my E is suppose to have a 270 watt system. Now i know the factory speaker are paper cones and in great need of an upgrade, but i would think i should be able to turn my speakers past 4 black bars on the factory stereo and not have to worry about bass overriding my speakers b/c of the subwoofer.

I have heard the usual factory vibrations during bass, some fizzle sounds while playing cds, and just overall noise like my speakers can't handle the sound, and i dont even turn it up *that loud.

What causes these things to happen to a speaker anyways?

- MIke

Heat is usually the main cause of all speaker failure. From what you've described however it sounds to me like you could have any number of problems like blown speaker(s), a bad head unit, a bad amp, or simply a speaker wire short somewhere.

You should probably talk with your dealer but before you bother I have some questions that may help figure out what's going on...

1. Have you done any modifications at all to your audio system? (describe)
2. Does this problem happen all the time or intermittently?(describe)
3. Does this happen with the radio as well as CD's?
4. Does it happen with all CD's/radio stations or just some?(describe)
5. Does the CD sound cut in and out completely while the music continues to play (missing parts of the song) or does the music actually stop and start, like a stuttering behavior?(describe)

Mike,

A different tact from eMass (who makes good points as usual!):

Have you tried testing by removing the speaker grilles and sub-cowl to see if any of the noises go away?

I suspect that most (but not all) of the noises I hear with the factory speaker set are the plastics in the doors, dash, (a-column?) and center column buzzing.

-brendan