three bolts are Torx T20 Remove them by turning them counter clockwise and placing them in a safe place where you won t lose them 3 Locate the airbag plug towards the rear center of the door panel Remove this using your panel popper Pry from the top and bottom very carefully This will reveal another Torx T20 4 Now look behind the chr...

Page 3: ...ur hands as this will decrease the chances of anything becoming scratched continue pulling outward around the bottom and side edges of the door Leave the top part attached as we will release this edge of the door panel last 8 Carefully pull outward and upward from the rear of the door along the top edge 9 Be careful of the lock mechanism because the door can be released now but you aren t quite fi...

Page 4: ...ace them with the other Torx bolts which you have already put aside in a safe place haven t you Reattach the new midbass driver to the door panel using the original factory hardware If your factory speaker had a foam baffle around it remove it and reuse it on the new BSW midbass driver Tweeter Midrange Assembly Removal Installation You ll first want to remove the entire tweeter midrange assembly b...

Page 5: ...to your new speaker into the factory plugs that you removed from the factory speakers Here are a few photos to illustrate the process Driver Door Blue w White Stripe Red Blue w Brown Stripe Connects to Black Passenger Door Blue w Red Stripe Red Blue w Brown Stripe Connects to Black Rear Speaker Removal Installation 1 First look underneath the armrests on the side panels on either side of the vehic...

Page 6: ...he side panels Simply lift upward and the seat will free itself Figure 14 4 Unhook the leather flap that attaches the cushion to the back portion of the backseat and remove the seat bottom 5 Now look back to the area uncovered by the side panels You will see three 7mm bolts along the bottom edge of the top panel We will only remove the front and rear bolts Leave the center one in place Figure 16 6...

Page 7: ...ith the front midbass drivers Use the chart below to match wire colors Driver Side Yellow Red Negative Connects to Black Passenger Side Blue Red Brown Connects to Black 9 Install the new midbass drivers in the factory locations using the supplied long fine thread screw washer combination Rear Tweeter Installation 1 Before beginning this step plug in your hot glue gun so that it will be ready by th...

Page 8: ...Allow 2 3 minutes for the glue to dry then reinstall the front portion of the assembly back through the panel and tighten the ring back into place Plug the tweeter back in and reinstall the panel Now enjoy your new audio system go for a drive with the top down Stage 1 Speaker Upgrade Troubleshooting Guide If you re experiencing an issue with your new speakers please carefully read through this gui...

Page 9: ...e almost know for sure that there is a speaker whose terminals are grounded out Let s check the most likely culprits E46 mid bass drivers by disconnecting each speaker until the music comes back on and we ve isolated the problem speaker 3 The Factory Speaker did not work either If this was the case and you were trying to fix the problem by purchasing new speakers we may need to look at the factory...

Page 10: ... heat shrink wrapped piece 2 long inline with the tweeters and midranges Alternatively another indicator of the 8ohm midrange is presence of a white dot on the speaker basket directly below the terminals If you don t have the resistors or see the dot you were most likely sent the wrong speakers and we need to get the appropriate speakers to you A speaker is physically defective as in defective fro...

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