Is there a way to tell what speaker set up the E89 has without a spec check?

hopz121 · Post by **hopz121** » Thu May 26, 2022 10:54 am

Hi all,

Looking to change my daily with either an E85/86 or an E89 and have some questions regarding the speaker upgrades from factory.

With the E85/E86 a tell tell sign was the subs behind the seats told you it had an upgrade followed by the dsp settings on the headunit to distinguish if it was the mid level or top level.

I have limited knowledge of the E89 platform, is it similar to the E85/E86 with subs behind the seats or cubby holes or is it not that simple?

Any help would be appreciated, most sellers won’t know what speaker set up there car has so an easy way for me to find out would be great.

Additionally did the I drive headunit come with a speaker upgrade from factory? Is DAB an option as well?

Thanks

Ash

Argyll Andy · Post by **Argyll Andy** » Thu May 26, 2022 11:19 am

Hi Ash from my recollection basic has no speakers behind the seats, mid range has two behind the seats and top has two behind the seats but also one in the middle above the cubby hole between the seats.

Re the iDrive, no having an iDrive does not mean upgraded stereo/speakers, they were two separate options and often not ticked together

Someone may be along to give a much more detail explanation but that’s at least a starter

Pondrew · Post by **Pondrew** » Thu May 26, 2022 11:30 am

There is a diagram on a recent thread, by B21 I think, which shows the differences in the optional speaker upgrades. Try searching for 'speaker upgrade' and look for threads by B21.

Argyll Andy · Post by **Argyll Andy** » Thu May 26, 2022 11:32 am

Visually, with just the ones in the yellow squares, mid (11 speakers system) additional red square, top (14 speaker system) nothing behind the seats, base system

As Pondrew said Peter gave a detailed post about the systems and functionality

B21 · Post by **B21** » Thu May 26, 2022 3:23 pm

The 6 speaker system has lettering on the radio unit, the others don't

The 6 speaker system doesn't have tweeters in the plastic pods on the doors at their leading edge (you can see the silver of the tweeter glint if you peer through the mesh) and no sub-woofer grills behind the seats, 4 channels driving 6 speakers

If you have subwoofer grills and tweeters glinting at you then you probably have the 676 Hi-Fi system with 7 channels driving 11 speakers

The 14 speaker system is quite rare..the easiest way to work it out is to go to the tone menu and see if there is a graphic equaliser option, that only appeared on the 677 Top-Fi system with 10 channels driving 14 speakers

hopz121 · Post by **hopz121** » Thu May 26, 2022 4:06 pm

Thanks for the replies guys this is very helpful.

Similar to the E85/E86 platform then, if you have speaker grills behind the seats hen you have a hifi upgrade of some sort.

is the dash grill in all cars regardless (with or without a speaker behind) or only with a hifi upgrade? Trying to work out an easy way to spot this in classified photos

B21 · Post by **B21** » Thu May 26, 2022 4:25 pm

hopz121 wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 4:06 pm Thanks for the replies guys this is very helpful.

Similar to the E85/E86 platform then, if you have speaker grills behind the seats hen you have a hifi upgrade of some sort.

is the dash grill in all cars regardless (with or without a speaker behind) or only with a hifi upgrade? Trying to work out an easy way to spot this in classified photos

Dash grill is present in all versions (AFAIK)..the rear centre grill between the seats is only there on the 677 option.

davegt · Post by **davegt** » Fri May 27, 2022 11:32 am

Mine must be a strange set up then, I have the basic 6 speakers plus the door pillar tweeters - yes they are fitted an functional

Which reminds me that i need to get my sub fitted at some point...

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Fri May 27, 2022 11:44 am

davegt wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 11:32 am Mine must be a strange set up then, I have the basic 6 speakers plus the door pillar tweeters - yes they are fitted an functional Which reminds me that i need to get my sub fitted at some point...

Probably somebody has just upgraded them..I've done it in mine..big improvement too

B21 · Post by **B21** » Fri May 27, 2022 11:59 am

mr.tourette wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 11:44 am
davegt wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 11:32 am Mine must be a strange set up then, I have the basic 6 speakers plus the door pillar tweeters - yes they are fitted an functional Which reminds me that i need to get my sub fitted at some point...
Probably somebody has just upgraded them..I've done it in mine..big improvement too

By now quite a few cars have had their audio systems twiddled with..often using a scan tool like Bimergeeks Protool shows up 'irregularities' in the audio systems which is an indicator of twiddleness..

newbie22 · Post by **newbie22** » Sun May 29, 2022 11:12 am

if you go to https://www.bimmer-tech.net/ and type in your vin it will show you what stereo speakers you have already installed and any options you can do.
don't forget you can also change the factory equalizer settings in the menu

B21 · Post by **B21** » Sun May 29, 2022 12:28 pm

newbie22 wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 11:12 am an also change the factory equalizer settings in the menu

Which menu is that pls?

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