[schuyler]

Has anyone personally heard the Logic 7 audio system in any BMW? Wonder if it's as good as they claim it is. It's not a cheap option in my opinion, but maybe it's really worth it. I haven't been impressed with the stock audio system in past 3 series.

[Ewrek]

I have a Mercedes C230 Kompressor with the logic 7 in it....It sounds very good and I think it is a good choice. The surround is good but nothing like positional audio....Its really up to you.

[mduchesne]

I have heard online that the Logic 7 is one of the best sounding stock sytems in a car ever. Hopefully this helps. Im looking forward to hearing how it sounds in person. On test drive day, I am definitely taking some music.

[vivid]

this review is of the 5s logic 7 set up and it sounds positive, sounds like it might compare to the awe inspiring Mark Levinson's systems for Lexus... I have to give some credit first; I found this review at E90 roadfly forum so thanks to the OP over there.

Stereo Evaluation
System Score: 9.0

Components: All 5 Series models now come standard with a radio and CD player combination, but our particular test car featured the top-of-the-line Logic 7 audio system as a $1,800 option. That hefty chunk of change gets you an array of 14 speakers along with a six-disc glovebox-mounted CD changer to supplement the in-dash single-disc unit that comes standard. The individual speaker components include tweeters in both the front A-pillars and rear parcel shelf, a 4-inch midrange driver in each door, three 4-inch woofers in the rear parcel shelf, another 4-inch driver in the dashboard and two 8-inch subwoofers beneath the front seats. A volume knob and two seek buttons reside next to the in-dash CD player, but the majority of the system's functions are located within the iDrive vehicle control system.

Performance: According to BMW, the Logic 7 system is the first of its kind in any automobile (other than its own 7 Series sedan) and was designed to recreate original recordings in the most precise manner possible through its digital audio signal processing software. The explanation is long and complex, but the results are nothing short of spectacular as this system is easily one of the best currently available. We found it nearly impossible to find a genre of music that didn't sound great when running through this system. The sound stage created by the well-placed tweeters, center channel speaker and door drivers is just right — not too far out in front but never muddled together, either. You can crank this system up to ear-splitting levels with minimal distortion and the deep bass produced by the under-seat woofers stays clean even when grinding through the most bass-heavy tracks.

If there's any drawback to this system, it would have to be the iDrive interface, which presents somewhat of a challenge if you don't know exactly what you want. Although much improved over the original system in the 7 Series, there are still elements of this interface that make day-to-day operation tedious. Once you get the hang of its push-and-play operation, there's a lot of functionality built into it (a full range equalizer is one example), but for anyone just looking to toss in a CD or grab the local traffic report, the iDrive system is still a bit on the complicated side.

Best Feature: Superb sound quality at any volume with any music.

Worst Feature: iDrive interface still lacks everyday functionality.

Conclusion: Easily one of the best systems you can get from the factory, but be prepared to put some time in to figure out how to use it. — Ed Hellwig

[schuyler]

Thanks for all the responses. Certainly sounds like it may live up to its hype.

[blackpanther]

Logic 7 certainly has enough speakers for a good sound system (Seven subwoofers, four tweeters and two woofers!) Whether its dynamics is good is another matter. But from what I'm reading from the new 5 series owners who have it, it's definitely solid.

This is from the BMW Technology Guide:

Incorporating 13 loudspeakers, the HiFi Professional LOGIC7 System ensures supreme playback of all audio formats and takes the surround sound effect to an even higher level. Seven subwoofers, four tweeters and two woofers (central bass concept) provide an incomparable experience in sound.

The tweeters and subwoofers measuring 100mm or 3.94" in diameter feature aluminium membranes with an additional ceramic surface on the tweeter domes. Six subwoofers are arranged on the left and right in the front and rear doors and the rear window shelf, while one loudspeaker is located right in the middle of the instrument panel.

The two bass loudspeakers measuring 217mm or 8.54" in diameter are located beneath the left and right front seats. This central bass concept ensures symmetrical distribution of low frequency sound within the occupant cell. With the high-performance woofers being connected acoustically to the side sills, the hollows space inside these sills is used to provide particularly impressive sound volume.

A further advantage of this concept is that luggage compartment capacity remains the same, the linings and panels do not vibrate in any way and the reproduction of bass sounds is virtually free of any distortion.

Speaker Locations:

[Ewrek]

Excellent Blackpanther.....nice writeup

[ShihearKallizad]

I have listened to logic7 in a 7 series and it is very good for a car audio system. Nice loud and accurate sound, especially with nice bass because the subs are right under the seats. If you are an audiophile and you don't like it you can just turn it off.

Did/will anyone here order logic7 for their e90?

[BMWAustin]

Originally Posted by blackpanther

Logic 7 certainly has enough speakers for a good sound system (Seven subwoofers, four tweeters and two woofers!) Whether its dynamics is good is another matter. But from what I'm reading from the new 5 series owners who have it, it's definitely solid.

This is from the BMW Technology Guide:

Incorporating 13 loudspeakers, the HiFi Professional LOGIC7 System ensures supreme playback of all audio formats and takes the surround sound effect to an even higher level. Seven subwoofers, four tweeters and two woofers (central bass concept) provide an incomparable experience in sound.

The tweeters and subwoofers measuring 100mm or 3.94" in diameter feature aluminium membranes with an additional ceramic surface on the tweeter domes. Six subwoofers are arranged on the left and right in the front and rear doors and the rear window shelf, while one loudspeaker is located right in the middle of the instrument panel.

The two bass loudspeakers measuring 217mm or 8.54" in diameter are located beneath the left and right front seats. This central bass concept ensures symmetrical distribution of low frequency sound within the occupant cell. With the high-performance woofers being connected acoustically to the side sills, the hollows space inside these sills is used to provide particularly impressive sound volume.

A further advantage of this concept is that luggage compartment capacity remains the same, the linings and panels do not vibrate in any way and the reproduction of bass sounds is virtually free of any distortion.

Speaker Locations:

Was there any mention of wattage on the amplifier in 330i?
Thanks

[Wildcat Jon]

This is standard in the 330i.

[quackman]

Originally Posted by BMWAustin

Was there any mention of wattage on the amplifier in 330i?
Thanks

I read it once before somewhere.... but I cannot remember the exact number. IT is somewhere in the upper 300 watt range. I remember that because the Range Rover(biggest of the three) has the highest wattage L7 system with 500+ watts. Then the 7 has 420 watts. So the 3 is between 300 and 400, if I am remembering correctly.

[BMWAustin]

Originally Posted by quackman

I read it once before somewhere.... but I cannot remember the exact number. IT is somewhere in the upper 300 watt range. I remember that because the Range Rover(biggest of the three) has the highest wattage L7 system with 500+ watts. Then the 7 has 420 watts. So the 3 is between 300 and 400, if I am remembering correctly.

Thanks
BMWAustin

[Jason]

.

[Ewrek]

As always..nice post jwocky

[pharding]

I have Logic 7 in my 545. The audio quality is exceptional. I highly recommend Logic 7. It is awesome.

[ziv]

One of the questions, yet to be answered is whether or not the sound will degrade over time, with rattling sounds from around the subs. I used to have a 330Ci with the HK system. I picked up the car, and fell in love with the stereo system. For a stock stereo, for $600 upgrade, it was great. Very loud, very clean, and certainly not a $10K sounding system, but for $600, it was well worth it. Fast forward a few months or a few years, and things started to rattle. It was the only annoying part of the car. Everything else was tight. I took it for a free "upgrade" where the dealer drilled a hole in the enclosure of the sub. It made it better; for a few months. Then, the whole thing repeated itself. Eventually, I gave up.

SO I REALLY hope that with the E90, like BMW claims, the car won't start rattling after a little while. It's really hard to narrow down these rattles, and fix them correctly so that they won't repeat.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. This was my only qualm about the 330Ci... Other then that, it was a perfect car.

[pharding]

Originally Posted by ziv

One of the questions, yet to be answered is whether or not the sound will degrade over time, with rattling sounds from around the subs. ....

I have Logic 7 in my 545. My car is a year old with 10,000 miles on it. Chicago has its fair share of potholes that are difficult to completely avoid. No rattles in this 5 er. Logic 7 is utterly awesome after a year. No degradation that I can hear. If you have the money, Logic 7 is a "must have" option.

[CaptJack]

I have it in my 7 and the only thing I wish it had was the ability to have presets, i.e. one for jazz, one for talk shows, one for rock etc. To go through the system to change the settings is a pain in the butt.:mad:

[ziv]

that's good feedback. It's too bad they didn't do that. iTunes does that, the iPod does that, and so does my Chevi Malibu rental POS... Oh well. I'll just leave it on the Jazz EQ if it has it. Should be good for most types of programs.

[ziv]

OK, quick review of the Logic 7 since I didn't have that much time with it.

It sounds great. I didn't have any CD's (forgot them at home), so I had to rely on Germany's radio stations. No complaints there :-) Cranked some pop, jazz and classical and it sounded great. Toward the end of my 10 hour trip, I stumbled on Pink Floyd The Wall on one of the radio stations. Cranked up the stereo, played with the EQ, put it on Music mode (Logic 7), and it sounded phenomenal :-) It was REALLY loud and REALLY clean :-) I'm sure I'll love it even more once the car gets back to the US and I can really test it out.

Drawback:

* couldn't make the Cinema mode sound good. I have no idea what it's meant for. Music mode sounded great. W/o those modes turned on, it seemed like the DSP wasn't working. This reminded me of my Harmon Kardon system on my 330Ci. With it enabled, it sounded like virtual surround. With it disabled, it sounded kinda dry. I looked in the dedicated stereo manual, and IT SUCKS !!! I've never seen a worse manual. There was nothing I learned from it, that I didn't already figure out by playing with it for 5 minutes. There was no explanation of the Logic 7 modes (Music/Cinema), and no real details on anything. I'll wait for someone more knowledgeable to go online and explain these technically.

* It has both EQ AND Treble and Bass. This seems silly. You can reset either the base/treble or the EQ, in one operation, so you can play with either one of them, or both, but to me, having both, seemed strange. You crank out the bass in the bass/treble section, and then you crank out the 80Hz or the 200Hz slider in the EQ, and now it's really muddy :-) You would think that if the radio saw that the user chose to play with the EQ, it would ignore the treble/bass settings. But the 2 work on top of each other.

* other drawbacks -- seems like the # of buttons could be minimized. They're using a lot of menus and submenus, AND there are tons of buttons. The geek in me likes it. But I don't think that many non-engineering folks would get to the submenus. Anyway, it's just a UI. The stereo sounds great.

* I was hoping to feel the subs under my seat. I didn't. Maybe they require a CD and some bass tuning...

* The seek up/down is slow. Again, not a big deal, but I had to mention it. Cars that cost 1/4 have stereos that seek and lock onto a station way faster. But then again -- another "who cares"...

* Overall, since I can't compare it to the non-Logic-7 and since I really like how it sounds -- I'll recommend it :-)

[brugall]

I have Logic7 in my 330i E90. I'm very happy with it. It is very clear and dynamic. And it is better than the Harman Kardon in my 330i E46 before.

If you like to hear music in a better quality it is a good choice...

[Armen52]

I took a CD to check out how the stereo sounded in the 330i. I was impressed with the quality of it. It sounded excellent, it got very loud but never distorted. I didn't play with any of the EQ settings or DSP modes, I'm not even sure which one it was on. Likely the default because this was like the first day it was out at the dealer.

Although after realizing that its a $1200 option I am hard pressed to suggest it to 325 buyers. I'm pretty sure that as great as it is you could do as well if not better in the aftermarket with that much money. But since its standard on the 330 I would be more than happy with this system in my car