Hello Everyone,
I've been a long time reader of this forum but this is my first post.
I recently bought a 2010 Mini Cooper S dark silver. It came with the standard hi-fi audio which in my opinion wasn't very good so I decided to make some upgrades.
This is my fourth sound system in the 4 cars I've owned. I was very interested to try the DLS brand for quite some time so I went that route.

The Equipment
Since changing the source unit of the mini cooper S is no a very viable option, I chose the Audiocontrol LC8i, an Eight Channel Line Output Converter with Auxiliary Input. I used the auxilary input to connect my output touch which is not compatible with the USB interface of the mini.
I followed the KISS principle for my front components. I knew I could fit 6.5 comps in the doors but I found some DLS Ultimate Nobelium 5.2 2-way 5,25inches components for a nice price.
I used the stock 3.5 speakers location contrary to what my installer suggested because I didn't wanted to modify my pillars or buy the Premium sound pillars to house the 1,1 inch tweeters.
To my surprise the soundstage didn't drop. I'm only using front speakers since most of the concerts I go to, the sound is coming from the front.
For the Bass department I went with a 10 inch JL Audio W6v2 subwoofer in a sealed box.
The speakers and sub are driven by a DLS ULTIMATE series A5, a three-channel amplifier rated at 2X85 W @4ohm and 1X500 @2ohm.

The Installation
I went with my local professional installer. The LC8i was installed under the front seat in the secret compartment. The signal for the front speakers and the subwoofer was tapped from the X9331 connector.
The amp was wired from the battery and located under a false floor in the boot.
The subwoofer volume **** was placed next to the usb plug.

The Sound
I'm pleased to say that the sound from the stock stereo with the LC8i it's great. The 500W from the 10 inch sub is more than enough for inside listening. The only downside is that the DLS amp gets really hot when playing loud so I added a coumple of Thermaltake 8cm fans in a push pull configuration.

The Pictures
Here are the pictures. I hope people find it useful to get some ideas for sound upgrades. I apologize for any grammar mistakes since english is not my first language.

This Is the Final Product.


This is how the False floor looks from underneath, the holes are supposed to help with ventilation.


The amp rack without its cover. I used neon blue for the fans. The rack was covered in red vinyl to match the seat accents.


The amp rack with the plexi cover.

 

This is the custom sub box. It is a sealed one built to the manuals specs with MDF and painted with the same color as the rest of the car.



The Banana Plugs Posts


The Grill was also made with plexi and has the JL logo


Here's a picture of the thermaltake fans I used


The Fuse Block. I used 2. One next to the battery and the other in the boot.

 

The Speakers in the doors.




The LC8i Remote Bass Control




Again the final Product

 

Very nice.....so nice in fact i don't feel bad making few suggestions...

1. Take the tweeter pods off and put some grill cloth on them to hide the tweeter.
2. Throw some tint on the plexi to hide the amp....
3. Whatever that red thing is next to the bass ****...make it black.

 

Thanks MiniSQ for the suggestions.

1.- I think it would be nice to hide the tweeters, I'll take it in consideration next time I remove the door panels.
2.- I like how the amp looks with the transparent plexi but maybe a 50% tint would look pretty cool.
3.- That red thing is just a 4 GB USB memory, It is a terrible color, but it's pretty small to carry it everywhere. I'll try getting one in black.

 

yeah not a black tint...just something to take it down a notch...i love it too...looks GREAT...bummer there is not enough room to get the sub out of the way.

As for the tweeter pods...they come off all by them selves...no need to take the door panels off....try the passenger side...there is a tiny pin on the bottom that slides out and they come off in your hand (almost)...some hot glue and a small pice of speaker grill and it would look sweet.

The drivers side is a bit trickier....with the mirror adjust button....but its not hard...just a bit more of the PIA than thepassenger side.

 

Looks great! I am currently slowly working on my audio system in the vehicle. I am sound dampening the doors at the moment, and will move on to the boot. I have some DLS UP6i for the front, and an IDQ12 for the back, which I plan on making a box that is similar to where you put your amp.

I am not changing out the head unit, but I am putting a new head unit in the secret compartment for cleaner sound.

I really like how your system looks and turned out. Do you plan on making your sub more permanent or will it be free to 'move' around?

 

Impressive system.

 

very Nice looking. Agree with others about a tint on the amp cover, and cloth in the tweeter housings. But overall very nice event eh way it is.

 

Thanks everyone for their replies.

I'll use your tips miniSQ for removing the tweeter pods.

Samysonary
The sub is attached with velcro, it's very hard to move. If you see the second picture of the false floor, the sub it's still attached to it and you can se the velcro through the plexi. I had to remove the false floor with the sub attached to it and then remove it gradually with a metal fork. It sticks like glue. I recently made a couple laps around a track with the mini and the subwoofer didn´t moved at all.

 

You guys have given me heart. Just picked up my 09 MCSC this week and the sound of the stock audio system is horrid. Minimally I need a sub and I'm thinking about a powered unit. I'm also hoping to find one that can lay flat on the boot floor and has a wire cover that will permit stuff to be laid on top. I'm just wondering if I should even bother with the convertible though, given the outside noise that comes in through the rear and back sides of the top.

In any case, love the pics, sweet mod!

 

Ah, using velcro is a great idea! I have never thought of that. I have always made the sub permanent by bolting it down to the frame somehow. nice that it sticks, but still easily removable.

 

Don't you think the box will vibrate with the velcro installation? Seems like you might lose some punch versus a more solidly fastened installation. That amp install sure is purty.

 

Hi astrochex, I started using velcro with the first sealed box that I painted. My cousin has an auto body shop where I usually send my sub boxes to be color matched with the rest of the car. When painted the box becomes very slippery and moves around a lot inside the boot. I buy industrial grade velcro from 3M and with two large pieces across the bottom of the box it sticks like glue.
Whe the car is parked and the volume cranked, the sub box doesn't vibrates at all. I checked this when looking for rattles in the car.

 

how are you powering the fans?
not sure if you knew it but the A5 has provisions to power fans in the event it runs too hot.
thats a super install btw! The only thing I can say is you should clean up your wires outside of the red box the amp sits in; its a little sloppy.

 

Thanks for the compliments reACTION. The amps are powered directly to the fuse block that goes to the battery. They were first powered from the remote fan of the amp but for some strange reason they never reached full speed when the amp became hot. For now I leave them on all the time. They are really quiet and can't be heard even when the boot is open.

 

Very nice, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do myself. Is the amp cover flush with the rear seats when you fold them down? Since the sub isn't bolted down, you might want to consider always keeping the rear seats up (at least on the drivers side) or removing the sub if you put them down. A friend of mine with a hatchback lost control of his car and hit a guardrail pretty much head-on. His sub box took out the passenger seat back (no passenger) and got ejected out the passenger door window. He wasn't seriously hurt, but if he had hit the rail at a slightly different angle and the sub had come his way he'd probably be dead. Maybe I'm just overly paranoid....but whatever I end up doing subwoofer-wise will definitely be bolted to the car!

I don't need as much bass as a W6v2, and I'm looking for something that won't take up as much room. I've been poking around this site for a bit now, but would love to hear any suggestions.

 

I upgraded my amp and speakers im my O8 MCS, now the dealer is saying they cant upgrade the car'\s computer program because it hangs up when looking for the amp. Anyone heard of this problem or know of a fix. putting in connectors to install the old amp will be a big hassle at this point.

Thanks
JM

 

Yet again see the post in the new thread you started.

 

Thanks for the input tgentry, I´ll move the sub to the passanger. I travel alone most of the time. The 10 inch W6 sounds really good, I usually keep the bass volume low and it blends really good with the 5 inch components. It also sounds very log at low volumes and with all type of music. You could try the JL w3v3 in a 6 or 8 inch configuration but I highly recommend the w6 for clarity, I used to have a L7 kicker 12 and it doesn't sound as good. I also had a DLS in 12 and I still think the JL w6 sounds the best of the ones I've owned.

 

Looks really nice!! I would love to put a sub in my MINI one day. The only bad thing is there isn't too much room and I'd like to keep my trunk. Maybe a few small subs under the front seats like my Subaru.

 

Hey STi2Mini you can use the JL Audio 6W3v3 in place of the rear speakers. My installer suggested them to me but I had already bought the 10w6v2.

 

STI....If I put 6W3v3 how would I control the Base using the stock radio

 

I'm using the Audiocontrol LC8i 8 Channel converter which goes to the DLS amp. It has a subwoofer control. Most amps usually have a subwoofer control you can use that too in case you dont have a channel converter.

 

Look up the UrbanMini enclosure! I love mine!