[sbce90]

A few of you on here may recall my long and truly epic saga which I had last year with my OEM Alpine Hi-Fi System retrofit kit. It was a combination of poor organisation and dealership problems but the most annoying part was that the kit which was supposed to fit my car simply didn't work. Currently I have the Alpine mid speakers in the door as well as the tweeter addition that the Alpine kit provides. The dealership was just too lazy to 'put the system back to stock' and was kind enough to leave me with the speakers for free. Anyway, after some discussion with BMW they have come up with a potential solution for me and I am willing to give it a go.

I was contacted by BMW Australia regarding my whole situation and they informed me that they had tried to do some testing to see why the Alpine kit didn't fit in my car. I was offered a new package from them - Alpine Hi-Fi kit in combination with Harman/Kardon under-seat subs. Basically the only thing left stock would be the rear parcel shelf speakers which are a bit useless anyway. When I had the original Alpine kit installed I was MUCH happier with the quality of sound when listening at normal levels. The improvement over stock was quite substantial. However it was my problems at moderate-higher volumes which resulted in the amp and other parts being removed. Currently my sound is acceptable, however I would like some improvement and I hope that this proposed combination from BMW will be successful.

You may wonder why I am wasting time with this whole Alpine thing again...

Well most importantly I would like an OEM solution to my desire to upgrade the car's sound system. An OEM solution installed by a dealer means I can keep full warranty on anything sound related. It also means seamless integration into the car and no dodgy sub enclosures or aftermarket speaker grills. Another factor in choosing to go down this route again is that the price I will be paying is the same as the first time I had it installed. BMW Australia has been kind enough to offer me the H/K subs at no cost and despite added labor I will not be paying a cent more than I did back in... Jan 10 (I think).. And that price was discounted already due to dealer stuff ups back then.

And point form for those too lazy to read.

- Rip out everything in the front and start from scratch
- Alpine Hi-Fi System
- Harman/Kardon subs
- Special Price for me
- This Thursday

Wish me luck.

[lz419]

Good luck bro

[Ninjaoz]

awesome, hope everything works out!

special price = over $1k?

[luster]

OEM is always a good way to go, I had alot of problems getting it right with an aftermarket system.

However, the sound quality is excellent and the levels are much higher than I would get thru OEM.

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

noice

looking forward to hearing it.

[pcockley]

Ok, Hi Crazy!

BTW good luck sounds like you need it!

[Chris.G]

This is all because you want to listen to venga boys down george st like Arren. FIST PUMPIN!

[Ben0426]

Good luck

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by Ninja333

awesome, hope everything works out!

special price = over $1k?

Yeah, but not too much. I think it's ok.

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by Chris.G

This is all because you want to listen to venga boys down george st like Arren. FIST PUMPIN!

You be joininin?

[Chris.G]

Originally Posted by SBC

You be joininin?

Guaranteed to join!

[SharifE]

Sounds like u will need it.
Good luck and good to BMW oz coming to the party.
They must be in need of clocking up labour time.

[John_01]

Good luck! Hopefully you get the intended outcome so you can start enjoying the HK sub upgrade.

[sbce90]

Originally Posted by SharifE

Sounds like u will need it.
Good luck and good to BMW oz coming to the party.
They must be in need of clocking up labour time.

For the first time I am actually impressed by the way BMW has acted - both BMW Aus and Trivett. Unlike my previous 'preferred' dealership, Josh in parts at Trivett has given nothing short of A+ service and Nathan at CR for BMW Aus has been decent to talk to.

BUT if the overall proposed new upgrade plan fails then all that nice service would ultimately be worth nothing

Originally Posted by John_01

Good luck! Hopefully you get the intended outcome so you can start enjoying the HK sub upgrade.

Hopefully John! btw pretty sure I spotted you today. Are you still on the 194Ms?

[John_01]

Hi SBC, Yes using the 194Ms at the moment, so its fairly sure to be me. I think I've got the only LCI M-sport sedan without a sunroof in Sydney.

I'll be keen to check out the sound when your upgrade is complete.

[sbce90]

It will be good to see how it compares to your Hi-Fi 10?

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

Fark you were up early...

[sbce90]

Should be ready tomorrow, but not too sure whether I can even make it out to parra to pick up the car o.O

[335i-boy]

Originally Posted by bmroxm5

Fark you were up early...

Must have been a big night. He was just getting to bed.

Aaahh, I miss the old mid week bender.

[sbce90]

Just picked up my car tonight, sounds pretty decent and is exactly what I was expecting. I am yet to try out my full assortment of songs to test the speakers. But Pendulum - Slam is better than its ever been before in my car.

[pcockley]

Glad you got it sorted, I'm just happy for something that drowns out the squeal from the wife/kiddies......