08-07-2020, 03:10 AM | #1 |
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A small audio upgrade - Bimmertech
I've been having mix feelings about the Hi Fi Stereo in my 330i.
After doing a bit of research I tried ordering Eton BW 100's for the front doors. Unfortunately, they are pretty much only available from Germany and for whatever reason it's very hard and expensive to post stuff from Germany to Australia. Anyways, I have not done anything like this before so to dip my toes in ordered the centre mid range and tweeter from Bimmertech. The package was posted from the UAE and (given the current COVID climate) arrived pretty fast (5 days or so). The speaker looks high quality and it is heavier and looks higher quality that the stock speaker. The stock speaker is quite honestly pretty tinny looking, especially the tweeter. The job took about an hour and was pretty easy but fiddly. Anyways, photos tell a thousand words. We will see if I feel it's worth ordering 2 extra tweeters and 4 door speakers. |
08-07-2020, 08:57 AM | #2 | ||
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May I ask how much those 2 speakers cost I looked at the bimmertech site they look like good quality audiophile grade speakers Do you have the Harmon Kardon system ? Any tricks tips for taking off that central speaker cover ? Maybe I will just do the front section as I found out the rears don't really matter Would be good to get better subs under the seats though don't seem to feel the bass at all Let us know how they sound very interested to see if you can hear a difference and what the difference is I really love my sound but the HK system is missing that last percentage of sparkle in the music which I would like to correct So I think if I replace the speakers in the front doors and the tweeters and the centre speaker and tweeter that would make a big difference Thanks for sharing great mod😄👍 |
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08-07-2020, 05:25 PM | #3 |
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I think this was circa $100.
I was impressed with the fast postage. I had a tracking number same day as the order. Plenty of brands do plug and play for BMW (Bimmertech, Bavsound, Focal and Eaton). I wanted to go with the Etons but could not get them posted. I'm not keen on doing the under seats as that involves unbolting the seats and the small safety risk of reusing the existing bolts. I understand that the seat bolts are meant to be one use only and I could not be bothered ordering new ones. Alot of this is about what's available in Australia. Bav Sound seem good but you can only buy them via Southern BMW in Melbourne as an entire kit. For Bimmertech you can order directly from them and buy individual speakers and the centre speaker seemed like the easiest one so I did that first. I dont have HK. Mine is the regular Hi Fi. It's good but I think it should be better for a car this price. I mean, my old Mazda SP25 had better clarity. Overall I can hear the improvements. Very subtle because its one speaker but I can def hear more detail (probably the better centre tweeter replacing the miniature stock one) and the sound just sounds 'fuller'. It's like I dont have to turn the volume all the way up to enjoy/hear the music. I watched plenty of videos before hand and used the Bavsound tool set you can order from Southern BMW for about $40. I have some felt tape from ebay and I just wrapped everything up with that. The magnets from the stock midrange are tiny. Human thumb for comparison. |
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08-07-2020, 06:20 PM | #4 | ||
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That's very cheap, yup it seems that the Bimmertech are the most convenient for us. Ah you are right did not think about removing the seats, that would be a mission Thanks for the overview of the speaker sound , good that you can hear a noticeable difference. I have the HK system so am just on the fence on hw much better it will sound , so I need to do a bit more research. I will look into the bavsound tool set |
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08-07-2020, 09:25 PM | #5 |
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I have replaced all my speakers (HiFi ) including the subs with Bavsound. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. I would have done centre, fronts, rear and subs in about 3 hours total.
It definitely needs an amp though, which might not be such an issue with HK. I'm watching with interest how the MatchUp amp upgrade is going. I'm likely to do that as Bavsound are talking at least 6 months before they have one, and it's not customisable. |
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08-07-2020, 11:40 PM | #6 | ||
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Good to hear the install was ok, I dread anything that involves taking my car apart hahaha Are you happy with the sound , any comparisons you can make so we can get an idea of the level of quality Thanks |
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08-09-2020, 08:12 AM | #7 |
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To be honest I'm glad I stuck with the standard Hifi in the G20.
Which by the looks of it , is what you could upgrade the F30 to back in the day. I stayed with the base audio back when I ordered my F30 and it was nothing short of shocking. When I moved to Mercedes I ordered the Burmeister and the Meridian in the Range Rover and while most of the time they sounded phenomenal in both cars the bass caused so much interior rattling. I'd be forever changing the bass settings When I test drove the 330i with the standard Hifi I was actually quiet impressed , enough to not warrant ticking the Harmon Kardon box
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On Order - 2022 BMW i4 eDrive40 M Sport Mineral White, Fully Optioned Current - 2019 BMW G20 330i M Sport Alpine White Retired - 2018 - Range Rover Velar SE D240 Retired - 2015 - Mercedes Benz C250d AMG Line W205 |
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08-09-2020, 05:54 PM | #8 | |
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08-09-2020, 09:51 PM | #9 | ||||
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Did some research seems like the Focal Utopia M are the best mid/tweeter combo for the doors but that will set you back $3000 a pair( both doors 4 speakers ) excluding install costs One step down are the focal K2 range which is $559 which seems more reasonable The question is where do you stop , would you need to replace the amp as it's like a 10 channel system For me a perfect setup ignoring cost now just to dream 1. Focal utopia m 3.5 inch mid and tweeter in both front doors 2. Same in centre dash 3. Maybe K2 range under seat I still would like a flat vertical box sub on the back as the HK system you cannot feel the bass Watching the Bavsound install videos Centre console speaker replacement looks quite easy just need a plastic lift up tool to get the speaker cover off and a mini ratchet to unscrew the screws Doors though require you not breaking any clips Speaker under chairs require a heat gun to remove the speaker from the casing and maybe a torque wrench to get the seat bolts back to their original tightness Rear deck speakers also look quite easy to remove I love my sound, my Rockford fosgate amp and Boston acoustic pro series from 20 years ago in my previous car has better punch / detail than the current HK system 😄 so I know the sound can be improved quite a lot from the standard HK So maybe I will have to save up for the Focal Utopia 👍 Im thinking I only do the fronts , I found having rear speakers besides rear sub on the boot does not do much for the sound , except in HK when you go surround sound effect |
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08-11-2020, 03:19 AM | #10 | |
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You have to go 3 way to get the coverage. So Focal Utopias are out ...pheew just saved a lot of money ..Hahha So onto the next range down , the Focal K2 ,(ES 100K 4 inch 2 way component speaker) frequency range is ok , impedance is 4 ohms which matches the HK mid, checked this on the Bimmertech site as this is important. Erawamai, quick question, for your centre speaker you replaced did they give you the actual specification for the frequency range> I would be interested to see what it was. Now just need to find out physical dimensions of the Focal K2 compared to the HK and see if it will all fit Bavsound and Bimmertech are onto a good thing here , no need to worry about anything just plug and play , takes a lot of work out of the process. |
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08-11-2020, 05:55 PM | #11 | |
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08-11-2020, 10:45 PM | #12 | ||||
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I just compared pictures of the Focal K2 speakers and the Bavsound and binmertech and the mountings are different , so. Don't think it will work from an installation perspective The default mountings are 3 screw and the Focal are 4 , don't want loose speakers flapping around , the impedance is 4 ohm on the mids though but the under seat ones seem to be 7/8 Focal do make a bmw specific range but I must find out if it is specifically for our model I was told that the quality was below the K2 though so not sure about that Audison apparently also make bmw specific speakers but have never heard anybody with these It's looking like binmertech is the go as delivery is fast and everything just fits 😄👍 erawamai Maybe I order those and ask the pros to install AusG20 do you have the custom speakers under the seat ? And do they give you enough bass just wondering Have not thought of sound now for 20 years so totally out of the game , have to go back to the research now 😄 |
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08-11-2020, 11:30 PM | #13 | |
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I made a typo in my street address for postage and sent them an email, hoping they would get it before it was shipped from UAE. I got a real person response within 2 hours from their Florida office (11pm Florida time!) and it was fixed up. That's pretty impressive. |
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08-12-2020, 05:16 PM | #14 | ||||
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Are you going to do your front doors soon? I have been watching all the install videos , it's seems the only thing that may give you hassles are the clips I think once the front doors are done the sound will really come into its own as you will have the centre speakers and the doors I am thinking of following your lead , slowly walks the tortoise 😄 1. Centre first 2. Rear parcel deck next 3. Order some extra clips from bmw just in case 4. Order Bavsound tools 5. Front doors next 6. Buy heat gun 7. Finally do the seat speakers Not going to bother with rear doors as I am the driver 😄 Now just need to choose between Binmertech and Bavsound on the fence here , looked at the southern bmw web site It's $1500 for the full set and then like $900 for the 2 under seat speakers Have not costed binmertech yet I suppose they both will sound more or less the same , I notice though the Bavsound is made in Germany not sure if this matters , do you know where Binmertech is made |
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08-12-2020, 06:09 PM | #15 |
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Yea, I have the Bavsound underseat woofers. They are ok, but definitely need the amp. From memory the standard HiFi woofers are 25W RMS, while the Bavsound are 160W RMS - not saying that power is everything, but there is a lot more room there with these speakers. I'm literally pulling my boot to pieces to find out which aftermarket amp to buy.
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08-12-2020, 09:27 PM | #16 |
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Totally not scientific, but I put my ear to the new centre speaker and then my ear to the door speaker and the door speaker sounds incredibly bad. Like something off a children's toy. Anyways, that convinced me to order the 4 door mid ranges and the tweeters. We will see how it sounds after that.
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08-12-2020, 11:49 PM | #17 | ||
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Yes I am noticing that the high frequencies are very Tzzz....tzzzz not very smooth and the midrange is not very tight For female vocal it sounds ok though Good stuff , I am on the verge of ordering , I am sure there will be a significant difference in the quality Glad to hear the centre speaker sounds good |
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08-12-2020, 11:59 PM | #18 |
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I've bitten the bullet and getting the Match UP7DSP professionally installed and tuned on Tuesday. Hopefully with the full Bavsound setup, it'll be light years better than the HiFi. Hoping it'll be even better than the HK in the X5 (albeit with less speakers).
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08-13-2020, 01:48 AM | #19 | |||
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Have you looked at the Audison amps , for the HK system I think it's a 10 channel not to sure if they match this I was told to get a DSP amp , I was following your thread you posted on re the Fischer amp that's made by Bimmertech right , but I think that amp is not for the HK system Tech is so complex nowadays unbelievable , fibre optic connections , Ethernet , harnesses wow There is a description of the audio components in the set of BMW university PDFs that somebody uploaded it explains a bit of the audio architecture with the RAM etc so that is interesting |
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08-13-2020, 02:52 AM | #20 | |
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Just to confirm you have the none HK system right so don't have 16 speakers? Do you know if the am you will be getting will drive my setup? Thanks |
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08-13-2020, 03:19 AM | #21 |
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Hey mate,
I have two vehicles which might be confusing. My G20 has the HiFi system which essentially is the base model here in Australia (but not overseas where there is another 'base model'). I also have an X5 that has the HK system. I am getting the amp in the G20 with the HiFi - this is also the car with the Bavsound speakers. I have speakers in each door, centre and subs - nothing in the parcel shelf. I don't think there is an amp replacement for the HK system yet. However, if you PM I can give you the number of the guy doing my install. He'll possibly have some ideas. I agree it's complicated now, hence why I'll just pay for the install as they need to mount it somewhere and the tuning. |
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08-13-2020, 03:28 AM | #22 | |
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