Speaker upgrade

[Nick9one1]

There seems to have been quite a bit of discussion in the past about speaker upgrades.
the most common upgrades seem to be tweeters and drivers from a Mini, but I haven't seen much talk about aftermarket systems.
I have iNav, so a headunit upgrade isn't really possible.

From what I've read (I admit I haven't measured the speakers in the car yet). I have...

Woofer - Footwell - 6.5inch
Midrange - Mid Door - 4 inch
Tweeter - Top Door - 1 inch

An obvious upgrade would be a 3 way component system?

Something like this would replace all 3 speakers and would still look like factory fit.
I'e imagine the speakers are much better quality than BMW or Mini, and the crossover would take a single input signal, outputting high-, mid-, and low-range frequencies for the three speakers.

https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-in-phase-xtc4cx-xtc6cx_p-32711.htm

 

[AnubisZed]

It seems from what most people say is that on the basic cars there are the footwell ones, the door ones and the rears that are behind the seats near the seatbelt anchor point. I don't know at what point the tweeters get fitted, although I've fitted them to mine, which was a piece of cake (plug n play).
If you replaced as you've said above then you could replace the rears with a two way system placing the main in the normal rear position and a couple of tweeters in the upper centre grill location (this would normally be a centre main and centre tweeter speaker in this location for the top range set-up). Or you could double up your proposed three way and place the subs in the proper rear sub location.
The only problem with adding additional speakers is that there may be a issue powering them. I've added some photos to show the positions of the rear.

As for iDrive upgrade then it depends what you have as built-in options already, sat-nav, USB (1 or 2), Bluetooth, DAB etc as there are some different versions of the head unit available.

 

[Nick9one1]

Thanks for the extra information!

I dont believe mine has tweeters, but haven't checked yet.

As a first port of call I think I will concentrate on the front speakers (replacing the low/mid and adding tweeters). If I'm still not happy I'll look into upgrading the rears.

I very much doubt I'll bother replacing iNav. I have Satnav, One USB port and Bluetooth for phone calls, but not steaming audio.

 

[SteveSmith]

You’ll most likely not have tweeters.

You will also have 4” speakers near your shoulder just behind the seats.

I’ve decided I’m going to upgrade, most likely to the Audison APK163 3 way system. Problem I have is someone on here says the 4” speaker don’t fit in the door due to depth but my local stereo shop says they will :roll:

I’m going to use a an amp as there won’t be a huge improvement without it.

 

[AnubisZed]

Tweeters, just point a torch into the grill, you'll soon see if they are there.

TBH, even if I use the fader on mine and fade to the rear speakers there's nothing much coming out as I believe they are low power fed anyway, so possible not much to gain from spending big bucks there.

I'm not aware of being able to stream with the OEM kit on the e89... BUT, I have this set-up on mine (mine isn't iDrive but the input is the same). I use the HomeSpot NFC-enabled Bluetooth Audio Receiver (available on Amazon) that auto connects to my phone and thus enables streaming. Although you cannot control this via the steering wheel controls, as mine is an Android phone I use AndroidAuto, so it has nice big buttons and the screen stays live all the time. As the new law is that you cannot touch your phone these days I also use "Hey Google" to change and pause tracks. Oh and there's also a micro memory stick in there for if I have bad reception on the phone.

And yes we have the same colour combo

 

[Nick9one1]

thanks Dave, I was looking for somthing like that a few weeks back. Just ordered the new version (although its almost identical).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HomeSpot-Bluetooth-Receiver-Wireless-Streaming-aptX-Version/dp/B06Y2CNVW6/ref=pd_sim_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EN2VYNNYKTWRVTCSGD31

I took the door card and speakers covers off last night to measure.


The door speaker isnt very deep at 45mm, but the In-phase 4inch speakers are only 2.5mm deeper, so should be fine.

The only thing that concerns me is the lack of reviews for In-phase.

 

[AnubisZed]

I love my Bluetooth adaptor Nick, it's a shame it's not built-in streaming in the headunit, but it does the job for what I want.

I've only ever heard good reports about In-Phase.

I'm taking it that that's just a stock photo of the interior and not actually yours!!

 

[Nick9one1]

No thats not mine, although very similar I'm RHD!

I was a little put off by some comments I read on an audio forum about In-Phase. Apparently its the in-house brand of caraudiocentre, who are a pretty poor retailer. Also the In-phase website doesn't work correctly, which doesn't fill me with confidence.

So I decided on JBL GTO609C's. Really good reviews everywhere I read, and designed as a stock speaker replacement - a lot of aftermarket speakers are designed to be used with an amp, and sound poor if run directly from the HU. They have full dimensions on the JBL website, so I'm pretty confident they will fit (main diameter, depth, cone diameter etc.).

They will only replace the low range woofer and tweeter, but should still make a massive improvement.

Arrive tomorrow...

 

[Nick9one1]

Installed over the weekend and they have made a massive difference. Really crisp clean high notes, but now I feel like the low range is lacking a little. Presumably because the stock amp isn't powerful enough to drive the larger heavier speakers.

Fitting was pretty straight forward. I hid the crossover behind the footwell speaker and fed the additional cable though with the existing wiring in the door.

The tweeters fitted in the existing pods, but the hole spacing for the footwell speakers is non standard. I 3D printed a couple of custom spacers in PETG.

 

[Nick9one1]

I've just ordered a Vibe amp (100wx4) to really bring the audio alive.

It has hi level in, so I can wire the speaker output directly from the headunit to the amp, then back out to the speakers.
I'm still alittle unsure about what to do with the rears. I'll either connect them to the amp, or remove complettely and replace with a couple of subs/low range speakers like the premium setup has.

I found this diagram of a the different options for speakers in a UK E89 Z4.



also these wiring diagrams. They're actually for an E93, but seem to match my wiring colors so far,

 

[del_tl1000r]

Do you have parking sensors? If you disconnect the rears completely you will lose the beeps when reversing. I fitted focal components, pioneer amp and kicker 8" sub. I used the signal for the front speakers as the source for the amp. The rears are still connected to the hsead unit so I don't lose the beeps and I've set the fader completely to the front. I wouldn't bother trying to do anything with the rears as the signal to them is very low.

 

[Nick9one1]

Mids and 3 way crossover now fitted. Again I had to print some custom mounts. They're fitted 10mm further out than the factory speakers but still fit nicely behind the door panels.

 

[vr6er]

Hi Nick

I'm interested in your set up. How would you describe the sound say on a scale 1-10, where 1 is clinical and 10 is warm.

Reason I ask is that I have awful taste in music (80's) and the more clinical it is the more tiring it is.

 

[benv6]

I would Defo consider Audison APK165 set rather than In-Phase - no need to change the HU but some minor tweaks will be needed

 

[vr6er]

These are interesting. Focals for 179. Add £60 of Dyna mat and you're done.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Focal-165-AS3-Component-Speakers/dp/B00J7OV2MK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526383908&sr=8-3&keywords=3+way+component+speakers

 

[Nick9one1]

I'd say the sound was closer to the clinical side, so maybe a 3/4 on your scale.

I'm yet to install the amp, which I expect to change the sound profile quite a bit.
I'm currently running 3 speakers from stock output (25w?). So the bigger low range drivers probably aren't performing their best. Especially at lower volume levels.

Those Focals would be a good option - Heard good things about them.

 

[vr6er]

Thanks for that. Is the InPhase crossover true 3 way? Looks like a 2 way in all of the marketing stuff.

Can you advise how the wiring is setup in the std BMW setup? Is there a crossover? do they run in parallel?

Where abouts are you based?

 

[Nick9one1]

The two way crossover (6.5 & tweeter) is supplied with a two way crossover.
The mid speaker is sold as an upgrade. the idea being you can swap out the 2 way crossover with the 3, and add the mid.
If you get the full 3 way set they come with a 3 way crossover. (You can tell by the number of coils in the crossover. )


Wiring is pretty straight forward.

I took the input from the 6.5" speaker in the footwell, hid the crossover behind the speaker (plenty of room). Then routed the two pairs of wire for the door speakers through the existing hinge/harness assembly.

I'm based in Newark. You're welcome to come over and listen if you're local.

 

[vr6er]

Thanks Nick for the info and offer Nick, I'm in the South, so Newark is a bit far! I'm buying the focals later in the month and will do a write up.

Did you Dynamat the door or cavity behind the woofer?

 

[vr6er]

Nick your car is coded to base stereo and so the treble is boosted to reflect the lack of tweeters. Having the car recoded to Hifi will take the harshness away from the system. Also the midbass would benefit from a sealed baffle.