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Navigation & AudioAudio upgrades, bluetooth, and navigation discussions surrounding the Clubman (R55), Cooper and Cooper S (R56), and Cabrio (R57) MINIs.
Hi Guy's,
Have any of you fitted your amp in the recess under the front seat in an R56 Mini? I have a 2013 JCW.
Here in the UK, I think there is a space under the drives side seat??
I suppose, in the states, the space would be under the passenger seat?
Any idea how big the space is? Any pictures of amps installed in this space, would be much appreciated too! :-)
Cheers, fellas.
Last edited by spikeyadrian; Apr 20, 2019 at 01:42 AM.
i tried it, it needs too much work (cutting etc). so i put it in the empty space under the divider on the base of the trunk (where they put the tyre things). it's easier and doesn't need any changes, so it can be reverted back to stock easily.
i tried it, it needs too much work (cutting etc). so i put it in the empty space under the divider on the base of the trunk (where they put the tyre things). it's easier and doesn't need any changes, so it can be reverted back to stock easily.
Yeah, I did think about putting it there. I was just concerned about the continuous vibration from the JL CP208LGW3V3 sub which will be above.
I wasn't sure if the vibrations would cause reliability/sound quality issues??
I don’t have sub on top of it but i don’t think it will be a problem if you wrap the amp with some sound deadening material (don’t need dynamat or something like that, cheap one would be enoguh) and stick it to the chassis with some double sided tape. Only problem i can think of is over heating for the amp, so you have to keep an eye on that.
I just put a Polk Audio PA D2000.2 amplifier under my passenger seat last week. I forgot the dimensions, but there was more room than I thought under there. There was a large piece of styrofoam under there along with the DSC module. I cut the styrofoam to fit the amp and the wires. I also put down some sound dampening material to avoid rattles. I will be taking it apart in a couple of weeks to adjust the amplifier gain and can take some pictures if i remember. What kind of amplifier do you have? Do a search for Alpine, I think I remember seeing a few pictures people posted on here.
I just put a Polk Audio PA D2000.2 amplifier under my passenger seat last week. I forgot the dimensions, but there was more room than I thought under there. There was a large piece of styrofoam under there along with the DSC module. I cut the styrofoam to fit the amp and the wires. I also put down some sound dampening material to avoid rattles. I will be taking it apart in a couple of weeks to adjust the amplifier gain and can take some pictures if i remember. What kind of amplifier do you have? Do a search for Alpine, I think I remember seeing a few pictures people posted on here.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, I've not purchased anything yet as I want to be sure everything I buy matches/fits with my requirements. On my 'list' are, probably, front speakers Hertz Mille MPK 163.3 pro 3 way or Focal PS165F3 3 way.
Now, for the amps and sub, I want to either put the amp under the front seat in the space underneath or, make a boot build to house the sub (using the boot tool recess as part of the sub enclosure) and mount an amp either side of the sub
in the 'false floor' in the boot. Not decided what amp/sub combination to go for, as yet.
I have the Polk amp under the passenger seat and a 5 channel amp in the passenger side panel of the boot. I also have a Dayton DSP-408 in the drivers side panel of the boot. I saw on another thread that they were able to fit a JBL MS-8 under the passenger seat so that's quite a bit bigger than my Polk amp. Let me know if you need any advise, other than fiberglass work.
I just had the passenger seat out yesterday to make some adjustments to my amp; I wish I would've remembered this thread. That JL amp seems a little to deep to fit with all of the wires attached. Have you tried taking a look under there? I think it only took me 20 minutes to remove the side sill trim (remove the seatbelt bolt first), unbolt the seats (4x bolts), push the seat up into the passenger footwell (no need to disconnect anything), lift up the rear seat bottom on the passenger side to access the carpet, and then peel back the carpet.
looking at your pictures i might fit.
i simply tried to fit it between the seat rails and when sliding the seat it hit the amp.
i already started work on false floor in the hatch area,
the 300/4 is 13.4" x 9.25" x 2.36" (340mm x 235mm x 60mm)
just for grins i looked up the ms8 in your picture 11 1/2 x 7 3/8 c 2 1/8
is there another 2 or 3 inches.
can you tell me the space between the humps that run across the car.
if I had to go the last foot or so as 8ga wire to make the "turn into th amp" i would do that.
I suppose i could measure from the seat rail bolt to seat rail bolt front to back and subtract 2 or 3 inches
i could ewven mount it on one of the humps withtheh amp "mosly in the hole" (liek an iceburg" I know that it would fit that way. (i just need to figure out for me which way woudltbe the "up side"
It's all in my posts above. Yes, I put a two channel amp under the carpet of the passenger seat. I installed a Polk Audio PA D2000.2. The power wires face the passenger door and the RCA and speaker wires face the drivers door.
The seat works just fine as it's under the carpet. It's actually pretty easy to pull the seat out it's just four bolts, but make sure you DISCONNECT the battery before disconnecting the yellow seat plug under the seat. You do have to lift up the rear seat, remove the passenger seat belt bolt, and remove the door still trim in order to lift up the carpet to access that area.
Pros: hidden location, short wire runs
Cons: ventilation (I had no problems in Los Angeles during the summer), hard to make adjustments, possible airbag code if battery is not disconnected
An alternative location is behind the left trunk (wheel arch) trim, where the stock amp is installed. It is a bit more work to run the cables (as the rear seat and side trims have to come off) but it is better ventilated, the carpet does not need to be cut and later access for adjustments is much easier (depending on the amp it may be as simple as removing the cover for replacing rear bulbs). If you are replacing the rear speakers at the same time, there is no extra work involved.
If your car already has the hifi or harman kardon amp installed but no dab tuner, you can use the space behind the right trunk trim.
Note:
There are two kinds of said left side wheel arch trim: one for cars with an amplifier fitted at the factory and one without. Check that the one fitted in your car is the former so that there's enough space behind it. You may also want to order the stock amp holder plate and the three screws to mount it to the car. Here in Germany, getting the trim used for little money was no problem. The amp holder on the other hand is more difficult to find used (as it is usually sold along with the used amp) but getting it new from a BMW dealer is less than € 20,- (again, in Germany, don't know about the UK/US).
PS:
Another reason that made me choose this location rather than under the right hand side front seat: I wasn't sure whether any control units may already take up the space under the seat (my car comes with most available factory options installed).
Last edited by giorgos; May 25, 2020 at 11:20 PM.
Reason: added "PS" / corrected broken link to DAB bracket
The amplifier I installed measures 220mm x 135mm x 45mm (length x width x height). Very roughly and off my head I would say that there is space for about an extra 1cm height (at least). I placed the amplifier at an angle so as to be able to make adjustents without having to remove the trim. If installed horizontally, there would have been plenty more space for both length and width. How much exactly in each direction depends on how wide the amplifier is. And if the stock holding plate is not used, another 1 cm height could possibly also be accomodated (though one would have to find some other way to secure the amplifier).
Since it is not much work to remove the wheal arch trim, I would suggest that you make a small box sized as your preferred amplifier (e.g. out of cardbox material). You can then see yourself if and how it will fit. Just make sure you also consider how the amplifier will be bolted down and how much space the wiring needs.
Also: be careful not to shorten the battery while trying to disconnect the power socket. I did and had to replace the corresponding fuse.
Update:
It turns out that amps with a height of up to 7cm can be accomodated, maybe even a bit more. Here are some pictures I took today (along with some from before the installation).
Last edited by giorgos; Oct 23, 2019 at 12:00 PM.
Reason: update & pictures
