Hey NAM,

Just acquired my first Mini, a 2010 S with the base audio system. I have done many major mechanical jobs on many cars, but literally never any electrical/audio work. I am maybe 5% fluent in audiophile language. I want to spend some bucks upgrading. Nothing crazy but decent. I don't have a budget set yet.

What can I expect to spend? It seems like the agreed solid and worthwhile bang-for-buck upgrades are: front speakers (which pair? The upper or lower ones?), amp, sub. Seems like a HU upgrade is not needed. I can probably struggle through the install myself with the various threads on here.

If I'm just doing two front speakers, what type should I get? Component or midrange? Something else?

What type of amp should I get? I need 2 channels, right?

What type of subwoofer should I get? I've only seen pictures of subs taking up most of the trunk. Is there anyway to avoid that? Like mounting the amp under a seat and then putting a small sub in the panel where most people mount the amp? I regularly put groceries and backpacks and crap in the truck.

It looks like $80-200 for a decent amp, $250-400 for a pair of speakers, $100-200 for a sub, and maybe $100-200 in wires and connectors? So $530-1000 if I do it myself? What would an audio shop charge to do the install?

Again, I know there are write-ups around, just looking for high-level info to get my feet under me,

Thanks!

 

Your budget is not unrealistic if you pick the high numbers. You can do it yourself if youre handy, but Id hop on an audio forum which will be more helpful than here for research.

Stop by a car audio shop and get a quote and listen to components.

You could probably get away with a 8” sub in the min its so small and open to the cabin, but a 10” will hit lower with a bigger box. There are some prefab boxes that may work for you at the car audio stores.