2009 Mini Cooper S

 Steve was interested in adding XM satellite radio to his Mini.  He was also interested in improving sound quality with some upgrades.  Carl, our installation manager, laid out some options including an amplifier, subwoofer, and some better speakers.

Here is Steve's sweet little brand new Mini Cooper S.  We wrapped plastic around the back where Carl would spend much of the installation time, wiring up the Audison Bit One processor, Audison LRX4.5 amplifier and Kenwood Excelon shallow 10" subwoofer with custom box and amp rack.  The Audison Bit One processor allows us to purify the sound from any source, such as the factory headunit, as well as manipulate it for improved sound quality in any setup, from simple to elaborate.

'And here's how the back of the Mini looked while Carl had interior panels removed for routing of wire.  It was essential that Steve could still access his spare tire tools without having to hassle with anything-so Carl made the entire assembly modular and easy to lift clear of the tools.

This picture shows the installed gear: an Audison Bit One processoron the left side, the Kenwood subwoofer, the Audison amplifier, and the custom box with flush trim panel for the amplifier.  The Bit One has its own trim panel, showing the lighted Audison logo.

This is what the rear looks like when the cover panel is in place. This panel is ventilated to allow the amplifier to stay cool and the subwoofer to play freely, without restriction.  Steel mesh is embedded under the acoustically transparent carpet, so this is strong enough to support cargo.  This was all Carl, 100%, in the amp and sub area.  Tony installed the sweet Hertz door speakers and worked on the Mobridge XM interface.

This is how it looked after Tony disassembled some of the radio and dashboard.  To integrate with the MOST bus fiberoptic network in this car, we used a Mobridge unit.  Since they are a relatively new, struggling company, the unit doesn't work yet, we're hoping a firmware change will make it effective.

One parting shot of Steve's Mini while it was in our shop.  This car sounds incredible even with the factory headunit since we used the Bit One, high quality Hertz door speakers, the Excelon subwoofer and Audison amp.  Definitely one of the best sounding Mini's on the road, without even getting into an ultra pricey, elaborate setup.  Thanks Steve!