Stereo System Upgraded

[GELewis]

My 2009 e89 came with the standard radio driving 6 speakers: a 10 cm midrange speaker in each door, 10 cm midrange speakers in the rear shoulder panels, and 6 1/2" mid-woofers in the kick panels. The sound quality was not great, but I was stuck using the OEM head unit as it was integrated with the iDrive navigation system, so I started on a quest to improve the sound quality by upgrading the rest of the system.

• I began by replacing the single door speakers with Emphaser 2-way component system speakers (http://www.emphaser.com/products/upgrade-systems-for-bmw/em-bmw3fr1/?lang=en). They were a simple plug and play installation, the midrange sound was much clearer, and adding the separate tweeter made a HUGE difference.

• Next I replaced the rear shoulder panel speakers with Emphaser coaxial speakers (http://www.emphaser.com/products/upgrade-systems-for-bmw/em-bmw3fr2/?lang=en). Again installation was straightforward plug and play. Although the sound improvement was noticeable, the head unit struggled powering these to sufficient sound levels.

• I then replaced the 6.5" mid woofers with two 1 ohm 6.75" Kicker subwoofers that I wired in series to create a 2 ohm load (https://www.kicker.com/comp-rt-6-75-1-ohm-subwoofer). Although I needed to drill new holes to attach the speakers, they otherwise fit perfectly. The head unit was incapable of powering these, and as I wasn't getting sufficient sound from the rear speakers . . .

• I installed a JR Audio three channel amplifier (https://www.jlaudio.com/collections/car-audio-amplifiers/products/xd500-3v2-car-audio-xdv2-amplifiers-98603), which I attached to the rear bulkhead. I extended the speaker leads from the mid-woofer speakers in the kick panel and plugged them into the high-level input of the subwoofer channel, extended the speaker leads from the rear shoulder-level speakers and plugged them into the high-level input for the stereo channels, and ran new speaker wire from the amplifier to the subwoofers and coaxial rear speakers.

With the head unit powering only the speakers in the doors, it suddenly had more than enough power to drive those speakers to insane levels. I ended up setting the gain on the JR Audio amplifier to approximately half to match the sound level of the door speakers. The front/rear fader, left/right fader and tone controls all work as they should. The system now has shimmering highs; clear, clean midrange; and powerful, tight bass. The overall sound is phenomenal, is light years better than the OEM DSP system I had in my e85, and friends who've ridden with me have all commented about the quality of the sound system.

 

[Pooltee]

Nice job there mate. I wish my car hadn’t of come with the top hifi option so that I could upgrade it easily.

 

[Anonymous]

Good upgrade....

For info the 6 speaker head unit has a highly tailored front speaker output to suit the original piss poor speakers and the rear feed has a sharp high frequency cut off..

Given how you wired it that in itself is not a major issue..

If you are a BMW s/w rocket scientist or can phone a friend who is you can the software in the head unit set to flat which would give you more control of your outputs..

 

[Jasonn]

I'd never heard of Emphaser or Eton (which just goes to show how long it's been since I'd played with car audio, in the 80s it was Kenwood, JVC and pioneer)

Any comparisons of Emphaser or Eton in the E89?

I'm stuck with the existing head unit because of iDrive and with all the electronics these I don't fancy chopping anything electrical (I'm a luddite and proud)

 

[Colin_E]

If you are a BMW s/w rocket scientist or can phone a friend who is you can the software in the head unit set to flat which would give you more control of your outputs..

I’m not & I can’t...but I’m intrigued by this. I have the basic sound system in my 2015 20i in which I recently upgraded the door speakers. I fitted the Audison Prima APBMW-K4M mid range & tweeter combo. The sound is better but from fiddling with tone/balance/fader controls I have the impression I’m not getting all they could give. At first I wondered if they just needed more power to drive than other units but I think it’s more than that. Any further insights to implement the kind of tweak you refer to?

 

[Anonymous]

If you are a BMW s/w rocket scientist or can phone a friend who is you can the software in the head unit set to flat which would give you more control of your outputs..

I’m not & I can’t...but I’m intrigued by this. I have the basic sound system in my 2015 20i in which I recently upgraded the door speakers. I fitted the Audison Prima APBMW-K4M mid range & tweeter combo. The sound is better but from fiddling with tone/balance/fader controls I have the impression I’m not getting all they could give. At first I wondered if they just needed more power to drive than other units but I think it’s more than that. Any further insights to implement the kind of tweak you refer to?

Your 2015 20i is also fitted with the BMW Active Sound Design ..the audio from your headunt goes to the ASD which has 4 15watt amp channels to drive your six speakers..

Most people assert that the ASD amplification is even worse than the original head unit..plus injecting synthetic engine sounds into the 6 speakers..

You can buy a bypass harness from Audison which will improve it for about 20 usd..

As the op did you can add an aftermarket amp by splicing in the wiring but that’s not for the faint hearted..

You could upgrade the rear co-axials using the Audison or Eton or others plus better woofers in the kickpanels..

Otherwise it’s a bit tricky with the 6 speaker system..more amplification would help..

 

[Silverstar]

As the op did you can add an aftermarket amp by splicing in the wiring but that’s not for the faint hearted..

If I have understood what the OP did you should not have to splice the factory wiring. You just extend the factory wiring from the footwell speakers and the rear speakers to the aftermarket amp and from the amp take new cables back to the new speakers. You can probably get some connector or make something up that will connect to the factory speaker wires where they would normally connect to the factory speaker so no need to chop them. Seems to me that what the OP has done is the most cost effective and easiest way to get good sound from the basic 6 speaker setup. Or have I got this wrong?

 

[Anonymous]

As the op did you can add an aftermarket amp by splicing in the wiring but that’s not for the faint hearted..

If I have understood what the OP did you should not have to splice the factory wiring. You just extend the factory wiring from the footwell speakers and the rear speakers to the aftermarket amp and from the amp take new cables back to the new speakers. You can probably get some connector or make something up that will connect to the factory speaker wires where they would normally connect to the factory speaker so no need to chop them. Seems to me that what the OP has done is the most cost effective and easiest way to get good sound from the basic 6 speaker setup. Or have I got this wrong?

Splicing was probably not the correct terminology....as you say ..the wires were extended but for many that would be quite an effort running the wires from the various speaker locations to the rear and then back..

Assuming all E89s use a common wire harness then another option would be to use that to get the signals to and from the head unit to the amp location which is coincident with where the 676 / 677 amps reside on the upgraded systems..that would be splicing..

 

[Colin_E]

So does that mean it's the ASD that is responsible for tailoring the sound to suit the poor basic speakers (alongside its other functions) or am I confusing two separate issues?

 

[Anonymous]

So does that mean it's the ASD that is responsible for tailoring the sound to suit the poor basic speakers (alongside its other functions) or am I confusing two separate issues?

Good question...the head unit has the equalisation capability which is switched on in the 6 speaker version..

The ASD unit generates the engine noises and does not directly affect the equalisation..

Most observers notice that since the audio has to pass through the ASD there is a further deterioration in the quality of the audio based on the additive effect of the artificial engine sound superimposed on the audio signal..

 

[Colin_E]

Good question...the head unit has the equalisation capability which is switched on in the 6 speaker version..

The ASD unit generates the engine noises and does not directly affect the equalisation..

Thanks for this. I'll investigate the bypass mod. Probably worthwhile as I don't care for any artificial engine noises anyway so a boost in general sound quality would be a bonus. I think I know where the ASD should be physically so I'll dig around in there - do I need to anticipate replacement clips & fittings like I did for the door panels?

Quite interested though in getting some control over the equalisation settings. A google search for E89 equalisation coding threw up a few hits suggesting that tools "Esys" or "NCS Expert" might be able to do something useful. Further links took me off to sites referring to similar issues with other BMW models. Bimmercode was also mentioned in respect of some other models...but I think without a bit of guidance I'm getting out of my depth.

Anyone here know how to do this stuff???

 

[Anonymous]

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1677642&sid=ab156624d208432a21838ef560ce4630#p1677642


May help...


NCS expert etc is a major step for most...R2D2 types can fly these toys...mere humans seem to struggle...

I’m about to try for my 4 th attempt..

 

[Colin_E]

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1677642&sid=ab156624d208432a21838ef560ce4630#p1677642

May help...

It was following that thread that inspired the speaker upgrade! By the way the Audisons fit the recesses without any cutting - though they're equally weighty units to the Etons.

NCS expert etc is a major step for most...R2D2 types can fly these toys...mere humans seem to struggle...

Is it the coding that's difficult or getting it to communicate with the car? I'm tempted to try...

 

[Anonymous]

For many people, me, it’s getting the coding software loaded on your laptop and the correct E89 data file loaded...

Also many versions have a security issue as they frig the s/w to get around the authentication of the original code..

Once it’s installed a decent usb to OBD cable should see it working reliably...

It’s the general lack of user friendliness plus most of it in German that puts some people off..plus understanding how the modules need to be updated / sequenced etc... good luck...let me know how it goes..

If you go to bimmergeeks you can download the pc software from there..

 

[BadgerDog]

If you go to bimmergeeks you can download the pc software from there..

You mean from the god-awful website they use that has daily download limits smaller than some of the actual files, and is dodgy as hell about restarting the file the next day (or immediately using a VPN )...

THEN you deal with all the issues you listed such as the right files, etc. I REALLY wanted to make that work, but it was just far too much of a hassle... Pro tool does 99% of what I need, at least for now. I have a cheap laptop I bought for the purpose and the cable (same one I use for pro tool) should I ever have real need for the full suite of tools.

 

[BadgerDog]

If you go to bimmergeeks you can download the pc software from there..

You mean from the god-awful website they use that has daily download limits smaller than some of the actual files, and is dodgy as hell about restarting the file the next day (or immediately using a VPN )...

THEN you deal with all the issues you listed such as the right files, etc. I REALLY wanted to make that work, but it was just far too much of a hassle... Pro tool does 99% of what I need, at least for now. I have a cheap laptop I bought for the purpose and the cable (same one I use for pro tool) should I ever have real need for the full suite of tools.