[gIzzE]

EDIT: I do think there are now better options.
I would probably buy a little Alpine F300 amp, 4 channel and run new speakers (Morel work well with the EQ'd head unit set to -3db on tweeter) taking the signal from the wires in the door sills (see Alpine upgrade thread for details).
This wold cost around £300 including cables and be a quicker install.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I decided that if I am going to keep the 3 series touring for a while something had to be done about the sound system.
My last car consisted of Rainbow profi speakers and an Aliante 10Si sub being driven by an Alpine 9887r head unit and a Genesis Profile 4 amp.
Time alignment and frequency tuning was used and the sound was really, really nice, loads of detail, soundstage up on the dashboard and a really smooth overall sound.

The blaupunkt amp went in on Sunday and I also had a pair of Earthquake SWS-8 subs to go in, I had already swapped over the stock speakers up front with a pair of DLS R4's, these are between £110-140 and rock. Really detailed and very smooth, one of the real audio bargins out there imho.
After installing the amp I was well chuffed, it had loads of authority and filled the car with sound, in fact I nearly decided not to install the earthquake subs under the seat, I was really happy with the results of the amp on its own.
However it was a 5 channel and I had Monday off work, so I decided wtf, and put them in, silly to have a sub channel not being used.

All I can say is this system is fantastic, it made the £2k system in my last car seem like a complete waste of money if I am honest.
BMW designing the subs under the seats and using the door sills as cabinet enclosure is the best thing to happen to car audio since the car was invented, it stops that 'bass in the boot' sound and allows you to crossover the sub and front speakers at a much higher point, meaning the sub can work like it is meant to and the front speakers are just doing upper midrange and treble so they are not stained.

This really is a must do upgrade for any 'new' BMW owner of either the 1 series, 3 series, 5 series, 6 series, X3 or X5.
I had the L7 in the last car and this is better in every way.

This is only for cars with the stock radio or nav systems, it will not work with cars with the hi-fi option or Logic7.

Also it takes around 20-30 minutes to install and not one cable is cut, you can put it back to stock in 20 minutes. great for company car and lease car owners.

Here are some install pics to help you do it yourself if you want to.......


Remove Climate and Radio...

















------------------

Remove connector and the optical cables if you have them...





Then plug your new cable into the existing cable and put the optical into the blaupunkt adapter....


Undo the trim under your glovebox (RHD) or steering wheel (LHD)....


And push the extension cable up to behind radio....


---------------------------

Connect the extension cable to the harness behind radio...





And start to remove trim to tuck cable down the side of the car...












---------------------------

Use a couple of cable ties to keep it under the trim and remove rest of trim to the back of the car to get to the trunk....



















----------------------------

Push the cable through to the trunk where the existing wires go through....





And pull them through into the trunk...






------------------------------

Plug the cables into the amp and hook up positive and negative to battery..



















I tucked the power cables under the boot floor..

Stand back and admire your work. Job done!!

[- Paul -]

Another great write up - thanks.

[Gibbo]

Great write up - I'm loving these DIY posts.

[steve-p]

Awesome. Love the dog too

[SteveG]

gIzzE,

I haven't yet decided on a 120D M Sport or a 318D Edition M Sport for my new company vehicle but will have to decide in next three weeks as fleet department are pushing me.

I'm trying to decide on the sound side of things as I'm not impressed with the sound from the standard system on my current 320D M Sport with the prof head unit.

I have been considering upgrading to the hifi system but from you've said, your solution sounds so much better. If I go with the 318d and just stick with the prof unit and business sat nav, what would be the cost to upgrade to the replacement speakers, the blaupunkt amp and cabling etc. I'm not so worried about replacement sub/s.

Your pics make it look so easy, is it that simple ?

Cheers,

Steve.

[gIzzE]

Don't get the hi-fi system it is not very good at all.

To just add L7 tweeters and the blaupunkt 2 channel amp to drive the speakers and factory subs you are looking at...

Amp £120-150
Cable £50-65 (2.5m or 5.5m)
Tweeters and new trim to hold them in £60 from BMW.

You could add DLS R4 speakers for £130.

[AlanQS]

What places sell this kit?

[CayoRob]

gIzzE,

I must admit i'm very intruiged in this thread, reference the 2 channel PnP amp and adding the tweaters, and have just joined the forum (Hi guys!!)

When you install the tweaters i take it the door cards have to come off? Is this an easy job as on first looking i can't even see any screws.

Also, did you say the amp will get all its power through the loom and you don't need to run a power cable to the back of the car?

Thanks in advance

Rob

[Chris320]

My understanding is that the THA275 uses the 12v line from the headunit rather than needing a separate high current feed from the battery. This would just be run in the standard BMW adaptor harness that you can buy for the amp.

The RMS current to each of the channels at it's worse case 2 ohm load would be just over 6 amps so i'd imagine the amp will be fitted with a 15 or 20 amp fuse. The system wiring loom should be able to cope with that (but don't quote me on that!! )

[kend]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Don't get the hi-fi system it is not very good at all.

To just add L7 tweeters and the blaupunkt 2 channel amp to drive the speakers and factory subs you are looking at...

Amp £120-150
Cable £50-65 (2.5m or 5.5m)
Tweeters and new trim to hold them in £60 from BMW.

You could add DLS R4 speakers for £130.

I talked to my local parts department and the are struggling to work out all of the parts needed to fix the tweeters to the door.Could you post up all of the part numbers needed to fix the tweeter and for the tweeter covers.
Thanks

[gIzzE]

Have they not an online parts catalogue??

FOR VEHICLES WITH
HIFI SPEAKER SYSTEM
OR
HIFI SYSTEM PROFESSIONAL DSP
WITHOUT
LOUDSPEAKER
S676A=YES

S677A=YES
13 CORNER MOULDING, INTERIOR LEFT 1 51337184197
13 CORNER MOULDING, INTERIOR RIGHT 1 51337184198


FOR VEHICLES WITH
HIFI SYSTEM PROFESSIONAL DSP
S677A=YES
02 TOP-HIFI LOUDSPEAKER TWEETER 2 65136964013 $77.28

[gIzzE]

Get them to check those parts against your car.

[Chris320]

Hi Gizze,

Excuse my total ignorance here but what is 'S676A=YES' and 'S677A=YES'?

I just have the bog standard 'Professional CD player' and the basic speaker system (non-hifi). Do I just need...

1 of 13 CORNER MOULDING, INTERIOR LEFT 1 51337184197
1 of 13 CORNER MOULDING, INTERIOR RIGHT 1 51337184198
1 of 02 TOP-HIFI LOUDSPEAKER TWEETER 2 65136964013

Cheers!

[BC4J]

gIzzE - what was the card you were using to pry off the front panels? Do they come off easy?

[hmi1750]

like this thread a lot.. if you don't mind me asking, how much was your set up with all the parts?

I would love to do this as the standard set up is rubbish.

Thanks.

[sheps]

Gizzee,

Great write up buddy, good photos too.

When I first took delivery of my car I was surprised at how reasonable I thought the standard fit stuff was, but as the months and miles have passed I've changed that opinion and am looking to upgrade - what you've done looks like an ideal path to follow.

I have a number of questions, which I'm hoping you can answer;

Firstly, the speakers themselves - The DLS's are a 4" mid range and tweeter component set, yes? Are you using these tweeters as opposed to the tweeters available from BMW? If so, are there any issues with fitting them in the stock locations?

Secondly, crossovers; are you using the DLS-supplied crossovers, and if so, where are the situated?

The ampllifier itself - do you have a model/part number?
The cables you've used (not the power/earth) where are these from? Are they a BMW part?

In general, I'm slightly confused as to how everythying is wired up - how are the 5 channels of the amplifier being used? Do you have each of the four speakers up front running on a seperate channel, with the subs running in mono at 2 Ohms off of the 5th output?

The photos suggest everything other than power is plug and play, is it really that simple? Is it a case of installing amp and cable, giving it power and swapping the speakers over, or is there more to do?

Thanks,

Si

[dxb335d]

Im extremely interested in this also.

How much was the whole set up? also could i pay you to install for me gizze cuz your obviously an expert mate

[matlough]

+1

[TimsterC]

Hi gIzzE,

Can you tell us the model of the Blaupunkt amp.

Thanks

[matlough]

THA-275 2 channel
THA-475 4 channel
THA-555 5 channel
THA-1250 mono sub amp
__________________

[gIzzE]

The amps available are as follows....

THA-275 - 2 channel amp that will fit under the glove box (but above the trim that is beneath it so it is hidden) and will drive your front speakers with 75wpc.
The subs are also hooked up to the front channels too, so it will drive the stock subs as well.
Total cost around £180-200 and takes 10 minutes to install a good upgrade.

THA-475 - 4 channel amp with 75wpc.
This will be as above but will also drive the rear speakers, however as it is bigger it needs to go in the boot, so you need the blaupunkt extension cable.
Can't see the point of this one myself.

THA-555 - 5 channel amp with 55wpc and 250w mono sub or 2 x 125w pair of subs.
With this one you can hook it up as above and add a sub in the boot, or, you can hook it up as above but add Earthquake subs under the seat and drive them with the sub channel.
For this you need to run new cables to the subs under the seat.


The plug and play cables are made by Blaupunkt and consist of two parts, the first part is the adapter that plugs into the fatory harness and back into the head unit and the second part is an extension that plugs into the amp, this comes as a 2m or 5.5m verison.


The speakers use the DLS crossover, there is plenty of room in the door card to mount it, I use the factory cable into the crossover and then run new cable to the new driver and tweeter.
You can buy the L7 door surround which has the grille for the factory tweeter and mount it in there for a complete OEM look, however I cut a hole out of the door surround I have with no grille and mounted the tweeter in that using the DLS tweeter mount, this allows me to position the tweeter so it is firing up onto the dash which gives a fantastic spread of sound in front on you.
Mounting the speakers is bead easy, no adapters need to be made etc. Even for someone who has not done this before it is no longer than a 2 hour job taking your time.

[Chris320]

Originally Posted by Chris320

Hi Gizze,

Excuse my total ignorance here but what is 'S676A=YES' and 'S677A=YES'?

I just have the bog standard 'Professional CD player' and the basic speaker system (non-hifi). Do I just need...

1 of 13 CORNER MOULDING, INTERIOR LEFT 1 51337184197
1 of 13 CORNER MOULDING, INTERIOR RIGHT 1 51337184198
1 of 02 TOP-HIFI LOUDSPEAKER TWEETER 2 65136964013

Cheers!

Can you just confirm this??