[SiKkBaSs]

I have the stock shiet system in my BMW. If I was to buy the above what would else would I need to do to get my system sounding above average?

I'm tired of being shown up by some mates in Corsa's!! with their £100 sound upgrades. So please give me some pointers. I've heard I may want to consider Subs and tweeters? :

I am completely n00b when it comes to sound upgrades. I will buy what it takes to get it sounding "bumpin". Has anyone done this upgrade? Results?
Also what's the difference between this and the Alpine upgrade?

Many Thanks...help a brother out

[MEGA]

You know I have.

Its 4 seperate adapter units dude..

can-bus interface
radio adapter
steering adapter
parking sensor adapter

..and then you need a custom fascia for it.
..also need to run up a switched live from the ignition I think because everything else is on the comfort circuit and otherwise your HU will shut down after 15mins of car being off and lose all settings...
and all of this needs fitting by someone far more electronically gifted than either you or I. I was quoted 4h fitting time.

Basically, its not worth it. Unless your then going to go mental and SERIOUSLY overhaul everything else too, to justify the head unit fitment.

Alpine upgrade is a much better option on a budget. I've heard the alpine upgrade and it sounds very very decent. you wouldn't be dissapointed...

[BanziBarn]

Here's an idea I got got from a mate.

My mate has a Civic type-r and the stock system is really bad - I know because I had the civic my self.

When I had the Civic I upgraded the head unit and speakers and there was a good improvement, but it was quite pricey.

However, my mate simply connected an active sub to the rear speaker channel, and left everything else stock. He then turned the base on the head unit down to allow the stock speakers to go louder without distortion.

The result is decent volume and some really nice base.

I know audiophiles will say this solution sounds rubbish, and on paper I agree, but in practice it really sounds rather good, in fact, better than my Alpine upgrade I reckon....

[Googlyamnesiac]

isn't Sikk talking about an amp upgrade rather than changing the HU?

As for a HU upgrade, I myself am by no means an audio expert and I had mine swiched in an hour. Adapters were pretty cheap and my Alpine HU sounds much better than stock. Subs actually sound pretty punchy now (standard professional system).

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by idlerobbo

isn't Sikk talking about an amp upgrade rather than changing the HU?

As for a HU upgrade, I myself am by no means an audio expert and I had mine swiched in an hour. Adapters were pretty cheap and my Alpine HU sounds much better than stock. Subs actually sound pretty punchy now (standard professional system).

I think so : Like I said I'm n00b. I just want my car sound to sound better and not be so shiet

Like I said I've had an idea of what I need to do from what people have said on here.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ight=blaupunkt

How much is a full install for one of these Blaupunkt systems and the same for an Alpine. May consider the Alpine system instead...

[MOB]

If you buy that amp, you would be best to also buy the following;

- Tweeters (Logic 7 are nice)
- Blaupunkt Harness to connect the amp to your head unit

The system will then sound a lot nicer.

Because the amp is 5 channel, you could then remove the subs under the seats and replace with a pair of Earthquake SWS-8's - they fit in the original enclosures with a bit of modification - once this is done the bass really kicks, not SPL 12 inch sub mentalness, just great tight bass

Easyish to do yourself, the trickiest bits for me were getting the sub enclosures in and out, and cramming the box for the harness behind the head unit - very tight

All in all its a good way to improve things - the Alpine is another good way, but doesn't give you the option of powering the SWS subs

[SiKkBaSs]

Thanks so far guys.

So far you've told me that buying the amp will enable me to get a more powerful effect providing I buy the 2 subs as well as the tweeters. This upgrade is looking at being around £400 (may get the amp from an E90'er) in total?! That's a lot to spend on a car system.

Why is there no quick fix like so many of these boy racers going around in their cars with nice sounding systems (hate to say it)

[MOB]

You either want quantity or quality

A halfords amp and sub could be fitted, lots of boom if thats your thing

The Blaupunkt or Alpine route is more quality biased

[Googlyamnesiac]

I was debating whether to do this when I first got my 3 series. In the end I wanted a full speed ipod solution too so went for this Alpine Ida X100 - it shows full album artwork too which is nice:



Still no photos of my setup but with it being red (option of blue too) it doesn't look too out of place. I'm sure others will disagree. One thing you can't disagree with though it that after installing, the sound was instantly better and it cured my itch. It sits nicely with the interior of the car too.

Still planning on getting the alpine tweeters too at some point to make it look even better.

If you need more details of what I did / what parts I bought etc then just let me know!

[MEGA]

Sorry, I mention HU because sunny has the stock system, not logic 7 or even hifi and therefore its curently just running off the head unit ...

[MEGA]

Originally Posted by SiKkBaSs

Thanks so far guys.

So far you've told me that buying the amp will enable me to get a more powerful effect providing I buy the 2 subs as well as the tweeters. This upgrade is looking at being around £400 (may get the amp from an E90'er) in total?! That's a lot to spend on a car system.

Why is there no quick fix like so many of these boy racers going around in their cars with nice sounding systems (hate to say it)

bbecause their cars aren't run by an optical data network

[AlanQS]

There seems to be some misconceptions here. I know they are long threads but reading the stickys on Alpine and Blaupunkt upgrades should clear things up a lot.

The Alpine upgrade has two separate channels for the subs so you could drive SWS subs if you wanted to but the stock subs are good enough for the Alpine unit.

Also, even simply fitting the front tweeters by themselves distinctly improves the sound. It is ridiculous, £30k motors that don't have any tweeters as standard

gIzzE is the man to talk you through Blaupunkt upgrades - read his posts in the sticky. Alpine upgrades are made for the car but enhance the front stage only. There is no extra amplification to the rear speakers.

You pays your money, you takes your choice.

[en6jwrs]

Hope this is of help.

I installed a Blaupunkt Amp and tweeters in my e90 and it made a huge difference to the quality of the sound.

Interestingly (or not) I used the cheaper THA475 (rather than the THA555). This amp has the 4 channel input / output but no separate sub channel amplification (like the THA555).

This was not a problem for me as I had no intention of upgrading the subs (or replacing the wiring to them) and I understand this must be done to separately drive the subs from the amp. I had therefore amplified all four channels (rears as well). The subs were amplified via the wiring setup for the car and my belief that the front subs, front speakers and front tweeters are all connected in series. (Please check this with someone with more knowledge than me on this forum).

Due to the impending sale of my car the amp is out, boxed and I could be persuaded to sell it with the 5m extension cable that I used to enable the amp to be mounted in the boot. Let me know if you are interested – I hope I haven’t broken any forum rules - just trying to help a fellow owner out.

Either way I can recommend the Blaupunkt route - very easy to install, totally plug and play and with giZZe's simple guide the job was done in less than 2 hours using nothing more sophisticated than a blunt screwdriver and a folded credit card!

[MEGA]

Well there you go sounds good

I guess this amp has high level inputs then ?

[ElegantSpoon]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ght=double+din

That is something I'm thinking of doing one day