[deepsrd]

Hi Everyone,
My first ever post, so be gentle please...

i just bought my first ever BMW - a E92 325i with iDrive (prod date : 08-2006)

It has most of the options, except that the sound system is base stereo. So I am planning to upgrade it.. and contribute a DIY for base stereo upgrade (for ireland/uk)

Thanks to the massive contributions of members here, I have been going through pages and pages of info on the upgrades and here is what I have come up with..

Replace the underseat woofers with SWS8XI.
Keep the stock door speakers.
Keep the stock rear speakers.
Add JL Audio xd600/6 to run these speakers.

I am not planning to add any DSP at the moment. I also have a Blaupunkt GTO 4 ch amp which I may add for the subs.

Suggestions needed:
Would the JL xd600/6 be sufficient to run the SWS 2 ohms? (parallel or bridged?)
Would the stocks perform good enough? (else what are the options from UK/Ireland)
Is xd700/5 a better option to run the subs? (100 quid more)
Would adding tweeters make a big difference, or can I live without it?

I do not plan to recode my HU,and hence have to use the speaker level outputs. I read that the SWS might not be a good option in this setup. True?

I have wired Mazdas and Opels before, but how good are the chances to blow up my speakers? (Considering that I flunked my electronics classes :-D )

I would love to hear from you guys before I pry open my car.. :-)

[taibanl]

You need to either recode or cleansweep the signal


600/6 is perfect for your wants. Just run the underseats stereo 100wpc. It will balance well with fronts since they are 4ohm (75wpc). If you dont want to amp rears, 400/4 could work


You will need to run new wire to underseats

[deepsrd]

Originally Posted by taibanl

You need to either recode or cleansweep the signal


600/6 is perfect for your wants. Just run the underseats stereo 100wpc. It will balance well with fronts since they are 4ohm (75wpc). If you dont want to amp rears, 400/4 could work


You will need to run new wire to underseats

Thanks a lot for your quick response. Love your writeups!

I am bit confused about recoding, hence did not want to do it right away.
Would I be able to still use the treble/bass functionality even after recoding? I mean , would it still work as expected?

Also, on the wires to the underseats, you recommend 12guage?

[macck]

Hi deepsrd. If your interested I have a set of sws8 4ohm( brandnew )and a jl xd400/4 for sale if of any interest to yourself drop me a pm .I'm based in Belfast.

[ctuna]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641323

There are more than a half dozen examples.

[deepsrd]

Originally Posted by ctuna

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641323

There are more than a half dozen examples.

I did, many times.. It is a great guide...it does answer a lot of my questions..
Wanted more info on xd600/6 and using stock..
People have used xd600/6 as drop in replacements for HiFi, i couldn't find much info on using it alone to drive fronts,rear and subs on a base stereo. I was confused between xd600 and xd700/5. I might actually go with the xd600.

[deepsrd]

Originally Posted by macck

Hi deepsrd. If your interested I have a set of sws8 4ohm( brandnew )and a jl xd400/4 for sale if of any interest to yourself drop me a pm .I'm based in Belfast.

I dont have 5 posts to send you a pm..
Did you have them sws8 installed? what rig you running? I was actually thinking of the sws8 2ohm so i can use only the xd600..

[kaigoss69]

If you amp the stock signal without a processor inbetween you are turning crap into CRAP.

[kaigoss69]

And then when you combine CRAP and stock (speakers) you get CRAckPots.

OP, you may find this borderline funny (or not) but the point is that you will need to eliminate the weak links in the signal chain, which is the OEM signal and the speakers.

[deepsrd]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

And then when you combine CRAP and stock (speakers) you get CRAckPots.

OP, you may find this borderline funny (or not) but the point is that you will need to eliminate the weak links in the signal chain, which is the OEM signal and the speakers.

You just convinced me to recode my HU.. ;-) .
Thing is though, my car does not sound that bad, it seems like it is missing a bit of clarity and a bit of juice.. (No, I do like my music to sound really good..)

[mob17]

Have u considered the alpine upgrade? I did and then decided not to after researching but mainly due to taibanl's advice:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...14&page=1&pp=2

Have a read, if u havent already. may answer some of ur questions or give u other ideas.*

[macck]

Originally Posted by deepsrd

I dont have 5 posts to send you a pm..
Did you have them sws8 installed? what rig you running? I was actually thinking of the sws8 2ohm so i can use only the xd600..

No didn't have the sws8 installed I am going to go with jenherts and corner loaded sub also going to use an ms8 to sort the base system.

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by deepsrd

Thanks a lot for your quick response. Love your writeups!

I am bit confused about recoding, hence did not want to do it right away.
Would I be able to still use the treble/bass functionality even after recoding? I mean , would it still work as expected?

Also, on the wires to the underseats, you recommend 12guage?

Sure, treble and bass work fine, you are just sending a FLAT signal to your amp which is what you want, instead of a pre-eq'd signal. Look for posts by montr or VP electricity that show you what the FR is for the base system...its NOT good.

12ga is great, I wouldn't say overkill but it also isn't strictly necessary. If you're really curious use an online speaker wire calculator that will give you a clue as to dB loss over a given length of wire and speaker gauge.