[Captain Buumer]

Hello

It's time to upgrade the lowest possible sound system BMW offers for E90 platform. It's not enjoyable to listen to any music with it. There was time when i was using 5€ headphones (that sounded better than base bmw) but that was only one time and also put me thinking - time to upgrade.

This is not any fancy install, it's rather simple and when i was preparing for this i actually did not find all the info required.

So i'll try to document it here if someone is in same situation as i was and is looking for similar outcome that i did.

Starting point and observations before install.
Radio is MASK (6.5" screen) - also have Android 8" screen fitted. Link to navigation units explained.
Android (Connected via AUX wires behind the car radio).

Begin system:
6 speakers - no amp, no center speaker, no tweeters.
Speakers get signal from car radio HU only.

Upgrade to:
Jehnert flatline 3-way kit.
Alpine PDP-E802DSP (8x100w)AMP with DSP functionality.
All front speakers will get signal from DSP so we need to run new wires to each speaker & use existing wire where possible.
This will be fully active setup where we can control each speaker individually.

It took nearly 30 meters of speaker wire 2.5mm2.
I ran them from speaker to DSP location then made a cut. This way did not waste any wire but it takes time to slide all the wire through everything.

Overall wiring plan:


Observations during install:

If you plan to go straight to DSP (like i did) i suggest reading the manual first and understand the unit you plan to use. Get familiar with the parameters/possibilities and setups with the unit.


I bought all kinds of connectors in bulk before the install. Also the crimp tool for the universal connectors, and isolating removing tool. A good cutter. When comparing 3€ wire insulation remover with 30€ one. Immediately threw away the 3€ one. Didn't give clean cuts.


Remove chairs/side plastic/Doorplastic, anything that gets into the way of wiring. I tried to do it while seat is in place but it 's better to have room while you work and it's easy to remove BMW interior thankfully.

If you remove the seat you have 2 options:
1) Don't have battery connected while connector is unplugged.
2) Just clean the Airbag fault code afterwards.

I did everything while battery connected but HU off (afraid of FRM damage).
But it's safer to have battery disconnected.

This is how interior trim is attached. Plastic can be move to one side (by little) and detaches easier that way.


Underseat connector has only two wires. Also no need to buy the expensive BMW special female end.


You can remove pins and attach Universal Locking Female Spade connector.
This wire comes from Car radio to Underseat speaker.
Now we just extend the wire and run it to the DSP.
Wiring purpose: [From Car radio to DSP]


Tweeter wiring route to inside the door.
Wiring purpose: [From DSP to Tweeter]

Using other wires to help push wire from inside grommet to outside.
Drilled a hole in the connector - pushed wire through that hole.
Wire is guided through the rubber tube - spray silicone there so it slides easier. Otherwise it can take lots of time.

Inside the door use cable ties to fix it in place and plan ahead how much cable you leave for the tweeter connection.

It's tight but everything can be assembled back using 2x2.5mm2 wire.

(No picture)
Around where the speakerwire roll is. There is OEM parallel connection for speakers. Next to car main wiring. This needs to be fixed. I have image of this situation for passenger side only.


Driver side wiring with woofer installed. Woofer remove/install is quite straightforward. Remove screws/nuts and it just comes out.
Wiring purpose: [From DSP to 8" underseats]

For passenger side, tweeter/woofer install is pretty much identical.
Also below is image of how underseat & door speakers were connected in parallel originally.


Just slide off the cover.


We separate the signals so they are no longer parallel and can be driven individually.
Door speaker is smaller wire.
Larger wire is for underseats.
Wiring purpose: [From DSP to the smaller wire = door speaker connected]


Door speaker wire is routed to the DSP.


Wiring in place, passenger won't squash them.


Purpose of this image is to show how i routed the wiring.
I wanted to avoid main power line as much as possible.
For end result there are no pops/alternator whiner or any unwanted noises whatsoever.
So this routing was success.

Little bit about sound deadning.


Materials used.
6mm mat with combined features was called "SGM Barrier Mix Prime" that has additional sound absorption effect (left).
1mm basic mat, commonly used to reduce resonance of surface (right).


Just to give idea how i treated one door.
Don't need to cover 100% - that is waste of material. About 10...20% is sufficient.
Used 1mm mat to cover any holes. That big hole in the middle was covered with 1mm mat also.
Premium material to larger surface.


Here can see tweeter/door speaker wiring ready.
Inside the door also should be treated.
When fitting back the foam cover use heatgun to increase the stickyness of rubber seal. Bottom part of the seal prevents water from entering car so be 100% certain there is good seal.

While working/owning the car i did notice doors introduce most of the outside noise to inside so i put most of effort into doors. I did same treatment to rear doors. Did not deaden anything else.
After deadening there is quite a big difference. Definitely worth doing.


Tweeter pods, used silicone to seal them - Extra step to make sure no rattle is introduced.
51337171201 - Left
51337171202 - Right
Don't forget to transfer the foam from the old trim.


It took some time to get it fit properly with window seal. It's quite flexible. Try to feel how the plastic bends you get it fit eventually.
Reference image of how it is properly fitted.


Same for the front part.


Wiring all running along one side.


Good to label wires when running them to the back and it's left to add connector & attaching to DSP.


Wires attached.
Created some simple plate for the DSP to sit on.
Also showing where i used ground.
Power wire routed away from signal wires.


Close up of the DSP.


Power wiring.
There was one available pin so i bought female pin and inserted it into the OEM connector. I think there was 60 amp fuse there so its ideal slot.
61136920094 - smaller
61136920092 - bigger
Bought both just to see which one fit better with wire size.


Fuse location.


End result of DSP location.

Mechanical wise everything is now in place and connected.

Now comes the interesting part, actually using DSP.
For setting up input i suggest reading manual. Some jumpers might need to be changed. Input sensitivity i left it at 0db.

I amazed from just hearing the speakers produce so clear and yet pleasant sound. They don't distort even at higher volumes. Not a single note.
Had to change polarity of underseats to really feel the bass. With DSP can change settings on live which made tuning exciting.

Some settings to help out:

Jehnert speakers specs that were quite hard to come by. Only found vague info about them in forums.
Essential info when setting up crossovers.
Still researching how to tune properly the DSP but by the looks of it, crossovers are set.
Now waiting for microphone to adjust the EQ in relate to actual speaker output.


Tweeter


Midrange


Woofer


Just enter distance from speaker in "cm" from your head and wow. This step alone made huge difference from already great sound.

You can't really tell where the speakers are now, sound has filled the whole car. Can't believe i was used to passive setups that were just dull in comparison.

This is good read when dealing with DSP.
https://testgear.audiofrog.com/wp-co...y-it-Works.pdf

One of the best investments to the car so far followed by Android screen, Shortshifter + CDV delete.

[ctuna]

Good job the best I have seen on this Forum in a Long Time
And nicely documented.

[Captain Buumer]

There is so much midbass actually need to decrease underseats by some db-s. These underseats are nuts!

What i forgot to mention is that "remote in" wire is not required. (Only for setting up DSP - first turn on)

DSP can sense speaker line and automatically turns on. It was called "Autostart" feature in settings.
Also, automatic turn off when no sound is coming. It was 1 minute delay that is adjustable.

Rear speakers are connected to car HU. Now they play rather pleasant while only ones connected.

Still they don't make much difference, only for rear passengers.

At the moment it feels like soundstage is infront of you. You're like driving towards the music. Which is something have never ever felt before.

Can't believe this already fantastic setup can be improved even further with EQ.

Not sure if it's worth to add subwoofer to cover anything below 60hz. Perhaps if infinite baffle setup can be implemented with some shallow 15" sub. Retaining ability to fold down rear seats.

Some useful pointers from the pdf document.

We should avoid driving the speaker at or below Fs. For tweeters, 1.5 to 2 times Fs is a good choice.
For midrange and midbass speakers, crossing at Fs (ideally a little higher) is OK so long as you’re
using steep crossover slopes

24dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley crossove preferred when crossing speaker crossovers to cancel out any phase shift.
However in reality reflections cause phase shift which can be mended with EQ

Good job the best I have seen on this Forum in a Long Time
And nicely documented.

Thanks ctuna!

[E92x7z]

sir signal to dsp get to front or underseats speakers ... ?

[Captain Buumer]

Originally Posted by E92x7z

sir signal to dsp get to front or underseats speakers ... ?

This was our wiring in the beginning:


This is the new wiring:


We extend the wire that was originally coming from car radio into the underseat woofer (red in picture).
It will now go into the DSP.

Then we run new wire from the DSP into the 8" underseat.
Then we run new wire from the DSP into the parallel connection that we split up(door speakers).
Then we run new wire from the DSP into the Tweeters.

[ctuna]

Your nomenclature is somewhat confusing .
I would guess you split the parallel connection Ran the Front
Speaker outs to your amp/DSP as the sole input and then ran wiring to your doors
and floors from the amp/DSP one channel for each of the locations.
New wiring is an option most people don't use but you have to
at least run one set of wires to the doors if you want active. (seperate
channels on tweeter and mid) . You ran new wires to the underseats
just to be sure they were adequate to carry the power. (or in the case of the
base system you don't have any from the back)
I am running a JL 600/6 with the Jehnert XE 200's and Morel Do techs.
at the time I put it in most people were doing something like that.
Just ran of the factory Hi Fi wiring and only needed a Technic Harness
that came with the kit . It's been awesome compared to the Hi Fi which
still is a pretty crappy system for 60k car. (60k 14 years ago)
The Jehnerts are not lacking in mid bass and they are and audiophile
type speaker super accurate and warm. Not a car rattling type bass
but super accurate one but you can feel them a bit, as you said.
The diagram says it all about the wiring though.

[mweisdorfer]

Any plans on putting a trunk sub in with an additional amp. How difficult is the alpine dsp to understand & program?

[E92x7z]

everything is very easy, only the front two chan. need to be cut tested and enter the processor and from there wiring...the other part of the cut cable from the front be used for wiring to front dsp chanel

https://imgur.com/IUOuote[/URL]

View post on imgur.com

white - sub 8" into the salon
red - underseat midbass
pink - midrangge + tweeters pasive mode + crossovers

[Captain Buumer]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

Any plans on putting a trunk sub in with an additional amp. How difficult is the alpine dsp to understand & program?

Rephrased some steps in first post & added a image or two.

At the moment looks like will add a subwoofer. There is a spectrum hole below 60Hz.
Thinking for a infinite baffle one - covering the hole in the middle seat and uses trunk as "box". It uses minimum space, retains the ability to fold seats and supposedly is accurate while also playing low - seems too good to be true.
Element would be 15" size.
Now planning placement of 2nd amp/wiring & how to mount the sub.

DSP has really easy to understand interface and in two days of usage knew all the options and what they are for.

For second amp there already is RCA connector brought out from the DSP. Designed to add subwoofer.

This is my first ever audio install. Had this idea cooking for about a year but was put off by complicated DSP + AMP installs.

Once 8 channels dps/amps started coming out i knew need to wait for the right unit.

Overall theme for the install is more SQ oriented and doing it simple - but what do i know of SQ, this is my first ever audio install.

[E92x7z]

I'm absolutely sure that if you take a 4 channel AB class /aprox. Zapco ST 4x SQ for you Front line and bridge chanel DSP to you sub give 200 W rms to 8 ot 10 inch ... it will be much closer to what you want SQ ....

[Captain Buumer]

Found one 8" in a small sealed box but it does not play any better nor lower than the jehnerts - this box/element combination wasn't designed to play low. I'll keep looking.

Slightly adjusted the EQ of woofers and now there is less of a need for a SUB.

I'm absolutely sure that if you take a 4 channel AB class /aprox. Zapco ST 4x SQ for you Front line and bridge chanel DSP to you sub give 200 W rms to 8 ot 10 inch ... it will be much closer to what you want SQ ....

AB class DSP/AMPS are rather large but it looks like it's the tradeoff in car audio world.

So did the HU coding to HiFi (attached current coding file of MASK module) & changed jumpers inside DSP accordingly to accept low level.
CC_TEMPERATURWARNUNG is the cold weather warning that was also disabled from KOMBI module. Didn't know this was possible.
High frequency are now natural - can restore tweeter setting back to 0db (they were reduced before to -3db).

There is now audible hiss noise from tweeters, slightly less of it is heard from midrange but super annoying. Listening to music or driving drowns it out but if volume is low or off it is heard. This is unacceptable and time to find the root cause for it.

This does not increase with engine rpm.
This does not increase with volume.
It's just constant level hissssssssssss.

Did quite a bit of searching and it was suggested bad ground/bad quality rca/RCA input wire near power line/RCA input wire near windshield motor/picking up noise from somewhere/bad quality AMP/AMP floor noise level/AUX is noisy (remember, i send AUX signal from android to car HU) + many many more reasons.

So theres too many causes looks like, time to investigate and approach logically.

Removed RCA input from DSP and all this hissing is gone. I could only hear DSP "floor" hiss that is very low volume. Need to put ear next to tweeter to slightly hear it.

This has to be RCA input related.

Experimented lots and there was audible hiss even when using headphones from speaker wire for 8" sub location that i use for DSP input.

Will use stereo coding and can conclude M-ASK is noisy. CCC onwards probably cleaner signal.

There was crossover coding in M-ASK that i set E60 flat. Looks like there is flat signal now. Bass definitely better and highs are not problematic anymore.

[ctuna]

The tip that I got with my Musicar Kit was the setting the passive crossover
to - 3db in the doors. This is because of the location. (relatively physical angle and
height)
If you are running active that is a lot of power to be running into a standalone
tweeter so it might be some of the reason for the noise.

The JL 600/6 I have is set up with almost no gain on the front doors maybe halfway on the
floors.
does your amp DSP do differential Inputs. The Hi Fi is essentially reduced speaker outs with
better eq.

I don't recall many having this problem with JL or Audiotech Fisher Helix stuff.

[E92x7z]

i have had such noise problems massively fixed by reducing GAIN Control то -
I am convinced that if you play of the BT module there is no noise.....
all the components you used are well above average so just try an AB class for tweeter and mids

View post on imgur.com

[ctuna]

At this point class D is well developed and the sound differences
would be minor. Class AB amps may be audiophile dreams but
at last look they sucked a lot more power and the battery on these
cars is already stressed from all the other electronics.

[E92x7z]

Originally Posted by ctuna

At this point class D is well developed and the sound differences
would be minor. Class AB amps may be audiophile dreams but
at last look they sucked a lot more power and the battery on these
cars is already stressed from all the other electronics.

unfortunately you are wrong ... i use a similar one to your amp to /underseat mids / but ... and high tweeters them no have i am sure the circuit of RD and XD is a comparable...

zapco ST 2/4x SQ is a perfect solucion

[Captain Buumer]

Found some equipment from buddies leftover parts and wired in the second amplifier.

It took some time planning how to do things somewhat decently but this is what ended with.


Fuseholder.
The tiny black wire is for backup camera.

60A for DSP
30A for SUB amplifier.


Routing of power wire.
Ground is from the factory location.



Alpine MRV-M250 compact and small, gives 250W RMS at 4 ohm.
Size makes it easy to hide with not really any modifications needed.
Just used double sided tape to prevent it from moving.

Couldn't find any other place that would hide it completely.
Don't want to sacrifice the trunk bottom storage as it's handy at times.

DSP channels 1 to 6 are for frontline.
Channel 8 for Sub.


OEM Rear speakers wired to channel 7.
Channel 7 was unused before and tough, why not try it out, it's just adding two extra wires.
Rear speakers are wired as parallell and receive 50% of RL & 50% of RR. Essentialy they now try to act as a center speaker for the rear.
Now the PDC sound is heard more clearly.
Before they were barely making any audible sounds and didn't contribute in any way.

I've read mostly that the rear speakers are pointless, not worth to upgrade.
However now they give the surround feeling and made the overall sound even more pleasant. They handled higher volume rather well and don't think need to replace them with anything. For midrange - good enough (same crossover as for front 4" drivers).


Got slightly bigger "sealed" box&speaker for free. Once again the element don't fit with the box and box is leaking. It's temporary until figure out how to improvise 15" there but managed to blend it well with rest of the system for now. Doesn't really play anything below 35hz but it's something. Now i understand why it was given free, it plays very specific frequencies that can't be adjusted with just an amp.

[Thumbie]

Amazing write-up!

This is very similar to what I want to do, although ideally avoiding the trunk sub. I heard an e92 M3 w/ the audio package with the yellow speaker cones and thought underseats were plenty. Can only imagine what the Earthquakes would do.

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by Thumbie

Can only imagine what the Earthquakes would do.

You can't imagine. They suck!

[Thumbie]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

You can't imagine. They suck!

Ha! Of course, after seeing your posts in various audio threads, I 100% trust your word.

[Captain Buumer]

15" is in. Working on structurally strengthening split seats and adding some solid quick connection to rear parcel. Then sealing some air leaks in the boot.

However already this thing is really good! There is more than enough bass from a small 250w amp.

Can still lower the rear back seats & use the boot normally = practicality is there.

In the image is first initial fitment. Have remade it better but not yet complete. Ran out of materials.

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by Captain Buumer

15" is in. Working on structurally strengthening split seats and adding some solid quick connection to rear parcel. Then sealing some air leaks in the boot.

However already this thing is really good! There is more than enough bass from a small 250w amp.

Can still lower the rear back seats & use the boot normally = practicality is there.

In the image is first initial fitment. Have remade it better but not yet complete. Ran out of materials.

Very cool! You normally really don't have to worry much about air leaks - there aren't that many to begin with and can be overcome with some additional power. But if you only have 250W, maybe it'll help...

[Captain Buumer]

There is too much bass - later turned out that android HU output is just muddy bass heavy and created clipping whenever it was turned louder.
Dension side i found out that there is way more headroom with bass, perhaps even too much and i am just sending it 150W rms while the speaker is rated about 1000W in sealed/ported.
It barely moves the cone and i already find it too overpowered - lots of potential if someone wants to shake neighbors windows.
One thing i notice is that whenever i open the trunk the bass is many times louder. Probably i have cancellation as i didn't fabricate the wall as it should be fabricated but wanted to retain the folding seats function.

Well, i tried .flac format files(~150mb per file) from Android HU. And then 128kb .mp3 file from Android HU - they sound exactly the same.

AUX input in general seems to be very awful from most people experience. The Android units use AUX connection at the back of HU.

So i bought Dension 500S BT from ebay (there was good price for last unit).

Goal is to not use AUX because any input to it just sucks and if you have made any audio related updates then i suggest not to use AUX, find another method or it is sort of wasted investment.

Coding was simple, just two lines change to aktiv (MASK module).

CDC
nicht_aktiv

MP3CDC
nicht_aktiv

Since i did not have OEM phone i think i activated phone function to be able to dial:
PHONE_PROF
nicht_aktiv to aktiv
Install was also quite simple despite the manual saying need expert to do it.

HU out.
I don't have any other optical devices except for HU and the plug under driver seat so i just added Dension into the loop.


Verify that optical connection is correct:


For power used the cigarette wires that was not used but there is constant power. Experimented this location for Dension but it was not possible to reassemble everything.


For the cigaret connector used a hammer to create suitable connectors.
(This one turns off after a while so don't use it). Soon i'll find better alternative that is always on - i think i used Fuse nr 6 eventually.


Here is Dension unit location for now. The cables on the left keep it in place. Optical cables are not under stress and USB/extension cable routed to the passenger storage.


Got a little time to get used to it. It boots as fast as car HU.

Dension acceps only WAV & mp3 files.
Now i could compare files played from aux side and from dension side.

The AUX input is pretty much garbage. Huge loss in quality and clarity. Can't believe i once thought it is alright.

Dension side however, even if i slide Treble/Bass all the way to minimum it still sounds better than AUX.

Now it is actually clear there is quality difference between source files.
128kb .mp3 sounded okay-sh - lacked the higher end.
320kb .mp3 was much improved.
.wav quality was next level there were not anymore simple instruments but they had extra richness.
This showed my music collection is quite garbage consisting of youtube rips that mostly were really awful.
The below images show how 128kg mp3 file quality is greatly reduced compared to actually quality .wav file.
128kb .Mp3


Wav file:


Now using the full potential of HU unit and finally the sound project is almost done.

Very happy with the Dension unit. It has miles better microphone quality and more stable bluetooth compared to Android HU.

There has been lots of tweaking with Alpine software and the crossovers/filters are vastly modified (from the first post example). Bought Umik-1 microphone and the tuning part is actually sort of fun because with every session sound has improved even further. It was interesting to see the actual frequencies speaker can give out with the full control of filters. This allowed to find the sweet spots. At one point i went crazy and tried to get Audiofrog house curve but eventually settled for nearly stock curves as Jehnerts play pretty damn clean. Probably would have bought 12" because it is slightly easier to fit and lighter.

Hopefully this info is helpful to anyone looking to improve car audio and it was fun adventure to explore into car audio.