[Dr Dave]

Good I've now saved up enough pennies to do the job!

[richd]

Originally Posted by Mike in Hampshire

Back on topic, I think the E90 is a bit pricier because the tweeter trim is more involved than with the E92 coupe. So that makes sense.

That's correct. The E90 door surrounds themselves are much larger and more expensive than the E92 model, so there is an increase in price there. Barons may also charge slightly more for fitting, although it probably only took me a minute per door to fit extra bit of the surround on my E90.

You made the right choice!

[CasZy]

To all,

I'm new on the forum and read the postings on the Alpine hifi upgrade. I am also considering an upgrade, the standard hifi unit does not work for me. I should have ordered the OEM hifi-kit.

Anyway, the Alpine hifi-upgrade seems to be a nice alternative for relatively low costs. The only thigh is that I understand that it only includes two speakers (not taking into account the tweeters) and not four.

Does this system sounds good? Don't you require replacement speakers in the rear doors also? Or should you fit them in the rear doors? As I (and many others) prefer the sound coming from behind.

Thanks for your reply.

Casper

[_Si_]

Originally Posted by CasZy

To all,

I'm new on the forum and read the postings on the Alpine hifi upgrade. I am also considering an upgrade, the standard hifi unit does not work for me. I should have ordered the OEM hifi-kit.

Anyway, the Alpine hifi-upgrade seems to be a nice alternative for relatively low costs. The only thigh is that I understand that it only includes two speakers (not taking into account the tweeters) and not four.

Does this system sounds good? Don't you require replacement speakers in the rear doors also? Or should you fit them in the rear doors? As I (and many others) prefer the sound coming from behind.

Thanks for your reply.

Casper

This upgrade doesn't include the rears. It does however make an amazing difference to the sound and it also brings the underseat subs to life. Do it! you wont be disappointed

[josh.davis]

I Have tried to do the install and all went really well up to one point.

When I connect the Mid Range IE door speakers there is hardly any sound and it's really got a LOT of low sound IE Bass humm hardly anything from tweeters if anything at all. but when I connect the factory wires back it sounds fine. but the BASS out of the SUBS is much much better.

So it's the red wires I am having troubles with

RED/BROWN RED/WHITE - RED BLACK/RED BROWN

The new speaker have much bigger magnets on them and already sound a whole heap better just wanting to hear them now with a bit of amp power to the doors

I connected them exactly as in this picture as I have lci all the colured wires are there ase described in picture any suggestions ?




Thanks!!!

[robbie99]

Originally Posted by josh.davis

I Have tried to do the install and all went really well up to one point.

When I connect the Mid Range IE door speakers there is hardly any sound and it's really got a LOT of low sound IE Bass humm hardly anything from tweeters if anything at all. but when I connect the factory wires back it sounds fine. but the BASS out of the SUBS is much much better.

So it's the red wires I am having troubles with

RED/BROWN RED/WHITE - RED BLACK/RED BROWN

The new speaker have much bigger magnets on them and already sound a whole heap better just wanting to hear them now with a bit of amp power to the doors

I connected them exactly as in this picture as I have lci all the colured wires are there ase described in picture any suggestions ?




Thanks!!!

I wonder if the crossover is connected correctly - did you take into account your headunit type in choosing between B2 and B4 for the tweeters? And the position switch on the amp - 1 or 2 - also depends on the headunit.

[Steveo]

Originally Posted by _Si_

This upgrade doesn't include the rears. It does however make an amazing difference to the sound and it also brings the underseat subs to life. Do it! you wont be disappointed

You got that right!

Ive got the bass setting at only +2 now after the upgrade from the minimum setting ( was at +2 from the mid setting before upgrade) and its gets quite boomy above that,

Any one finding this also?

Is there an equaliser that can be used to get more adjustment through the bands?

[josh.davis]

I have an SA609 Professional Navigation System and I have the switch on setting two on the amp.

on the crossover I have pluged the blue cable from the crossover into the wiring that leads down the door frame to the car the plug that used to be connected to the speaker. and the tweeters into the SA609 plug does that sound correct ?

Also I have a 4 plug cable into the tweeters with two wires in the plug essentially the signal I am feeding back to the amp are from the head unit are the wires that originally fed to the sub woofer speakers. IE green wires connected to the head unit through original sub wires Should I perhaps be feeding the plug that ran the door/tweeters to the amp instead that might explain whyt I am only getting really low level frequencies?

[robbie99]

Sorry josh, my head hurts, I've no idea about this "4 plug cable into the tweeters". Earlier posts from which I created those diagrams only talked about one 4 wire plug at the subwoofer. If the original door speakers are not getting their signal from the headunit via the subwoofer plug then your original wiring is different and my diagrams not suitable.

All I can suggest right now is to trace all wiring to understand where the signal to the door speakers is coming from. If your original wiring is like what's in my diagrams then you should do continuity test on the Alpine wiring. If the wiring is good then the amp itself would be faulty.

[Dr Dave]

I've ordered the kit for mine, picking it up tommorrow but away all weekend so the install will probably start on Monday night! Can't wait!

[MB London]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

I've ordered the kit for mine, picking it up tommorrow but away all weekend so the install will probably start on Monday night! Can't wait!

Good Luck

[chumhill]

Hi all,

I recieve my kit the other day and decided to fit it yesterday.

All in ok, amp, wiring loom, speaker, the only thing im stuck with now is tapping into the wires.

I can see 2 big wiring looms under each sill (i have bluetooth and voice control with professional sat nav) so im at a loss as to which cables to tap into.

My first question is, do i need to cut the wires or can i tap into them? If i understand this correctly i cut the speaker wires join the head unit side of the cut wire to the amp input and the speaker side to the amp output. If so what do i do with the sub woofer side, do i need to cut the wire or again tap into it.

My second question is which colours are what in the wiring loom, i cant even figure out which is the sub woofer cable

The worst part of it was i couldnt get on this forum last night for some reason typical the night i really needed help i couldnt get on

Any help with this at all would be a great help.

[josh.davis]

Originally Posted by chumhill

Hi all,

I recieve my kit the other day and decided to fit it yesterday.

All in ok, amp, wiring loom, speaker, the only thing im stuck with now is tapping into the wires.

I can see 2 big wiring looms under each sill (i have bluetooth and voice control with professional sat nav) so im at a loss as to which cables to tap into.

My first question is, do i need to cut the wires or can i tap into them? If i understand this correctly i cut the speaker wires join the head unit side of the cut wire to the amp input and the speaker side to the amp output. If so what do i do with the sub woofer side, do i need to cut the wire or again tap into it.

My second question is which colours are what in the wiring loom, i cant even figure out which is the sub woofer cable

The worst part of it was i couldnt get on this forum last night for some reason typical the night i really needed help i couldnt get on

Any help with this at all would be a great help.

Page 11 has the coloured wiring diagram!!! yes you need to cut the wires and then connect them. Hope that helps if not let me know!

[_Si_]

You will find the splice points in the wiring loom by the front doors unless you have an LCI model then you need to remove the seats and cut the wires at the plug for the sub woofer.

[chumhill]

Originally Posted by _Si_

You will find the splice points in the wiring loom by the front doors unless you have an LCI model then you need to remove the seats and cut the wires at the plug for the sub woofer.

Sorry to be a bit dumb but whats an LCI model?

[chumhill]

Originally Posted by josh.davis

Page 11 has the coloured wiring diagram!!! yes you need to cut the wires and then connect them. Hope that helps if not let me know!

Thanks Josh, just needed someone to confirm that the guides are correct as you can nenevr be too sure. Thanks for the info ill let you all know how it went, im hoping for some improvement in the bass its terrible as standard as im sure your all aware.

[josh.davis]

Ok well I finally got mine figured out... I had the 4 plug connection with only two wires going into it ... for the feed that comes from the head unit I had to use one wire from the sub feed and the other that originally went to the door feed.

Sounds AWESOME ... One problem though it hums when headlights are on quite loud if headlights are off no humms at all ... Ohh well I cant hear it while im driving did anyone test when they moved there cables away from the power cables that it was the headlights causing this or they just moved them to stop the interference.

Not a big deal you cant hear the hum once you start driving and sound is on anyway I will put up with it for now .. Unless someone has a solution?

[gimmethemuumuu]

Originally Posted by chumhill

Sorry to be a bit dumb but whats an LCI model?

No worries. It refers to the facelifted version of the current model. LCI is an acronym meaning something like "Life Cycle Impulse".

[Dr Dave]

Finished my install, well pleased with the sound, which I think will only get better as the speakers 'run in'

The BMW installation instructions contained within this thread were pretty much next to useless. The pictures and schematic diagrams provided by forum members were the best form of help, well done guys.

[MIKEYBMW1]

I am going to fit my kit soon hope its not too hard to fit as don't have a lot of time or should I gat the dealers to fit it ?

[Dr Dave]

Routing the wiring and the tweeter fitment was the easy bit - there certainly is a knack to fitting those E90 window trims!

But connecting the wiring to the splices going by the BMW fitting 'destructions' was the tricky bit. The diagrams and images provided by those kind souls here were a great help.

Mike, if you were nearer to me I'd help you out!

[chumhill]

Originally Posted by gimmethemuumuu

No worries. It refers to the facelifted version of the current model. LCI is an acronym meaning something like "Life Cycle Impulse".

Cheers for the info.

I finally wired mine up the other day, I have to say the crimps that are provided as part of the kit are pants, I would suggest to anyone thinking of this upgrade to use spade connectors.

Anway the kit sounds awesome, no aux noises just clear sounds and decent bass, this, in my oppinion should be installed as standard in all BMW's but there we go.

I know this has probably already been said but just to bring this little point back to light, whatever you do disconnect the battery before you start. I didnt and now have the restraint system error message because I removed the plugs from under the seats and then tested the subs by powering on the ignition switch DOH!!!!. However mins is in BMW today to be programmed for a CD changer which I have pre-installed so they are going to reset the error (very kind of them as the reprogram alone is in excess of £200)

When removing the pasengar side door cards to fit the speakers theres a handle which has a screw behind it at the top (the cover pull's off) this wasnt mentioned in the guide I had used.

The last thing to note is when using the wiring diagram I found multiple wires with the same colours. The wires to snip are the thicker wires twisted together. I snipped mine just in front of the front seats under the carpet as they run from the center console towards the sills.

Hope this helps anyone thinking of doing this.