[bri1042]

I never thought an audio system would end up being this frustrating. Gods, I love driving this car, but this has been so much trouble and stress, I'm left just being angry at BMW for creating these problems. There's no customer-focused reason to use wacko 4" speakers with bizarre bolt patterns in this day and age.

It's just rude.

I've made one payment on the car, and I would end up losing money trading it in for something made by sane people, but it's tempting.

[dmatre]

First suggestion: switch to decaf.

Second suggestion: study the threads here to learn what works & what doesn't.

Trade the car because of the bolt pattern of the speakers? Really?

[bender rodriguez]

I feel you no audio shop in town will touch my car and there are about 10 of them. I have been waiting all week for one to get back to find out he forgot. lol

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by dmatre

First suggestion: switch to decaf.

Second suggestion: study the threads here to learn what works & what doesn't.

Trade the car because of the bolt pattern of the speakers? Really?

No, trade it in due to the low availability of upgrades available. Look at the options you have with 5.25 and 6.5 inch speakers and compare it to your choices with 4 inch speakers. Rude.

Trade it in because I've had it for a month and dealt with one recall and one in-warranty failure of a window regulator on a three year-old car after 20 years of driving Japanese cars that basically never failed.

If someone is frustrated, being snippy with them is a great idea. Thanks. Really appreciate it.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ritz

I feel you no audio shop in town will touch my car and there are about 10 of them. I have been waiting all week for one to get back to find out he forgot. lol

Yeah, that's the same situation I'm in.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by bri1042

Yeah, that's the same situation I'm in.

Did a ton of them waste your time by saying bring it by only to say no after 5 min of being there lol? I spent all day running around to shops that said bring it in.

Its like you either risk getting a shop that is going to cut a ton of crap up in your car or the good shops just wont touch it.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ritz

Did a ton of them waste your time by saying bring it by only to say no after 5 min of being there lol? I spent all day running around to shops that said bring it in.

Its like you either risk getting a shop that is going to cut a ton of crap up in your car or the good shops just wont touch it.

And wouldn't give me any firm-ish quotes. None of them knew the battery was in the trunk, two of them didn't believe me when I told them. That did not leave me wanting them touching the car...nope, not a bit.

[dmatre]

Originally Posted by bri1042

No, trade it in due to the low availability of upgrades available. Look at the options you have with 5.25 and 6.5 inch speakers and compare it to your choices with 4 inch speakers. Rude.

Trade it in because I've had it for a month and dealt with one recall and one in-warranty failure of a window regulator on a three year-old car after 20 years of driving Japanese cars that basically never failed.

If someone is frustrated, being snippy with them is a great idea. Thanks. Really appreciate it.

So you came here for what? Help? Sympathy? Other???

You've got a couple of choices:
1) trade the car and get one that accepts your beloved 6" speakers
2) search here, find a solution that fits your needs, and make it happen
3) whine, cry, bitch, and moan about how rude BMW is because they didn't consult you before engineering the audio system.

Hate it if Your feelings are hurt, but complaining here about something so well-known doesn't seem likely to help you in any way, shape or form.

However, in the wide range of problems that people in the world have at this very moment, this one doesn't even rate in the top 99%.

Hope it works out for you one way or the other.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by dmatre

So you came here for what? Help? Sympathy? Other???

You've got a couple of choices:
1) trade the car and get one that accepts your beloved 6" speakers
2) search here, find a solution that fits your needs, and make it happen
3) whine, cry, bitch, and moan about how rude BMW is because they didn't consult you before engineering the audio system.

Hate it if Your feelings are hurt, but complaining here about something so well-known doesn't seem likely to help you in any way, shape or form.

However, in the wide range of problems that people in the world have at this very moment, this one doesn't even rate in the top 99%.

Hope it works out for you one way or the other.

Wow. Dude. It's a forum. Sometimes folk want to express a little frustration with other folk who may also have experienced the same issues. Doesn't mean that it's more important than starving kids in Africa. Geez. Take your own decaf advice.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by bri1042

And wouldn't give me any firm-ish quotes. None of them knew the battery was in the trunk, two of them didn't believe me when I told them. That did not leave me wanting them touching the car...nope, not a bit.

Yeah just be glad they didn't say yes.. A long time ago I had some place put an aftermarket radio in one of my cars and they used all wire nuts..

But yeah all these audio shops deal with american/japanese. They don't have a clue about bmw.

[mikee]

What about using kickpanels? You could use something like ambient tweeters in the sail panel to lift up the soundstage so it is not all coming from below. In a prior install, I was using Focal 3 ways The tweeter and 4" drivers were in custom kick panels while the 6 1/2" driver went in to the door. The set up sounded great, but another guy who had one similar utilized Boston NEO ambient tweeters in the pillars to lift the soundstage up. I never got to hear his because he was so far away, but he said the sound was amazing.

[jeffb335]

I agree with the other posters about the tone of your post...BUT....you are in Portland! Musicar Northwest is in Portland. Problem solved.

[NoDTMF]

Quite frankly I didn't find the post all that whiney, perhaps it was the shock of how these German cars are so different, remember he did come from a Japanese car.

I just did the Musicar Level II upgrade, and it helped a lot. Since you are in Portland go check them out.

[VP Electricity]

He knows we're here. He needs to work on that muscle group that we use when we take out our wallet and pull out the credit card.

[deadmn1337]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

He knows we're here. He needs to work on that muscle group that we use when we take out our wallet and pull out the credit card.

: +1

[jeffb335]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

He knows we're here. He needs to work on that muscle group that we use when we take out our wallet and pull out the credit card.

aahhhh....the plot thickens!

[bender rodriguez]

Honestly, I would just spend the next month doing your research getting your parts. Then install it yourself. Its not like not having amazing sound is going to kill you for a few months. You will save a ton of money and learn a ton..

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

He knows we're here. He needs to work on that muscle group that we use when we take out our wallet and pull out the credit card.

The man is correct, and that is the plan. I was having a bad day. I whined. I suck. Sorry, everyone.

And to remind myself WHY this car is worth any hassle, I took a long drive after work last night, up hills and around twisty corners, to say hi to the ocean. I got out there around 10 pm and sat in my little blue car listening to waves for a bit. Can't find much better stress relief than that.

[reelop19]

Uhh I'm no expert but I've seen plenty of builds, supported by knowledgeable people on here, that could assist anyone in upgrading their own audio at home. I truly do miss the days of men being men and enjoying a good challenge if not for anything but to say fcuk you I did it. Thats what makes us Americans dammit

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by bri1042

No, trade it in due to the low availability of upgrades available. Look at the options you have with 5.25 and 6.5 inch speakers and compare it to your choices with 4 inch speakers. Rude.

Trade it in because I've had it for a month and dealt with one recall and one in-warranty failure of a window regulator on a three year-old car after 20 years of driving Japanese cars that basically never failed.

If someone is frustrated, being snippy with them is a great idea. Thanks. Really appreciate it.

4" speaker is much better in terms of beaming

[mact3333]

I am going to have to agree with OP...4 inch speakers even if high quality cannot overcome its size limitations.

I have pretty spendy 4 inch Hybrid Morel's and they cannot compare to the 25 year old A/D/S 320 i's that were 5 1/4 inches.

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by mact3333

I am going to have to agree with OP...4 inch speakers even if high quality cannot overcome its size limitations.

I have pretty spendy 4 inch Hybrid Morel's and they cannot compare to the 25 year old A/D/S 320 i's that were 5 1/4 inches.

Cannot compare....at what?... that is what OP needs to think about...

Will a 4" have as much low end extension as a larger speaker...no...of course not. Will a 6.5 or 5.25 have as flat a frequency response off axis (which is what our door locations are to our ears) as a 4"...no.

The relevant question is what is better at what we are trying to accomplish.

In the e9x platform, we need the 4" to play midrange. We have 8" that covers the midbass so we don't need a larger (5.25/6.5") driver to have lower end extension. What we want is flat off axis response up to the tweeter x-over freq....which a 4" will handily give us. In fact...I can almost guarantee any crossover setting you pick between midbass and midrange will be above any natural mechanical rolloff of the 4"....so even if you did install a larger driver...it won't be playing any more notes (frequencies) than the 4" will.

Both of you are Ken's customers now...he should be more than happy to elaborate from the expert POV.

Edit: @mact3333. I am quite sure those morels could play lower but I imagine Ken has correctly relegated midbass frequencies to your underseats...