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I recently bought a MINI Countryman which came with a blown right front speaker. I was quoted $750 to replace this by an independent repair shop in The Woodlands TX .
I declined saying that I would buy the speaker off eBay and replace it myself. Got the eBay speaker for about $32 in my hand and it looks like the one needed - the repair shop confirmed that it would work even though it is not the exact part number. I asked them how much, now that I was supplying the speaker. They said it would take a couple hours, so $400. He claimed that they had to remove the vapour barrier and that required a lot of care ya-de-ya-de-ya.
I have a Service Manual that shows how to remove the door card (trim panel) and it appears that the speaker is on the door card and not in the metal part of the door and hence not needing to have the vapour barrier touched.
I was going to do this myself but the handle recess was not budging. Not wanting to break anything I figured this would take an experienced technician 1/2 hour - 1 hour tops and I was willing to pay that. I left their establishment and went to an independent car stereo and tint place near to my house and they quoted $45 to put my speaker in. AAMOF, they could tint the car and install the speaker for $100 less than this place was quoting me.
What am I missing here? Any perils that this car stereo and tint place will experience thereby screwing up my car?
Yeah, shop time has become ridiculous. Just make sure the speaker you bought is correct for your system. Do you have the Harmon Kardon system, or base stereo? The speaker impedance is different between the two systems.
Yeah, shop time has become ridiculous. Just make sure the speaker you bought is correct for your system. Do you have the Harmon Kardon system, or base stereo? The speaker impedance is different between the two systems.
AFAIK, no. There is no badging or other indication that there is an H-K system in the car. The advisor looked at the parts fiche and looked at my speaker and said that the impedance was the same so I should be good. The EBay listing and the markings on the speaker also do not mention H-K.
I’m just a little concerned that at $45 the tiny/speaker shop might mess up my car … 🤔
Looks like you have access to the NewTIS repair guides. I would just do it yourself. Removing the door panels isn't that hard, just anxiety inducing because of all the clips. Any clips that break can be had from the dealer parts department.
Looks like you have access to the NewTIS repair guides. I would just do it yourself. Removing the door panels isn't that hard, just anxiety inducing because of all the clips. Any clips that break can be had from the dealer parts department.
I hear you and I may still attempt it again before Saturday. I chickened out at step 1, prying out the handle recess. It seemed to be in there pretty tightly. I think that once that is out and I remove the 2 screws behind, all the fasteners shouldn’t be too bad. 🤔
Seriously, just do it yourself and you will know who is reaming you and who isn't. I don't think it is too hard to get the door panel off as mentioned. Use plastic tools to pry the cover panels off.
Seriously, just do it yourself and you will know who is reaming you and who isn't. I don't think it is too hard to get the door panel off as mentioned. Use plastic tools to pry the cover panels off.
We'll see.
I had another look at the service manual in a different area and saw this:
Maybe that is why the recess was not coming off. I did not remove the little cover and hence did not remove the screw underneath ...
I went with Skar TX3.5's in the front and the Rockford PSS4 6.5 in the rear after following a tutorial on this forum. These are powered by a Skar SA-125.4D. I plan on adding some SPX 1" Tweeters after I get the a-pillars that had the tweeter mounts on them.
Bigger rear speaker mod HERE
If you have a better budget, I would go with Focal or even just Rockford all around.
The speaker installation is complete. I went to the tint / stereo shop, and they installed it for me - said it would take 1/2 hour and it was slightly over 1 hour before they told me it was done, so no idea if it took the full hour. The owner of the shop suggested that it was not as straightforward as (for example) my GMC truck which was the last vehicle I pulled the panels off. Mentioned broken clips etc. Bottom line is that it was switched and the door panel is back on and looks and feels just as before with no rattles or noises. 🤞
Now that I have the old speaker out, I can see that it was a 4 ohm speaker and the one from eBay has no such indication, nor could I find any specs online for its part number. Anyway, it sounds fine and balanced to me. Looking at the pictures, it is clear that the newer speaker is a better and more robust speaker than the one removed. I say that for me it was $45 well spent to have the experts do this.
