[prodigye92]

So long story short, I’ve had my 2011 e92 335i (Base audio) for about 2 years now. I honestly can’t take the god-awful sound quality anymore. I’ve done lots of research previously, and have read many of the links Ctuna has posted on other threads. I have come up with a particular setup that I believe will work. Does anyone have any advice on this upgrade path?

Phase 1:
* Replace all speakers (front doors and rears) with bavsound kit (or other speakers)
Total: $450

Phase 2:
* Earthquake SWS underseats
Total: $260

Phase 3:
* Run technic 2/4 harness, with a 6 channel amp (4 channels powering the front and underseats, 1 channel for a sub in the trunk, and 1 unused channel)
* Recode head unit to HIFI
Total: $85 + Recoding cost

Phase 4:
* Hook up sub in trunk with amp (If phase 3 bass isn’t enough for me)
Total: Depends on Sub and Sub box I go with

Again, I know this horse has been beat to death, but lots of the information out there is outdated, or thousands of dollars. I can’t really justify spending more than $1500 on a car with as many miles as I have on it (160k)

[ctuna]

There are cheaper speakers than Bavsound .
at a better price.
I would do Moconi/Gladen as a relative bargain .
Do you really need a subwoofer in the trunk to be cool?

Fairly Hi End would be Morel doors in the front
Jehnert Xe 200's under seats.
and Audiotec Fisther BMW7 or 86dsp.

The basic process is the same as the old stuff just that there
is much more choice for drop in speakers and amp/dsp's now.

[prodigye92]

Originally Posted by ctuna

There are cheaper speakers than Bavsound .
at a better price.
I would do Moconi/Gladen as a relative bargain .
Do you really need a subwoofer in the trunk to be cool?

Fairly Hi End would be Morel doors in the front
Jehnert Xe 200's under seats.
and Audiotec Fisther BMW7 or 86dsp.

The basic process is the same as the old stuff just that there
is much more choice for drop in speakers and amp/dsp's now.

The only reason I would get a sub in the trunk is if the amp powering new speakers wouldn’t satisfy me Bass-wise, but I think just speakers and an amp would be plenty for me. But theoretically my plan would work? How does the technic harness connect to the amp?

[ctuna]

Which Amp?
He makes all levels of Harnesses for the system .
Fronts alone or Fronts and back (4 channel or 6 channel )

Wiring is your choice you have to know what you want to do
and route it accordingly .

[prodigye92]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Which Amp?
He makes all levels of Harnesses for the system .
Fronts alone or Fronts and back (4 channel or 6 channel )

Not sure exactly which amp yet. Was going to get the 2/4 harness (connects at the under seat location) and I believe it powers fronts and underseats on their own channel. Any 6 channel amp with a DSP should be good right?

[prodigye92]

Also, I did a search on of threads to try and find a wire I can use as a remote wire for the amp. Only thing I saw was a comment that mentioned a wire in the driver footwell that gets power every time the key is in. Does anyone happen to know what specific wire I could use as a remote signal?

[ctuna]

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...ight=head+unit

A lot of amps have level sensing now and don't need a turn on signal
You have to be sure the amp power is turned off after the car goes to
sleep. In the Hi Fi and Logic 7 system the 12 volts to the car is cut off.

[prodigye92]

Okay. I see this Rockford amp has a remote wire so I’m assuming it does have the level sensing? I tried to look up Amps with level sensing but I couldn’t find much. Is there a different term for it?

Also hope this isn’t considered spam:

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-dB5...a-567628107320

[ctuna]

When you see these amps with ridiculous wattage they probably aren't very good.
And also would be a strain on you electrical system above 2000 watts.
You notice this is a rockville and not a rockford which I don't have a high
opinion of either.

[prodigye92]

Originally Posted by ctuna

When you see these amps with ridiculous wattage they probably aren't very good.
And also would be a strain on you electrical system above 2000 watts.
You notice this is a rockville and not a rockford which I don't have a high
opinion of either.

Okay, I’ll do some more research and try to find a higher quality one, a 1500 watt should be good right? I know it depends on which speakers I go with.

[ctuna]

You don't want your total system to exceed 2000 watts I like 1500 as a safe zone.

[prodigye92]

Okay, so a 1500 watt amp with level sensing? I tried to find one that said it had level sensing but none of them have it listed in specs.

[DanielLento]

You can do without the subwoofer. A friend of mine has an e60 and has fitted new speakers that completely replace the subwoofer. But that's for those who want to save space. I also recently bought a BMW 5 Series F10. To avoid having to change the wiring and install some speakers I was offered to swap the car radio from SMARTY Trend https://smarty-trend.com/bmw-5-serie...head-unit.html. I thought long and hard about whether to do it. But when I installed it, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality.

[ctuna]

Shoot for quality not wattage . 50 watts per channel at low distortion is enough 100 watts per channel
can easily cause you to go deaf and you can play as loud as an abnormal person would want with the windows and top down. Real subwoofers the trunk kind need more 300 plus
but not the absurd amounts that the look at me crowd uses.

If buying and amp only you can't go wrong with JL audio .
Audiotech Fisher and Mosconi would be my go to's
BMW7 or 86dsp for Audiotech.

[prodigye92]

Yeah I’m not a crazy bass head, but I do like some nice punch. I’ll probably do this amp:
https://www.jlaudio.com/products/xd7...plifiers-98606

It’s a 5 channel with 75w per channel (plus 300w for a sub), has the level sensing you were talking about, and is a bit cheaper than the 86dsp or bmw7.

Now I’ll just need to pick a good speaker set. Still not too well versed in audio systems but I’m going to do some research to see what spec speakers would work best with the JL amp.

[Captain Buumer]

That's because XD700/5v2 is just a simple amplifier.

86dsp is digital processor/amplifier combined.

Now that i got DSP myself i'm probably never doing another install without it.
I even tried the base audio speakers with DSP - in the beginning to just try out settings/learn.

They actually aren't that awful once you get them timed and set better crossovers - still limited by design yes.

Probably spoiled a bit but most setups with just an amp sound medicore due to lack of sound alignment - soundstage is all over the place.
I'd suggest an 8+ channel DSP/amp. And 3-way upgrade. 2", 4", 8"
And then add a subwoofer.
Get it right the first time.

With Earthquake SWS you end up with frequency hole that 4" speaker can't cover. I'd get something that is "more midbass oriented" and less of a "almost subwoofer but not quite".

You can transfer audio equipment to next car so don't worry about cost.

[ctuna]

I have a xd 600/6 myself and it has been great .
It used to be the standard go to for a Hi Fi upgrade.
But if I was doing it now I would look at the Helix fisher
products like the 86dsp/amp or the BMW 7 .
Why they have good amplification and great DSP.

However if you buy DSP you have to be willing to tune it.
You have to be a slight audiophile to do that though the
basic process is pretty straight forward.

[roadking00]

Originally Posted by ctuna

I have a xd 600/6 myself and it has been great .
It used to be the standard go to for a Hi Fi upgrade.
But if I was doing it now I would look at the Helix fisher
products like the 86dsp/amp or the BMW 7 .
Why they have good amplification and great DSP.

However if you buy DSP you have to be willing to tune it.
You have to be a slight audiophile to do that though the
basic process is pretty straight forward.

So I hate to highjack the OP's post but in sort of the same situation but
A little different, I've read up on a ton of posts/comments/suggestions
From quite a while back pretty confident with rewiring all myself to
Get where I want. And appreciate all the input from your comments an
Posts from back then as well as technics and Ken from ?? (Drawing a blank now)

Hate to start another thread (but will if need be)on the e90 base audio upgrade
because I haven't ran across any that replace the OEM deck as well ? (which is what I wanna do) single or double din, not sure yet....Non-idrive base..
Along with all the other items mentioned, new front/rear speakers , adding
Tweeters at all 4 locations, new under seat subs, 6 ch and and DSP if
Still needed even with going with a good aftermarket deck?? Looking
For crisp clear hi-quality sound, at all volumn levels..are there still company's that offer stage 1,2,3 options out there that are active here ?
Any help is much appreciated....

[acg2002us]

I also have the Base system and was going to start a new thread but saw this one.


Should we keep the stock H/U or go aftermarket single or double DIN? tryna find a starting place here for upgrades.

[ctuna]

This has been covered so many times.
Forget replacing an Idrive head unit you will run into major headaches
because the idrive is the head unit.
Both the idrive and pro head units are capable of delivering decent preouts
for aftermarket amps and amp dsps.
Head units are about features .
Amps and speakers are about quality sound.

Don't do your own wiring unless it's the kind of thing you do all the time.
Harnesses are the way to go.

[acg2002us]

Originally Posted by ctuna

This has been covered so many times.
Forget replacing an Idrive head unit you will run into major headaches
because the idrive is the head unit.
Both the idrive and pro head units are capable of delivering decent preouts
for aftermarket amps and amp dsps.
Head units are about features .
Amps and speakers are about quality sound.

Don't do your own wiring unless it's the kind of thing you do all the time.
Harnesses are the way to go.

It's a non Idrive car, And I always use speaker baffles and harnesses for all speaker upgrades.

Replacing the BMW professional h/u with a nicer single din does anybody do that?

[roadking00]

Originally Posted by ctuna

This has been covered so many times.
Forget replacing an Idrive head unit you will run into major headaches
because the idrive is the head unit.
Both the idrive and pro head units are capable of delivering decent preouts
for aftermarket amps and amp dsps.
Head units are about features .
Amps and speakers are about quality sound.

Don't do your own wiring unless it's the kind of thing you do all the time.
Harnesses are the way to go.

Yes, I understand HU's are about features but the stock Non-idrive basic single din HU does not have the features of todays electronics that most consumers are looking for nowadays (at least for me anyhow) wireless BT streaming, Touch screen possibly, and just all around up to date options for a 12yr old car with a horrible base set up.

I've read thread after thread and appreciate the speakers/amps/dsp options that were discussed by many members/pros/venders and understand my options fairly well but I must have missed a thread or 2 that discussed changing out the single din HU to an updated 2020-2023 unit and what folks had good luck with ? That's all, great information all over the forum and understand the frustration, but was just looking and cant find anything.