First, I like cars, love my Audi, but I really stink at fixing stuff.

That being said, I need to fix/replace a front-right speaker in my '99 A4. It's very "crackly", so much so that I've actually un-balanced the stereo to play out the left only. It may just be wiring, may be the speaker. I'm not sure.

Anyway, how much trouble do you think it is to try and replace a speaker? I'd like to do it myself if possible, but I don't know if that's realistic.

Thanks for the help people, and go easy on the new guy!

This should help


Here's a short FAQ about how to replace the inner door handle. This was done on the driver side. Passenger side should be the same, except you don't have that many things to disconnect.

Disclaimer: Do this at your own risk.

My latch mechanism broke recently, and I wanted to replace it. This was a fairly easy task, and shouldn't take that long. The thing that took me awhile was getting the oval armrest cover off. Here's a short description of the ordeal.

0) Buy the door handle assembly

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-001.jpg

1) Remove the Door Panel

1a) Start by removing the two screws at both sides of your door panel as shown below

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-002.jpg

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-003.jpg

1b) Remove the screw inside the oval part of your door handle

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-004.jpg

1c) Remove the over cover part of your door handle. By pulling down. This was a PITA because mine was really tight. So just jerk it around a bit.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-005.jpg

1d) Remove the two screws inside the oval part of the the door handle.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-007.jpg

1d) Lift the door panel up and off.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-008.jpg

2) Disconnect all the wiring on the driver side door.

2a) Disconnect the speaker wires.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-010.jpg

2b) Disconnect the mirror wire. (sorry no pix)

2c) Disconnect the 4 window control wires and the rear window lockout wire.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-012.jpg

****Make note which window control is plugged in where, otherwise you'll have to figure out when you reassemble things which wire is for which window.

2d) Remove the door handle cable by prying off the clip holding it place. Then remove the cable from the handle

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-013.jpg

3) Remove the old door handle

3a) Peel back the door panel lining near the door handle.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-017.jpg

3b) Remove the screw attaching the door handle to the panel.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-018.jpg

3c) Remove the cable for the speaker from the door handle assembly.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-019.jpg

3d) Push the two tabs at the side of the door handle assembly and push the door handle assembly out from this side.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-021.jpg
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-026.jpg

3e) Remove the speaker from the door handle assembly by prying off the retention clip.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-027.jpg

3f) Remove the door lock switch from the door handle assembly by wiggling a screwdriver here.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-029.jpg

4) Replace the door handle assembly by doing the steps in 3 backwards.

5) Reconnect all the wires you unplugged. (You did remember which wire for each window goes where, didn't you?)

6) Reinstall the door panel. You might have a little difficulty trying to get the door panel over the door lock. So, what I did was taped a piece of wire around the door lock so I could thread it through the hole as I reinstalled the door panel.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-031.jpg

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-035.jpg

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/int49-036.jpg

7) Screw the door panel back in, and replace the oval handle cover. Done.


What's currently there: each front door has a 4" driver mounted low, with a 3/4" tweeter mounted high and crossed over with a simple capacitor. Speakers are made by Nokia.

Interestingly, the 4" driver on the driver's side is different from that on the passenger's side. It's a dual-voice-coil design, with the second coil fed from a seperate pair of wires. The reason for this is that the second coil is used for the speaker-phone (hands-free) output for the factory cellular phone. It's worth noting this for those who might use the factory phone, and then replace their speakers! Also bizarre is that the wire to the left set of speakers is a thicker gauge than the wire for the right speakers. I just taped off the wires that fed the second voice coil.

To get at the speakers, you have to remove the door panels. Remove the two visable screws at the upper corners of the door panel. Remove the screw in the armrest, inside the grab-handle area. Now remove the oval-donut trim piece that this screw was holding inplace, by snapping the trim piece downward. This will expose two screws; remove them. The door panel is now removed by lifting it upwards, then out. You'll need to disconnect electrical cables and unhook the door latch cable.

The tweeter is held in place by a wire clip; to remove the clip, you have to first remove the trim piece that contains the tweeter assembly and door latch handle. Do this by removing the screw in the back of the door panel between the tweeter and the latch, then pressing the two locking tabs (located forward of the tweeter) rearward, allowing the trim piece to be pushed outward. Now remove the wire clip from the tweeter by pulling the forward end of the wire out of the mounting hole.

The midbass drivers are held in place by three screws in a non-standard way. If you want to replace these, you'll need to build your own bracket. The stock speakers are very deep for 4-inchers, enough that a normal set of 5.25" drivers might fit in the same depth; BUT, the grill cut-out is 4" in diameter, mounting would be more difficult, and it's actually doubtful that you'll be able to fit them not because of depth, but because of room around the door frame.

I replaced the stock speakers with a Polk MM-3045 4" driver/ 1" tweeter component system, if anyone's interested.

Wow! I wasn't expecting such detail! Thanks docurley!

This helps a lot, maybe I can do this on my own.