I own 1997 BMW 318i and I have own it since it had 24000 miles on it. Now it has
132000. My German mechanic tells me that the car is in great shape. Recently I
noticed that some of the speakers in the rear started booming. Horrendous amount
of bass so I tuned them off. I think they might be blown. Also the right
passenger door either tweeter or midrange might be blown. There is some cracking
coming out of it. So I decided to replace all of the speakers since I am also
channging all of the interior panels. The original cloth panels that car came
with it started wrinkling due I think to Southern California heat. I bought the
leather panels so now I have to install them and since I am changing the panels
might as well change the speakers.

I want to replace the speakers so they will go into the original factory
locations without any cutting of panels or fabrications of new pieces. I want
the car to look as stock as possible. Any information on speakers will be
appreciated. I also read that BSW are direct replacement for stock speakers. How
is their quality. Are the cones made of paper or a better quality material. What
about Boston Acoustics, Focal or MB Quarts.

I am also thinking of changing the stock radio. Right now I have a cassette unit
and I want to replace it with a CD. I read that the unit is C33 platform
(cassette). The CD platform is C 43 or CD 43. How do I know that I am looking at
CD 43 platform unit. There are a lot of CD units available for sale on ebay for
BMW but how do I know that I am looking at the right one.

Another item of interest are my seats. The cloth on them is thorn. I like to
change them to leather ones. I want leather sport seats preferably with M
insignia. The color that I need is gray/dove gray. I probably could get Vader
ones but I think they would look out of place in a sedan.

Any information on those items will be greatly appreciated.

Mark B. Holland