Wicks' E46 M3 Build. Hertz 3-Way Set from Tony D!

[goodvibez]

Nice work man looks killer!

[Wicks]

well we all know whats going in now. !!

Waiting for the update

Second 5k?

Nope...

Second 5k?

.125 ohm?

It doesn't handle 1/4 ohm very nicely. 1/8th would be scary....

Time to catch up on some other updates.

So I recently installed my Rockford Fosgate 360.3.

I wanted to really incorporate the wired remote control and I think I found the PERFECT spot.

Check out my Hazard / Door Unlock Buttons:

Hmmm.

With a little modification.

BOOM:

Fits perfect for where my arm usually sits while driving:

I'm loving how this placement turned out.

The 360 itself.......well there's another update about that coming up.

That looks really slick. Love when you can drop something in like that and it looks like it was well thought out and not just hacked in.

Thanks! Me too. An easy MOD that looks factory so the BEST..... I LOVE not having to do a bunch of fiberglass, bondo, sanding, resanding, reresanding....

[Wicks]

Back at it!

Sorry for the delay, had a bunch of distractions through the middle of summer (weddings, vacations, trips, etc...).

One of which was having to pull my Mechman out and send it in to have it looked at.

I was getting some nasty 16V spikes when my alternator would spin up from idle.

It took all of August but I finally got it back.

I was using the AVBM which may have been the cause of the issue.

To make it more reliable, I had them upgrade the alt to an adjustable external regulator instead.

Great build! Thanks a ton for posting all your photos and experiences. It's a great resource, especially for us e46 owners!

I'm about to install a Mechman alternator in my e46 ZHP. I saw your thread with voltage spikes and am reconsidering my plan. I called Mechman and they told me I should be fine with the pigtail AVBM and the internal voltage regulator, but I'd like to hear more on your experiences with it. My particular alt is actually just a little over two years old, but has never been installed, and has also been back to mechman for inspection and mild upgrades, as after I bought it I heard a mild sraping with pulley rotation, and sent it in to rule out shipping/impact damage. Ended up bringing it down to 240A from 270A to get more power at idle, similar to what you did. If only I had seen your thread earlier, I probably would have made the switch to external regulation at that time. Oh well, better late than never if it's more stable to do so.

If you could answer a couple questions that would be a real help for me -- as I'm about to install a new mechman 240A with the pigtail AVBM alt in my e46 330i ZHP, and wondering if I should have mine modified like yours before I install it...

(1) when you experienced the voltage spikes -- how did you become aware of it? Did the OEM voltage gauge in your dash bounce around and your "check electrical" light come on? Any other symptoms or anything bad happen?

(2) did your check battery light ever come on (a) when you had the pigtail AVBM or ( after you had your alternator modified to use the external voltage regulator

(3) any more alternator / voltage issues come up since you installed the external voltage regulator? The last thing I want to do is invite any electrical gremlins into my car. I'm only going to install the mechman alternator if I can consider it a low risk for inducing electrical issues.

And If you don't mind I might ask you later about how you did some of your wiring as well, mostly about the power/ground upgrades and the relays.

I've got a huge pile of car audio equipment stacked up in the corner of my office just waiting till I can complete the planning stages and find the time to start my build.

(4) Zapco DC 750.2 (one is either a backup or will be added to bridge midbass drivers)

(1) Zapco DC 1100.1

(1) Zapco DRC-SL

All sorts of symbilink cables, a bass knob, and signal boosters to tap into the balanced differential outputs off the stock HK head unit with OEM ipod connector.

Acoustic Elegance IB15AU through the skipass (might upgrade to a pair of SBP15 or out of IB at some point)

Melodic Acoustic 8" Intimid8r midbass (kicks)

Morel CDM54 mids (base of A-pillar)

Morel Supremo large format tweets (I'm gonna have to see if I can squeeze these into the sails. Might be ugly, but I've had them for years BNIB and I'm gonna finally give them a try in this car. Worst case scenario I get rid of 'em and buy some Piccolos.)

Really appreciate your sharing your experiences with us and taking the time to answer the many questions people have asked. I imagine it will continue to inspire newcomers for years to come. Thanks. Zac.

Whoa... bringing back an OLD update. Thanks for checking out my build and commenting. I'm always open to questions and would love to see some other E46's in here.

1.) Voltage spikes. I had a digital volt meter in my dash. The meter would show 16V briefly when I'd hit the accelerator. My DC2K would also pop into protect. No other "issues" other then having to shut down my HU and restart it, to get the amp turned on again. Happened at EVERY stop light. SUPER aggravating.

2.) Battery light. Nope, nothing consistently. It still occasionally comes on, for some reason.....? Then goes out. I have a VM-1 now which I pay more attention to then my factory light.

3.) Any issues? Nope. Ext Reg has been AWESOME! No alternator issues whatsoever. Only thing I could possibly think of is that I have to occasionally "tweak" the potentiometer knob under my hood to finely tune my voltage. It might drift off 0.1V or so here and there. I couldn't squeeze the knob through my firewall otherwise I'd have it in the cabin for easier adjustment.

4.) AVBM pigtail. My $0.02 and I'm biased... Don't get it. Its a piece of crap (sorry Mechman). I've taken it apart and looked at it. Its not made with equipment that can handle temperatures under your hood. A BEEFY external regulator that is adjustable is WELL worth the expense as far as I'm concerned. Mine is mounted off in a corner of my underhood area and never gets HOT or anything. Love it.

5.) My wiring? Everything is mapped out in my build log. Mechman Alt. Radaflex 1/0 wire front to back. Dedicated 1/0 ground. Chassis grounds as well. 300A fuses front and back.

NICE list of equipment you have! That'd be great to see another Bimmer with some great SQ equipment.

I know I dont comment much, but Im sub'd and keep up with every update... I must say, you sir are a genius and are VERY creative!! Keep up the good work!!! It's good to see a bad ass system in such a badass car and not something that's just thrown together!!

Thanks Dude. Much appreciated!

Nice work man looks killer!

Thank you Sir!

[Wicks]

OK, rewind to May 18th, my latest competition with my recones.

Strangely my score wasn't anywhere near where it used to be.

Might have just needed some more testing, who knows.

All I could manage that day was a 143dB Legal.

BUT I was lucky enough that the other guys in the Trunk Category where lower then I that day.

So.... 1st Place

dBDrag rules state that in Trunk, you have to be under 4kW. So to follow the rules, I left my "Bass Turbo" button off and stayed at 1ohm.

Due to my impedance rise, I'm nowhere near the 5kW capability of my DC5K.

With the Bass Turbo button, I'd most likely get the full 5kW and be in another category with more aggressive setups that I couldn't compete with (low 150's).

[zack_e89]

Wicks, you never cease to amaze me...

[SLAYER1805]

That relay idea blew my fucking mind because I had an idea like that last year but didn't have the know how or knowledge to even word what I was thinking. This whole build log amazes me everytime I click it, whether it be the RF amp rebuild to the light up beauty panel on the box and now the bass turbo button!

Love it, love it, love it from start to finish

[Wicks]

Enough yapping from me........lets jump right into some pics.

Meade, if you happen to jump in here and look around, you'll be happy to see that I now have logos on both subs. I know you commented on that before....so I made sure to fix that.

[Wicks]

[hdorre]

Gotta love the halo rings.. and not just for the DRLs..

[Wicks]

Wicks, you never cease to amaze me...

Thanks Dude!

That relay idea blew my fucking mind because I had an idea like that last year but didn't have the know how or knowledge to even word what I was thinking. This whole build log amazes me everytime I click it, whether it be the RF amp rebuild to the light up beauty panel on the box and now the bass turbo button!

Love it, love it, love it from start to finish

Thanks Man, glad you like everything.

Hmmm, RF amp rebuild you say???

There might be more of that coming....

Gotta love the halo rings.. and not just for the DRLs..

Yep, LOVE 'em. Hard to believe these cars didn't come with them stock 'cuz they look awesome.