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2009 E89 Z4

Specific discussion about the E89 2009 Z4 (sDrive35is, sDrive35i, sDrive30i, sDrive23i)
Silverstar
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2009 E89 Z4

Post by Silverstar » Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:13 am

AnubisZed wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:17 pm 09Z4.... Any particular reason as to why you want extra speakers?
Firstly I'm not knocking in any way the threads posted above as they are full of very useful information. But is it that you feel that the base stereo and only 6 speakers are, well just a little flat and, to be perfectly honest..... pants??!! If so then read on.........

Mine was a base model when I bought it, the most basic BMW standard headunit they produce and coupled to only the 6 speakers with only the AUX for extra inputs and no bluetooth. After reading a lot of info on other forums I found that you can upgrade the headunit to one that has built-in bluetooth and USB input control (memory sticks, iPods etc). So I set about doing this upgrade and in the end not only did I end up with all that I was expecting but also the sound quality was far suprior as it has a much better built-in amp than the original, so win-win :thumbsup:
Now it's a relatively cheap upgrade (depending how you define cheap!) as you'd be looking in the region of around £170 to £200 depending on current prices of used parts then a little bit of coding on top, but this not only gives you a better sound quality but also the USB input and bluetooth calls (not music, although that can be added)
Like I say I did this to mine and I've done it to another 3 members since then as well.

Oh and you can just add the tweeters in the OE position as it's a plug-n-play option :thumbsup:
I didn't realise BMW had two different versions of the base system in the Z4, mine was the base 6 speaker setup but I had bluetooth for phone calls and the aux terminal, I would have thought the only difference between what you had and what I have is the bluetooth but maybe I am wrong. My base system with 6 speakers and built in amp was rubbish, worse stereo I've had in any BMW apart from my old E30 which I had many years ago.
2009 sdrive30i auto Sapphire Black / Coral Red

AnubisZed
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2009 E89 Z4

Post by AnubisZed » Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:36 am

Silverstar wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:13 am I didn't realise BMW had two different versions of the base system in the Z4, mine was the base 6 speaker setup but I had bluetooth for phone calls and the aux terminal, I would have thought the only difference between what you had and what I have is the bluetooth but maybe I am wrong. My base system with 6 speakers and built in amp was rubbish, worse stereo I've had in any BMW apart from my old E30 which I had many years ago.
The whole entertainment side of BMW is a minefield to negotiate as there are so many options and combinations.

Firstly there is the base headunit, there are at least 2 versions of these, one with fibre optic (MOST) prep and one without.
Then you have the communication modules, of which are the following incarnations;

TCU (Telemetrics Control Unit, ie; Bluetooth)
MULF (USB/AUX control)
- Now you could have different combinations of these two modules, for instance Bluetooth calls only (TCU only) or USB only (MULF only) or both together for the package.

MULF2 (USB/AUX control with built-in Bluetooth, negating the need for a separate TCU module)
Combox (As MULF2 but with Bluetooth Music, USB Album Art etc, ie; MEDIA)

These modules were all connected to the headunit via the MOST fibre optic network so you'd still have the base amplifier in the headunit but with the additions of the above. So if you wanted a better audio experience then you could opt for one of the amplifier packages (as posted above, BMW Business or BMW Professional, not to be confused with the headunits that BMW offered in their ranges that were also called Business and Professional!!).


The better headunit that had Bluetooth and USB control built-in was brought out later (around 2012 I believe), but I don't know if it was actually offered on the E89 but would assume so as the 1 and 3 series (that shared the same headunit) had changed by then whereas the E89 continued in the same style up till 2016.

Then on top of all of that you have iDrive, but that's a whole new story!! :rofl:

There are other modules but they are only add-ons like the CD/DVD Multichanger (DVD version only on iDrive), DAB (DAB was also built-in to the headunit on later cars, both on standard and iDrive options) and TV/Video (again only for iDrive), all of which are on the MOST network.

Hope that clarifies it a bit. I may have simplified some of that, or may even have missed something! :thumbsup:
Dave
2011, 23i, Grey with Red leather. 8)

My E89 YouTube channel - BMW Z4 Mods
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCttNBt ... UQnoEvKB2Q

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B21
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2009 E89 Z4

Post by B21 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:11 am

AnubisZed nice concise summary of the minefield that is the USB / Bluetooth options :thumbsup:

And of course if you have a 18, 20, 28i then you have your audio being fed through the ASD, active sound design…in which case the amplification takes place in the ASD not in the head unit (for the six speaker systems)..which doesn’t help audio quality…
We choose to go to on with this endeavour at this time and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..

Silverstar
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2009 E89 Z4

Post by Silverstar » Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:11 am

Blimey that really is a minefield!
2009 sdrive30i auto Sapphire Black / Coral Red

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