[Wrngway]

Last weekend, I finished installing a Level 1 upgrade to my 2011 328i with base sound system. I just wanted to post some feedback for others looking to do the same. Please feel free to PM VP Electricity or check out musicarnw.com for more info. I also don't' mind answering questions if I can help out.

I will say from the outset that I am VERY impressed with the results. Ken at Musicar is the real deal. He provided a quality kit that I, an amateur, installed without much hassle and with incredible results. Pink Floyd has never sounded better.

To begin with, like I stated previously, my car came with the base audio system. That is, 6 speakers (2 door, 2 underseat, & 2 rear) powered by the headunit only. I'm no audiophile, but I'd say it's probably the 2nd worst sounding car audio system I've ever heard. The worst being my 1st car, an '89 Plymouth Sundance Turbo. Luckily I was too naive enough to spend much money on it at the time.

I was looking for easily installable upgrades that would be stealth in that you couldn't see the components without removing interior trim. After some research, I chose Musicar Northwest's Level I audio upgrade. The system replaces the midrange speakers in the front door, adds tweaters, and replaces the underseat sub speakers. I opted for Morel Dotech front speakers and Jehnert XE 200 underseat subs as upgrades to the Rainbow mids & tweeters, and Earthquake subs.

A cleansweep signal processor is used to level the headunit signal as the stock signal boosts both the treble and bass. I received an ArcAudio 125.4 4 channel mini amp to drive the front door speakers and under seat subs. The rear OEM speakers remain in place powered by the headunit. I have the fade set to full front though. The rear speakers aren't really needed and sound like crap anyway. Also provided were door inserts to house the front tweeters and all wiring harnesses needed.

The system is relatively easy to install. I've had some experience in installing door speakers on my old Camaro and upgrading head units in other cars. This along with guides on taking out the rear seat and removal of the front seats and sub enclosures was enough for me to do the job myself. Ken always answered the few questions I had within a day.

Speaker installation was straight forward. The guides available provide adequate instruction. The only hitch I had was with the underseat subs. The OEM speakers were glued into the enclosures. Careful application of a flathead screw driver will pry them out in a few minutes.

It took 30 minutes for me to sort out the harness connections. I laid out everything on the kitchen table first. Use the onsite sticky post wiring diagram to determine which wires you're connecting supply the front and rear positive and negative audio signal. All speakers are pre-wired to plug right into the harnesses provided. This really saved some time. Headunit removal isn't necessary. The left & right harnesses take the output from the 4-pin connector from the OEM subs to the cleansweep and also send it forward to the underseat subs and front door speakers. All harnesses provided more than enough length and needed to be trimmed to fit my installation. RCA cables were provided to carry the signal from the cleansweep to the amp.

I mounted the amp in the OEM location behind the left rear wheel well. Ken included the shallow CD tray to make enough room for it. I put the cleansweep under the pullout trunk trim in the empty front left compartment. I opted not the screw them down, but used heat resistant automotive velcro.

The amp turn on signal comes from the cleansweep. It works very well and both units spin up in a couple seconds.

Now a couple of install pointers:

-Install the door speakers first. Once done with those, you can power up your car to make sure the signal is going to them correctly before you get into the underseat subs, signal processor, or amp. If you run into a problem later, you can rule out that area.

-On my first power up after installing everything, I had no sound. I had to press the gain knob on the cleansweep twice before it would correctly send the signal to the amp.

-Ken recommended a crossover point of 200 Hz for these speakers. The amp was set up correctly when I received it.

-I work slow and haven't taken a BMW interior apart before. All told it took me maybe 11 hours to install everything. If I had to go back and do it again, I could do it in in half the time.

I chose the upgraded speakers after talking with Ken about my musical preferences. I haven't heard the Earthquakes and Rainbows, so I can't give a realistic comparison. What I can say is that the Jehnerts and Morel Dotech's give a realistic reproduction of the music without exaggerated bass. If you like a lot of bass, you may want to consider the Earthquakes. I listen to a lot of rock, acoustic, and occasionally classical music.

Ok, so on to the results...The system plays with much greater range and clarity than the base OEM system. It's literally gone from one of the worst sounding systems I've heard to the best, at least in my experience. I personally don't lack for bass with what I listen to. The Jehnerts don't produce chest thumping bass. What they do is provide bass at levels you would expect from a bass drum, kick bass I think they call it.

Ken at Musicar provided the definition of customer support. He lived up to all other reviews I've seen so far. I can honestly say that the results reflect the money I've paid.

Feel free to post or PM me if you want to know anything else about my experience. Ken is best person to ask concerning the equipment or install recommendations for what he offers, but I'll help out where I can.

[import36]

great write-up review man! i haven't purchased anything from Ken yet, but I've emailed back and forth with him with quite a few questions, and he was very helpful.

[B-737]

Great write up! Sounds like a great system!

[mattex]

Great write up.

I too am looking into purchasing a kit from Ken for my E90.

Im thinking of going all out and ordering the stage 3 kit, I'd like a sub and once you upgrade the components as you did there isnt a great price difference.

Glad to hear you can connect the harness to the the ouput from the oem connection under the seat, as I thought you needed to plug it in behind the head unit and wasnt keen on ripping the dash apart.

I'm sent ken a few emails with no reply so hopefully he gets back to me soon so I can order one of his sysytems.

Again good write up and I bet your loving the new QAULITY tunes! I know my base audio is driving me insane.

Thx

[VP Electricity]

Thanks for the kind words!

It's going to sound like sales bs to some, but I consistently fail to convey effectively just how good our base Stereo Level One upgrade is going to sound. I think it's because of how bad the base Stereo system sounds already, most folks are not wanting to get their hopes up and have unreasonable expectations.

Our biggest shortcomings have to do with getting to all the emails in a timely fashion and in shipping quickly (we do not inventory a lot of gear and order against our incoming orders, something we try to make clear at the outset). But the product isn't victimized by those weaknesses, and the product is our strength.

I will also mention that the parts that you liked the most were done by other folks (Tom and Andy do the assembly and most of the prep).

Back to emails...

[paul92nyr]

How effective is the level 1 sub package for a e90 2006 330i? Im not looking for insane bass, but a noticeable difference from just the two under the seats.

[VP Electricity]

I personally think the Level One for the Logic 7 system is as musical as any of the packages - the difference from L1 to L2 is output, not sound quality. The woofer in the L1 is the same woofer that Technic ran in his Musicar E90 enclosure on his M3 for a long time - he just used more power than the manufacturer recommends

We also will include an option when we do the PnP harness for the Logic 7 amp that lets you unplug the center and decide if I'm right about it being the single worst aspect of sound from the Logic 7 system. If I'm wrong you can plug it back in easily

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

I personally think the Level One for the Logic 7 system is as musical as any of the packages - the difference from L1 to L2 is output, not sound quality. The woofer in the L1 is the same woofer that Technic ran in his Musicar E90 enclosure on his M3 for a long time - he just used more power than the manufacturer recommends

We also will include an option when we do the PnP harness for the Logic 7 amp that lets you unplug the center and decide if I'm right about it being the single worst aspect of sound from the Logic 7 system. If I'm wrong you can plug it back in easily

Reviving an old thread here... Is the reference to Level 1 here, "add a sub level 1" or "full bass level 1."

Does anyone know if not doing a sub in the trunk, but somehow sending more power to the under-seat 8" woofers AND replacing those woofers really has a major impact on the Logic 7 system..?


I'd really like a touch more, but certainly tighter bass. Also, "softer" highs would be great. I listen to anything from AC/DC to Stevie Wonder with a little John Mayer and Post Malone and Usher in between...

[ctuna]

Level one in this old dead thread from VP means upgrading
the front and under seat speaker , adding an amp to power them
and adding a frequency flattening device between the amp and
speakers . It has nothing to do with add on subs At least that is how it starts out with them talking about a base stereo system which is not the same as Logic 7 at all . A true sub setup would be and add on.

You can vist the MusicarNW website for further clarification.

Hard to modify the Logic 7 system.
Technic makes a harness that allows for add a sub
or add and amp for the under seats, you would do this in conjunction with better under seat speakers.


subwoofer threads
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...2&postcount=66
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...t=Ultimate+Sub
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ight=subwoofer

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Level one in this old dead thread from VP means upgrading
the front and under seat speaker , adding an amp to power them
and adding a frequency flattening device between the amp and
speakers . It has nothing to do with add on subs At least that is how it starts out with them talking about a base stereo system which is not the same as Logic 7 at all . A true sub setup would be and add on.

You can vist the MusicarNW website for further clarification.

Hard to modify the Logic 7 system.
Technic makes a harness that allows for add a sub
or add and amp for the under seats, you would do this in conjunction with better under seat speakers.


subwoofer threads
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...2&postcount=66
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...t=Ultimate+Sub
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ight=subwoofer

Thanks for the response CTuna....

One "simple" question, if I were to get the well regarded Technic harness, added an amp (with proper power and ground), would the signal flow to the under-seat woofers with NEW speaker cables and connections or would the be sent to the under-seats via existing stock wiring....?

It seems a good "first step" may be to get harness, amp and great 8" for under the seats and only then add a sub in the trunk if I'm not happy...

Now, of course, I may end-up in the too much Boom Boom and not tight enough bass territory if I chose the wrong 8"s....

Good problems!

[ctuna]

If you are starting with a Logic 7 system its hard to do.
Some people will get 4 channel amp and do the front floors and
doors from speaker outs. This will give you more depth and
punch . The stock L7 speakers can take some more power.
I always say Jehnert Xe-200's are the best under seats for
a audiophile accurate tight warm speaker.

You would have to talk to Technic at Technicpnp.com to get the exact wiring details.
His add a sub harness for L7 at his website describes this.