[VickyK]

After spending a fair amount of time collecting parts for this retrofit, I have finally got it to work, and decided to write this guide for those who wish to do the same.

Again, I have nothing to offer for audio experts, aftermarket clans or rocket scientists. This thread is for those who wish to install parts that is as OEM optioned as possible and not to debate if aftermarket ones are better.

This guide is only informational, so proceed at your own risk.

Foremost, hats off to Reisf from 1addicts forum who made the conversion for E87. That was my main point of reference.
Link: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1175122
However, there was various differences in how i took up the task, hence this guide.

Parts needed
1. Logic 7 Audio Amp
2. Logic 7 Audio System Speakers (the full system uses 13 speakers in total)
3. Logic7 Speaker Wire harness (or you could crimp your own, more info in Reisf DIY)
5. MOST Fiber Cable
6. 4 x 4mm spade socket contact
6. Blade fuse holder and fuse (20 Amp)
8. L7 amp bracket and bolts
9. E90 Tweeter Trims (Only needed if current setup is Base Audio)
10. Center Speaker Trim
11. Serial-OBD cable and laptop for coding
12. LHS Boot Trim cover (Slim/CD type)

So lets get to it.

In this retrofit, the simplest task is coding (if you understand and done it before) and the hardest part is tearing the car apart for installation. Since i got a L7 amp from a wrecker, i needed to ensure the vital part is working perfectly before anything else.

So I got myself a cheap MOST loop cable from Ebay and my intention to fire up the amp, loop the fiber from Combox and code the CIC to ensure the amp works. I had a 12V power supply sitting around which was used to power the amp for this test.

This is how a MOST Looper cable looks like:


And The L7 amp with the tapped MOST connection from Combox



I was lucky enough to find a wrecker who had completely removed a whole E92 vehicle cabling which had Logic7. After spending almost 2hrs separating only the L7 audio cabling, this is how it looked. The amp and the audio cable.



Using NCS Expert, add VO 677 in CAS and FRM. Next read the CIC module data and change the AUDIO_SYSTEM_CIC value to top_hifi. As soon as this changes are made, voila! The L7 Surround and Equaliser settings was activated in my headunit. Take note when you code in L7 VO, the existing analogue output from the CIC will be disabled.



Tested out playing some music through bluetooth to ensure full connectivity from CIC-AMP-Combox and it was all good! Having this peace of mind, now is the time to tear the car apart for installation.

For safety precaution, its best to disconnect battery. Before doing that, make sure the front seat rail torx screws are removed (if you have power seats) and fully wind down front door windows.

To remove the front seat bolts, move the seat fully forward, use a Torx t50 bit and remove the back 2 bolts. Then move the seat fully backwards and remove/loosen the 2 remaining bolts. You should be able to see the underseat subwoofer grill .
WARNING: Don't remove the seat wiring harness if battery is not disconnected! You just need to tilt the seat backwards, a lot of room to work with.




Next is battery disconnection. Its located in the boot if you aren't aware. Use a 10mm socket to loosen the bolt and remove the negative terminal from battery. Wrap it with a cloth and let it sit on the battery.

Since battery is removed, you NEVER want to accidentally close the boot. Chuck some cloth in the boot lock terminal. If you have rear folding seats, bring it down, just in case.

Remove the rear seats cushion. Its being held by 2 clips. Use your hand to lift up the seats, should just pop up.

Next remove the front and rear doorstep trims. Check out this video for assistance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olBN...iesMotorsports

Remove the left boot liner. Use a plastic trim remove tool to popup the retaining clips. Pretty straight forward.

Next install the L7 amp with the bracket in this slot.


We need to run cables in left and right sideliners, as well as rear deck speakers. To give a better picture, refer the image below on how the wiring loom should be run.


From the boot, the L7 cable loop's next hop is the under the Rear passenger side bolster. That is where the MOST distribution block sits. This is where we will properly tap the fiber connection coming from the CIC into the AMP.



You should be able to find a used MOST fiber from wreckers, its similar with a CD changer fiber too.
How the MOST block works is on the bottom connection are Incoming signal and top are output to devices. If you look closely the individual green cables are uniquely IDed, CCC, COMB, AMP for example. So here what we do is we break the connection from CIC which goes to the combox, and Insert the Amplifier connection instead. Using a watchmakers tool, carefully pry open the connector (the 2 on the right) and insert the Amp in and out connection.

There is a grounding point here too, above the MOST block. You can use a O-ring and hook it up the amp grounding cable here. Since i had the original wiring, i pryed it from the grounding block and carefully slotted it back in my current grounding point. Sits perfectly.



Next we run the amp power cable, Front Left door, Rear door, Front left subwoofer and Center channel speaker alongst the existing LHS cabling.

Since we have dismounted the front seats, the subwoofer grill is accessible. Remove the cover and the the subwoofer is mounted with 2 bolts on the chassis. Remove that and the subwoofer enclosure can now come out.

Insert the logic 7 subwoofer and wire its new connection. On the existing subwoofer socket, the Pin1 and 4 are the connection to the front door speakers. Use a 4mm spade connector and crimp it on the new wiring and insert in the socket as below:


Next remove the door panel and install the L7 midrange driver and tweeter.
Have a look at this video to help you on the door panel removal process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKnz...annel=BAVSOUND

This is after the door midrange and tweeter installed:


Next remove The glovebox compartment to get access to the junction box.
Checkout this video for glovebox removal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5z...nnel=KenKanFix

For the amp power source, i decided to tap from the junction box. refer to the junction box diagram in your car. there will be unused 12V switched connection that you can use. I identified mine which was meant for the audio amplifier which uses 20A. Use a fuse tap and crimp the Amp power cable here.


Next we need to install the Center Speaker. To run the cable from the junction box to here is easier if you drop down the CIC screen. Unscrew the 2 T10 bolts which holds the screen and you will get a better access for the center speaker location.



Use a plastic trim remover and pry carefully existing center trim. I used a cloth hanger to route the speaker wire from junction box to the center speaker mount area. Install the center midrange driver and use the new trim which has a speaker grill on it.


Do the same for the Right hand side Components: Right door and Front Right subwoofer.

Next is the tricky one for me. Rear deck speakers. I didn't want to cut the wiring of existing speakers which can be found above the MOST block. And i needed to cut hole for the rear tweeters. So its best to bring down the rear shelf. In order to do this, you have to remove the rear pillar trims (pain in the ass) first.

Check out this video to assist you on removing the side pillar trims.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgc4...TheLuckyNeedle



Once you get that outta the way, use a Torx T30 to remove the 3 bolts which sits under the child seat hook and 5 plastic clip retainers in the front of the rear shelf. The shelf can now removed from its place.

I had a tough time making a hole for the tweeter. I thought using a boxcutter could get the job done, i ended up with a messy work using a wooden drill bit. Anyway, its all good, the tweeter is secured nicely.

Here is after both the Logic7 driver and tweeter being installed in the rear deck:


Yes, damn its a lot of work. Now to assemble everything back together, in reverse order.

I did not complete the rear door speakers, as i need to gather more parts for it. I will update once i get that running. Plus its a more pain in the ass since there is no existing speaker wiring for the rear doors. 11 of 13 speakers is installed, so that 85% completion.


Once all of the trims has been put back together, its time get a drink and enjoy some music! Hope this helps for some. Cheers

[KhaosKid]

Damn that is some serious dedication dude, good job! I didn't even know this was possible. How much did it end up costing in the end, and how happy are you with the sound compared to your old system?

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by KhaosKid

Damn that is some serious dedication dude, good job! I didn't even know this was possible. How much did it end up costing in the end, and how happy are you with the sound compared to your old system?

Thanks mate!
It costed me around $650 so far. As for the sound, when I first tried it out with a flat/zero EQ setting, it felt horrendous, worse that the base setup.

But as soon as I played around with the EQ setting, man the sound was awesome! It is far better that the base system and I could hear more details in the sound which I never heard from my old system.

If you have thoughts in installing it, totally recommended! For me it was worth the hard work

[KhaosKid]

Originally Posted by VickyK

Thanks mate!
It costed me around $650 so far. As for the sound, when I first tried it out with a flat/zero EQ setting, it felt horrendous, worse that the base setup.

But as soon as I played around with the EQ setting, man the sound was awesome! It is far better that the base system and I could hear more details in the sound which I never heard from my old system.

If you have thoughts in installing it, totally recommended! For me it was worth the hard work

Very nice. I did the alpine retrofit upgrade years and years ago, and I'm happy with it. I followed it up with Logic7 underseat subs because my base system subs popped pretty quickly lol. I have to admit the L7 subs brought everything together. Without them, there wasn't nearly enough bass. Putting them under the seats was a smart move by BMW, makes the bass feel like you have a full trunk sub.

By the way this may or may not help, but my iPhone had this option called 'sound-check' in the settings under music. When I turned it on the maximum volume level was decreased to the point I wasn't happy with the sound, so check if your phone has that enabled and try disabling it to see how you like it. Also, I believe theres a sticky'd thread somewhere on the forums with the 'ideal' EQ settings for the L7 system so maybe try that out too.

Keep on modding

[VickyK]

Good to know man!

By the way when i said used bluetooth, it was solely to test out if the combox was still functioning. Generally i play music from USB. Bluetooth audio is compressed bitrate. There is a way to play lossless audio /cd quality in CIC. CIC supports WMA lossless. So if you have FLAC-lossless music files, convert them to 16bit WMA lossless. It makes a whole lot of difference compared to bluetooth or plain mp3.

[TiAgAu]

Good info. Is a Combox necessary for Logic7 Retrofit?

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by GovernUrMental

Good info. Is a Combox necessary for Logic7 Retrofit?

Not to my knowledge. The combox is only responsible for USB and Bluetooth connectivity.

[david in germany]

Good write up! I have all the L7 parts from my 335i (individual audio swapped it) that have been collecting dust for about 2 years waiting to go into my wife’s 328i

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by david in germany

Good write up! I have all the L7 parts from my 335i (individual audio swapped it) that have been collecting dust for about 2 years waiting to go into my wife’s 328i

Good luck retrofitting!

[VickyK]

#UPDATE: Final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle completed.

The final part is the rear door speakers. Parts needed:
1) Rear Door panel provisioned for speaker.
2) Speaker Wiring
3) Optional: E92 Rear Tweeter

If you are good with your woodworking skills, probably you can attempt to drill a hole in your current panel and find some sort of mount. I have no confidence in doing so, so I had to get the panel which comes with the speaker grill



I realized I could attempt to drill a tweeter hole (at least) and install a E92 L7 Tweeter, as i already had it.
Oddly for some reason I dont think E90 L7 came with rear door tweeter, though I saw panels in US and UK provisioned a hole for tweeter. It was never the case here in AUS.


First remove rear door panel. Check out this vid on the removal process

Now we need to route speaker wire from the center pillar into the rear door. Unbolt the Rear door loom harness with a T8 socket.
When I first routed the front door speakers months ago, I cut the existing 2pin male connector from the loom as it wasn't needed. That connector can be used now for the rear door panel. Thank goodness i didn't throw them away!


It sits on the op of the body-pillar side harness and clicks in on 1way, take note on the colour code of cables, as you need to match it with the next hop.

Next is the rear door loom - to the door

You don't need to replace entire door loom with a L7 Loom. Use a watchmaker tool and unhook the connector case. Slot in the 2 pryed connector on the top where it will match the earlier pillar's connection. This way you are just introducing only a new speaker connection while retaining the original harness cables.

Its a very tight space to work with, between the door and the body, so if you have large hands, its gonna be tricky.



Route the speaker wire upwards to where the power window switch cable comes out. Finally assemble back the door panel and all the trims.

The final product. And that's the end of the complete L7 retrofit.

[edirty6]

very nice detailed walkthrough! the contemplation is underway haha.

[ptpending]

the only one thing is that sedan with logic7 from factory do not have tweeters in rear doors, because it is has it in rear shelf.
and wagon and coupe and cabrio have tweeters in rear doors, trims, and do not have them in rear shelf

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by ptpending

the only one thing is that sedan with logic7 from factory do not have tweeters in rear doors, because it is has it in rear shelf.
and wagon and coupe and cabrio have tweeters in rear doors, trims, and do not have them in rear shelf

Right. I assumed the guy in my last video (US) had tweeter in rear door on a sedan, hence the confusion. The more the merrier i guess ;-)

[sam9116]

you don't technically need the LHS Boot Trim cover to start the project, I just cut a giant hole in mine to slide in the amp bracket

[gokhanb]

The logic 7 I have does not have cables, can I still install?

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by gokhanb

The logic 7 I have does not have cables, can I still install?

You can potentially crimp your own cable, but you definately need the connectors on the amp and also the fiber cable.

[sardor.lee]

Good job!!! it is a very nice and detailed guide
I also have been spending time collecting parts for this retrofit..
and it is time to start my own.
Thanks so much.. this guide should be a shining light for me.

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by sardor.lee

Good job!!! it is a very nice and detailed guide
I also have been spending time collecting parts for this retrofit..
and it is time to start my own.
Thanks so much.. this guide should be a shining light for me.

Good luck!

[Matt_E90]

I just sourced a wiring kit for this retrofit just waiting for that to arrive, then will start getting the rest of the parts in.

For those that have done this retrofit did you remove the original wiring from the quadlock?

[nexus1968]

Would be very useful to know the correct color/speaker wirings of the Logic 7, in my case for e91.
big forum, thanks many.

[Matt_E90]

Originally Posted by nexus1968

Would be very useful to know the correct color/speaker wirings of the Logic 7, in my case for e91.
big forum, thanks many.

Do you want the pinouts and colours from the loom I have?

[VickyK]

Originally Posted by nexus1968

Would be very useful to know the correct color/speaker wirings of the Logic 7, in my case for e91.
big forum, thanks many.

Here you go mate, the wiring colour code for L7