Sound System in bmw

[kurichan]

Originally Posted by Garrett

I think your confused.

-Garrett

[imported_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Garrett

Errr...

I have a listening room at home for reviewing and understanding certain passeges or soft delicate parts of my music. I am an audiophile.

While I must have my music CLEAR and detailed as possible I'm also aware of when logic rues it's head. We are talking about a car stereo system here. 10 speakers is enough to get clear sound at reasonable sound levels before you distort the source.

A Factory head unit will play a CD every bit as good as a $1000 aftermarket HU. The level of qaulity between the 2 is not even remotely decernable in such an environment.

Speaker replacement may be needed and is usually the bst place to start. 10 new, high-quality component speakers will usually do the trick if driven with enough factory power.

Good clean power is the second most important impact on the qality of sound. Some people go way overboard here. Usually only a few more watts per speaker is all that is needed to get those aftermarkets nice and warm sounding.

Tearing you car appart and adding a monstrosity like that HU above is laughable. You gain very little and loose alot more. You invite theives to look more closely at your car, you've ruined the flow of your dash and you've just omited HD Radio and other seemless BMW components.

For what..?








-Garrett

+1!!!!

Factory system cant be that bad, unless your planning on waking up the neighborhood with some nasty rattling in your trunk. And the install shown here looks Fuglyyyyy. Not integrated at all I'll go with the Premium and retain steering controls!

[ChrisK]

So far from what I have read the sound system in the 3 isn't half bad. I just hope the upgraded stereo was worth it. The sound system in my wife's Lexus is amazing, and she doesn't even have the Mark Levinson.

[john970]

I have the bose symphony system in my audi and it sounds excellent, much better than the old bose system in my acura. It sounds very open and non directional and still maintains good channel separation. they obviously tuned the system to the cabin.

A friend has the "upgraded" stereo in her 08 impreza, which just adds tweeters on the door and SRS's "Auto CS" processing. With the processing off, the tweeters are too bright and directional, there is little midrange and the bass is too boomy even when turned down via EQ. Turning on the processing does open up the sound field substantially but it is still not as good as using better speakers and positioning them correctly. I'm wondering if the bimmer DSP modes actually do any intelligent processing designed for the cabin of the 1 or they are just "oh cool check this out" throw away modes like I have on my denon reciever at home. I'm guessing they are useless.

Not sure why bmw neglects the audio so much, to me its a part of the emotion and excitement of driving a high performance luxury car. EQ and DSP modes can do so much when you know the shape of the room/cabin and exact speaker position, My denon / B&W system at home sounds better than many home theater installs in showrooms (including 7 figure mcintosh & rotel systems I've heard) because I've tuned it.

[Fast Kiwi]

Id try these guys.. pretty good i hear.. may take a little time to release some thing for the one.. but ive had a number of customers use them with good things said..

cheap.. factory connections.. blah blah..
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/ca...oofer-Systems/

[john970]

Originally Posted by Fast kiwi

Id try these guys.. pretty good i hear.. may take a little time to release some thing for the one.. but ive had a number of customers use them with good things said..

cheap.. factory connections.. blah blah..
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/ca...oofer-Systems/

Looks interesting, but again I'm more interested in the EQ side of things than anything else. the "treble" "bass" controls leave much to be desired...


I'm aware the upgraded sound system has speed sensitive EQ which leads me to believe the standard system has EQ tuned to the cabin, hoping someone can shed some light on this.

[Spook]

This is a car, not a home soundroom or recording studio. Got it. Or maybe you don't care about the stereo. Fine. So, why are you on this thread? Moving on..

There is a huge difference in the sound of different car stereos. Huge. Try sitting in a Lexus with the Mark Levinson system. It sounds very good and lends greatly to the enjoyment of even relatively complex audio material. Then you listen to the base BMW system and if you care much about such things you wish for an upgrade. Cost effective would be nice. Whether or not the BMW premium stereo upgrade is worth $875 is one of the first decisions. So..

- Has anyone actually heard the 135 premium stereo and what is their subjective view of it to help the rest of us form our expectations.
- Does anyone know the OEM components being used and do they have experience with them?
- What would be a cost equivalent solution offering known, solid performance? Speakers only? Amp only? Some of both?
- What can we expect from systems in the $1000 range in the aftermarket? How integrated is the solution? What do you get for the money?

If you're spending more than $1000 I expect your'e getting expert help in your choices (or you are an expert and would love hearing your insights).

I have not made up my mind on the premium stereo yet. I think it will be over a year before the aftermarket settles down with good options that are integrated and tested in the 1 series platform. Still, I intuitively feel that for the money, aftermarket will be a great improvement over BMW's offering. Hard choices. Would like to have something other than intuition for deciding where my $875 goes.

-Spook

[AwesomeBMW]

Anybody know the percentage of people who actually get the upgraded sound system from BMW?

[pwong888]

I used to own a E46 with upgrade sound system (harman kardon) it was the best system compare to my C32 AMG with upgrade (Bose), the basic system is include subwoofer already, it shouldn't be bad, but for the premium it provide better speaker or higher output for the amp., it should be enough for a car audio. If you are looking for the high end sound system, i will recommend invest the money at the home system.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by jus711

the problem with a loc or clean sweep or 3sixty, etc. is that you are still dependent upon the factory head unit for your source, and that can really have a negative impact on sound quality, and gives you few options for tuning. I plan on getting an aftermarket hu, I just wish there was a double din opening for a large touchscreen. I guess I'll have to go with a single din (avic-n4, alpine d105) although it doesn't lead to the cleanest look.
check out this thread on an install done in a 335i:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78107

:bs:


I've owned $4k CD players...(Krell SACD) and I can tell you that I am one of the most decerning listeners there is. So much so, I cannot enjoy a particular passage, until I descover the flaw in the speaker placement thats eluding the proper sound stage... it might take days of listen to finally get it right. Then I have to go back and listen to music I have erroneously listen to for the last 5 months.

Just to hear it right!


That said, if your car is not playing vinyl records.... then I wouldn't worry about "the source". It's a huge "sucker" market... because there is more noise in a LCD aftermarket drive than any harmonic interference from a cheap cd drive and DAC.

The source is 0 & 1's ... The factory unit will pick that up every bit as good as a $4k CD player. At least to the magnatude that a moving object can (in a car moving 25mph).

Without knowing the DAC BMW uses (Their old stereos were Harmon Kardon?) it's hard to say an aftermarket head unit IS better. But I know there is no need for an LCD or fancy HU. It impeeds what your trying to do... get better sound.

You need clean wattage from the HU to matched components speakers.

And thats where the quest begins...

[Spook]

Good post Garret. I have a home recording studio of reasonable capability and most people are shocked when I play them a hi-res recording, then a CD encoded version, then an MP3 of the same piece. I also have a lot of vinyl around and it's fun to compare that to CDs.

I don't think that the source is going to matter much given the constraints of a car. Maybe it will be possible to keep the factory head and add amplification and speakers. Speaker placement without the benefit of specialized knowledge of a car interior would be a problem.

I'm going to go to the BMW dealership and see if I can sit in a 3 series with stock then a 3 series with the premium. If I can come to any useful conclusions, I'll post.

-Spook.

[e28m5]

I want to do an aftermarket system in my 135i - but I am confused.

Can you get the base stereo system with Navigation?

Do the 8" subs under the seat come with the base system?

Do Separate tweeters come in the base system?

I think there are 4" holes on all four corners with either system

If I understand correctly, the upgrade system just adds power and tweeters???

The reason I'm interested is that I'd like to put some Dynaudio 362 Separates in the front and if all the proper holes are present in the base system - I don't need the upgraded system. Not sure if I'm going to do Navi yet though.....

Also wondering if the JL Audio Clean Sweeps sound good - if not, are there any alterntives?

I intend to do a pretty straightforward system - Dynaudio System 362, and a JL 13w7 - hopefully powered by JL's new amps HD600/4 for the Dyn's and two HD600/1's for the 13w7

Thanks for your help

[Steelerbimmer]

I will order the standard system since I listen to AM talk radio 90% of the time anyway.

As long as the Sinatra tunes are clear that's good enough for me.

[Spook]

Originally Posted by needanewcar

thx for the responses. an audiophile system is probably overkill, but the bmw stock components I was not too impressed with, and I probably do not want to pay for their "premium" upgrade. So you think I can leave the stereo interface as is, and just upgrade the speakers and I should be good to go?I'm not looking to fill the trunk with capacitors (ie, pimp my ride style), but even for ~35k$, I would expect a better stereo system than what i've heard so far in other bmws.

Wait a second.. you are complaining that BMW does not have an equivalent to the the (Mark Levinson) Lexus stereo and now you're saying that you do not want to pay for a premium upgrade. The stock Lexus system is merely adequate (ymmv) and is for those that this is not a priority for. Same situation as the BMW. The Levinson system is stellar and better to most than the BMW premium stereo but it is not available as a stand alone option on the IS350. You have to buy their NAV package for $4000 to get it. The upgraded system in BMW is $875 and is a pretty decent stereo. It's tuned to the cars space. Starting with the stock system you likely will not do better for the money with aftermarket components unless you spend quite a bit more.

[Spook]

Originally Posted by ttdamc

+1

I laugh when I hear about so called high end audio in cars.
How do you even get the right listening distances in such a small area.

Next they'll be claiming to use tube amps for a smoother richer/warmer sound. lol

but.. but.. after all that work coming up with the vibration damping system for my 12AX7's?

[volgrad1985]

I love listening to music, but I'm not someone capable of performing aftermarket work myself. In fact, when I was reading some of the posts above, it felt like I was listening to Charlie Brown's teacher speaking in my head ("Muah, muah, muah, woofer. Muah, muah, amp, muah.")

I am waiting on my 2009 128 to arrive in October, and all I wanna know is:

1. without factory upgrades, do I get 6 speakers or 10?
2. is the sound soooo bad that I will be compelled to pay for aftermarket work?
3. if I had to go the aftermarket route, what could I do at a minimum, leaving the stock head as is, to achieve satisfactory sound in the cabin?

If any of you guys that actually have your cars help answer these questions, I'd greatly appreciate it??

[Bye Bye GTI]

Before I received my car I had read lots of stories on how bad the system's were in BMW's. You can relax as it was much better than I expected. If you are not used to listening to an expensive aftermarket set up - then the factory audio is fine. (I have the non logic 7 system)

Yes the tweeters are annoying and harsh as they are pointed right at you but you can turn down the treble. The underseat subs also provide a decent amount of midbass if you are not used to a aftermarket sub.

Having said all that - I am still going to upgrade mine. I am used to a clear sounding powerful aftermarket system and the stock system doesn't do it for me. If you are going to upgrade - get the base audio - not logic 7. I am pretty sure that all cars to north america have the 10 speaker set up.

If you wanted a simple upgrade to address the tweeters in your face - replace the front components with the infinity reference (not kappa) 4 inch 2 ohm speakers in the doors. This is plug n play and will cost you less than $100.

[uofmtiger]

I have the standard audio and I am happy with it. The inside of the car is so small that it does not take a lot of power to get the volume to a listenable level (and I have the convertible). As was metioned, the treble is harsh. I had to turn the bass up and the treble down to get "decent" sound quality.

I should admit that I am not the kind of person that wants to wake the neighbors with thumping. So my goals of just hearing the music at a normal level may be different than a lot of enthusiasts.

I am like a lot of people in the fact that I like audio to sound better at home. I feel that the act of doing critical listening is not something I will be doing in my car with the motor running.

In my car, I have always been more concerned with getting a variety of my music in it. I had a Phatbox, kenwood keg, and now the ipod interface.

[Lester]

Mine too - basic sound system is great IMHO. I have gotten to the point where I only listen to Sirius "Classic Rewind" - and I just have my own Sirius receiver plugged into the Aux port. Once in a while I listed to a CD or am MP3 player through the AUX port.

[uofmtiger]

Originally Posted by Lester

Mine too - basic sound system is great IMHO. I have gotten to the point where I only listen to Sirius "Classic Rewind" - and I just have my own Sirius receiver plugged into the Aux port. Once in a while I listed to a CD or am MP3 player through the AUX port.

Satellite radio is not for critical listening either. I think it is good enough for cars and I have one at my office that I play every day (although I have XM and not Sirius).

I had an XM Myfi for my last car and it broke, but I am not sure I want to buy another portable receiver until I find out what they are going to do with the merger in the future. I use the standard Delphi Skyfi at work and I could mount it in my car, but I would rather have something more portable that does not require any mounts to my dashboard.

[Redbeemer]

I have seen the arguments about the stock (base) speaker system in other threads. I already have my 135 and I still can't tell for certain, but it appears to me that it only has 6 speakers. Where are the other two speakers in the base system located?

[WhiteOne]

In the front doors?
Under the seats?
On the rear deck?