the weakness of the stock radio is power. it's made by Alpine, but doesn't have ample power to drive even the stock speakers. The DPSM fixes this wiht additional amplification, as does the addition of an aftermarket CD player. I'm quite surprised at how much better things sound with just the additional power of my JVC with onboard Class D amp (digital power...80wx4).

 

Maybe I should bring GPMINI down there

 

You absolutely should!

 

I'm leaving Wednesday after work, Ian. You're welcome to tag along! Of course, there's also a couple of groups who're taking their time coming down...

 

yea! Come on down Ian. You can be the MASTER BLASTER! Keep us up all night cruising Fontana with throbbing basslines!


. . . also might be good practice for the Great Ice Cream Run!

 

Can you say sound-off?

 

No can do on the "throbbing basslines" - with all the insulation in GPMINI you only hear it from inside

 

...except when the windows are open!

 

I've never really associated ABBA with "throbbing basslines", personally.

 

Hey, you can't go wrong crankin' the Fraggles and Leo Sayer too!

 

Heavy bass ... how about: Blue Man Group, Madonna, some Jean Michel Jarre, some Fleetwood Mac, and believe it or not, "This Is Where I Came In" from the Bee Gees

Of course, electro stuff (Espuma, Moogwai)

There's a lot of choices on my iPod - maybe I should repeat that "what's on my" list ...

 

I just got back from my dealership... my MINI's interior is stripped bare! Wow... kinda crazy to see it this way. See the pics! They haven't removed the H/K and installed the wiring harness & DPSM yet, but they should be getting that done on Monday and/or Tuesday nights. The soundproofing job is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

I saw the car in its current state and I just had to laugh. I really am crazy! :impatient

Note: Yes, a vacuum cleaner WILL be employed before we even begin!

 

Great pics ... and yes, you ARE crazy! There's definitely better ways to do what you're doing

 

Why is the headliner removed? Did you plan to apply sound damping to it? Since you have a sunroof, I don't think it would have much effect on the remaining narrow areas.

 

we're going to apply sound damping to the windows too yes, I'm joking!

 

"Better" is a relative term. I wanted it done the "official" way with the correct wiring harness, etc... so I don't have ANY warranty issues. I also didn't want to leave excess wiring all over the place (the old harness). I want the car as though I had never ordered the H/K in the first place. What is so wrong with that? Let's face it... aside from cost, this is the "best" way to do it. At least that's my opinion. The headliner is removed for 2 reasons:

1. Yes, I plan on soundproofing as much of the ceiling as possible, even if that means it's only a small portion.
2. There are some dents on the roof that I've been wanting to remove (Dent Wizard) for a long time, but doing so required removing the headliner. This seemed the best time to do it.

More pics next week, both after the DPSM is installed (pre-soundproofing), as well as during SP and after SP... probably all uploaded on Wednesday night.You mean we're not?

 

I bet thats a side of Mr. OEM you've never seen or ever thought you'd see

 

WHEW. Well, the soundproofing is done. It was a LONG, LONG day yesterday, but the results should prove totally worth it! Dan (PGT) and I started working on the car at around 12pm yesterday, and we didn't finish the main soundproofing job until about 9:30pm last night.

Needless to say, many many thanks to Dan for his awesome help on doing this. His experience truly showed... he knew the best way to approach the job, where and how to apply materials, etc... not to mention he worked at least twice as fast as I did (probably three times). There's no way I could have undertaken this job by myself.

All of the key elements that could be soundproofed were done. The entire floor (from the front footwell back), the sides, the rear door, a little on the roof - and most importantly, the passenger doors. Every surface we did has at least 2 layers of B-Quiet Ultimate - some have three... and the passenger doors have four layers in them. We also applied B-Quiet Vcomp over the top of the Ultimate in many areas. Again, the passenger doors have two layers of this heavy duty foam sound deadener in addition to the Ultimate!

After Dan left, I stayed around longer with the tech (who works the night shift) and did a little bit "extra"... most specifically, putting a layer of soundproofing on the inside of the 4 wheelwells - it should really help to reduce road noise coming from the tires. I also did it to the rear license plate and even the license plate holder. I didn't end up leaving the dealership until 1:45am! See the pics in my gallery.

I can't wait until the first drive now... Maybe I oughta auction off the passenger seat for the drive-in movie at MOTD.

Oh, I forgot to mention - yesterday we also installed the DICE HD Radio & iPod adapter, so now the car has:

• AM/FM
• CD
• Navigation (turn-by-turn voice directions)
• Bluetooth hands-free
• OEM SIRIUS reciever
• OEM Aux input
• DICE Aux input
• DICE HD Radio
• DICE iPod adapter

... all running through the stock head unit! Pretty cool, huh?

 

Looking at the pictures I still think you can add in more sound proofing

So now when you open the bonnet your wheel wells are glistening silver

 

Well, we had to be careful to balance out the fact that everything needs to fit... also, some panels needed soundproofing more than others. I'm not too concerned about it, I don't think any more is going to make much difference at this point. I am very satisfied, especially for a 1-day job! Nope! I planned it carefully... the front wheel wells only have material on the rear portion, right where they disappear behind the metal. Look closely at the wide shot with 1 front, 1 rear and the license plate all in the picture. There wasn't any point in covering the front, because the road noise over there isn't facing the passenger cabin... and besides, I wanted to ensure my Dragon eyes were still in full effect!

 

I really, really wanted to cover the windshield too, but Haemish told me no! <sigh>

 

oh....and put some v-comp on that license plate too. It will be a proper cushion for rattles, even if only a small pieces in the middle (not edge to edge, as you'll see that)

 

I swear you 2 planned for everything!! :-)

 

"'rule of the 7 P's" man

Prior Proper Planning Prevents **** Poor Performance

 

Hmm - my main concern about using VComp on the license plate is how well it will survive the elements... seems to me that the Ultimate is going to be more weather resistant.

The one thing that the pics don't show is that I removed the license plate holder from the boot as well, and put some pieces on it. So neither the holder nor the plate should rattle at all.

It occurred to me this morning that perhaps we should have tried to lay out some VComp in the front passenger footwell, all the way up to the back of the dash. Thoughts?

I could go back out there tonight with the extra material... I doubt that the tech has put the carpet in yet, since he was going to work on the wiring harnesses next!