Aftermarket Underseat Subwoofer for 1 series/ 1M?

[nachob]

I am interested in a litle more Bass for my 1M but don't want to spend $1275 for HK plus mandatory iPod adapter. The stock radio sounds good but a little subwoofer/amp would be nice. Anyone have any leads on something pretty easy to install that would work?

I already think HK is a bit much but would probably spring for it, but I found out that you also have to buy iPod/USB adapter on top of it. $1275 plus tax, etc. Don't have an iPod and don't care about resale value, just if anyone has any experience with an underseat subwoofer amp that would work.

Thank you.

IB

[M3 Adjuster]

I'd love to hear alternatives to the stock setup as well... even if simply from the 135 forums

here is a good article here..


http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505654

[l888apex]

Interesting idea...can't help much but I have the stock radio and with the bass/treble EQ settings turned up it is more than enough bass even for hip hop/rap, and I am a young man too. Just my opinion. But you could probably just upgrade the rear deck speakers and put a small amp on those. I can't imagine you needed more bass than that, stock already renders the rear view mirror useless. And the car sounds so good I find myself listening just loud enough to hear the music.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by l888apex

Interesting idea...can't help much but I have the stock radio and with the bass/treble EQ settings turned up it is more than enough bass even for hip hop/rap, and I am a young man too. Just my opinion. But you could probably just upgrade the rear deck speakers and put a small amp on those. I can't imagine you needed more bass than that, stock already renders the rear view mirror useless. And the car sounds so good I find myself listening just loud enough to hear the music.

thanks, yes, the stock radio seemed pretty good already but I heard the HK and the underseat subwoofer really makes nice difference. If the stock radio was terrible, then I would for sure pay up but as you said, the stock radio is plenty good so spending $1275 for a little more base just doesn't make sense to me. I just wondered if anyone had done any partial improvements. I did some search on audio forums but a lot of that stuff was more amps, bigger subwoofers, etc.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I'd love to hear alternatives to the stock setup as well... even if simply from the 135 forums

here is a good article here..


http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505654

I saw this and it seems very interesting, except the dealer coding part. Not sure if the US people would know what to do. I will be doing Euro Delivery, maybe I can have it done in Europe? Actually it sells for about $500-600 and 3 hours dealer install. Seems to run about the same. If I could do it all myself, this seems perfect.

[///1M]

Nachob,
I've been down that road before with a BMW, and my recommendation, based on experience, is to just get the HK upgrade. If you're an audiophile, you'll have to spend as much, if not more, to match the performance of the HK system. Besides, you lose warranty coverage on the stereo system and possibly other electrical systems. You'll be happier in the end IMHO.

[Harlequin]

Just do what I did:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=517608

[Papethova]

Curious... was this one of the changes in June? I asked for HK only and was never told I need to get the Ipod adapter.

Edit: Just checked BMWUSA.com and it let me build with just heated seats and HK

[nachob]

Originally Posted by Papethova

Curious... was this one of the changes in June? I asked for HK only and was never told I need to get the Ipod adapter.

Edit: Just checked BMWUSA.com and it let me build with just heated seats and HK

Yes, the website lets me build it too, but if you go to KBB.com, when you try to add HK, it tells you that it requires iPod/USB adapter...$400 more on top of it. I asked my salesman and he said, yes iPOS USB is required for HK.

The ordering sheet NOTES section says 639 or 688 have to be ordered with 6FL or ZPP

639 is BMW Apps
688 is HK Surround

6FL is iPod USB
ZPP is Premium Package

Personally, this stinks!

http://www.bmwblog.com/wp-content/up...ring-guide.jpg

[nachob]

I have done more research on HK and base radio in 1M. Here is what I know.

- BMW sucks for making iPOD mandatory for already overpriced HK!

- A fellow addict gave us some specs and pointed out that there are three levels of radios. "Stereo," "HiFi" and "Professional HiFi/Harman Kardon"

What got me started on this thread was that I listened to a 2011 135i and the radio was fine but needed a little more base in my opinion. I am not an "audiophile" I am a car guy and car matters more than stereo, BUT car guys also like loud "Journey" playing as we carve the road.

So after comparing part numbers, I found out the 135i comes with "Stereo" class radio as base unit. This comes with tweeters on doors, 2 mids on the door, 2 mids on rear decklid and two subwoofers under seat.

So that is 8 speakers total and explains why the 135i stereo was not bad.

THEN, I realized that the 1M comes with HiFI, NOT Stereo! The configuration is identical...tweeters in the doors, mids on on door, mids on decklid and subwoofers under seats...BUT here is the magical part! The speakers and subwoofers on the HiFi system all have different numbers on RealOEM and they cost more!

So it looks like the HiFi system in the 1M is an enhanced version of the 135i radio plus an amplifier. I assume this because I only see an amplifier number for HIFI and Harmon Kardon.


So that tells me that listening to the 135i "stereo" is not a valid comparison to 1M HiFi system. So I am leaning on saving the the $1275 plus tax on HK . My logic being that the HiFi system should be as good or slightly better than 135i stereo.

Finally, for those that want to know, the HK has the same exact configuration plus a different amp and 2 extra tweeters on the decklid.



IB