I left the dealership very happy with my new-to-me mini until I started playing with the radio. What an awful sound system....yikes. Being that it's going to be my commuter car, I wanted a mild upgrade and wanted to stay under $200 for all six speakers. I took my chances with Crutchfield's house brand, Sound Ordnance. I installed their 4", 6.5" and 6x9 speakers and what a difference it made. Not too loud, since I don't think the system is amp'ed but extremely clean. And the kick panel harness mod with swapping the speaker cables Front to Rear and vice versa made a huge impact. I had some fat mat lying around and while I had the rear panels out I said what the heck, it won't hurt. Wife gave me an ipod for xmas so I'm very happy with my tunes and my new mini.

 

nice.

 

How easy was it to remove the rear plastics? Looking to do the sound deadening soon.

 

Did you have the base sound system or the upgraded HK system? What do you think about it now that you have added upgraded speakers? How painful was the install, can you give some tips for those that will do this later on?

 

The right tools and under the right conditions is important. I picked up a panel and trim removal tool kit and honestly, I wouldn't attempt this without it. Harbor Freight Tools sells a yellow and a blue kit, I recommend the yellow one. You'll save your interior from scuffs and scratches. Also I've noticed that if the temp is at least 60F, door and panel clips tend to be more forgiving and you end up breaking less things. Just use common sense I suppose, there are a lot of plastic body pins in the rear that need to be removed and if you find yourself having to use excessive force to remove a panel, stop, your missing a screw or something else needs to come off. The side panels need pop off and upward because they are clipped in at the side window area. Also there is a hidden screw that needs to come out on the b pillars that is easy to miss.

 

I'm pretty sure it was the base sound system. Im very pleased with the cleanliness but it could be a tad louder. It could use an amp to make the sound fuller and a small sub would definitely balance things out. But at the very least, it's literally night and day. The stock speakers are pure garbage and the stock wiring awful. The speaker wire mod is a must.

 

Thank you for the feedback!