Upgraded Speakers

G

GELewis

Member
 Northfield, MN
My 2009 Z4 came with the standard 6-speaker set-up, which isn't that great sounding a stereo. Because it is integrated with the iDrive Navigation system, I decided to keep the head unit and work on improving the speakers. I installed the first upgrade last weekend.

I removed the 6.5" 'supposed' woofers in the kick panels, and replaced them with 6.75" Kicker CompRT Subwoofers (https://www.kicker.com/comp-rt-6-75-1-ohm-subwoofer), wired in series. Although slightly larger, deeper and having a MUCH larger magnet structure, they fit perfectly into the space, though I did have to drill new mounting holes. To power the new subwoofers, I installed a Kicker CX400.1 mono sub amplifier (300 RMS @ 2 ohm) in the trunk where BMW mounts it's DSP amplifier. I ran leads from the wires powering the original BMW 'woofers' into the high level input of the amplifier, and after experimenting, set the gain to about 1/3 (at 2/3 gain, the whole car starts shaking to the rhythm of the music). The bass is now solid and full, such that you can feel the beat of the kick drum.

Next Upgrade - I've ordered EM-Phaser coaxial 4" speakers (150-22k Hz) to replace the midrange speakers in the door panels - they are highly efficient (91dB @ 1M), and should allow music to be played at higher levels without distorting. If this yields the desired sound I'm seeking, I'll stop there. If not, I'll use these to replace the shoulder-height speakers behind the seats and order equally efficient component speakers for the door panels.
 
Hi, did you finally get the EM-Phaser coaxial? if so how does it sound? I have the same crappy basic 6 speaker set up and was thinking of doing a similar upgrade to what you have described, trying to keep costs to a minimum. Instead of making new mounting holes for the subs in the kick panel do you know if there are adaptor rings available? Also how exactly did you wire up the amp to the head unit? did you have to hack the car's original wiring or is it all plug and play / easily reversible? I'd like to avoid hacking the car's wiring if at all possible. :wink:
 
Got the EM-Phaser speakers installed in the door panels and what a difference! 1) Music is more lively and dynamic - made the OEM speakers sound like they had cotton stuffed in front of them. 2) The highs are much crisper and cleaner. 3) The midrange extends much deeper such that they blend seamlessly with the Kicker subs. 4) They are much more efficient than the OEM speakers. I had to increase the gain on the sub amplifier to match sound level of the new speakers. Whereas it was difficult before to listen to music at freeway speeds with the top down, now if I turn the volume on the head unit all the way up, the people in the car next to me will be able to hear the music.

I'm very happy with the transformation and could easily live the system as it is right now. However, now the sound output from the rear shoulder-height speakers is so soft that I don't think they're adding anything. So now I'm wondering, would replacing those speakers yield a similar increase in music clarity and output?

In response to Silverstar's questions:
- No, there are no adapters rings for the Kicker subs to fit the mounting holes of the OEM kick panel speakers. The Kicker subs are slightly larger in diameter, so the mounting holes are spread out a little further.
- No, they are not plug and play - that wasn't an option anyway as the original wiring from the head unit doesn't power the speakers. The subs are powered by the Kicker amp I installed in the trunk (the same place BMW would have installed the DSP amp) and I ran new wiring from the amp to the speakers.
 
Good to know about the Emphasers. Regarding the rear shoulder speakers, I think they are the same model as per the ones in the doors? if so you could put the originals back in the door and put the emphases in the rear and see if they make a difference before you splash out more money on speakers.
 
I took the plunge and bought the EM-Phaser BMW3FR1 - a 2-way speaker system with a 4" midrange and 1" tweeter and installed them in the front doors of my e89, replacing the EM-Phaser coaxial speakers I had installed in the door panels After installing the new speakers and giving it some time were cleaner and crisper, versus the 4" Em-Phaser coaxials, mostly due to the positioning of the new tweeters. Better, likely due f the tweeters, but a great improvement, no.

I then removed the 4" OEM rear shoulder speakers and installed the 4" EM-Phaser coaxials I had just removed from the door panels. WOW! The sound suddenly jumped to a whole different level. The midrange was much clearer and I was totally engulfed in sound. But the biggest improvement was in dynamics - the system has incredible punch.

I also had to turn up the gain on the subwoofer amplifier to match the increased mid and high frequency sound levels.

Conclusions:
- Both sets of EM-Phaser speakers were true plug-n-play. I had zero issues installing them myself.
- The 6 3/4" Kicker subwoofers are fare more powerful than their size suggests. These are serious subwoofers.
- The limiting factor in the BMW OEM electronics is the speakers. Upgrade the speakers, and you can get killer sound.
 
I’ve gone for the Eton mid range / separate tweeter for the doors..Eton coaxial for the rear shoulder speakers and centre speaker..Rockford Fosgate PPS8-6 in the woofer floor position..pondering which sub woofer to fit behind seats..

Was going to drive the woofers and subwoofers with a separate 4 channel amp..but...

Audiotec Fischer of come out with a super duper ( by my standards) DSP/DIGITAL amp..that is pure plug n play and replaces the original ‘HiFi’ BMW amp..

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/match/amplifiers/up-7bmw

With the ultra powerful DSP and the 7 channels of fairly pokey ampflication it seems a good solution for those not wanting to butcher there wiring plus it’s fully compatible with all the sensors/diagnostics of the e89

It’s marketed as an alternative to changing all the speakers..

I think I’ll plug it in first and see how it does then swap the speakers and see what the delta change is..

PS the front kick well woofers are wired in parallel not series...could badly affect the oem amp if you pick the wrong impedance for your replacement speakers!
 
Pbondar said:
Audiotec Fischer of come out with a super duper ( by my standards) DSP/DIGITAL amp..that is pure plug n play and replaces the original ‘HiFi’ BMW amp..

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/match/amplifiers/up-7bmw

With the ultra powerful DSP and the 7 channels of fairly pokey ampflication it seems a good solution for those not wanting to butcher there wiring plus it’s fully compatible with all the sensors/diagnostics of the e89
Click to expand...

That looks fantastic - I checked the website, am I blind or is there no price anywhere (which makes me nervous if it's 'POA')... :?
 
enzed4 said:
Pbondar said:
Audiotec Fischer of come out with a super duper ( by my standards) DSP/DIGITAL amp..that is pure plug n play and replaces the original ‘HiFi’ BMW amp..

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/match/amplifiers/up-7bmw

With the ultra powerful DSP and the 7 channels of fairly pokey ampflication it seems a good solution for those not wanting to butcher there wiring plus it’s fully compatible with all the sensors/diagnostics of the e89
Click to expand...

That looks fantastic - I checked the website, am I blind or is there no price anywhere (which makes me nervous if it's 'POA')... :?
Click to expand...

Street price is £600 on flea bay :thumbsup:
 
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