A few weeks ago, I braught my BMW to a local privately owned car audio
shop to look for a new amplifier for my system. I spoke with a very
knowledgeable salesman who really seemed to know what he was talking
about. After demoing about 7 or 8 amps, I settled on the JL 450/4.

After completing the sale, the salesman went out in back to ask an
installer to look over my car. The installer and the salesman came out,
the installer must have been at least 60 years old...

After a few minutes of looking the car's interior and engine
compartment over, "Pal", the installer, said to me, "There ain't no
battery in this car. I wont be able to install no an amp this car". I
told him that on BMW's, the battery is usually located in the trunk. In
anger and disgust he yelled, "Oh for God's sake. Who ever heard of
putting a battery in a trunk?!?"

As soon as he said that, I should have taken my business elsewhere
because of the obvious lack of experience of doing installs on BMW's.
But for some reason, I didn't. So, I went ahead and made an appointment
to have the amplifier installed that same week.

*Fast forward to the day of the amplifier install....*

At last, the day finally arrived to have the amplifier installed in my
car. I dropped my car off at the shop, and went on with my day.

Later on that day, I received a call from the shop letting me know that
my amp was installed and that I could pick up the car anytime I wanted.
I immediately went down to the shop. When I arrived to pick up my car,
I looked over the install. First thing I checked was the wiring at the
battery. There was no fuse!! There was a huge red wire floppin' around
the trunk connected to the battery unfused. I was starting to get
upset. I then went into the car to look over the installation of the
amp. The amp was mounted with velcro to the back of the front passenger
side seat. The thick red power wire was exposed running from the amp to
up and around the rear seats and into the trunk to the battery. That's
not all... The speaker wires and RCA cables and run on the side of the
passenger side seat, exposed. It was a very sloppy and unprofessional
install.

After I looked over the install, I went into the shop and spoke with
the manager and told him that I was not satisfied at all. He could not
understand what was wrong. I told him that the power wire going to the
battery was not fused. He said, "There's no reason to fuse the wire
since the amp you purchased already has fuses." I tried to explain that
having no fuse can lead to an electrical fire. He said that they have
never used fuses in any of their installs, and that there was no need
for any fuses. I then showed him how sloppy the amp was mounted. He
didn't see anything wrong with it. I asked why the installer didn't
mount the amp in the trunk and he said, "We mounted it to the rear of
the passenger seat for ease of adjustment".

I continued to explain how unsatisfied I was with the install, and I
asked if they could make it look neater. They said they could, but it
would cost the same amount as a new amp install?? They refused to fix
it for free. I told them I wasn't going to pay for such a sloppy
install. The manager said if I didn't pay, he would call the police and
have me removed from the premises. So I ended up paying money for a
careless install.

I now realize I should have done more research on this place before
choosing them, but I didn't. Now I paid the piper.
Moral of the story:  Always do your research!