Basic stereo 6 speaker upgrade..update Amp added..final update, active subwoofer installed

Nick9one1 said:
Colin_E said:
Nick9one1 said:
Have you coded the car to HiFi?

The standard setup has boosted treble to overcome the lack of tweeters, it will probably sound a bit harsh until you do (Mine did).
Do you have any info on how to do that? Harsh with over-boosted treble has been exactly my experience from a door speaker upgrade (Audison mids & tweeters). My 'compensation' settings are moderately boosted bass, a negative on the treble and a small shift on fader but a coding setting is something I'd like to try.

It will make a huge difference.

It was quite some time ago that I coded it so its difficult to remember! :headbang:

In a nutshell the process is;

add $676 to VO, then FA_write in FRM and CAS.
Then, using NCS, with the profile "expert", code the following modules :

CHOST
CAPPL
CGATE
CAUDI
CTUNE

I found a post I made in 2018;
After step 8 I had to choose 'chassis', 'CAS' before it would take my VIN.

After step 19 (FA_Write on CAS) I chose change ECU, and performed the FA_Write on CIC.

this ^ seems to correspond to these v instructions;


Plug in cable to OBD port and selected usb port
Run NCSexpert
Click "file" and select "load profile" and select "expertmode"
Click "VIN/ZCS/FA
Click "ZCS/FA f. ECU
Select chassis type "e89"
On choose ECU select "CAS"
After your vin is shown select "enter FA"
Select chassis type "e89"
Ensure VIN shown is correct and select "OK"
Enter $676 and then select "add"
Then scroll down and select "£676" and select "OK"
Then select "Back button"
Then select "F4 Process ECU"
Then select from drop down list "CAS"
Then select "F2 Change Job"
Then select "FA_WRITE" and click "OK"
Ensure CAS is shown on "Get Coded" and FA_WRITE shown on "JOB NAME"
Select "F3 Execute Job"
I would quite like to do this, however that ^^^^ reads like a foreign language to me, i guess i need to start learning about ncs expert, if anyone local ish to N wales/Chester can help. with this it would be much appreciated.
Im about to dig into YouTube and see if I can pick up a little knowledge
 
For a modest fee Tintoverno does remote programming...I got him to install the BMW tools on my laptop...

Even though I’ve been in IT for a long long time I never got it fully installed and working ...as I watched Tintoverno install it there were a few undocumented gotchas and changes required...

We then plugged the laptop in the car and he could remotely read / code the car..

The issue with this level of programming is that you can inadvertently get it spectacularly wrong...it doesn’t help that the terse limited interface is mostly in technical German...
 
Pbondar said:
For a modest fee Tintoverno does remote programming...I got him to install the BMW tools on my laptop...

Even though I’ve been in IT for a long long time I never got it fully installed and working ...as I watched Tintoverno install it there were a few undocumented gotchas and changes required...

We then plugged the laptop in the car and he could remotely read / code the car..

The issue with this level of programming is that you can inadvertently get it spectacularly wrong...it doesn’t help that the terse limited interface is mostly in technical German...
Thats interesting Pete.. I may reach out to him as it does seem quite tricky and as you say could go horribly wrong, thanks for the heads up :thumbsup:
 
Getting BMW Standard Tools installed (which includes NCSExpert) on Windows 10 proved to be fairly straightforward. Certainly not as bad as I'd feared. There are plenty of YT vids and the 'readme' within the BimmerGeeks download covers most of it quite clearly. The only thing it misses is that you need to replace the PFL files for NCSExpert (NCS Profiles) with alternatives. I've linked to one of the videos as it provides a link to the NCS Profiles: https://youtu.be/_RdQaNOmH3I
Having got this far, I'm limited to what I can do until my K+DCAN cable arrives but Nick9one1's instructions seem to make sense once you see the NCSExpert interface.
 
Colin_E said:
Getting BMW Standard Tools installed (which includes NCSExpert) on Windows 10 proved to be fairly straightforward. Certainly not as bad as I'd feared. There are plenty of YT vids and the 'readme' within the BimmerGeeks download covers most of it quite clearly. The only thing it misses is that you need to replace the PFL files for NCSExpert (NCS Profiles) with alternatives. I've linked to one of the videos as it provides a link to the NCS Profiles: https://youtu.be/_RdQaNOmH3I
Having got this far, I'm limited to what I can do until my K+DCAN cable arrives but Nick9one1's instructions seem to make sense once you see the NCSExpert interface.
Thanks for the link Colin, does make some of that a bit clearer though I'll need to get a lot more clued up on it before i delved in, good video though, the guy explaining it does a good job :thumbsup:
 
Colin_E said:
Getting BMW Standard Tools installed (which includes NCSExpert) on Windows 10 proved to be fairly straightforward. Certainly not as bad as I'd feared. There are plenty of YT vids and the 'readme' within the BimmerGeeks download covers most of it quite clearly. The only thing it misses is that you need to replace the PFL files for NCSExpert (NCS Profiles) with alternatives. I've linked to one of the videos as it provides a link to the NCS Profiles: https://youtu.be/_RdQaNOmH3I
Having got this far, I'm limited to what I can do until my K+DCAN cable arrives but Nick9one1's instructions seem to make sense once you see the NCSExpert interface.


Bimmergeeks is definitely the easiest way to configure it. A lot of the screens have been converted into English.
I didn't need to replace the profiles when I installed; Factory coding is what some would call expertmode. Manipulation is for coding.
 
Here is another thread you might find interesting; https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310508

The OP upgrades his standard system with a Blaupunkt THA-555 amp (its almost plug and play).
 
Nick9one1 said:
Here is another thread you might find interesting; https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310508

The OP upgrades his standard system with a Blaupunkt THA-555 amp (its almost plug and play).

Thanks Nick, i am now considering a small amp, for no other reason than I feel like job is only half done rather than actually really needing it.. plus i could do with something else to do in this lockdown :D

Im wondering though does a separate amp negate the need to recode the head unit, the unit im looking at is pretty much plug and play with an iso t harness adapter loom
 
mr.tourette said:
Nick9one1 said:
Here is another thread you might find interesting; https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310508

The OP upgrades his standard system with a Blaupunkt THA-555 amp (its almost plug and play).

Thanks Nick, i am now considering a small amp, for no other reason than I feel like job is only half done rather than actually really needing it.. plus i could do with something else to do in this lockdown :D

Im wondering though does a separate amp negate the need to recode the head unit, the unit im looking at is pretty much plug and play with an iso t harness adapter loom

Ideally the more you twiddle the more you want to set the basline to flat which is what configuring 'hi-fi' option does.. IMHO.. so no..
 
Pbondar said:
mr.tourette said:
Nick9one1 said:
Here is another thread you might find interesting; https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310508

The OP upgrades his standard system with a Blaupunkt THA-555 amp (its almost plug and play).

Thanks Nick, i am now considering a small amp, for no other reason than I feel like job is only half done rather than actually really needing it.. plus i could do with something else to do in this lockdown :D

Im wondering though does a separate amp negate the need to recode the head unit, the unit im looking at is pretty much plug and play with an iso t harness adapter loom

Ideally the more you twiddle the more you want to set the basline to flat which is what configuring 'hi-fi' option does.. IMHO.. so no..

Cheers Pete, hopefully get a dcan this week and speak to tinto about sorting that :thumbsup:
 
Just to help set expectations, but since you are in twiddling mood, its likely that you will need to spend quite a lot of time tailoring the responses and balance to suit you if you go down that route..

But the good news is that you start from a unadulerated base line rather than a heavily pre processed position..

With my mega conversion I had 3 major attempts spaced out over a year!!

I've now rattled the drivers door so much I need to strip it out to see what I've vibrated and add some damping material..
 
Pbondar said:
Just to help set expectations, but since you are in twiddling mood, its likely that you will need to spend quite a lot of time tailoring the responses and balance to suit you if you go down that route..

But the good news is that you start from a unadulerated base line rather than a heavily pre processed position..

With my mega conversion I had 3 major attempts spaced out over a year!!

I've now rattled the drivers door so much I need to strip it out to see what I've vibrated and add some damping material..

I get that mate :thumbsup: I'm actually going into the car now to have another play with set up, going to try running the bass and treble down to both centre and -10 and play around with the poweramp equalizer app before i actually throw any more cash at it, truth be told I am very happy with the improvements but can't quite resist pushing for a bit more oomph :D :thumbsup:
 
There's the obvious 80/20 benefit / cost curve which you are about to fall off the edge! :rofl:

But then the whole Z4 thing is not about what is the most functionally efficient / expedient result anyway :tumbleweed:

In the same argument about 'you can't beat cubes' ref engines then there is no such thing as excess amplification..

These modern Class D amps are a revelation in terms of perfomance /power consumption/heat..
 
Nick9one1 said:
Bimmergeeks is definitely the easiest way to configure it. A lot of the screens have been converted into English.
I didn't need to replace the profiles when I installed; Factory coding is what some would call expertmode. Manipulation is for coding.

OK, Maybe I should look again at the profiles that come with the BimmerGeeks download - just to be clear are you saying that 'Manipulation' is the one I should use for this mod?
Also is there any further documentation/forum etc on using the BimmerGeeks software as it is? I was drawn to the alternatives (and particularly 'Revtors Profile' because I found a bit of tutorial stuff on it and also because it supposedly reduces the risk of catastrophic error as it codes one module at a time.
Talking of errors - is there a write up anywhere on how to recover if it all goes tits-up?
 
Pbondar said:
There's the obvious 80/20 benefit / cost curve which you are about to fall off the edge! :rofl:

But then the whole Z4 thing is not about what is the most functionally efficient / expedient result anyway :tumbleweed:

In the same argument about 'you can't beat cubes' ref engines then there is no such thing as excess amplification..

These modern Class D amps are a revelation in terms of perfomance /power consumption/heat..

Actually I'm only looking at a micro 4 channel amp , 4x65w its very reasonably priced and would still bring the whole job in at 266 which although was more than i planned still seems very favourable in terms of a cost/ performance. That said after a wee play around just now am running slightly different settings of -2 fader +5 bass +3 treble and as long as I keep the volume no higher than 90% there has been a fabulous improvement from standard. I honestly can't see me needing anything louder as its enough there in terms of overall volume but the thought of improving the clarity further does appeal

Using my poweramp app/music player I'm not making much if any improvements keeping everything on the head unit centred and playing around with the graphic, I think the head unit is having too much effect for the app to make any improvements and is limiting the effectiveness it usually has.

I'm pretty sure i do not need the amp for my use.... but now its in my head :rofl:

Your engine analogy reminds me of one I read years ago in a motorbike magazine when they were talking about bolts ons for a hayabusa, it went "need more horsepower? you definitely do not...want more horsepower...you most probably do!" :D
 
The 6 player head unit has some very drastic equalisations to get around the very crappy speakers so the best bet is to re-basline the head unit with Tintoverno or others/w tools ..

You could stop then if cost control is a concern and re-twiddle your knobs.. my guess is if you are at 85% happy that will take you to 90% happy.. the amp will take you to 100%-115% !!!
 
mr.tourette said:
Actually I'm only looking at a micro 4 channel amp , 4x65w its very reasonably priced and would still bring the whole job in at 266 which although was more than i planned still seems very favourable in terms of a cost/ performance. That said after a wee play around just now am running slightly different settings of -2 fader +5 bass +3 treble and as long as I keep the volume no higher than 90% there has been a fabulous improvement from standard. I honestly can't see me needing anything louder as its enough there in terms of overall volume but the thought of improving the clarity further does appeal

Which amp are you looking at?
 
Silverstar said:
mr.tourette said:
Actually I'm only looking at a micro 4 channel amp , 4x65w its very reasonably priced and would still bring the whole job in at 266 which although was more than i planned still seems very favourable in terms of a cost/ performance. That said after a wee play around just now am running slightly different settings of -2 fader +5 bass +3 treble and as long as I keep the volume no higher than 90% there has been a fabulous improvement from standard. I honestly can't see me needing anything louder as its enough there in terms of overall volume but the thought of improving the clarity further does appeal

Which amp are you looking at?

Vibe 65.4 :thumbsup:
 
Pbondar said:
The 6 player head unit has some very drastic equalisations to get around the very crappy speakers so the best bet is to re-basline the head unit with Tintoverno or others/w tools ..

You could stop then if cost control is a concern and re-twiddle your knobs.. my guess is if you are at 85% happy that will take you to 90% happy.. the amp will take you to 100%-115% !!!

Problem is I can only do one or the other , the amp or tinto resetting the system probably about the same cost and in terms of what I'm happy to throw at it I'm not going to do both, folk that have installed the amp in other bmw base systems seem very happy with the upgrade
 
Class D amps wouldn’t be seen anywhere in any kind of home ‘hi-fi’ setup but in cars they seem to get away with it. PA amps have been class D for a long time I guess but the signal to noise ratio is pretty dreadful in the main. They are great for low frequency amplification though which is why almost all subwoofer amps are class D.
 
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