[B33M3R]

Thanks and good luck!

[Tim603]

I wish I could hear this is person I bet it sounds amazing

[pauloverton1981]

Originally Posted by Tim603

I wish I could hear this is person I bet it sounds amazing

I'll let you know how mine sounds when I've got it fitted.
So far I've done all the work around the dashboard including the centre speaker, fitted all the wiring down both sides of the car, put the replacement speakers under the seats and in the rear, and put in all the power wiring for the MS-8 and Alpine. It's taking a while, as I have 2 kids (2 years and 6 weeks) who are a bit distracting, but its getting there.
So far no disasters, broke a couple of clips on the passenger footwell kick panel (only about £0.45 each for new), managed to run the batter flat and or the life of me I cannot get the plastic trim around the edge of the rear seats clipped back in!
Next task is to get the MS-8 inputs and ouputs wired up and the same for the Alpine. Still wating for the new Rainbows for the front to arrive (hope the crossovers fit) but hopefully I'll get some sound out of it in the next couple of days.
I'll let you know how it goes, and post some pics (though they aren't great as most of the work has been done in the dark with a torch in my mouth!)

[Tim603]

Awesome man I'm glad to see such an awesome project take form! Let me know How it goes I would love a pair of those earthquakes

[B33M3R]

Sorry all, the pictures have disappeared as it's hit the 10gb per month limit. I need to upload them elsewhere when I get a chance!

[pauloverton1981]

Ok Guys
After a week of very late evenings finishing about 1am (can't star working on the car before the kids go to bed at 8pm!) I have the complete system installed.
Sound after first power up and calibration, absolutely awful! "what the f**k have I done" came to mind! Persevered with the MS-8 settings and it's now starting to sounds pretty spectacular, what an upgrade.
I have taken some photos and noted all the MS-8 calibration settings I've tried, which I will post in a new thread as I don't want to hijack this one.
Thanks again to B33MER, your DIY was a lot of help!

[B33M3R]

Originally Posted by pauloverton1981

Ok Guys
After a week of very late evenings finishing about 1am (can't star working on the car before the kids go to bed at 8pm!) I have the complete system installed.
Sound after first power up and calibration, absolutely awful! "what the f**k have I done" came to mind! Persevered with the MS-8 settings and it's now starting to sounds pretty spectacular, what an upgrade.
I have taken some photos and noted all the MS-8 calibration settings I've tried, which I will post in a new thread as I don't want to hijack this one.
Thanks again to B33MER, your DIY was a lot of help!

Good stuff, glad it helped

[bunnysloper]

Awesome job! I'm finding myself in the same perdicament.

What was the total cost of this project?

[B33M3R]

Guesstimate between £1500-£1700

[pauloverton1981]

Originally Posted by bunnysloper

Awesome job! I'm finding myself in the same perdicament.

What was the total cost of this project?

I think mine came in around the £1300 mark. Still trying to get it all singing nicely though. Will post more details when I'm not playing with it!

[pauloverton1981]

As promise guys, I've put my DIY experiences in a new thread (didn't want to hijack!)

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...6#post14714676

One other thing B33M3R, I think I know why you had to cut a bit off your centre speaker cover. I'm guessing you got the part number from the US forum/member, as part number 51457123750 that is for LHD models. For RHD it's 51457123753. I have no idea why they are different, but I was lucky enough that the guy at the dealership picked up the mistake when I ordered.

Thought you might like to know!

[philli0]

Hi Guys. I'm new to this forum. I am interested in carrying out a similar DIY to B33M3R and Paul. I have carried out the alpine upgrade on a previous e90 so have some basic experience. I feel I can replace the front speakers, add the tweeters and swap out the subs easily. However I am concerned about the harness side of the job. I keep seeing Technics name mentioned, could someone point me in his direction? I am also worried about taking apart the centre console to get to the wiring.

I have a 2009 E90 330d M sport with the base system. I am thinking about either getting it coded to hifi as per other posts, or adding the MS-8. But I am unsure how the MS-8 needs to be installed in relation to the Amp, probably a JL 500/3 for my needs unless I am wrong. I'm sorry if these are basic questions or if there are other threads with these answers but I am learning the ropes as I go here.

Thanks,
Phil

[ctuna]

Better think about channel assignment for amps.
You won't want to leave any channels on the Head Unit.
(if you reprogram for hi fi and don't have PDC.
Its better to keep the underseats in stereo IMO.
If you are doing a trunk sub then you might want to
get one of the JL's has the big sub channel otherwise
get one of the multichannel JL xd's and bridge channels where
you think you need it.
Most the have got the ms-8 put amps on there front doors at least.

[alexcd]

Congratulations on the install. You've definitely motivated me to upgrade my bare bones base stereo.

[RocketBoots]

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but it's so useful!!

Quick couple of questions about Technic's harness for the base (Stereo) audio system.

1. For the "output" set of wires that run to the back of the car, I'm assuming the only reason for this is to be able to connect to an amp or DSP. Correct?

2. If the HU is recoded to HiFi, would I be correct in assuming the "output" set of wires from the harness are low level, balanced, RCA terminated lines?

3. Not really related to the harness, but wiring in general. For the front door speakers, it is my understanding they are wired in parallel with the underseat woofer, and from the woofer to the door section of the wire, there is a in-line capacitor in there somewhere (A-pillar?). Does that not interfere with using that line to power front components to the door/sail? If there is indeed an inline cap, seems like it would need to be removed; otherwise, new wire needs to be run into the door.

Thanks all.

[BCS13]

I'm wondering the below as well... Technic harness on order, but what happens if you recode to HiFI?

Trying to remember... but Kaigoss might have done this? One of the helpful regulars has already done this, but it's a valid point.

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but it's so useful!!

Quick couple of questions about Technic's harness for the base (Stereo) audio system.

1. For the "output" set of wires that run to the back of the car, I'm assuming the only reason for this is to be able to connect to an amp or DSP. Correct?

2. If the HU is recoded to HiFi, would I be correct in assuming the "output" set of wires from the harness are low level, balanced, RCA terminated lines?

3. Not really related to the harness, but wiring in general. For the front door speakers, it is my understanding they are wired in parallel with the underseat woofer, and from the woofer to the door section of the wire, there is a in-line capacitor in there somewhere (A-pillar?). Does that not interfere with using that line to power front components to the door/sail? If there is indeed an inline cap, seems like it would need to be removed; otherwise, new wire needs to be run into the door.

Thanks all.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but it's so useful!!

Quick couple of questions about Technic's harness for the base (Stereo) audio system.

1. For the "output" set of wires that run to the back of the car, I'm assuming the only reason for this is to be able to connect to an amp or DSP. Correct?

Correct, otherwise you got nothing.

2. If the HU is recoded to HiFi, would I be correct in assuming the "output" set of wires from the harness are low level, balanced, RCA terminated lines?

That what HiFi is... low level, balanced, flat analog signal.

3. Not really related to the harness, but wiring in general. For the front door speakers, it is my understanding they are wired in parallel with the underseat woofer, and from the woofer to the door section of the wire, there is a in-line capacitor in there somewhere (A-pillar?). Does that not interfere with using that line to power front components to the door/sail? If there is indeed an inline cap, seems like it would need to be removed; otherwise, new wire needs to be run into the door.

Thanks all.

The capacitor is in the door OEM mid itself, so if OEM mid is replaced then cap is gone with it.

According to BMW, this cap is present in the mid only when a Professional Radio is installed from factory. No caps are available when Navigation is factory-installed.

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by Technic

1. Correct, otherwise you got nothing.

2. That what HiFi is... low level, balanced, flat analog signal.

3. The capacitor is in the door OEM mid itself, so if OEM mid is replaced then cap is gone with it.

According to BMW, this cap is present in the mid only when a Professional Radio is installed from factory. No caps are available when Navigation is factory-installed.

Thanks for the confirmation.

2. Wanted to make sure, since the OP's install used speaker level inputs for the MS-8, and I didn't see any RCA terminated leads. I'm guessing that was due to personal preference, efficiency, or cost, since the MS-8 can accept speaker level inputs.

3. Comforting to know beforehand, so we don't have to plan on hunting for an in-line cap somewhere between the woofer handoff and the door. Key point: for those WITHOUT nav, since according to BMW, ... because the iDrive HU is supposed to be able to separate the two drivers signals or something...

Or, you could just run new wires into the door and not worry about it.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

Thanks for the confirmation.

2. Wanted to make sure, since the OP's install used speaker level inputs for the MS-8, and I didn't see any RCA terminated leads. I'm guessing that was due to personal preference, efficiency, or cost, since the MS-8 can accept speaker level inputs.

Stereo 4/6 harness can be configured with twisted RCA outputs if requested.

3. Comforting to know beforehand, so we don't have to plan on hunting for an in-line cap somewhere between the woofer handoff and the door. Key point: for those WITHOUT nav, since according to BMW, ... because the iDrive HU is supposed to be able to separate the two drivers signals or something...

Or, you could just run new wires into the door and not worry about it.

Cap is there to keep front (mid + woofer in parallel) impedance at 4ohms. Navigation is stable at 2ohms, therefore no cap required.

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by Technic

Cap is there to keep front (mid + woofer in parallel) impedance at 4ohms. Navigation is stable at 2ohms, therefore no cap required.

I stand corrected. Good to know the 'why', for those of us that care.

[anom3]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I thought I would give thanks where thanks is due!

I recently setup (almost, few missing touches left) a very similar setup.

MS-8
Audio Systems BMW 200 PLUS front door / under seat speakers
JL Audio HD900/5 Amp

Still to do:
Rears running off MS-8, going to get that done today
Center channel, order made, on the way
12" JL Audio Sub, sub is here, waiting for custom E92 enclosure to come in

Anyways, just wanted to say thanks to the poster as I used this as kind of a what I should purchase / do guide.

Sounds great!

[B33M3R]

Appreciated. Pleased it's still helping people out!