Since I had the 03 in the garage and had some time I got around to getting the speakers replaced in the 987 speaker shelf I have had sitting on the table. Put a set of 5 1/2" component speakers in. 1" tweeters replaced the 2.5" speakers and 5 1/4" subs replaced the bose 2 ohm ones. mounted the cross over and replaced the wiring. Just went with a low end set for now to see how it sounds. It's connected as the rear channel on the MBquart NA2-500.5 amp which has the dash connected as the fronts & the same 5 1/4" subs in the door connected to the dedicated sub channel.
Haven't even touched the gain and it is way better then having the 986 shelf with the 3.5" speakers. While the subs are downfacing, it is a sealed system so it does pretty decent, enough to fell the air coming out the front. Still need to get out with the top down to see how it sounds but so far it's a great upgrade.