[BostonBeemah]

Hey everyone. I recently purchased the Alpine Hifi retrofit and feel as though something is not right. I purchased the from-3/09 kit: 65412163268 as per this post http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505654

Upon receiving the kit i was assuming I would have to use the DIY in the included post which calls for splicing wires and installing the kit but ended up with a PNP plug and play kit. The only issue i have is that the kit only taps into the subs and only powers them and doesn't connect to or power any other speakers.

I then coded the car to hifi and got really low output from the speakers and only had a low volume, and really bassy sound which sounded like crap. I then coded it back to stereo and had somewhat normal output from the speakers, similar to what it was before with the added tweeters. The problem is that the sound is really distorted and no matter what setting I am on whether it be 1 or 2 on the amp, it sounds pretty much the same.

I currently still have it coded to stereo as it sounds better but i was under the assumption that the kit would now power the midrange speakers and tweeter along with the subs and the only speakers still powered by the head unit were the rear deck speakers.


My question is whether or not I purchased the right kit for the car and if i did, I think it is a pretty stupid upgrade for the money seeing as though i now just have drowned out bassy music with unclear scratchy highs...


Can i install the pre 09 kit in my car to get the additional power to the rest of the speakers once coded to Hifi??

2010 135i with CIC Nav and stereo sound system


Thank you!

[CenCal X3M Comp]

Check your connection on the crossovers. Mine had mislabeled tweeters. The manual shows the correct connections (search this forum). I believe that the colors of the wires should match; yellow to yellow and blue to blue. I had mine coded to Hifi and it is louder than the base setup without the amp.

[BostonBeemah]

The crossovers I got only have two connections on one side and one on the other side. Their not like the ones in the picture with three. There was only one way for them to go.

My issue I think is that this kit is not powering any of my speakers externally except the subwoofers from the way this kit is designed.

Really sucks in my opinion. When I'm talking on the phone through bluetooth as well, all I hear is static and peaking through the tweeters.

[CenCal X3M Comp]

There is a way to plug them in wrong; plugging in the oem cable in the door to the tweeter out of the crossover and plugging the oem door in on the crossover to the tweeter (which is how it may be labeled - mine was labeled that way). The crossover on mine also have three connector, but the tweeter was mislabeled. Searching the forums you will find others who also installed the Alpine retrofit that had similar issue until they checked the crossovers and corrected the connection. Your issue sounds like the crossover issue that others have experienced.

As for powering your doors externally, the amp is doing that through the harness. The harness at the subwoofer (the stock setup) runs to the doors; they run both doors and subwoofer in a parallel connection. The original harness has two pairs of wires; one pair from the hu, and one pair to the door that is shared with the sub in the plug. The alpine kit takes the that connector sends one pair (the hu feed) to the amp and sends back the front doors to that connector. The other set of cables (one pair) from the amp powers only the sub woofer.

[CenCal X3M Comp]

[BostonBeemah]

Originally Posted by CenCal 335is

There is a way to plug them in wrong; plugging in the oem cable in the door to the tweeter out of the crossover and plugging the oem door in on the crossover to the tweeter (which is how it may be labeled - mine was labeled that way). The crossover on mine also have three connector, but the tweeter was mislabeled. Searching the forums you will find others who also installed the Alpine retrofit that had similar issue until they checked the crossovers and corrected the connection. Your issue sounds like the crossover issue that others have experienced.

As for powering your doors externally, the amp is doing that through the harness. The harness at the subwoofer (the stock setup) runs to the doors; they run both doors and subwoofer in a parallel connection. The original harness has two pairs of wires; one pair from the hu, and one pair to the door that is shared with the sub in the plug. The alpine kit takes the that connector sends one pair (the hu feed) to the amp and sends back the front doors to that connector. The other set of cables (one pair) from the amp powers only the sub woofer.

Omg you are the man!! Thank you so much. That is such a stupid way to tag the wires no wonder people get all messed up. Thank you for the explanation of the speakers and how they are wired in parallel. This made me feel a lot better about the setup and since swapping the wires around, I can instantly tell a difference now from all the speakers. One final question if you don't mind. I still feel as though there is still a little distortion coming out of the tweeters becuase of the equalized sound still coming from the head unit. If i code back to HiFi to balance this out, which position should the switch be on the amp?

[CenCal X3M Comp]

I have mine coded to hifi and the switch set to the recommended 1 selector. I haven't tried to change since my initial install. As for the tweeter, the coding to hifi should help; note, it will reduce the output in the rears, but they are still there providing some rear fill. Once coded, you can use the treble and bass settings to your taste. A suggestion is to upgrade the subs under the seat to Logic 7 subs as they are 4ohms vs the Hifi subs which are 2 ohms. I have a pair but have yet to install them; maybe this spring break. Let me know if you notice a difference with the switch.

[bmw325i]

Originally Posted by CenCal 335is

I have mine coded to hifi and the switch set to the recommended 1 selector. I haven't tried to change since my initial install. As for the tweeter, the coding to hifi should help; note, it will reduce the output in the rears, but they are still there providing some rear fill. Once coded, you can use the treble and bass settings to your taste. A suggestion is to upgrade the subs under the seat to Logic 7 subs as they are 4ohms vs the Hifi subs which are 2 ohms. I have a pair but have yet to install them; maybe this spring break. Let me know if you notice a difference with the switch.

I don't think the logic 7 subs would really be much of an upgrade. They might be a little better quality but they'll be getting half as much power since they are 4 ohms.

[CenCal X3M Comp]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

I don't think the logic 7 subs would really be much of an upgrade. They might be a little better quality but they'll be getting half as much power since they are 4 ohms.

Actually, this alpine amp doesn't double the power in 2 ohms and many have said it may make it run hotter, which is why they recommend the 8" Logic 7 subs vs the 8" Hifi subs. As for an upgrade, it is much more significant than the OEM 6" Base System subwoofer. Remember, the Alpine retrofit is to upgrade the crapy 6 speaker base stereo and not the Hifi 8/10 speaker system.

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by CenCal 335is

Actually, this alpine amp doesn't double the power in 2 ohms and many have said it may make it run hotter, which is why they recommend the 8" Logic 7 subs vs the 8" Hifi subs. As for an upgrade, it is much more significant than the OEM 6" Base System subwoofer. Remember, the Alpine retrofit is to upgrade the crapy 6 speaker base stereo and not the Hifi 8/10 speaker system.

ANY amp that doesn't have self-adjusting voltage rails (like JL HD series) will effectively double the power into 2 ohms. Its a basic electronics principle not a design choice, the only problem is whether or not that amp is 2 ohm stable, which may not be the case with the alpine, as you mentioned it runs hot.

[BostonBeemah]

Just an update guys. I coded my car to HiFi and switched the selector to 1 and what a difference! Comes in so much clearer and got rid of the peaking of the speakers. Only complaint I have now is that the volume isn't as loud as before but its not really that big of a deal. Overall well worth the upgrade. Just wanted to say thanks again for all the help!

[srogerd432]

Originally Posted by BostonBeemah

Just an update guys. I coded my car to HiFi and switched the selector to 1 and what a difference! Comes in so much clearer and got rid of the peaking of the speakers. Only complaint I have now is that the volume isn't as loud as before but its not really that big of a deal. Overall well worth the upgrade. Just wanted to say thanks again for all the help!

I have recently installed the alpinekit into my 2010 335i, the speakers sound great, but the subs sound overworked at higher volumes. Would that be a coding issue? Second question is I have a pioneer indash (screen) I plan on installing into my car; with the indash in would my car is still require coding?

[BostonBeemah]

Originally Posted by srogerd432

I have recently installed the alpinekit into my 2010 335i, the speakers sound great, but the subs sound overworked at higher volumes. Would that be a coding issue? Second question is I have a pioneer indash (screen) I plan on installing into my car; with the indash in would my car is still require coding?

The coding does seem to tame it because it levels out all the signals instead of sending the boosted signal from the head unit and then juicing it up more from the amp. If you install an aftermarket amp, there is no need for coding because you will be removing the head unit that you would have needed to code.