A year ago when I completely overhauled the entire stereo system in my 2005 W463 LWB (G55), I replaced all 8 speakers + subwoofer with better aftermarket components.

Through all of my searching and testing universal adapters, I didn't find any off-the-shelf solutions for mounting aftermarket speakers, so I decided to design and 3D print my own.

The process was long and took several revisions, but I figured there will probably be others looking to do the same upgrades and I have the time and resources to provide these speaker adapters as a bolt-on solution for those who want to DIY or provide these to a third party for install.

I had a member reach out to me a few months back about making him a set of adapters of these for his custom stereo overhaul. We discussed his overall stereo goals, component choices, and general tips and tricks I discovered when custom wiring up my entire system, and I ended up making him a set of 6 adapters (sans subwoofer and tweeter adapters). He was able to install about a month back and the adapters fit perfectly as designed.

If anyone is interested in these for your own sound system overhaul, I'd be happy to discuss. Send me a PM. The price for the set will be $300 shipped, which is expensive for adapters, but will save a ton of hassle if you're looking for a bolt-on solution and avoid having to trust a shop to custom make these. I'll be running this similar to my W463 Glove Box hinge repair. I'll create a writeup with all parts, how they are installed, lots of pictures, and tips and tricks that I've learned through my experience and all the extra things I think are a good idea to do while everything is apart.

If you're interested in a set, we will have to discuss your specific speaker components and I will modify the parts based on the drawings provided by the manufacturer to ensure bolt-on assembly. If there are no manufacturer drawings, I'll make recommendations from there. The changes are all minor such as circle bolt pattern, and cutout dimensions, speaker flange thickness, using speaker grills, etc. For the W463, there are some restrictions on which speakers can be used due to size and depth.

Some pictures of the adapters I designed and installed on my G using Polk components:

Front Component Set: Polk MM6502
Rear Door: Polk DB652
Rear Cargo: Polk DB402




Below are the set of adapters I re-designed and 3D printed for the other member. These were designed for Focal components. Threaded inserts were added to the parts for easy assembly, along with all custom stainless steel hardware for attaching to the G interior.

Front Component Set: Focal Performance PS 165FX
Rear Door: Focal PC 165F
Rear Cargo: Focal RCX-100







Cheers!

 

That is awesome man! I don’t have any plans to change out all my speakers (yet) but will definitely keep this in mind

 

Really nice to see such creativity and awesome effort. I’m sure this will be of use to many members in the future.

I would imagine these would not fit the W463 2013+ G with the Harmon kardon system? I am not impressed at all by the stock sound system when compared to my other vehicles (Meriden SS 1600 W and B/O 1200 W).

 

I am pretty sure these will definitely fit the older interior US Market G's, so 2002-2011. I would doubt that they made any changes to the doors in the 2012-2018 models, but cannot verify. Also there comes the issue of the door cards being slightly different on the inside, so I wouldn't be able to tell unless I was able to measure the OE speakers or test fit my adapters on a 2012-2018 G.

There are several large hurdles to jump over when updating the sound system of any W463.
1. Speaker Mounting - This can always be done by a custom speaker shop using MDF or plastic, but my speaker adapters should help in making the install cheaper and less time intensive.
2. Amplifiers - The amps have not changed much over the years, and aren't powerful. Replacing the amps is a real headache as it involves a lot of custom wiring. Also, all aftermarket amps will have to be tuned, which means running a separate or integrated DSP. This is absolutely crucial to time-align the speakers or else they will sound like garbage.
3. Wiring - You pretty much have to completely custom wire amplifier and at least the front speakers/tweeters.
4. Subwoofer - The OE subwoofer is basically useless and the largest size you can easily fit in the enclosure under the bench is 6.75". This is just about adequate, but not enough for anyone that enjoys bass heavy music. It is possible to fit up to 2x 8" subwoofers in the space, but will all have to be custom
5. Head unit - The older interior G's have dash kits to replace the factory Double Din relatively easily. The newer interior this is much more difficult as there isn't really a thing that you can replace. Upgrading the amps and maybe the display screen to an android unit is probably the best path forward for upgrading.

Upgrading the speakers themselves will not do much overall to the quality of the sound. Adding an amplifier first will improve the system in any G, but you'll start to reach the limits of the OE speakers. Once you've gone down the road of adding an amp and upgrading speakers, you'll also be changing out the subwoofer and custom wiring everything, so the slope is pretty slippery.

 

These adapters look incredible. I am having a very tough time with the corner vents . Have an appointment to upgrade my entire car to Focal flax speakers. Afraid installers will crack the corner vents. Any help in how to remove these would be greatly appreciated.

 

looking to purchase this kit from you. Scheduled to have a big install done on my G55 next week so I can pay expedited shipping. Tried to PM you but as a new member I can’t for some reason. Can you email me at fivewonders0416@gmail.com. Thanks

 

Hey Rick, Sent you an email.

 

Just finished up a set of speaker adapters for a forum member and wanted to add a few details about the process:

- I'll have to tweak the speaker adapter design slightly depending on your choice of speakers. This will generally take about an hour per adapter pair.
- Total time to design, manufacture, and ship will be a minimum of 1 week. It's not possible for me to turn these around faster unless I get a new larger 3D printer.
- It would be best to discuss speaker choices before ordering them as there is a chance speaker depth for the doors will be an issue.
- Also feel free to discuss amplifier or other sound system upgrades as I have a good amount of insight into what can work well.
- I'll also provide a ton of tips and tricks for mounting, running wires, how to remove panels, where to mount other components, etc as I have gone through the car pretty thoroughly.

Speaker sets I have designs for:
Front Door: Polk MM6502, Focal PS 165 FSE and Focal PS 165 FXE
Rear Door: Polk DB652, Focal PS 165F, Focal PS 165 FXE
Tweeters: Polk MM6502 tweeters and Focal PS 165FXE tweeters
Rear Cargo: Polk DB402, Focal RCX100, and Focal 100AC


I label everything so there's no confusion how these are installed, and also include all the stainless steel hardware (including spares) to mount to the car and to mount the speakers. All brass threaded inserts are heat staked into the adapters that are printed out of PET-G. Similar properties to ABS, but better heat resistance and better for UV resistance also.




Cheers!

 

Are automotive speaker systems usually acoustic suspension, hence the solid adapter design (as opposed to a primitive flat plate adapter with standoffs)? Do you recommend gaskets (or RTV) to improve the seals between mounting surfaces?
But nicely done! 3D printing in conjunction with capable CAD experience churns out amazing results (but not for the instant gratification crowd!). What I like best is the printer works while I sleep (lol).

 

I went with the solid adapter design more for convenience and replicating what was there from factory. The door cavity is not sealed by any means and it would be pretty difficult to create a true acoustically suspended design. This is mostly due to the limited depth in the doors. In an ideal world, one would create a fiberglass enclosure to live in the base of the door, correctly tuned to the speaker's characteristics, to provide maximum sound reproduction and clarity, but that is a world I don't think will ever exist unless you're going for truly show stopping experience. I don't see a difference sealing with a liquid/rubber or a foam gasket, but prefer the latter as a half dome foam baffle will also work well to protect the speaker form water/dirt. Now if you submerge the door/speaker, then you'd be hosed anyway.

In reality, the G's speaker placement is pretty terrible. The front doors fire at your ankles, the front tweeters are too far in the corners of the windshield and don't direct sound towards your ears, front front center channel is placed well, but 99% of people who upgrade the system won't use it or replace it, the rear door speakers fire directly at each other probably cancelling out some, the rear cargo speakers are too far to really have any impact, and the bench subwoofer is a complete joke. I think any complete sound system upgrade will be leaps and bounds better than the OE system, but far short of anything you can find in new cars these days, or really even anything from 2010 onwards.

 

If my current 2011 head unit is glitching with intermittently losing sound (while staying on) from Bluetooth calls or even aux music, what would you suggest moving forward?

I don’t love the sound quality but I can live with it. What I would like is streaming audio, and uninterrupted audio.

do those Android oe style units work with the oe amp/fiber optic wiring?

any way to use a CarPlay unit with stock speakers / amp?



I like this unit.

 

Hey PeriodCorrect,

I'm not too big a fan of the Android based OEM looking units. I do love how they look, but my experience with similar products in the past is that they work great for maybe a year or 2, then you'll be looking to buy another one due to lack of android/firmware updates, lack of support, failing components, etc. I don't know how they would work with your 2011 as I believe your amp and head unit are connected by fiber optic and won't work independently of each other. I'm more a fan of super simple Single DIN units with bluetooth audio as I feel the placement for a Double DIN screen is less than ideal when looking at anything besides music titles. I end up using my phone for everything else, and that is always working and up to date technology wise. Any Single or Double DIN unit from a good quality manufacturer (Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, etc) would be the path I would take as you can actually get support if needed.

Maybe a good easy approach would be to source a good quality used head unit that comes with some sort of warranty to try to fix the intermittent music issues? I believe there are aftermarket adapters made by Becker Autosound that will connect to your aux input with a bluetooth adapter. They're relatively inexpensive also.

Besides that, the next step would be a full custom system. The OE speakers are actually pretty good overall if you power them correctly with a good amplifier, which saves a lot of hassle as installing and wiring all the speakers is really a large job. In your case it would be a newer head unit of your choice custom wired to an amplifier with DSP and custom wired to the factory speaker wires. The most difficult part of all of that would be finding a shop that you trust to do the install without hacking everything up. Alternatively, if you're willing to sacrifice the OE amplifier, you can salvage the plug and thus not have to cut any OE wires when custom wiring the new amplifier (under the driver seat)

Feel free to shoot me a PM and we can discuss further.

 

If you plan a DIY upgrade, call Crutchfield and talk to one of its car audio experts.

 

If you're planning a whole custom setup, their input is very valuable, but if you ask anything G specific, they're out of their element. There is just so little information about the G sound system out there. I spoke to them at length about my audio setup and the knowledge was useful and informative as a whole, but not directly applicable to the G as they don't have it in their system, nor do any universal speaker adapters fit, which is the reason behind designing and making my own speaker adapters.

I searched through WIS to find wiring diagrams and this is what I found regarding the stereo system. I edited it to make it more usable. I used this when identifying wires at the amplifier harness and several people have asked me for it. If anyone finds more info for other year models, please post it up as this thread can be a good resource to anyone looking to DIY.

 

looking to switch to focals saw this adapters wondering if there still available

 

Hey LanternShark,

Yes, they are still available. Lead time is about 1-2 weeks to make the set as it's a lot of printing. Send me an email and we can discuss further! You should be able to email me through the forum.

Thanks!



Shiann

 

Great work Shiann ! I'll take a set for future plans if /when avail..... no rush on my end at all.

E

 

Sounds good. Send me a PM and we can start exchanging emails about it. Looking forward to your new G55 build! I know it's gonna be awesome.

 

I never got a chance to add some pictures of member installs using these 3D printed adapters. These are installation of Focal Flax Evo Components in the doors and Focal 100AC's in the cargo area.




Also some in process installation shots of an Audio Control D-6.1200

 

Hi, I would be interest in speaking with you regarding your adapters. My email is hanskennon@rocketmail.com

 

I'll send you an email.

 

hello, looking to get some info on picking up a set of these adapters but can't access pm or email, please contact kiellish@yahoo.com

 

email sent.

 

Hi, I’m interested in adaptors for the cargo area. Can you email me Carlo.c.ocampo@gmail.com.