How to install 13cm rear speakers in the MIEV / iOn / C-Zero

I just bought a new Peugeot iOn and quickly saw the opportunity to fit rear speakers in order to improve the sound quality. My stereo system is of the standard type with Bluetooth and USB input. There was a fader function in the menu, but I did not know if the speaker wires were pre-installed into the back doors. Searching the internet only made it apparent that a lot of people had the same question but I did not find any answers or DIY tips. So I decided just to try myself. This resulted in a 4 hour job and with this guide you should be able to do it in less time. Just make sure you have speakers, adaptor plate material, tools, wires and bolts available.

Step by step guide:
1. Loosen the interior plastic panel on the back doors by unscrewing 3 screws located at the back of the door, at the opening handle and at the handle.
2. Identify the bottom slot between the door and the panel and remove the inner cover by jerking rapidly outwards. Then lift upwards and loosen the panel. Detach the two wires for the opening handle and the door lock. Also detach the electrical connector plug to the electrical window opener. Set aside the inner panel.

3. The triangular hole for the speakers will hardly fit any standards off-the-shelf speakers so I prepared wooden adaptors to fit my new 13cm speakers (Pioneer TS-GL1322i). I used an old 2cm thick wooden shelf-plate I had lying around and hack-sawed it to 18cm OD and 11,5cm ID.

4. Cut away the plastic in the triangular hole and cut a long slice in the big hole next to it for access. I made the three fastening holes by placing the adaptor plate inside the door and marked off directly. I made 3 off 5mm holes and countersunk these to fit M5x40 countersunk bolts. I fitted the adaptor plates in place with nuts and washers on the inside.

5. I fitted the speaker directly onto the adaptor plate with the screws that came with the speakers.

6. The speaker wires were extended using standard 1.5mm2 electrical cords from an old lamp. The wire was fed out the access hole and the opening to this access hole was taped with gaffer tape. The electrical input to the speaker is pre-prepared and comes from the small 2-way unused connector next to the window button connector. As I did not have a suitable connector I cut off the connector and removed parts of the foam rubber in order to attach the wires directly using a standard cable splice.

7. I fitted the speaker cover and then fitted the door inner cover. It should snap in place perfectly. Insert and secure the 3 screws. The speaker will be seen through the speaker slots on the door panel.


That’s it, now turn up the volume and enjoy! You will notice a lot better sound now and you can even fade the sound to the kids in the backseat at will. You may want to try fitting 17cm speakers instead as there seems to be enough room available, but I believe this would result in a special design tweak for the adaptor plate.

Good luck!

There is more info on the subject of changing speakers in the below site. It is in norwegian but with pictures to make it somewhat understandable...
http://elbilforum.no/forum/index.php/topic,5870.0.html

Good luck!

So, I got tired of having my kids tell me to turn up the music on our ES iMiev and then subsequently not being able to have a conversation with my wife, so I got some 5.25" speakers (Pyle 200w max, 4 ohm) to put in the rear doors. It took me a while to figure out how to pry the door off ... there are four plastic rivets that hold it on around the bottom edge, and you really have to squish your fingers under the lower lip of the door and pull hard from there to get them to release. I was sure I was going to break something. But, I didn't (I don't think.)

I wanted to keep the original speaker connector, so I cut some flat connectors down so they were about 2mm wide to fit it. Then made sure the connection was live, by connecting to the speaker while the radio was on. Yes I got sound.

However, after I mounted one side, connected the speaker and then turned the radio on ... it didn't go on. I got an error: "Error DC" on the radio display, and nothing turned on. Ugh! :x . Only when I removed both speaker wires did it go back on as normal again.

After finding a few others online who had reported a similar problem when their speakers had grounded out, I put some electrical tape over my speaker connections and that fixed it.

But, the sound is a little tepid in the back, fading all the way to rear doesn't get nearly as loud as the front (I realize there are 4 speakers up front, so that could be part of it). Also, I used 4 ohm speakers ... I guess 8 ohm would give better output for the same power. Anybody know if that's the cause - should I be using the 8 ohm speakers in this case?

Thanks - Dan.

Putting 8 Ohm speakers will make them less loud (for same speaker type). You might have crossed the wires and speakers are now out of phase. Before dismantling to check, find a track that will play in phase and out of phase noise (pink I think) to help you see the difference. Do also control with front ones.

The other issue you might have is acoustic short circuit. Meaning that you might not have isolated your speakers properly on their sides, as a result some of the Air pressure (understand sound) that is meant to be emited to the listeners is immediately cancelled by its opposite wave produced behind the membrane. Make sure you use strip of foams like the obes used for isolating windows to stop such cancellation.

Good luck.

good modification
thanks for sharing

I am all set to go with a pair of Kenwood 160mm polypropene dual cone speakers. Alternatively I will see if one can fit 16x24 cm JBL that are hangging about.

Now the bad part starts. I must have a block about these plastic parts in the cars or electronics therefore I prefer to ask before breaking anything...

I unscrewed 3 black screws on the rear of back panel, armrest, door leaver. Then also a metric screw near the central post on the front.

I was hopping that the panel would come out by pulling up the entire panel or by trying to pull out from below. I did not try and force anything.

Can someone give me some guidance on how to pullout the panel withtout breaking things. Maybe the fact that we are in winter and the plastic is cold does not make it easier.

Thank you.

The door panels are held to the door by a series of plastic snap in 'rivets' - Once you have the screws out, start at the top and pry the panel inward away from the door and work your way down one side, along the bottom and up the other side popping the rivets outward and then the panel will lift off

Don

Thank you Don. I have the new speakers, just need to fully get out of this flu and on the next warmer day I will give it a try.

Just finished installing rear speakers in my i. I used the same dimensions as OP did, except I had a slightly-larger hole saw that I used for the center holes.

To get matched volume, I have to set the fader to R4 or R5. I installed four-way Sony 5.25" speakers. While not as loud as the stock speakers, they have a much better tone to them, especially in the high end. I'll post photos later.

Well done aarond12,

I am surprised that you find the high end tone of the new speakers better than stock. Can you confirm that you do have tweeters on the dash ?

From my experience, the back speakers sound quite dull sitting in the front and brighter when sitting at the back.

Also have to put fader to -4 to have balanced volume when sitting in the front, but I find that the general sound presence is better with fader at 0 or just -1. Maybe the speakers I installed are not good enough

aarond12 said:

Just finished installing rear speakers in my i. I used the same dimensions as OP did, except I had a slightly-larger hole saw that I used for the center holes.

To get matched volume, I have to set the fader to R4 or R5. I installed four-way Sony 5.25" speakers. While not as loud as the stock speakers, they have a much better tone to them, especially in the high end. I'll post photos later.

Click to expand...

The factory rear speakers sound pretty good too, as they have tweeters in them also. In my test, they sounded much better than the coaxial Pioneers I tried replacing them with . . . . I put the stock speakers back in. They are a simple 5 minute install - Twist on and plug in

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1294

Also, they're 2 ohm, so the fader works as it should

Don

Just a question on the polarity of the speaker wires in the rear doors, is the brown the + and the blue the -?

Atleast, that's what I figured. I've purchased the infinity reference 6502ix and they fit fine, but I 3D printed my own 20mm high adapter ring to offset them from the door in a similar fashion to the factory speakers.

I've uploaded the 3D printed ring to Thingiverse for others wanting a adapter ring.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1159586

First mount the ring loosly against the door using the 3 plates behind it.
https://goo.gl/photos/CxmetEPner6HS7TTA

Before tightening the screws that hold the ring to the door I guided the wires through the hole on the top. Then tighten the screws so the ring presses against the door.
https://goo.gl/photos/WKSPPYGjy5QkXdqv6

Can anyone confirm the correct color code for the rear speakers?
+ is?
- is?

I will try to install JBL JX602 speakers 2,3 Ohm with their original flange.

Thanks again for all news

When you have the door cards off to install speakers I recommend adding some insulation as well:
http://kwsaki.blogspot.fi/2015/07/added-insulation.html

It really makes a huge difference in sound quality as well as reducing outside noise and keeping out the cold. I don't have the speakers in the rear doors, but the front speakers gained a lot of bass by just adding the insulation. I used 1cm automotive foam with a sticky side and a tin foils side. Works great.

Yes, I recommend adding thermal insulation to the doors, as well. Makes them feel warmer in the winter, muffles some road noise, and improves the sound quality. I got my car sounding like a rolling studio .

I forgot to take a picture of the harness since I had my radio out last night. I could've told you what the polarity is. I'll check later on today.

What I have now is using brown for the + and blue for the -, it appears ok, but I have not verified it for certain.

You can easily add 10mm thick insulation to the rear doors, I've used the "X-trem 10mm adhesive foam" that is also used by DIY Camper/RV builders for insulating vans. It's not a sound suppressor, mainly heat. Still better then a piece of clear plastic foil.

The factory speaker ring that fits the OEM front speakers is 30mm thick from the door, with a extra 5mm foam ring on top that presses against the inner door panel. I'll adjust the 3D drawing to these correct thickness offsets to make it easier to fit 6,5 and 6 3/4 inch speakers, to get basically the same fit, but for aftermarket speakers.

On the front doors you need thinner foil, 3 or 5 mm tops that more easily conforms to the shape of the doors. The inside door panel has a glove compartment and what appears to be a insulation plastic filler that prevents 10mm thick foam. I used the 10mm I had but left the lower-rear part of the door uncovered so that door panel can fit over it.

Tonight I installed 13cm Pioneer speakers in the rear doors. It was a fairly simpel operation. BUT, I cannot get any sound out of the new speakers.. Connecting the wires maks a small sound "of voltage going into speaker", but it does not play... Any suggestions?
The car is a 2014 C-Zero...

After last nights unaccomplished speaker mount I I was determined to get things right tonight. First I tried one of the front speakers connected to rear door wire. Still no sound. I took of some trim covering the wires on the floor, and followed the wires from B pilar and towards the A pilar.
I ended up with connecting the rear door wires to the front wires, and it is working great.

If I correctly recall, connecting two speakers to the same channel will halve their total impedance and therefore increase the load on the amplifier, which may also affect the sound quality. Please correct me if I remember wrong.

@ jsantala. I belive you remember this correctly. 1/4ohm + 1/4ohm = 0,25+0,25. 1/0,5 = 2 ohm.
But still I belive that the amplifier "is strong enough" for the both of them. I normally dont listen on the highest level, and seldom for more then 1 hour driving... We´ll see