[idriveuscream]

My vehicle: 2011 BMW 328i x-drive sedan, with navigation, no rear door speakers, BMW HiFi system. OEM amplifier. All original.

I just purchased the following speaker upgrade kit from Bavsound: Universal Tool Kit, Stage One BMW Speaker Upgrade for E90 Sedan with Standard Hi-Fi, Bavsound Ghost BMW Underseat Subwoofers V2, 2 Ohm.

All in with the 10% discount $1,001. I will let you know if replacing all the speakers makes a significant difference. I expect it will sound better simply because the speakers are new, but HOW MUCH better? I will record before and after sound with a high-end microphone and digital recorder. I will ask a couple of people to give their before and after opinions too. I'll test some different types of music, techno, rock, pop, rap.

It may be 3 or 4 weeks before I complete the installation and get all the opinions but I will provide the results as soon as possible!

[Papa Popov]

Pulled the trig on their amp a while back and have been very happy with it. Completely transformed the sound system.

Looking forward to your review! Been thinking about getting their S1 kit since I've been having some weird issues with my speakers recently.

[idriveuscream]

Originally Posted by Papa Popov

Pulled the trig on their amp a while back and have been very happy with it. Completely transformed the sound system.

Looking forward to your review! Been thinking about getting their S1 kit since I've been having some weird issues with my speakers recently.

I did think about doing the amp first. So it was about $1,000 bucks either way give or take. The amp install would have been a lot quicker. My speakers are OEM so have been in there 10 years, and if they are made of paper (I don't know), I figure they are shot.

We shall see. Have not received a shipping confirmation yet.

[drwankel]

They don't sell the amp anymore so you are SOL on that. That being said, the amp is great.

[ctuna]

The Amp/DSP are remarketed Helix Fisher Audiotec models for both
Bavsound and Bimmertech .

I think they added a tune to there speakers in the case of Bavsound I have
been told the tune is locked down.

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/match/amplifiers/

[whyzee125]

You could always get the match up7 (their amp is a rebranded and locked version of this) or the bimmertech amp.

[idriveuscream]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

You could always get the match up7 (their amp is a rebranded and locked version of this) or the bimmertech amp.

Yes, I was talking about the Matchup 7BMW amp from Crutchfield. $999 Not one from Bavsound.

[idriveuscream]

Pictures from my install. Comparing BMW original speakers to Bavsound plug-and-play replacements. Stage One upgrade for BMW E90 sedan with standard HiFi plus Ghost subwoofers.

[idriveuscream]

Installation experience. All speakers were truly plug-and-play, fit perfectly. My rear deck did not have an existing tweeter so that hole needed to be cut out.

Underseat subwoofers were the easiest to install and went fairly quickly. No issues at all. The rear deck speakers would have been the easiest to install except for the need to cut holes for the new tweeters. Also the tweeters are held in place with two screws and two nuts, normally not a big deal. But the space for your hand is very small, the existing hole for the mid-range speaker, to guide the nut onto the tweeter screw. It took me an unusually long time to get the cap nut lined up and threaded to the tweeter screw. Front door speaker and tweeter was very straight forward. The Bavsound install video is right on. I was able to install the door panel speaker and the pillar tweeter without removing the door panel completely off the car. I had something to sit on and after I popped the door panel off, I didn't disconnect everything I just held the panel and removed and replaced the speaker. It would be much much easier if you have a helper, a lot easier. Then I popped off the tweeter cover on the door pillar, removed the foam filler and quickly replaced the tweeter. I didn't peel back the door weather stripping much past the tweeter cover, maybe 6 inches. In the Bavsound installation video they remove the whole thing, I have no idea why. I was able to pop the door back on by myself, but having a helper would have made this step much much easier.

[idriveuscream]

I will review the sound quality after the 10 hour break in period. I am not an audiophile at all, but initial impressions are the Bavsound ghost subwoofers are obviously better and they are not even broken in. There is a more crisp bass punch. The BMW original subs sound "muddy" in comparison. The door pillar tweeters are clearly superior to the 10 year old BMW tweeters, details in the music are more noticeable. More to follow after 10 hour break in period.

[Jelle458]

Actually I just received a full speaker set from Match, and I want to install ASAP. A comparison would be awesome.

However I have the smallest possible audio system in mine, so I am doing a tweeter upgrade in the front doors. I ordered the door panels so there is space for the tweeters.
Although Match don't really make these an upgrade, more like a replacement, I have found no real guide as to how I do the actual tweeter upgrade.

I hear that you can't just pull the power from the speaker in the door to the tweeter, while others say it should work fine. How did you do your tweeter upgrade in the rear?

My whole system is acting crazy too. Too much volume and the music starts to slip, but only when the system gets "hot". Not like the speakers can't handle the volume, it sounds more like they are straight up broken, the subs sound more like a clap than a bang too, and it is a volume where you can speak normally to others in the car.

I am leaning towards the amp, but this being the lowest audio system I am unsure if there is an actual amp.

In total I got:
Speakers for front door + tweeter
Subs under the seat
Speakers with integrated tweeters for the rear (hat shelf)

I'm hoping changing everything works, but I am also worried it could be the amp, in this case maybe the headunit has the amp inside it, not sure how easy that is to replace.

Maybe I am also looking at that Match amp upgrade too, should solve all problems at least if speakers won't.

[ctuna]

Just go buy the BMW Tweeter Pods from BMW the rest should be stereo
101. They were something like 35 bucks us per side. No cutting into the doors.

No amp in the base system.
Run the car's vin through mdecoder.com
lack of tweeters indicate the no amp base system.

Head Unit power only won't move the needle much if at all with Head Unit Power.

[Jelle458]

I did buy the logic 7 door panels with room for tweeter in the front, I don't want to cut a hole myself, they were decently cheap brand new. Here in Denmark we have schmiedmann who can source these new parts for fair prices.

I am not a stereo person, and the only thing I ever did was upgrade some speakers in my old Kia, that speaker upgrade did a world of difference though, probably because the head unit isn't total crap.

mdecoder.com didn't indicate any kind of audio system, it is indeed the lowest of the lowest crap fitted to E90.

To begin with I just want the sound fixed, something is obviously broken somewhere, and if I replace speakers with quality ones first, I don't need to buy them twice, and I can prepare for the Match DSP amp.

However I can't find much information on how to cable that tweeter to the front door, if I can pull power from the door speaker, or split the cable before the speaker, or if I need to run new cables to the headunit. Everyone is giving conflicting answers and at this point I am one big questionmark, which is why I wanted to know how idriveuscream did it in the rear.

Can you dumb it down for someone who knows nothing at all about audio systems?

[ctuna]

This is pretty stereo 101 but when you add a tweeter if you have
a New Speakers that are component speakers with a passive
crossover pod .
1 the original speaker wire goes to the crossover and then two sets
of wires come off the crossover one which goes to the Main speaker
and one goes to the tweeter.
2) If you have no crossover then another wire runs off the main speaker
to the tweeter.

In the BMW tweeter a super simple crossover is in the wire to the tweeter
in the form of a capacitor.

Base System Guide
http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...5&d=1493273253

[Jelle458]

First, thank you ctuna, however my worries were for nothing as the kit already had this in mind, I'll explain, but first, I was able to install all speakers today within all the moving mess I have, just sold my house and moving into a temporary apartment so time is limited, which is also why it took me 3 days to reply.

Anyway, first a very short video where you can here the issues of the sound system:

View post on imgur.com

It is not VERY easy to hear, but I think most people can hear how the speakers suddenly stop playing then starts playing multiple times. It was this issue I wanted to fix initially, and while I am at it, might as well replace the whole thing with quality anyways.



I started from the rear and moved up, so this was the first replacement. It was extremely easy to do, and the kit came with a small wire with a capacitor, I used that wire, the connectors were all plug and play.
I faded the music only to the rear and replaced only one speaker. The difference was not HUGE, but that build-in tweeter could be heard, and quality definitely went up. After replacing both the difference was there, but I still couldn't turn up the volume without having the problem in the video, so it wasn't these speakers creating that problem.



Next up was the subs. Match didn't clearly indicate which way they should go. Apparently the original ones are mounted face down (Other way around than in picture), so they shoot the music... into the road?
Anyway they didn't clearly indicate it so it took some trial and error but in the end I found out that Match wanted to turn the subs around.
There is a mention of some spacers in the manual, spacers to lift the speaker grill a little higher so the subs don't hit the grill. However the grill is mounted with 6 screws under each seat, and they put in a total of 8 spacers with screws. I mounted the grills back without spacers and they don't hit it, maybe it is for another model but it isn't clearly indicated.

So the sub upgrade gave it a lot more grunt. Again I tried with old on the passenger side and new on the driver side, there was a clear difference and I now feel the kick way harder. They don't fall off a cliff when being turned up in volume like the original, hard to explain but I think most audio people will understand.



Here are the door panels I got from Schmiedmann. They are original with original part numbers. The tweeters fit in just fine as factory fit, and the replacement was a little bit hard but I managed it in the end. Hardest part is the window corner top right, and I didn't find any "quick way" of doing it, I had to pry a little bit, not too hard though so nothing broke.



New speaker with tweeter for the front doors, with the original BMW one too. This is where I shouldn't have worried at all. That filter box has an in wire that connects to the car, plug and play, then there is a tweeter out and a midrange speaker out. Just need to set the jumper so it knows it's powered by car radio not by amplifier.



Here is how it's connected. The box fit inside the door with no issues. I taped it with double sided tape and I can't hear it rattling.

This time I replaced the passenger side first, and wanted to listen to the difference, and now my problems with the audio cutting out was completely gone, so the volume can finally go higher without issues.

The biggest difference here is the tweeter, you hear those high sounds soooooo much better. It honestly made a world of difference when it comes to quality. Volume wise, because of my problem, it also moved by a lot. If the system worked perfectly fine to begin with, I don't think I would have gained a whole lot of volume.



One shot of the tweeter mounted. Not sure why I took it but since I have it might as well post it.


So overall thoughts...... As ctuna wrote, the needle didn't move much. I don't think a fully working system would gain a whole lot more in terms of volume.
However if I were to recommend something it is the front door tweeter upgrade. The difference it made in the front was HUGE when it comes to quality. The song in the video I posted became a whole lot clearer with that tweeter, with the original system it was like those high tunes disappeared, now they don't.

As for subs, sure if someone needs a little more kick, these are actually pretty great, but once you start replacing subs you should really get an amp. For me I can hear a difference, a harder kick and they follow at higher volume where the old ones start to sound horrible these still sound great, but I wouldn't say the improvement is more than 10%.

As for the rear ones. I got the ones with build in tweeter so I can't say for those who have the discrete tweeter. The difference is there for sure, but when you sit in the front you don't notice it so much, so it is mostly for passengers, which I rarely have. These rear speakers I think is doing nothing at all for me, as I only hear the doors and subs. Of course throw in an amp and things could be different.

But I got my sound system fixed by replacing everything with quality speakers, next up is an amp but I was just sooooo tired of this problem where the audio cuts out. I'd say I could only go to 50% volume, now I can go to 100%. The amp will have to wait though, I need to move the last things and figure out what me and the misses want to live in.

[idriveuscream]

Final review of Bavsound Stage One Upgrade and Ghost Subwoofers. Background: I have a 2011 328i x-drive sedan with the original BMW standard HiFi audio. I replaced all the speakers and under seat subs with Bavsound. Here are my thoughts and impressions:

Audio quality is noticeably improved. Both the speakers and subwoofers provide more clarity. Bavsound delivers what their website claims, you can turn the volume up louder because the audio does not distort as quickly when increasing the volume. Will you be blown away? No. Are the Bavsound better than the 10 year old OEM speakers? Yes.

Cost: about $1,200. The prices went up $599 for subs; $599 for speaker package. With a coupon or sale you should be able to get 10% off. If I was only going to choose one it would definitely be the speakers over the under seat subwoofers, for me anyway. Absolutely zero doubt I would get the Stage One Upgrade first. If you can afford both go for it, the subs are an improvement, but but but....a lot of music I listen to does not emphasize the bass. The difference is very clear with hip-hop or rap but with over the air waves radio stations playing pop or rock, I can barely notice the difference.

More on cost: it's worth it if you can easily afford it or really need new speakers. My car's worth maybe $9,000 so spending $1,000 on speakers doesn't make a whole lot of financial sense. But I know for a fact I'm keeping the car for a few more years. It's seems the choices for replacement speakers for the E90 are either very very cheap or $1,000+. "Plug and play" was important to me and Bavsound delivered on that.

[ctuna]

Actually there are many more plug an play speaker set's for the E90 now.
Bavsound seems to be the first thing everybody looks at.
They don't publish there specs.
The Sound system you start out with makes a big difference because of the
power available to the speakers through the Head Unit in the case of the base stereo
system and the amps in the the Hi Fi and Top Hi Fi system.
The amp's in the BMW system's are very weak and the speaker's are not that good either
but the Head Unit"s are a decent signal source.
You can get front Speaker combo's in aftermarket speakers the likes of Jehnert ,
Helix Match , Mbquart and others at lower price than Bavsounds and have some money
left for a Amp ( maybe not much ) . Really the Amp is the weakest part of the system.
BMW specs there audio system amp power at 10 percent distortion.

[cdgatti]

Just a plug for Helix. My original Helix DSP (hooked up to a couple JL amps) has been in service for about 8 years now. One day it stopped working, acted like it was just not powering on. Couldn't troubleshoot it. Got in touch with US dealer network, great dealer in AZ had me ship it to him, he bundled it with a shipment to Germany, they fixed it and returned it to me. Working perfectly (didn't even lose my tune) for NO COST. Great customer service and product backing.

[GA328iT]

I went with BimmerTech Alpha One and just installed the amp with the stock HiFi head unit and stock speakers on my 2009 328i E91.

The difference is dramatic. Like REALLY noticeable. I drove around this morning listening to the same 2 songs, first an MP3 on the iDrive hard drive, then on CD and then from my iPhone though the BMW iDrive adapter cable. Listening to Rush Fly By Night and Limelight. No surprise the MP3 from the hard drive sounded the poorest. Surprisingly, the iPhone sounded better than the CD.

After I installed the BimmerTech Alpha One amp, wow, the improvement was crazy. The sound just filled the space. With the stock amp, you can tell the sound was coming from the corners. With the BimmerTech amp, it was like the sound was coming from the dash or straight out of the windshield directly at me.

The install was super easy. If you love listening to music in your car and have $1,000, I definitely recommend the amp-first upgrade.

[ctuna]

Mp3 from drive probably sounded bad because you recorded it
in low bit rate or from a low bit rate source.

Also the way recording was recorded in the first place has a big
effect on it's dynamic range.
I can tell no difference between cd's and my high bit rate
mp3's as long as it goes through digital inputs to the head unit.
I have the Mr 12 volt device and stuff on the USB and SD drives
sounds the same as the same files burned onto cd's

[E92x7z]

really ... the music starts with the " right " signal and the isolation and damping materials of the same car I am convinced that with very little you can get so much .. just now you think you have music ...

aprox. https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en...m-doorkit-pro/ the idea is not to "knock" on doors with these 4" speakers ... and feel IT