[richk84]

m5s come with style M355 wheels:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-20-AVA...item5414845493

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by richk84

Mak that pic has m3/m4 wheels on it. How old it that m5? Could they have changed this with the later ones.

You are right mate.
Did not pay attention.
I ordered similar to those which you linked but due to copy rights, manufactures have changed the designed now.
Also offset is wrong on those wheels which you linked.
I have ordered the same but found only one decent manufacturer who make wheels similar to M5 wheels and correct offset for F10.

Funny that oem M5 wheels fit on standard F10 but they are in excess of 2k.

[Iyrix]

Lovely transformation! Looking tough! :-)

[dy63]

i know a guy local to me who is changing his wheels to yours currently AVG he called them or something who has a M5 with the standard wheels. is it worth me asking him if hes selling his standard ones which look like the ones you are after or have you already sourced?

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by Iyrix

Lovely transformation! Looking tough! :-)

Cheers mate.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by cupraraj

i know a guy local to me who is changing his wheels to yours currently AVG he called them or something who has a M5 with the standard wheels. is it worth me asking him if hes selling his standard ones which look like the ones you are after or have you already sourced?

Raj
Can you ask him what he is after and a photo of actual wheels?
You can pm me.
I paid for mine today actually, but still would like to know how much he is after.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Steve
The only problem I see is the dark colour of my car. And if I go with light grey, it may make it mono tonus car. I learned that on my E91.

However, taken the point so though to try this;
1- M5 side wings ordered
2- M5 20 inch wheels ordered

Going to see how it looks with OEM M5 stuff.

So looking on internet, I found following pic of Sophito Grey F10 with M5 wheels


Mind you that these wheels are 19 M5 and easier to find. Finding 20 inch M5 wheels is really difficult. Found a company in Spain who is selling Daytona M5 replica wheels so ordered those.

I love Ispiri wheels.

And so you should Sam, the wheel you've selected in my opinion works with the car so well, darker colour IMO than the silver shade would I think draw the eye and give the appearance of a lower squatter looking vehicle colour though is key hence tge off tge peg stuff is either too dark or just doesn't quite hit the spot and it's difficult to find a balance.

I played about with my wheel colour and I think I managed to get the shade right(though with a matte lacquer a sod to clean)but the end result colourwise has worked and I know the lacquers got more to do with it than you'd think


I've got a couple a 5 series pics somewhere if I find em I'll post them

[Kali]

Very nice car indeed Mak!
I've planned to get the M355 Avantgardes as well, but you will own the road with those 20's on.

[essex_lad]

Cars looking the nuts mak, the exhaust conversion looks great, who did it in the end?

[holmefield]

I have a set of 19" m355 avant guard alloys sat in my celler awaiting easter to arrive so I can fit them..

Mine are 9J front 35E.T 10J rear 38E.T...

Im aiming to have mine @ final E.Ts of 23 front and rear once fitted with spacers.

There a lovely wheel with lots of concave which is always a good thing...

[RajB]

Looking good Sam.

M5 elements are excellent. You definitely need to consider some bigger brakes to finish the look though...

[The0pportunist]

Originally Posted by makkan00

It has been long time since I updated this....

So weather was bit better so get the car washed. Got my camera out and sun disappeared. Took few snap shoots. Hope you like them.

I'm finding my self visiting this thread atleast once a week to check this F10 out, its such a banginn ride. I want one!

[mob17]

Great car sam.

Out of interest where are you getting BMW parts from? There's a cheap website leebmann24.de which may be useful for genuine BMW parts

[singh21]

Wheels look great - you going to tint this Sam?

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

And so you should Sam, the wheel you've selected in my opinion works with the car so well, darker colour IMO than the silver shade would I think draw the eye and give the appearance of a lower squatter looking vehicle colour though is key hence tge off tge peg stuff is either too dark or just doesn't quite hit the spot and it's difficult to find a balance.

I played about with my wheel colour and I think I managed to get the shade right(though with a matte lacquer a sod to clean)but the end result colourwise has worked and I know the lacquers got more to do with it than you'd think


I've got a couple a 5 series pics somewhere if I find em I'll post them

Thanks Steve.
M5 Wheels are on the car and yes they look better than plain silver wheels. Thats is due to the colour of my car though.

Funny that I asked my office staff re: wheels. All Ladies preferred Ispiri wheels and all the gents liked M5 wheels.

Originally Posted by Kali

Very nice car indeed Mak!
I've planned to get the M355 Avantgardes as well, but you will own the road with those 20's on.

Looking forward to see photos of your wheels bud.

Originally Posted by essex_lad

Cars looking the nuts mak, the exhaust conversion looks great, who did it in the end?

Thanks mate. Went to turbo revs and though I am not 100% satisfied with the final product but I still get many compliments.

Originally Posted by holmefield

I have a set of 19" m355 avant guard alloys sat in my celler awaiting easter to arrive so I can fit them..

Mine are 9J front 35E.T 10J rear 38E.T...

Im aiming to have mine @ final E.Ts of 23 front and rear once fitted with spacers.

There a lovely wheel with lots of concave which is always a good thing...

Hope all goes well.

Originally Posted by RajB

Looking good Sam.

M5 elements are excellent. You definitely need to consider some bigger brakes to finish the look though...

Thanks Raj. That was on my list and perhaps one of the last mod which I may go for as I have plenty of life left on disc and pads.

Originally Posted by The0pportunist

I'm finding my self visiting this thread atleast once a week to check this F10 out, its such a banginn ride. I want one!

Many thanks fella. You reminded me of my M5 wheels which went on the car yesterday.

F10 is really lovely platform. Softer and more comfortable but for different audience.

Originally Posted by mob17

Great car sam.

Out of interest where are you getting BMW parts from? There's a cheap website leebmann24.de which may be useful for genuine BMW parts

Thanks Mo. Was using Scotish dealer but read your thread. I will try that website as well mate.

Originally Posted by singh21

Wheels look great - you going to tint this Sam?

Thanks mate. Tinting is on my list but very light tinting.

Wheels have been changed to M5 Daytona wheels.

[essex_lad]

Why what's up with it?

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by essex_lad

Why what's up with it?

Nothing special. Passenger side tail pipes vibrate bit more than driver side. I guess it is due to passenger side having oem rubber hanger and driver side having aftermarket. Nothing special and normal person will not notice it.

I did not bother to go back due to time constraints.

[essex_lad]

Maybe you could swap it for a bmw rubber hanger? If you ever need any exhaust stuff done in the future let me know, my mates a complete perfectionist at it.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by essex_lad

Maybe you could swap it for a bmw rubber hanger? If you ever need any exhaust stuff done in the future let me know, my mates a complete perfectionist at it.

Thanks mate.
Bmw one is more flexible give that side micro-movements.
Will give you a shout in future if needed.
TA.

[makkan00]

Sound system installed. Copy pasted this from my other thread.

Most of you know me from my previous retrofits / sound installations on my car and many other cars. I have done few installations to name and examples are here;
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=741385
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=837089
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=802157
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1088665

Background:
Since, I moved from E9x to F1x and this time I thought I would leave sound system standard. I use second car as my daily which has upgraded double din navigation and a dedicated sub. So each time when I get into F10, it sounds dull compared to my second car. I resisted as much as I could but audio bug hit me again and I was back to drawing board choosing my drivers/ amps. I decided to treat myself on my birthday by gifting myself decent sound system. Plan was to get everything ready and install it a day before my birthday.

Drivers / DSP / Amps:
I must say that I am big fan of JL Audio, JBL MS-8, Focals and Morels. All these names are well known in audio industry.
I wanted a bit different approach this time. I wanted drivers which are plug and play. After comparing MB Quartz, Gladen, Focal and few other kits which are plug and play for bmw, I selected Gladen. Rationale was a good dedicated review written by German company who highlighted that Gladen kit was best value for money when they compare Gladen VS MQ Quartz VS ION bmw 3 way drivers.
Gladen has extreme kit out for a while where mids are 3ohms and underseat subs are 2ohms. So, I bought Gladen Extreme this time and their Quadlock.
Next, which DSP to choose? I have had enough experience with MS-8 and how it sounded amazing. All my friends were impressed with MS-8 sound in my E91 and in Rudz E92 (with that super kit). Sound staging and beats are perfect and spot on!
I was tempted to try different DSP this time. I looked at Mosconi 6-8 DSP, Zapco Z8, Audison Bit one and few others to name. I also compared their specifications and software to see what I could do with them.
After brainstorming for few days I finalized Audison bit one as it gets excellent reviews. Other reason was that I had tweaked few Audison bit ten (bit one’s brother) for forum members and results were excellent. My initial thoughts were that it was nowhere near to MS-8 in terms of Sound quality but its mile ahead if you want SPL. I will write my final words on MS-8 VS Audison Bit one at the end of this article.
When it comes to choosing amplifier, I wanted to stick with JL 600/6 but giving 100 Watts to underseats was not adequate for excellent sound system. Other option was to have Mosconi 120.4 with DSP but then I wanted dedicated DSP then what mosconi 120.4 offered.
So search was on to try different amp. I wanted one amp to power fronts, rears and underseats. Then I came across Hertz HDP5 which is 5 channel amp. Four channels power four drivers and one channel is for sub. That is not a problem and I decided to run underseats in series and as one sub. The only drawback was to time align both subs at a single channel. Frequencies lower than 50hz are more ‘felt’ than ‘heard’ so this amp looked ‘built for purpose’ in my case.
So, I gathered all these items over time. One thing is for sure that audio upgrade is expensive game and if you do it over time then you can manage it better.
So first was Gladen extreme kit. Those new shiny subs get delivered and sitting at my place but I could not install them. Next was getting HDP 5 and lastly it was DSP. I was still not sure to spend extra money on Audison Bit one where I knew that MS-8 is more than adequate for my needs. Reluctantly, I pulled the trigger and opted for Audison bit one. One may argue that why not Audison bit ten as it has 5 channel output and it was adequate for my needs. My response is that I wanted something future poof if I wish to expand components in my sound system such as central speaker or boot sub. Other benefit is that DRC (remote control of Bit one) comes with Audison bit one complimentary whereas its add-on with bit-ten.

Needless to say that I had to order Quadlock, amp wirings, RCA wires, fuses and sound insulation.

So the kit consist of
1- Gladen Extreme kit
2- Audison Bit one
3- Hertz HDP5

Installation Day:
I started at 10 am. Mind you by this time boot trims were off as I had done it a night before. After inspecting the boot I found some space on the passenger side rear. That was adequate to accommodate amplifier however fitting DSP was a challenge.
I found some space on the passenger side rear quarter panel. A piece of wood was stuck to that quarter panel and DSP fitted. Amplifier was fitted where bmw fits OEM amplifier and similar to bit one, it was fitted on wood.
I must say that Audison and Hertz belong to same group and what a BITCH to fit wiring to these devices. I hate to say this but reality is that they make all the connector so difficult that wires come out of them easily. Just to give you example, Amplifier power wires was fitted 4-5 times and each time I moved the amp, they came out. It happened to Bit one wiring as well.
Anyway here is logistics of sounds system
HU coded to hi-fi --> 4 channels Quadlock --> Audison Bit one --> 5 channel RCA --> Hertz HDP5 --> 4 Channels running fronts and rears / 5 channel running underseats in mono mode.

Rear Speakers are from L7 sound system and they are getting 75W @ 4 ohms
Front components are Gladen extreme and they are getting 85-90W @ 3 ohms
Underseats are 2 ohms and mono channel can only take 2 ohm minimum. So I had to install them in series to get final impedance of 4 ohm and they are getting 380W (190W / each).

As you can see that each driver is getting more than what they should but as far as drivers are getting clean power and with the right crossover, they can take more power. Also having that extra watts give you headroom.

By the time I installed all the drivers and set gains with O-scope, it was 7pm. So 10 am- 7 pm and I could not tune the system and install the boot trims. Spending another 90 minutes in the car tweaking the sound system led to excellent results.
So to sum up the end result, it is awesome sound system. Very much like BMW individual sound system with excellent clarity and does not bottom out as BMW individual sound system does. Yes, Bit one is impressive to get ‘loud’ sound and keeps the sound stage at the top of dashboard.
With the correct crossovers and DSP you can set the sound system in a way that sound appears to come from the top of dashboard and not from the doors. Yes, I achieved that with Bit one.

























Now coming back to my earlier argument....MS-8 vs Bit-one.
My response is still same that
-IF your priority is SQ then there is nothing better than MS-8 (properly tuned). It highlights the beats which you never heard and other sound systems fail to reproduce. And with its central speakers giving you vocals and rears giving you ambiance, its a winner. It also comes with remote so passengers can play with it.
-IF your priority is SPL then Bit one is brilliant. It also gives you more flexibility where you can overlap the frequencies to augment certain frequencies.

Over all I am happy to say that this sound system exceeded my expectations and louder than my previous sound systems. Shame that I will miss SQ of MS-8.
Few comments for each audio component
1- Audison Bit one. Excellent, clear, loud and user friendly software. However power connector pins are fiddly and wires come out of those very easily.
2- Hertz HDP5. Crystal clear sound and loud! Very heavy amp and bigger than XD600/6 but does the job what it says on the box. Again wiring connections are fiddly. Setting gains and crossover (though I used active crossovers) are confusing.
3- Gladen Extreme. I have installed Morels, Focals, MB quartz, rainbow and alpine drivers. For bmw there is nothing better value for money than Gladen Extreme. I have earthquakes in my E91 having 200W fed to single earthquake (400W to both). I must say that Gladen subs are producing more bass than earthquakes at 190W and they are better at producing midbass. My only gripe is that Gladen tweeters are not as precise as Morel tweeters are and not sharp as Focals are. But they are best value for money.

I hope you enjoyed reading this!

[Rudz]

Ah, great read friend, considering the cabin space is bigger on the 5, did u have to tune the bit one any different ? I know Bit one has immense tuning capability and it is held in great regard, but lack of centre channel was a let down for me ? from your research did you find bit one better than the newer masconi, Rockford ?

Great choice of Amp, Hertz and Audison are both made by Elettromedia, only difference being the country they are made in, China vs Italy, I had the HDP5, solid amp with great potential, relatively small foot print too compared to the Audisons I have, please see if you can integrate Audison BIT DMI to your Bit one for lossless quality.

Are you not tempted to get a boot sub, please do, the JL W6's are awesome, It puts a smile on my face even today, a year now since I got them installed through you ?

[singh21]

What does the Audison BIT DMI do?