You might be saying, "Tom, I thought you were going to do the rear speakers next. So why are you talking about amplifier location?"

I'm about to tear the rear end of my MINI apart. While it is torn apart is an ideal time to run DC power wires from the battery. But first, i need to nail down amplifier location.

So where is the Factory HK Upgrade Amp mounted?


Many of the posts I've read indicate it is under the driver seat except for the Cabrio where it is under the passenger seat. Yet Hibane indicates it is in the rear behind one of the side panels in the luggage area. The Bently manual agrees. I suspect the location changed sometime in the evolution of Gen 1, possibly in 2005.

The argument is somewhat moot when you don't have a HK system except that it gives you the two primary places to consider if you are installing a booster amp. My Alpine MRP-F300's dimensions are 10 11/16" x 9 9/16" x 2 7/16". I pulled the access doors to the two side panels in the MINI's luggage area. I certainly can't get the Alpine through the openings. In addition, I'm not sure how I'd mount the Alpine. If I could get it to fit, there would be very little room for air circulation - leading to potential heat problems.

I did notice that the main power cables from the battery run along the drivers side of my MINI. So I'll route any other power cables down the same path.

I then test fit the Alpine under the drivers seat. There is a slight recess in the carpeting under the seat that the Alpine fits into. But, sitting on top of the carpet, a 0.7" horizontal rod that is part of the mechanism controling front and back seat movement hits the top of the Alpine. I estimate the Alpine woud need to be approximately 1/2 inch shorter, or be placed 1/2 inch lower to clear the rod. I used an Exacto knife to test the depth of the carpet and pad. It came in at about 1/2".

So the moral of the story is if you want the horizontal rod to clear your amplifier, be prepared to remove carpeting and pad and look for a unit with a height of 2 1/4 inch or less. Any higher and you may have a clearance problem as my measurements are fairly rough and tough.

I also checked the passenger seat. As far as I can tell, it is identical to the drivers seat.

The other option is to mount the amplifier sufficiently far back under the driver's seat that the seat can go all the way back without the control bar hitting the amplifier. This would cut into rear seat foot for adults, and they would be resting their feet on your amplifier. The amplifier would be within about 6 inches of the foot well back wall.

There are other potential amplifier mounting options. You could place yours in the rear storage area, taking some space there. You could build your amplifier into a rear seat delete project.

I am doing a rear seat delete project. That means, I will not need a rear driver side foot well. So in that space, my booster amp will go, mounted far enough back that it will not be hit by the seat rod, even with the seat all the way back.

Mounting the Amplifier

I had planned to address this later but the question has come up in this thread, so I'll address it briefly now. The following image shows the amp in its proposed location, approximately 6" from the back of the footwell. Note that in this image the seat is all the way forward.



On the right side of the photo, you can see a Torx screw that holds the back side of the forward/backward seat adjustment track to the floor of the MINI. Not as visible is a similar screw on the other rail. I will probably use one of these two screws to ground the amplifier.What I think I'm going to do is take two pieces of some fairly heavy nylon webbing and attach the end of each to these screws using a brass grommet. There would be heavy duty velcro sewed to the other end of each piece of webbing. I could secure the amp by joining the two pieces of webbing using velcro to secure them to each other. There are no holes to drill and it would be easy to remove the amp if need be for servicing, especially if my electrical connections allow for quick disconnects.

I'd appreciate any feedback on this approach.

I'm at the point where I feel comfortable proceeding with the rear speakers as I know where to run my fused positive cable.

Tom

 

Subscribed.

Thanks for doing this, Tom. I'm in exactly the same position as you (with an '06). I wasn't clear at first which factory system you were working with, but I now see that you have the non-H/K. Yes, the factory H/K amp is in the boot, rear right panel, for those who have the H/K system.

Anyway, it looks like you've updated while I was reading the thread. I'll probably place my Crutchfield order tomorrow.

Gary

edited to remove my H/K babbling - which you don't have.

 

Tom, one other question. Why are you referring to your amplifier as a "booster" amplifier? Is this something new that has come out recently or am I just not familiar with the terminology?

Thanks, James

 

Tom, have you thought about your ground location? Since ground wires like to be as short as possible, I'm wondering where yours will land. This decision should be a helpful addition to the Amplifier Location post.

 

Tom & Act_04, why not just ground to the seat strut bar?

 

haibane, you must ground to bare metal on the vehicle's chassis to avoid feedback that will be audible in your speakers. I'm not sure what you mean by the seat strut bar, sorry. There are many places it can be done. I just brought it up because it is something to consider while choosing an amplifier location.

 

James,

I'm referring to it as a booster amp because my head unit includes an amp. My terminology. Didn't mean to be confusing. Actually booster amp is technically a misstatement as it doesn't boost the head unit amp. Rather, it replaces it.

If you take another peek at the amp location post, I currently plan to attach the amplifier ground to the seat anchor, which is what is being suggested. Tore out my rear seat this afternoon. Most instructions "Ive read are a bit confusing. Otherwise it would have taken five minutes.

I'll post photos later this evening or tomorrow morning.

Tom

 

You neeed to remove the rear seat to get at some of the panels for routing wires and for rear speaker install. Because I'm doing a rear seat delete project, the seats will stay out.

Removing Bench Seat

This takes a few seconds. Put your finger tips under the front portion of the rear seat and pull up. First you will hear the red latches on the right and left of the following hoto release. Keep rotating the front seat up while pushing toward the back. Second, you will hear the black center latch at the back of the seat release along with the four silver latches across the back. Remove the seat from the car. You are done removing the bench seat.



I was a bit surprised to see the butt recesses in the metal under the seat. It makes sense given seat curvature. It was just unexpected. Under consideration is building a subwoofer into the shelf over the rear sears. With a little fancy carpentry, these recesses provide depth for subwoofer mounting.

Removing the Seat Backs

The seat backs are trickier. Approaching the seat backs folded down from behind, you will find a bolt wedged between the seat backs. You can see it peelking out in this photo, just below the pliars I used to hold the seat backs apart. Remove this bolt.



The rest is easier to show with the seat backs removed. In the following photo you can see the bracket that holds the seat backs in place in the middle.



At the very top of the bracket is a metal piece that the screw you just removed holds in place with the top parallel to the pavement. This bracket can be pivoted up and toward the front of your MINI. This photo shows the piece in the rotated position. In this position, the metal rods holding the seats in place can be lifted out of the bracket.

Once the middle of the seats are unhooked from the bracket, most instructions indicate the seats need to be rotated 45 degrees in order to be removed. The problem is there are about three axis around which the seats can be rotated 45 degrees. The correct way to rotate can be stated this way. Pretend the inside rods are still in place. Begin rotating the seat up from the folded to the vertical position in the same way you would in raising or lowering the seats. When they are about 1/2 way up (45 degrees), the seat can be pulled out from the outside bracket. The following image will help you visualize what you are trying to do. This is a photo of the outside seat brackets. A rod from the seat slides into the middle hole on these brackets. but the rod has a pin that only allows the rod to be extracted when the pin lines up with the slot in this bracket.



Once the outside bracket releases the rod with the pin, you can remove the backrest.

Tom

 

Tom interesting choice on the rear seats. Makes me think about doing the same, but I'm trying to make my car look mostly factory so who knows I might jump ship

 

What a great thread, thanks for the effort.

 

Schooster,

Thanks for the compliment.

James,

What's factory? The company line is that MINI's are nearly infinitely customizable. I just plan to take mine a bit further than most. When we became a two MINI house a few weeks back. I bought this MINI specifically to customize. It is out of warranty and a Gen 1. I wouldn't be suprised if I still have this MINI the day I die.

Tom

 

haibane,

I feel that my rear-seat delete looks factory. Also, the 2006 GP has no rear seat from the factory. If you don't put people back there I encourage you to get rid of the seats (just store them). I have no regrets.

Tom,

Keep it up. I am thoroughly enjoying the daily updates.

 

Removing Rear Panel

There are three pins holding the back panel to the rear of your MINI. They have an inner bayonet and an outer sleve. I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry out the bayonet and then the outer sleve. You can see them and the screwdriver in this image.



Once the pins are out you can pull the panel from the bottom after pushing carpet out of the way. The four panel connectors shown in the following photo will release and the panel will be free.



Removing Side Panels

The first step is to remove the three Phillips screws at the back and bottom of the side panels. They are shown in this image. On earlier MINIs there may be only two screws.



Here's an image of the reverse of a side panel. Note that in a 2005 the side panels are one piece. Based on other posts, this may not be true in earlier years. Note the location of the yellow connectors so you are aware of where they need to be separated from the body.



Before proceeding further, make sure both seat belts for the back seats pull out freely. You will not be able to remove side panels if the seat belts are locked. If they are, you have two choices:
1. Remove the Torx screw holding the bottom of the seat belt to the floor.
2. Pop the rear portion of the panel and reach behind and fiddle with the seat belt reel until it frees up. When I encountered a locked rear seat belt, my largest Torx bit was too small to remove the floor screw. So I fiddled until the belt freed up.

I started at the bottom rear and popped the yellow connector in the lower left portion of the photo. I then worked along the bottom, pulling the bottom of the panel away from the body. I then worked up the right side of the panel, popping the yellow connector at the top right of the photo. I then worked up the left side of the panel, relasing the connector at the top left of the photo. From there I worked along the top, left to right, releasing the other connectors.

Disconnect the wire feeding the extra outlet on the driver side and the courtesy light on the passenger side. When the panel is free all the way around and wires disconnected, you can remove it through your MINI's tailgate.

Now is a good time to scout for missing yellow connectors. If you look at the previous image you will see there should be six yellow connectors. If any are missing, you are likely to find them laying on the floor or still in place on your MINI's metal interior. Be careful in removing these connectors from your metal interior as they are easy to break. Don't ask me how I know. What worked most effectively for me was to slide a butter knife between the connector and metal. Pry the plastic out a bit. Insert a flat blade screwdriver between the butter knife and the metal. Use the screw driver to pry the yellow connector part way out. From there you can use your fingers to pull it the rest of the way out. Put any stray yellow connectors back in the holders on the inside panel so when you look at the rear of the panel there are six pointing back at you, like those you can see on mine.

Here is what you will see when you look at the inside of your mini after the panels are removed. This is the drivers side.



Note the large diameter wires running down this side. The red wire is the main positive power cable for your MINI. This is the path I will use later to run additional power lines from the battery in the rear to amplifiers and supplemental front lighting.

This is the passenger side.



Note that a harness of smaller wires runs down this side. If you want to avoid electrical interference from high amperage power lines in routing speaker wires, your speaker wires should go down this path. Take advantage of the fact these paths are exposed to run any cables you will need to hook directly to the battery (drivers side) or any other line runs you will need for user installed accessories (passenger side).

Consider dropping an extra power line or two from the rear to the engine compartment. You may not need to use them now, but they will be there to hook up if you need them later. I plan to run four positive power cables down the driver side of my MINI.
1. Alpine amp
2. Possible subwoofer amp
3. Additional running lights
4. Spare

Two will be long enough to go all the way to the engine compartment. I'll either pull them through or store them under the dash. The other two will be run under the drivers seat. Number 2 will have enough additional length to reach under the passenger seat.

That's it. We are ready to move on to rear speaker installation.

Tom

 

Here's the factory rear speaker.



Remove the four bolts, unhook the connector to the factory speaker and you will see this.



Note the wires. Generally, if a speaker wire has a brown stripe it is the negative lead. There is an excellent diagram of speaker wire colors at the beginning of the sticky speaker thread in this forum authored by DarkMiniCooperS. That thread deserves a lot of the credit for this one as it showed me the path I wanted to follow in my installation. The diagram identifies all of the speaker wires by color.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nd-system.html

Also notice the depth of this area. An enterprising person willing to cut metal could probably manage to put an 8" sub in this area. The factory speaker is a 6x9" speaker.

A previous poster indicated that Crutchfield has indicated that a Polk Db-691 will not fit in this area. As you can see from the following image the holes line up perfectly as the speakers are nearly identical in size and hole location.



But if you look at the speakers from the side, you can see the problem.



The Polk's tweeter protrudes from the top surface of the woofer by nearly 1/2". In addition, the Polk's spacer adds another 3/8". While in this photo it is on top of the speaker in a front install it would go between the speaker and the metal. If you look at the speaker area of the panel below, you can see that the foam is cut out to accept a 6x9 speaker. In other words, the factory speaker sits very close to the speaker grill in the panel. The Polk wouldn't fir if attached in the same manner, even if the spacer wasn't used. Of course, keep in mind the factory speakers are attached to the front of the opening.



So did I send the Polk's back to Amazon? No, I wanted to wrap up this project today, not a week from now. It hit me. How about mounting the Polks on the back side of the opening. The 3/8" Polk spacer would turn into an advantage rather than a disadvantage as it would retract the tweeter 3/8" into the opening. In addition, I would pick up the depth occupied by the factory speaker when mounted in front of the opening.

But how do you screw a speaker to the back of a panel when there is no way to get a screwdriver on the screws at the back of the speaker? Here's how I did it. I went down to my trusty Ace hardware store and purchased:
1. Eight 6-32 3/4" screws.
2. Sixteen 6-32 lock nuts with nylon inserts as the locking mechanism.
3. Sixteen number 6 washers
Total cost was a princely $3.08 plus tax.

At each Polk speaker screw opening I put a washer on a screw and pushed it in from the back. I then ran a lock nut down the screw tightening it as tight as I possibly could. If you use the same Polk DB-691s, the screw openings are angled slots. You want the screws and nuts as close to the speaker cone as you can get. If you look up at the two above Polk speaker images, you can see the screws protruding above the Polk speaker woofer cone.

Attach the speaker wiring harness to the terminals on the speaker. My Polks shipped without the wiring harness, which is a problem in that the Polk speakers use non-standard push on connectors. So I grabbed some left over speaker wire from the tweeter install and soldered one end of each wire to the terminals, being careful to match positive wire (with stripe) to positive lead and negative to negative. I terminated the other end of the Polk wires with the same kind of pass through crimp connectors I used with the Polk door woofers.

I then took my speakers out to the Mini and crimped the other end of the pass through connector to the factory speaker wires being careful to hook the factory wires with the brown stripes to the Polk negative lead.

I then slid the Polks in through the deep 6x9" opening and used the tweeter as a **** to feed the screws in through the factory holes (after removing the clips that had held the factory speakers in place). With the clips removed, these holes are square. Four screws were protruding through the openings. I adjusted the Polk spacer so it was aligned properly between the speaker's metal frame and the back side of the metal opening. While holding my tweeter **** I placed a washer and a locking nut on the each of the four protruding scres and tightened them with my socket wrench. Don't tighten them super tight or you will have a screw and nut turning at the speaker hole. You want less torque on the outside nuts than on the inside nuts. You may want to remove these speakers some day and you will have a real PITA on your hands if when you turn the outside nut, the inside nut also turns.

Here's how the Polks look installed. The tweeter protruds a bit, but no more than the factory speaker when mounted to the outside of the opening. The nuts protrude about the same amount. The Polk woofer's cone begins 3/8" behind the opening due to the presence of the Polk spacer.



So I closed my doors and fired up my sound system. I'm sure it is going to sound better once the rear panels are reinstalled. But the bass from the rear Polks is as good or better than the factory speakers and the sound is a whole lot crisper. I'm able to operate at a fairly high sound level without significant distortion. Credit the sensitivity of the Polks for some of this. At this point, there are around $200 worth of components installed in this upgrade, plus less than $25 of wires and parts. I'm still working with the factory head unit and no additional amplification. If I had only $200 to spend on an audio upgrade, this is the way I would go.

Of course this thread will go on. Before moving to the head unit install, I'll need to run my cables and replace the panels. I'll save that for tomorrow.

Tom

 

I was surprised to discover that you had to remove the entire inner panels to get to the rear 6X9s. Even with my H/K system, this looks like something I'll have to do as well. At least it will provide me with a good time to remove my H/K amp (and sell it).

As far as the Polk wires not shipping with the speakers, were they supposed to be included? Virtually every set of aftermarket speakers I've ever purchased have come with wires (with the correct ends on them). But Crutchfield consistently claims that wires are not included in the speaker packages, so I'd like to know what to expect.

I've read that pulling new speaker wires into the doors is a PITA, so I'm assuming that I can tap into the factory speaker wires in the harness behind the HU. The difficult part will be finding the correct wires - the ones that run from the factory amp to the speakers. This is where the non-H/K system is much easier to work with.

 

I have amps mounted in both side panels. No overheating problems here.

 

Filmy,

The side panels on my 2005 are one piece, so they have to come out to get at the speakers. On the other hand, taking them out is nowhere near as big a deal as some make out. With the photos in my thread, a side panel should come out in 10 minutes or less. I'm not sure about the reinstall yet.

As for the Polk DB-691s, I have no evidence that they ship with wires. On the other hand, my DB-6501s that went in the doors shipped with wires. The blade terminals are different widths for positive and negative and the terminals that came with my crimp connector collection don't work. Those blade terminals are the same as on my DB-6501 woofers. So it feels like I should have received a short speaker wire with appropriate connectors. On the other hand, soldering wires to the blades wasn't such a big deal.

I can't speak to the HK upgrade. On the other hand, I believe the head units are the same. The Bently manual indicates the main difference with the HK upgrade is a signal processor/amp and upgraded speakers. I certainly plan to route speaker signal wires from the amp back to the head unit and from there back through the factory speaker lines. I'll be documenting that part as I do it. As for the HK upgrade, according to Bentley, the signal processor amp is in the rear quarter panel. Would it make sense for the speaker signal lines to be routed back from the amp to the head unit area where they are connected to the outgoing wiring harness? From the standpoint of minimizing differences between the two factory installs (HiFi and HK) that approach would make the most sense as there would be no need to modify the line runs to the speakers. But someone with experience with the HK installation would be best to speak to this issue.

PA-MCS

It is good to know that amps behind side panels are not a heat problem. I posted the statement you quoted before I had the side panels off. I'll take another look at the mounting and placement issue tomorrow. Thanks for the input.

Tom

 

First of all, I checked out the rear panel amplifier location used by PA-MCS. My Alpine is too tall and wide to fit in that location. If you look at the first picture of the exposed rear panel in this post you will see a red shelf, a flat area above and a rounded outcropping of metal above that. A rear amp in that location would need to fit between the shelf and the outcropping. My Alpine is too wide. So we are back to under the drivers seat as the Alpine installation location.

Running the Wires

In this image of the driver side rear quarter you can see two 8 gauge red wires have been added. The first terminated under the front drivers seat and will be used as the positive lead to power the Alpine.

The second wire continues along under the door behind the under door panel and is currently bunched up in the drivers side kick panel. It is long enough to reach into the engine compartment. When I add lights and any other power using accessories to the front of the MINI, I'll feed that wire through the firewall and put a power distribution block on the other end. The line will be fused with a 60 amp fuse near the battery. Wires emerging from the under hood power block will be fused at an amperage appropriate to the accessory and wire size. With any luck I have removed the side panels for the last time.

That door sill panel is a bit of a PITA. I pulled loose the rubber gasket around the door then pulled the top part of this panel toward the inside. Most of the white connectors in this area stayed with the metal. So I had to use my butter knife/screwdriver trick to pop them out and put them back in place. The power wires (one on each side) destined for under the seats pass through a small mouse hole at the very bottom of the panel. Right now they are laying on the carpet. Later, when I decide exactly where they will be routed, I'll slit the carpet with a hobby knife and hide them under the carpet and pad.

When it comes time to snap the sill panel back in place, the connectors will be pointing up at you at an angle as the top is pulled away but not the bottom. I used a flat blade screwdriver to point their heads at the holes they need to reoccupy then gave the panel a slap to set them in place. The final step is to put the door moulding back in place.



I decided to run the lead that could power a subwoofer amp down the passenger side, avoiding the hump under the front console. While there is potential for radio interference with rear speaker lines, they run in parallel for about a foot. The rear speaker lines run parallel with the main power line on the drivers side for a much longer distance, so I'm betting I will be OK. You can see the added red 8 gauge wire in this photo of the passenger side rear panel.



Reinstalling Rear Side Panels

The reinstallation of these panels went faster than taking them out. I inserted from the rear, running them underneath the seat belts. The key here is not to pound anything in place until you have everything lined up. There are two alignment issues to pay attention to.
1. The rear seat belt anchors. Make sure they are untangled before beginning to reconnect your panels.
2. The seat back lock bracket where the seats lock when raised. You need to move the panel a bit past this bracket, line up the slot in the panel and slide it back toward the rear of the MINI. There is a large rubber grommet you can pop out to make this easy.

In addition, hook up the wires to your courtesy light on the passenger side. Hook up the wires to the spare outlet on the drivers side.

Once everything was lined up I started at the top front portion of the panel, making sure the connector was lined up with the hole and gave it a wack the soft part of my fist to seat the connector. After making sure the top was lined up along the window, I did the same with the lower front connector. I then worked my way across the top front to back and seated the remaining four connectors. Make sure your gaskets are lined up properly. Then screw in the three bottom screws. If one or more screws don't find a hole or even metal, give the bottom of the panel a wack to being it into position against the metal behind it.

When you are finished, the passenger side should look like this.



The drivers side should have a similar look.

By the way, as I suspected, th Polks don't interfere with the speaker panel if you mount them to the rear of the 6x9" opening rather than the front.

The final step is to reinstall the rear panel. I laid it in place, making sure the opening for the tailgate lined up properly. You'll want to work the edge of the panel under the top rear gasket. Then pop the four connectors in place. Arrange the carpet below then reinstall the four clips that hold the bottom of the panel by first inserting the sleve than pushing on the bayonette. When you are finished your rear should look like this.



Once the panels were back in, I gave my speakers another listen. They sounded a bit bright with the panels out. The brightness is gone with the panels reinstalled and the bass response is improved. Overall, I'm very happy with this upgrade so far.

The next step is to tear out the head unit. That will have to wait for tomorrow.

Tom

 

Tom,
Can you post a pic of how you attached the 8ga. wires to the battery please?

 

Filmy,

They aren't attached yet. But there are two bolts on the positive battery terminal. I think I can make one work. Otherwise I'll pick up an aftermarket positive terminal/distributer.

I'll document how I handled that connection as part of the amp installs.

Tom

 

Tom,

Thank-you for be so thorough in your documentation.

I will use your rear-seat description as my guide when I install my amp and Genesis subwoofers.

 

Tom, my mini seems a lot louder with just the rear seats folded down. Is it possible to get at the side panels without removing the seats?

James

 

If I remember right, the rear seat backs are hinged through the side panels. In a picture above with the passenger side panel re-installed you see two holes in the side panel where the seat-backs hinge through. I believe taking the rear seats out is necessary, but like Tom said, they are quick to un-install.

 

Between my brother and I we've had 4 sets of different size Polk db speakers (and even a set of subs), all ordered through Crutchfield. None of them came with wires. I even had one of them replaced/repaired (not sure what they did) under warranty directly from Polk and that one didn't ship back with any wires either.

 

Did the headunit as my first piece. Pain... pain pain. Those tubes suck