[br4d]

Hi Everyone,

For a long time i've read threads on E90Post but never posted. I'm sharing my story as there was some information about the Alpine Hifi Retrofit Kit which i couldn't find online. I'm based in the UK and below is a short description of my Vehicle:

E93 M Sport 330i LCI (2010)
CIC Pro Nav
Stereo Audio System

I purchased the Alpine kit directly from BMW for my car and fitted it myself. The fitting isn't too difficult but there is a few problems with the kit from factory.

Firstly the crossovers for the doors are labelled incorrectly which makes the system sound dreadful. There are a few posts about this online and the suggested route is to follow the installing instructions as they are right. The labelling on the actual wiring loom is the problem.

After install i was immediately disappointed with the sound the car made. It sounds very very harsh on the treble and the bass sounded really bad which was clearly distorting. Even with these problems you can tell that the door speakers & tweeters would sound amazing but due to the problem I'm about to talk about they don't sound great.

Coding... Professional Headunits in these cars (E9x - Not sure about other cars) have a built in EQ Curve to amplify the bass and treble. This curve sounds decent when you have the stock audio system in place however if you upgrade to the Alpine kit it makes it sound horrendous. Apparently this can be fixed by coding the heading to HIFI instead of Stereo.

The instructions which come with the Alpine kit say that the car does NOT require coding however after installing it into my car i can confirm that it DOES need coding. It simply sounds awful. Worse than the stock setup if I'm honest. The powers there from the amp etc. Its just over driven and just sounds a mess.

I even upgraded the subwoofers under the seats to rule out the old subwoofers being of poor quality (Stereo Subwoofers are 6.5" 20W apparently whereas the Hifi & Top-Hifi are 8" with far higher wattage). I installed Rainbow Subwoofers which are made for the car which made no difference. The audio still sounds distorted, muffled and just plain horrible to listen too.



I contacted BMW UK to complain about this as i now have to pay extra to have my car coded which i didn't think i needed to do since the instructions said i didn't need it.

They confirmed to me that the car DOES need coding and will be coding it for me for free as a goodwill gesture.

I will update you all once i have had the car coded.

P.S. - My Local BMW dealer wanted £240 to code my car.

[makkan00]

Good to hear your experience but all this is covered multiple times and well documented.
People rather go for L7 subs with alpine kit due to PNP connectors and high sensitivity.
Hi-fi coding can be done by any coder (search for e90 coders in UK).
You are getting hi-fi coding for free so its all good.

[br4d]

The Rainbows came with the correct spacers and connectors to allow them to be fitted easily. Does HiFi coding get rid of the problem with the sound quality for sure?

I've read so many things about them but how BMW can say you don't need to code them is crazy

[ctuna]

Since you are on this subject what is watts per channel
on this upgrade ?
Is there more than one version with different watts per
channel and was it labeled on the amp?
Does the coding for this only change the front channels?

[br4d]

The amp isn't labelled with no specifications. It has 4 channels. Front Left, Front Right and Left and Right Underseat subwoofers.

Rear speakers are non-existant really. You can never hear them, the front amplified speakers are so much louder. The coding apparently changes the output from the Headunit to ALL Channels by removing the default EQ Curve and lowing the output to 5v instead of 12v (This is what i've read online. No idea if its correct?)

[ckegg]

If your system sounds awful, you may want to check the switch setting on the amp. I was following the Alpine installation instruction and left the switch on position 1 on the amp, which was a mistake. My system is $609, so after switching to position 2, boom, sounds clear, no distortion, bass is correct and amazing sound.

Switch Position 1
SA 662 - BMW Business CD radio

Switch Position 2
SA 663 - BMW Professional radio
SA 606 - Business Navigation system
SA 609 - Professional Navigation system

I did all job myself, coded the car by adding $676 with NCSExper, and I love the outcome. I know you follow the wire color when connecting the crossover, so that piece is correct.

FYI, the rear speakers are powered by the HU, and after coding the car, they are much weaker than front speakers. I won't touch the rear until I get another set of upgrade speakers and another amp to drive them.

[br4d]

My instructions say to switch it to 2 and doesn't even mention position 1. I've tried both with no avail

I think it's just down to the coding. I'm waiting for my car to go into BMW to have it done as I don't have the tools!

Nice install! Looks like you took your time and did it properly! In my E93 the rear seats don't fold so I had to put the roof half down to get as much access to the rear seats / amp as I could.

Thanks for the info though

EDIT: Just checked my instructions and they say 1! Doesn't mention 2 though! I'll try it and see if it improves at all

EDIT 2: Tried switching the amp to 2. It seems to just reduce the bass and not do a lot else. Sound quality is still bad.

I will post once I've had the car into BMW this week to be coded. Fingers crossed it comes back sounding amazing!

[br4d]

UPDATE: I've had the car programmed. It was in the BMW garage for 2 days! Anyway I've finally got it back and what can I say but wow! It's definitely 100% better! The sound is so much more crisp.

My advice is if you get the Alpine Kit defo get the car programmed! It's like night and day difference!

[Soul_Glo]

For the same money the alpine costs there is so much more that can be done to the system and out do the alps but its good to hear that you are happy with your set up.

[br4d]

Yeah it's got a good sound, I don't really know if the subwoofers were worth purchasing. But the alpine speakers are very good.

Just for reference i installed the Rainbow 8" E9x BMW Subwoofers. There ok, but can't comment in comparison to the Earthquakes as I've never heard them.

[CH14SE_E]

Originally Posted by br4d

Yeah it's got a good sound, I don't really know if the subwoofers were worth purchasing. But the alpine speakers are very good.

Just for reference i installed the Rainbow 8" E9x BMW Subwoofers. There ok, but can't comment in comparison to the Earthquakes as I've never heard them.

br4d

Do you know if the kit you bought was the on that ends in Part number ***268 or ***684?

Also, are you in the UK or USA?

The reason I ask is I read your post before I fit my Alpine kit yesterday (***684) and I don't need to code it. The sound is amazing (I used the L7 subs).... I'm pretty confident you and I started with the same base stereo too since we're both driving pre 2009 LCI?

One last thing worth checking, did you use the instructions for kit 268 or 684? This might be having an effect on some people's install.


I did notice a few things BMW did with the kit that seemed to be there to trip-up non trained BMW installers; the cables immediately behind the amp harness were coiled together for 3 or 4 inches. That's like washing your eyeballs with sulphuric acid in audio terms, so I separated them nicely.

The labelling on the diplexer was dodgy. "To Radio/Headinit S663..." Was actually to "Tweeter".. And I'm sure switch 1 and 2 on the amp is there to flatten the EQ of the individual head units, hence the manual stating there's no need for a recode, as was true in my case.

You and I have got the sound sorted now, but it'd be nice if we could crack the code and realise why some need coding when others don't.

[hdmark]

Bumping a dead thread (sorry)
but does this confirm that the CIC nav pro units can be coded to hifi?
if so, can someone please give me direction at all on what needs to be changed? all of the threads from 2012 and earlier say this unit cannot be recoded?