want to keep my OEM radio in my 318ti but I want to amplify it.

[bimbim]

Which amps are good for this?

I just want some decent volume and no buzz from the speakers. I'll take care of the speakers, I just want to know which amp to get.

Thks

[Phil Marx]

You haven't told us what year your car is or what radio it has. I'll make an assumption and tell you you'll never be able to get any fidelity out of the radio that came stock in most of the ti's in the U.S., period. You must change the head unit. Maybe I'll have to ask for this to be made a sticky, but here's the reference I used and I changed just my head unit in a '98 ti and it made a world of difference. The stock 10-speaker system and amp aren't the best but the front end is the worst link. At least it's the best place to start. Here's why:The stock head unit is crap.

[bimbim]

95 bimmer318ti

[ubiquity]

If you really dont want to change the headunit, buy a cheapish amp that takes high voltage line ins. You can then connect the wires previously connected the headunit to the speakers to the amp, and wire the amp to the speakers.

The effort, however, to run speaker wire from your front speakers, to the trunk, and back again is obscene. Your best bet is to fit the amp under the front passenger seat and then there is less wiring involved.

Personally I would considering changing the headunit for best resutls, but it will sound a lot cleaner and you wont have so much distortion.

I wouldn'b bother changing the speakers, certainly not to anything decent. The weakest point in the system is the headunit ampliciation, but after that its the source, so changing the speakers wont make a huge difference.

[andyman7931]

in my 98 ti I changed the headunit while keeping stock amp and speakers. The sound difference is night and day. I was sad to see the stocker go because it fit the dash so well, but the improved sound quality induces amnesia.

I also added a 400 watt amp and 12" sub in the trunk. The system gets as loud as anyone could want without causing permanant hearing loss. I sold the rest of my stuff (10" subs with 1600 watt amp) to a friend who wants to be deaf.

[bimbim]

I was just going to replace the busted rear speakers with some cheapo Pioneers ts1040s

and get a powered bazooka for the bass. What do u think?

[marleymon]

I put 6x9's in the rear deck, and I JUSt added an 8" bazooka. Man it sounds great for such a little tube. Pleased with it so far...and the trunk space.
Now when I get the speakers up front replaced, fix the temp control bowden, get my hvac bulb in from pelican, I'll be back in business.

josh

[ubiquity]

The bazooka adds cheap bass but its nothing like the sound of a decent sub with non active amplication. The change of rear speakers is easy and you can wire an amp up to them easily as most of the wiring is already done for you.

You will, however, mess up the sound stage by having much better, louder and clearer sounds coming from behind you not infront. Rears should just be used to add a bit of mid-range and fill out the car rather than be the main source of music.

If your still want to do this, get a 4 channel amp. 2 channels for the rears and 2 channels bridged for a subwoofer. You can remove the sub just as easily as you can a bazooka and the sound will be much better.

Oh and there is no point in running 6x9s on your rear shelf ( infinate baffle ) if you also have a sub in the boot.

With them sharing the same air spare more often than not they will cancel each other out. Unplug your 6x9s and see if the bass is actually any louder. Even if they dont cancel each other out, watch the 6x9s move form the bass from the sub. How can it possibly produce realistic sounds when its being moved by the sub as the 6x9 magnet tries to control the excursion.

If you must have 6x9s on a rear shelf, get an autoacoutics stealth shelf, made from mdf. It is a much better mounting platform than the cardboard shelf and it doesnt reduce resale value when you sell the car.

If your going to have 6x9s AND a sub, then make sure they dont share the same airspace. A simply solution is ice cream tubs sealed around the underside of the shelf. It doesnt look nice but then neither do 6x9s sagging in a ruined rear shelf!