Advice - stereo upgrade

[imske3000]

Hello All,

I am looking at upgrading my base stereo and was thinking of going the Alpine Retrofit but thought I would see what other options are out there.

Let me know.

[PG]

I'm interested too and come across this so far as well

http://www.bavsound.com/Stage-One/St.../Installation/

further advice
http://musicarnw.com/e82-1-series-co...ereo-upgrades/

[imske3000]

Originally Posted by PG_DC5

I'm interested too and come across this so far as well

http://www.bavsound.com/Stage-One/St.../Installation/

further advice
http://musicarnw.com/e82-1-series-co...ereo-upgrades/

I found the Bavsound one as well, it doesn't come with an amp so I passed on that one. The musicarnw option is new to me, do you know how much the stage 1/2 options are?

[BEAM3R]

I went with Bavsound in my E36 and I'm really, really unimpressed.

I would look into the Focal or Rainbow PnP kits. Not sure about the amp situation though. Worst case just get an amp to suit.

[the earl of hype]

I just had the Alpine upgrade fitted to my daily and its a significant improvement. While it wont go head to head with the HK/Logic 7 system, as a neat plug and play upgrade I highly recommend it.

Also a big shout out to reisf for the system and assistance with the install.

[PG]

Rainbow Kit:

http://www.store.drivesound.com.au/i...product_id=155

http://drivesound.com.au/BMW1Series.html


ebay link, current 15% off sale works (use code click15) http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rainbow-I...item35f0f17002

[Knightelf]

What is your budget?

The Alpine upgrade is very good for what it is: a budget upgrade that comes with tweeters, front door speakers and an amp. The amp is not the best but it's leaps ahead of the stock system. I had this in my E82 and was quite happy with it considering it was only AUD $550 or so (at the time), plus labour for the install. I ended up replacing the amp later on with a XD600/6.

If you're willing to spend a little more (i.e. $1k for an amp), you can also look at this amp which is currently doing a group buy (only for the HIFI system) http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1173489

I also have the Focal IFBMW-S speakers. They are fantastic, and added a lot of clarity to the mids and highs. Budget wise they are a bit more than the Alpine, with tweeters + speakers (no amp) for $550. If you buy them off eBay today you can get them for 15% off with the site wide coupon.

[PG]

here is another, Gladen system which seems to have better reviews than rainbow
about 1.1k USD shipped

http://www.germaniks.com/bundles/gla...etCurrencyId=4

Focal kit $615
http://www.focalaustralia.com.au/shop/1560/

[1seriesFanatic]

Originally Posted by Knightelf

What is your budget?

The Alpine upgrade is very good for what it is: a budget upgrade that comes with tweeters, front door speakers and an amp. The amp is not the best but it's leaps ahead of the stock system. I had this in my E82 and was quite happy with it considering it was only AUD $550 or so (at the time), plus labour for the install. I ended up replacing the amp later on with a XD600/6.

If you're willing to spend a little more (i.e. $1k for an amp), you can also look at this amp which is currently doing a group buy (only for the HIFI system) http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1173489

I also have the Focal IFBMW-S speakers. They are fantastic, and added a lot of clarity to the mids and highs. Budget wise they are a bit more than the Alpine, with tweeters + speakers (no amp) for $550. If you buy them off eBay today you can get them for 15% off with the site wide coupon.

Im having trouble finding someone to do the install. Who do you recommend

[Knightelf]

Originally Posted by 1seriesFanatic

Im having trouble finding someone to do the install. Who do you recommend

If you're referring to the Alpine kit, you should get it done through BMW since it requires coding. By the way, this is the Australian forum so probably not going to matter who I recommend

[Knightelf]

Originally Posted by PG_DC5

here is another, Gladen system which seems to have better reviews than rainbow
about 1.1k USD shipped

http://www.germaniks.com/bundles/gla...etCurrencyId=4

Focal kit $615
http://www.focalaustralia.com.au/shop/1560/

Focal Kit is $557 on eBay from authorised dealer:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FOCAL-IFB...item2a4aaf8bee

As I said there's a 15% off on eBay at the moment, brings it down to approx. $473. You'll need to find an amp to go with it.

[questionable]

How do the focal compare to the logic 7 ?

[imske3000]

And what kind of amp would you use with the focal?

[BEAM3R]

http://www.fhrxstudios.com.au

Ask Marty. He is the only person I would trust to touch my car and he's an absolute genius when it comes to car audio.
I saw the Focal and Rainbow stuff in the hard copy catalogs when I was there a little while back.

[rodman9]

I was in a similar situation, my 2012 135i E82 had the base BASE model setup with no tweeters.

I bought the full Focal integration kit, fronts (including tweeters), rears, and also the under-seat woofers. I had to buy the tweeter housing for the left and right pillar A columns from ECS Tuning, they were perfect. That's $1300 including installation by the way.

A bit pricey in the end, but I had heard nothing but great stuff about Focal and I'm a big audiophile. The whole thing cost about $1300 but I've been very happy with it! Worlds better than the stock, and considering this was all plug-and-play without any amp required, the clarity and difference in power is awesome!!

But yeah obviously if you wana go down the path of getting an amp, the difference would be much larger. I personally just chose not to go down that path.

Hope this helps, good luck

[imske3000]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am going to go the alpine kit and see what it's like. Would it be possible to add in back speakers and subs afterwards if i am still wanting more?