E89 audio upgrade

C

CliveN

Active member
This subject again. The basic six speaker system is terrible. I wanted something simple that didn’t require the car being torn apart and many installers say they can do it saying it’s the same as other contemporaneous BMWs. Well it isn’t as it doesn’t have under seat speakers and it has a collapsible hardtop. So buying a speaker set from day vibe is not feasible as they provide the under seat woofer. Which I can’t fit.

Ditto some threads have said its the speakers at fault others the head unit. I am
baffled….

The question is therefore how best can I improve the sound by buying replacement speakers for the six already installed in the car and to buy a tweeter fir where there is currently a hole. I do not an amplifier nor to cut wiring so simple replacement speakers are best fir me at this stage. What about bavsound? Any experience??

Advice please. I have read all the threads and they appear to be more complex solutions.
 
For ARCS - where did you locate the crossover box please and did you dismember the original woofer to act as a plate for the hertz ?
 
As above, all plug straight in. As for the footwells, I made an adapter ring out of plywood the same as B21.

like this
20250406_143951.jpg20250406_143452.jpg I've got the vibe powerbox65.4 running the doors and rears and a vibe400.1 running the footwells.
 
Last edited:
CliveN said:
For ARCS - where did you locate the crossover box please and did you dismember the original woofer to act as a plate for the hertz ?
Click to expand...
The crossovers fitted in at the top of the door just below the tweeters.
 
I have now bought the match up frt-3 speakers which includes a tweeter and mid range for the door. Can ARCS please advise if he used the same mid range speaker for the seat belt location or if it was the coaxial (tweeter and mid range combined) from the same manufacturer? Any other views on best for that please now that I understand that the amp programming means it doesn’t do much anyway. Thank you. Fitting this weekend using Dave’s video!
 
CliveN said:
I have now bought the match up frt-3 speakers which includes a tweeter and mid range for the door. Can ARCS please advise if he used the same mid range speaker for the seat belt location or if it was the coaxial (tweeter and mid range combined) from the same manufacturer? Any other views on best for that please now that I understand that the amp programming means it doesn’t do much anyway. Thank you. Fitting this weekend using Dave’s video!
Click to expand...
Same speakers in the rear as the doors. You'll need to cut out the hole for the tweeters.
 
Thank you. Just to be clear (as I want to get this right) you installed a tweeter in the seat belt location? Not just a straight replacement of the mid range. Would it be correct to say that the match up coaxial (which has the same mounting dimensions as the one you/I have) might be better as I don’t then have to find a place the tweeter? Or do they perform differently?
 
CliveN said:
Thank you. Just to be clear (as I want to get this right) you installed a tweeter in the seat belt location? Not just a straight replacement of the mid range. Would it be correct to say that the match up coaxial (which has the same mounting dimensions as the one you/I have) might be better as I don’t then have to find a place the tweeter? Or do they perform differently?
Click to expand...
Technically a co-axial would be at least adequate if not better than a seperate mid range / tweeter..

Furthermore the rear speakers only provide a low level frequency limited audio signal ..if you are adhering to stereo audio principles..

So on cost, performance and ease of fitting a co-axial unit is the best solution.
 
This is what I did to mine, giving me 16 speakers in total :thumbsup: :driving:
 

Attachments

  • 20240413_095957.jpg
    20240413_095957.jpg
    616.1 KB · Views: 5
  • 20240413_093706.jpg
    20240413_093706.jpg
    636.6 KB · Views: 5
  • 20240413_095526.jpg
    20240413_095526.jpg
    757.8 KB · Views: 5
  • 20240413_095532.jpg
    20240413_095532.jpg
    694 KB · Views: 7
  • 20240413_095551.jpg
    20240413_095551.jpg
    584.6 KB · Views: 7
Thanks all. I have bought a match up coaxial to go with the match up tweeter/mid range pair in the doors. I will let you know how they fit and sound. I will probably buy the hertz footwell speaker and either get an adapter ring (any ideas please?) or butcher the existing speaker to use that baseplate. My last question (probably not….) will be how do you get at the footwell woofers? I am sure there is an AnubisZed video somewhere! All in all thanks to z4 forum I now have confidence to do this myself rather than pay an installer and spend an extra wedge of cash in the process. So thanks everyone.
 
CliveN said:
.... how do you get at the footwell woofers? I am sure there is an AnubisZed video somewhere! ...
Click to expand...
No video, but for both sides you need to remove the footwell upper panel (above your feet) first (three Phillips screws each side). For the passenger side the woofer panel unclips, for the drivers side you need to remove the bonnet release lever (1 screw) and then there's another screw behind that. One is Phillips the other is Torx 20 (T20), but can't remember which way round that is. Woofers are held in place by 4 T20's each.
 
Getting there! Installation starts now. One thing. The matchup coaxial speakers include an extra wire to go between the speaker and the existing connection. They say to fit it if the speaker is “driven directly by the car radio”. I am assuming in my case it is. Can anyone please advise. Thank you
 
CliveN said:
Getting there! Installation starts now. One thing. The matchup coaxial speakers include an extra wire to go between the speaker and the existing connection. They say to fit it if the speaker is “driven directly by the car radio”. I am assuming in my case it is. Can anyone please advise. Thank you
Click to expand...
Yup it’s driven by radio not off board amp
 
So the back ones are in. Apart from the fact that I should have done it with the roof down it was a breeze. Now the doors. The drivers came away easily (edit I haven’t done the top edge yet as the speakers arrive later today) but the tweeter cover was very hard to remove. Dave must have the grip of Hercules. I took me two pry tools. The passenger side was next. Ditto with the tweeter cover but at least I knew where the fixing were to apply the pressure. But could I get the panel off? It appeared welded to the cars in the end I roped in the missus to hold the door as I approached it from the hinge end and used my biggest possibly pry tools and then bang it came off. One broken clip…. Lastly getting the door pull cover off was a headache and caused a minor abrasion in the rubberised surface. On closer examination it seems as though the rubber surface is perishing. So are the replacement ones found on eBay for £25 any good if am I wasting my money. Colour match and texture need to be acceptable. Next update tomorrow
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom