Hi, I was unsure as to the quality of the retrofit alpine speaker package so I made some enquiries at a local ICE "specialist" and, upon looking at my car the guy shook his head and made it clear he was not interested in helping in ANY way (I was hoping to get all the standard BMW kit replaced as a cheaper alternative to the £550 I was hoping not to spend!). He explained that the manufacturer had made it impossible to retrofit any alternative due to the unknown variables involved i.e resistances/voltages/ohms/watts etc (this is to ensure they make sales in this area)
I then had an "all in" quote from Knights BMW in Stafford of £550. A person replying on a previous thread on here explained that he had had the job done for £450 (including a "trade" discount) and also somewhere else mentions that it was a much bigger job than anticipated-involving 4 or 5 hours labour.
My car was dropped off at 830 am and I was still waiting for my keys at 4pm!!! BMW are only allowed, by law, to charge the hourly rate that their installation book states and, to that effect, charged me the £550 quoted (even though the work probably took 5 or 6 hours to do. The vehicle was returned washed and hoovered (as expected?)
So, in respect of the quality of noise produced, the Alpine upgrade has made my stereo ("Professional" BMW head unit??? lol) sound as it should have when i took delivery of the car in the first place (if i had bothered to listen to the quality of the system at that time I would have refused delivery!). Its a shame that BMW spent a million enabling the stereo to display MPG etc and have spent nothing trying to make a stereo sound good!!
