I'll start off by saying I had a shop do this for me. I usually don't shy away from installs but my wife works when I don't and I watch my 14 month old when she works so that gives me almost no time to do this.

The car is a 1998 m3 with the stock HK system and factory amp. The midranges had been replaced by the PO with some 3.5" infinity’s. After listening to a set of HSK 3 ways and looking at the price I decided to go with the cheaper ESK 3 ways. The 163L comes with a higher excursion 6.5" (Higher than their normal ESK line), a 4" mid range and 3/4" tweeter. Linky to Hertz, which would replace the factory 5.25 in the kick, 3" infinity and factory 1" in the door.

The whole album is here

Install only took a day and they charged me a little over $400 for the speakers and install. Some people might cringe at the price, but to walk in, hand over the keys, and then leave with a nice sounding and loud system was worth it.

Mid Comparison

tweeter comparison

Old Mid mount

New mid mounting rings

Old Mount for 5.25

New larger hole

Speaker Mounted

Random Shots

So the mini review.

I choose these because I was looking for a 3 way system to replace the factory 3 ways and there are not many options. The shop around the corner happened to carry hertz and I was confident with their ability to do the installation. I had the shop use the factory wiring. I've heard that the BMW wiring is decently beefy and read on forums that this is generally ok to do. The crossovers are also mounted under the back deck next to the amp. I run my crappy headunit with minimal eq. Treble is bumped up 1 from 0 (can go to +-8) and bass is at 1 also. The crossovers do have a -+2 attenuation on the mid and tweeter. Both are set to 0. These are powered off the front 2 channels of a sax100.4 crossed over at 50 hz. There is no rear fill.

I find that these speakers sound good. I don't have years of experience in the industry or hours and hours of listening to different sets so I can't to talk about the tonal quality or other stuff like that. I know that I can turn it up as loud as I want and they play clear. I can turn them up louder then I want and they get a little harsh on the tweeter , but that is also a lot louder then I really want to listen to anyway so I don't care. I have the 6.5's crossed over pretty high so they aren’t getting the workout that they probably can handle but the set does present a high stage and my sub helps fill in the bottom that the woofers aren't getting to. I'm not missing the rear fill at all.

I was worried about using a brand that has very little exposure at least here in the US. And I did have a tweeter *blow* which was quickly replaced under warranty. I think this must have been a factory defect as it happened real soon after I got the set installed. I believe these come with a 3 year so I should be covered going forward too.

I do want to say that the shop did me right with this installation and that they deserve credit for doing a good job here. (I'm a satisfied customer) The shop is All Star Audio in Cumming GA. All Star Audio. They are a local carrier of Sundown too.

John

Looks good.

Nice review. I am sure with the beat downs install shops get on forums, they will appreciate some kind words.

Good deal. Sweet components. I have some Hertz as well, and I can honestly say they are very hard to beat. The build quality is superb, tonal quality is excellent, and they stage very well... The install looks great, and for a set of 3 way Hertz components and the installation, I think you did pretty well for $400...

Sweet ride!

Install looks great!

Nice review, I would love to hear Hertz in person as I have heard nothing but positive things.

for 400 bucks that's great.

Clean install ... Wish I could hear this ride !!!

That is a Great price and Install looks to be done well.

It's hard to imagine that that is all tyou paid. Between speakers and labor, you got away with robbery almost!

looking good.