Pictures of Stereo Installs

Has a back seat to audio only conversion been done in a Riv before? If so, where da pics?

Just made these power distribution blocks last week. I was waiting till I had the subs out for a track day to do it because it is a little imposing to get them in/out.




I made the blocks out of billet copper for good conductivity obviously but I realized I needed a way to insulate them or it'd be to easy to short them with something and blow the fuse. I found some kinda composite reinforced plastic stock left over from something.


installing the bracket to mount it with


I looked around for something like this for a while to buy but couldn't really find anything that wasn't either too much money or just overkill with fuses and stuff in it. Since I added the 2nd amp, I literally just shoved those new power wires into the case of the capacitor to be crudely held against the power blocks - ghetto. Anyway I used some hand knobs for the main leads coming from the car instead of set screws so it'd be one less thing to slow me down getting the whole thing out for track days and stuff. Unfortunately I do still need to disconnect four speakers and the remote-on lead at the other amp, unplug the RCA's, protect the exposed + wires after unplugging, connect the rear speakers to the factory harness so I have at least those speakers working (without the 4channel amp in the car) but I eliminated the need for a allen wrench any way and I'm toying with the idea of getting a 5pin quick disconnect connector for the front speakers and remote so then I wouldn't need any tools at all. Next time maybe..


all set up - also cleaned up all the other connections and whatnot but no ones going to recognize that but me

Random dumb question in case someone knows better- That bank capacitor I have was causing some humming noise in my sound system when I had it on so I ended up just disconnecting the remote lead so that the voltage display is off but the rest is still connected. My assumption is that it's still able to work without that being on but is it normal for those bank capacitors to have like a switch that would actually need to be energized to close the connection to between the posts and the actual caps internally? I'd feel really silly if I've been using this all this time and it's not even functional.

I might as well stick the other parts of the sound system here too while i'm on the topic.

Head unit: Pioneer FH-P8000BT double din - I'm overall very happy with it

Also pictured to the left of the HU where that keychain is hanging is the USB plug I put into the dash that goes to the back of the head unit for media. That is super nice to have! hence why basically every modern car has somethin like that right


That was the old setup. That head unit eventually started having issues with the motorized face closing/opening which I could fix but it's tricky. Alas it's sitting in a box under my bed probably never to be used again. That EQ was pretty much the shit - had individually tunable time alignment correction and whatnot which is primarily why I used it but alltogether it was still clunky to use so I wanted to get back to a simpler-to-use system. I sold that that on ebay faster than a hotcake. Didn't really know how sought-for those old EQ's are now.

Front speakers: Infinity Reference 5030cs - the midwoofers don't love my doors as enclosures too much but I think that'd be an issue no matter what speaker. The tweeters are much louder than necessary even on the lowest setting on the crossovers but nothing I can't fix in the EQ setting




Back speakers: Polk Audio db691 which impressively are still in production today. I got them from a friend after the pioneers the previous owner of my car put in went out. They failed due to something age-related, I don't remember exactly.

Amp for speakers: Alpine MRP-F240 - not that much to say about it - good versatile amp

I've had the two 12.1 Infinity Perfect subwoofers and Sony Xplod XM-1600GSD amp since well before owning a car - been in all 3 of the cars I've had and I really am still lovin em. Been through a few different boxes but I settled on a pretty large ported - don't know how it's tuned or anything. I really want to dynomat my trunk lid at least though - whole trunk would be nice but that's just a lot to cover..

[quote="ajgee2011"]

Just tell me are ur tail lights still in your car, and why lol

Hi y'all. I took a few pics of my install and had a couple of things to share.

1st - When programming the Steering Wheel Controller you can program any button for any function you want, as long as it is supported. I never use my SCAN - AM/FM button so I programmed it to control the AC/Heater fan! Neat! So now I can control the temp and fan from the steering wheel.

2nd - I HATE cutting into the factory side of a wiring harness unless there is no other option. I have been doing wiring since I was a kid and here is what I did here: I bought a second head unit harness connector. Using a little tool I have I was able to pop two of the wires free from the spare harness connector and inserted them into the connector I am using so they connect to the two wires needed to work the PAC SWI-RC module. Nice and slick and no cutting of the factory harness (I don't even know how you would get in there to make the connections once you DID cut a wire! It is cramped!).

Here is the tool and the pigtail removed from the spare connector and ready to be connected to the PAC and inserted in the real connector.


3rd - I literally NEVER listen to the radio and hate the look of a Riv with the antenna up, but wifey hates driving my '98 because I had disconnected the antenna back at the relay in the trunk. So today I needed a switched 12v source for the powered subwoofer, so I wired into the switched source at the antenna. However, I also installed a toggle switch that would turn the power going to the antenna on or off so wifey can listen to the radio. When she has to drive it I'll flip the switch so the antenna will go up when the stereo is turned on, then I'll flip the switch when she is done and the antenna will stay down. I mounted it in the trunk. Really slick.

Here is the wiring at the antenna - I even used male and female butt connectors on the factory wire so if I ever remove the switch the two halves of the wire simply plug back together and the antenna is OEM in a few seconds.


Here is the switch:


It took me 8 hours because I am methodical and anal with my installations. I believe it is among the best straight installations you will see.

Nicely done! My install took about 14 hours and is still superb listening. I'm glad I took that extra time on the installation.

I had to slice off the sides of the trim plate for the dash to fit back on. Can't really tell unless you are looking for it. If you don't own a Dremel you are missing out!

ACH! I just remembered that I never plugged the lights back into the gear selector on the console. Ugh. Have to pull the thing again.

Great job. I really like your wood grain too!

Yardley wrote:

It took me 8 hours because I am methodical and anal with my installations.

So you eliminated the pushnuts from the metal radio tray and took out the factory antenna adapter right?  

Yes, I took out the antenna adapter and used a proper one. And I don't know what push nuts you refer to and I don't know what metal radio tray either. Once the radio is out I just had to cut out the back of the box and the head unit mounting kit bolted right in.

Yardley wrote:

Yes, I took out the antenna adapter and used a proper one.  And I don't know what push nuts you refer to and I don't know what metal radio tray either. Once the radio is out I just had to cut out the back of the box and the head unit mounting kit bolted right in.

Oh I do have a picture, well sorta



that metal tray that the radio or mounting kit sits in is two pieces. Where I have those red arrows pointing is where the pushnuts are the hold the two pieces together that interfere with the plastic radio mounting kits because the pushnuts obstruct the plastic ears from sitting flush with the metal tray. When Installing a mounting kit like this, you want to remove those pushnuts. It's not a big deal or anything but if you're a nit-picker

My factory radio had a repair sticker on it, which would explain why those nuts were not there.

So after a few months of putting money in to BMW to get it up to date on all maintenance I was finally able to put a sub in the ol' girl: Infinity 1060w ( 10" ) pushed by a Rockford R500x1D.

This picture was taken directly after the install. I will take the time to hide the wires because i'm all about having a super clean install.
This little bastard hits hard for a single 10 and surprisingly hits the super low freq. better than my buddies single 12". And having not had a sub in a car since highschool ( 97-01 ) it's pretty amazing to see how technology has come with amps. That little Rockford is the size of what I remember a 150 watt being and it's pushing 500watts rms!

Sound deadened my trunk today. Not the best coverage but I got the spare tire area pretty well covered.

Matt how is that sound deadening working out? I've been thinkin about doing that for a long time but it's expensive and I didn't know how well it'd actually work.

A friend of mine coated his trunk with Rhino lining that was previously covered in Dynomat.He honestly could not tell the difference between the two.

I thought dyno mat was sposed to be applied in patches and not full coats?

Man, why would you add all that extra weight in the back?!!?!   

Fat Riv dont need no mo fat

It's that roofing stuff. I cheaped out. Everything I read said that as long as I got the stuff with mainly rubber it was fine. I haven't tested it out yet so we'll see how it works out. I'm not expecting any massive differences but we'll see. Peel and Seal is the stuff you want if you go my ghetto route.

Been bitten by the bass bug, thinking about ordering a second 10"...

96_Juggernaut wrote:

Been bitten by the bass bug, thinking about ordering a second 10"...

Noooooo..... sound quality>bass.

I love deep bass.........

I took the same approach as Matt, but used Dynamat xtreme ($80 trunk kit) - adds about 9.5 lb and makes a noticeable difference in noise level. It also will deaden vibrations from low frequencies. I may do under the seat/battery compartment as well.







The added weight is insignificant compared to other things people carry in the trunk (the spare weighs more). But if you must add weight, over the rear wheels is the right spot.

You're missing some split loom over that wiring   

Are you going to cover the X brace and the piece of metal behind the armrest? What about all the little holes everywhere?

I'm going to try and get under the seat done too. I'm more worried about getting my front end done first though.

matt270avian wrote:

96_Juggernaut wrote:

Been bitten by the bass bug, thinking about ordering a second 10"...

Noooooo..... sound quality>bass.

I totally agree, but certain songs warrant a saturation of bass

I put in a navi unit from a Chinese company called Eonon
It has a backup cam input and a whole bunch of other inputs and outputs. I had to open up the pocket in the dash at the back of where the radio sits but once I did that all the RCA Jacks can be connected after the install easily by taking the dash pad off which is suprisingly easy. It's kinda cool because even with the unit switched off the screen comes on in reverse then goes off unless you decide to turn the unit on . It was 280.00 Canadian including the navigation micro SD card. Sound is very good ... added a 200 watt bass cannon and upgraded all the Delco speakers with Sony upfront (leftover from boat) and Dual 6×9 way in back . I will add 2 chanell amps next. How do I add a picture here BTW?

Two Alpine Type R SWR-12D2 dual voice coils 2 ohms each, each sub can handle 1000 watts RMS, 3000 peak each, kevlar pulp cones, poly mica dust caps with a black gloss brushed finish, santoprene rubber waved surrounds, 20mm xmax means deep excursion all in a 2 cu ft Sound Ordinance sealed box. these things are damn stiff in that box but I haven't tested them yet. only problem is 2000 watts RMS is a lot of juice. I plan on going for a Soundstream rubicon amp on a 1 ohm load.

ill be pushing them on a 4 ohm load at 200 watts each until I can upgrade the amp, but 140 amps isn't enough for an alternator for that is it? Are there any beefier alternators like 200 amps plus for our engines? also I'll need an extra battery probably? and a huge capacitor wouldn't hurt.


If I get a beefy aftermarket alternator, would it eliminate the squeek noise I'm getting?