After some searching I found a subwoofer to replace the blown rear units without breaking the bank or the need for major surgery to get them to fit. The replacement speakers are the Kicker 10 CVT65, 4-Ohm, CompVT Subwoofer. Nice sound.
The mounting holes match and the required depth is less tham the original equipment. Retail they would have been $100 a piece. On the Internet, I found them for $66 each.
Another alternative, the JL Audio 6w3v3 would have been about $120 over the net and may have needed modification to interior of the subwoofer boxes to accomodate their mounting depth.
Installation on the Kickers only required removal of the speaker grills and then trimming of the plastic rim that surrounded the original speakers. Dremel makes a neat attachment to cut or form things like plastic (cost $16.00). The removal, modification and installation took maybe 40 minutes or so. FYI, the solid black wire is the positive & black with white stripe is negative.
Not the audio system sounds better than the day I drove her home the first time.
Later
Ed K

 

Good job Ed, I agree with you about those stock subs, almost anything would be better than what came with the car. If you did get a bigger sub, like the JL you mentioned, it only takes a 1/2" spacer in front to bring the speaker out so that depth isn't an issue.

Good for you, now...what's the next project?

 

Hello

The next TWO projects ... replace the rear view mirror. The oil in the mirror isn't leaking but it doesn't work. I emailed a firm about a remenufactured peplacement. The second project is figuring out how to replace the light bulb or LED that lights up the radio. The LCD works with the channel or CD number, but no backlighting when the headlights are on. So, it's darn near impossible to see in low light situations. I have no experience at getting the radio out to even look at it.
Later
Ed K

 

Well, if you break yours in the process (the radio, not the mirror) let me know, I've got a perfectly good one sitting in a box in my attic.

 

That sounds a cool project . We have a member in X300 Forums who is currently swapping LEDs including radio , A/C Controller ,power window buttons .
I think it's really worth updating these regular bulbs to LEDs

 

I bought some 194 LED dashboard bulbs at Pep Boys and they sucked. They were just way too dim. When I got back from my 7000 mile trip I replaced them with some regular bulbs and the difference was amazing. The incandescents are far superior IMHO.

 

removed part of the message and moved it to a separate mirror thread

 

The "over the counter" LEDs don't seem to perform like the ones you can get on the Net at LED specialty shops.

 

Perfect thread for me right now. I just pulled the rear subwoofers from my '97 XK8 convertable and took them to Best Buy to match up a replacement set. As you already know, they have no such thing, so now I have to shop. Going to start with the recommendation here.

Also, I have a radio with the same problem - no backlighting at all. I can't see anything at night or day. Otherwise it works fine. Looking for a replacement.

Finally, I did replace my center console bulbs. Check out <Autolumination.com> . I believe their #79609-S5A-003 Type B is what I got. Double check the dimensions first as I can't put my hands on the order or receipt right now. Fit perfectly and costs all of $1.49 each. I got clear and transfered the blue bulb cover over. Still works great.

Mark R.

 

nemisis, I have a head unit (alpine premium w/ cassette deck) from my 2003 that I de-installed from my car 2 years ago. I was going to trade it for parts at a salvage yard, but if you want to just swap yours out instead of repair, let me know. Everything works on it.

 

Thanks
Autolumination.com was a great site. They provide a list of all lamps on the vehicle once you enter the make, year and model. Very helpful.
Ed K from PA

 

If it helps, the Kicker subwoofer that I mentioned was the 4 Ohm, 6 1/2 inch model CVT 65. My son & I cranked up some tunes while cruising around this weekend. They sounded fine to us for the money.
As I did my looking, there were few units that stayed under the 3 1/2 inch mounting depth. This Kicker is 2 7/8, so there's plenty of room. Good Luck.
Ed K

ModelCVT65
Size (IN.,CM)6-1/2, 16.5Impedance (OHMS)2 or 4Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS PEAK/RMS)*300/150Frequency Response (Hz)25-350Mounting Depth (IN.,CM)2-7/8, 7.3Mounting Cutout (IN.,CM)5-9/16, 14Min Rec Sealed Box Volume (CU. FT., Liters).2, 5.7Max Rec Sealed Box Volume (CU. FT., Liters)3, 85
ModelCVT65
Size (IN.,CM)6-1/2, 16.5Impedance (OHMS)2 or 4Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS PEAK/RMS)*300/150Frequency Response (Hz)25-350Mounting Depth (IN.,CM)2-7/8, 7.3Mounting Cutout (IN.,CM)5-9/16, 14Min Rec Sealed Box Volume (CU. FT., Liters).2, 5.7Max Rec Sealed Box Volume (CU. FT., Liters)3, 85ModelCVT65
Size (IN.,CM)6-1/2, 16.5Impedance (OHMS)2 or 4Max Rec Amplifier Power (WATTS PEAK/RMS)*300/150Frequency Response (Hz)25-350Mounting Depth (IN.,CM)2-7/8, 7.3Mounting Cutout (IN.,CM)5-9/16, 14Min Rec Sealed Box Volume (CU. FT., Liters).2, 5.7Max Rec Sealed Box Volume (CU. FT., Liters)3, 85

 

Photos in that thread were really helpful. thanks
Ed

 

Ed,
Glad to help. And I ordered the speakers last night. Can't wait to get them. The good news is the weather is lousy (?) so the car is sitting in the garage just the way I took it apart for them. Missing nothing while waiting for delivery.

H20boy,
Yes, I would definitely be interested in the radio. As my car is a '97 and yours is a 03, are you sure it will fit and hook up? I guess if it's close it's worth a try.

Thanks all,
Mark

 

If anyone is interested, the subwoofers in my '97 Convertible were also trash when I bought the car, but I was able to sucessfully REPAIR them for about $20 by replacing the foam cone surrounds. The result is awesome! The proceedure is actually quite simple, but I should have videoed my efforts for the benefit of those here on this forum. I would be willing to repeat the process and video it this time, at my expense, if someone would be willing to donate & ship their OEM subwoofers to me.

ek_mundo, do you still have yours? Would you be willing to ship them to me for this effort? If so, send me a PM.

John

 

I have a 2003 XKR and removed one of the subwoofers the other day and found that it is 2 ohms. The Kickers and JL that are mentioned as replacements are 4 ohms. My questions is; are you replacing your stock 2 ohm subs with aftermarket 4 ohms or are your stock subs 2 ohms?

 

Mark, sent you an email.

 

I'd like to hear the answer to the 2 ohm / 4 ohm speaker question also. Too late, of course as I already ordered the 4 ohm units. Hoping Ed's experience with them shows that the 4 ohms are good. I don't know enough about stereo set-ups to understand the math for this.
Mark

 

Hi Mark
When I undertook my search, I took the factory speaker to a car audio speacialty shop. There were no marjings on the speaker itself. The head tech took the old speaker and did some measurements on the impedence since I had the same question on 2 vs. 4 Ohms. He indicated that my old speaker was a 4 Ohm unit and then specified the model of the Kicker replacement units. When he gave me the price with installation, I decided to check elsewhere.
His price was high. When I took the specific model number and went to the Internet, prices were like 40% lower.
So, that's the source of the 4 Ohm.
I have installed mine and they're working great.
Hope that helps.
Ed K

 

Ed,
Great answer. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. I also bought through the internet and am anticipating delivery any day now. Thanks for sharing your experience. Big help.
Enjoy,
Mark