[hazkirby]

Hi guys

I have a pre lci with the standard sound system.

An improvement area I have listed for modification is the sound system in particular the bass.

I think the way forward is under seat subs. I don't even think mine has these as standard ?

What are my options ? I want no more than £200 (lower if poss) + plug and play

[RajB]

From my understanding all have underseats even on the base setup.

There are a couple of options (L7 seem the best option but rarely come up) but I'd say try the MB Quart (QMW-200) which are a direct replacement.

When I was looking there some good posts in my wanted thread - Check the Link

Only thing is whether you would need a better amp to drive them properly (alpine upgrade amp etc)

[4foothill]

L7 subs are pretty cheap on eBay from US sellers.

[Digitalize]

You have underseat subs. Your problem is the standard headunit has no power to push them properly, so changing the subs will do very little.

You need to do the Alpine retrofit, really gives the standard subs a good kick, and if it's still not enough there's power left in the added amp to change the standard subs for the L7s.

It's plug and play, but more than your budget, around £350 from memory.

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by 4foothill

L7 subs are pretty cheap on eBay from US sellers.

+1, I would find them from a US seller that ships to the UK. I paid £210 inc delivery for L7 subs, L7 front mids and tweeters, L7 shelf mids and tweeters, E90 door surround.

I then used an aftermarket Kenwood amp and it sounds miles better than an Alpine setup. So much more bass and clarity.

TBH I think the Alpine setup is expensive at £350 as the speakers are only equivalent to Hifi speakers.

[4foothill]

Originally Posted by E60525d

+1, I would find them from a US seller that ships to the UK. I paid £210 inc delivery for L7 subs, L7 front mids and tweeters, L7 shelf mids and tweeters, E90 door surround.

I then used an aftermarket Kenwood amp and it sounds miles better than an Alpine setup. So much more bass and clarity.

TBH I think the Alpine setup is expensive at £350 as the speakers are only equivalent to Hifi speakers.

What amp have you got out of interest? I did the Alpine a few weeks ago. It's good for the money I paid, but I already want to upgrade it further. Probably should have just done it all in one!

[E60525d]

I went for a Kenwood kac-m3004. It was also purchased from ebay US.

It's power output matches the L7 speakers and subs near enough perfectly. As a bonus, the amp is very small and fits very well in the boot. To be honest most aftermarket amps will be much better than the Alpine as that is designed to work with the Alpine speakers and the standard subs!

On a side not, I also bought a Audison Bit Ten from a forum member but not installed yet. Wasnt planning on buying this but it turned up at a good price.

My system sounds fantastic now and coding it to Hifi should make a big improvement again according to most people. But i rather use the Audison to de-equalize the sound rather than to code it. Watch this space!

[hazkirby]

I think it's base.

No tweaters. From what I've read I do have underseats but they are smaller 6". It definitely feels that way as the bass is minimal.

[R99]

Originally Posted by E60525d

TBH I think the Alpine setup is expensive at £350 as the speakers are only equivalent to Hifi speakers.

HiFi are paper cones, Alpine Kit speakers are aluminium coned.

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by R99

HiFi are paper cones, Alpine Kit speakers are aluminium coned.

Fair enough, looks like the Alpine's are around L7 equivalent.

[R99]

Originally Posted by E60525d

Fair enough, looks like the Alpine's are around L7 equivalent.

L7's do sound a bit better.

In my E81, I had the Alpine Kit (amp & harness) with L7 mids, Alpine Tweeters and L7 subs. It sounded good!

In my E91, I had the Alpine Kit with the normal Alpine speakers, but added L7 subs again, it was excellent, but I do remember the set up in my E81 being a bit better.

I have my Alpine Kit, and L7 subs for sale, having just retrofitted the 13 speaker Individual Audio into my car.

[Digitalize]

Alpine sits a little above HiFi, mainly due to the amp than the speakers. There's no reason a paper cone is any worse than an aluminium one, they produce a slightly different sound.

I'm on the way to this setup slowly, which I think is probably the best bang for buck and simplicity.

Alpine Retrofit
HiFi coding
L7 Subwoofers

[hazkirby]

Thanks for the replies very helpful.

In terms of coding to HiFi who or where would I get this done? Is it a case of tracking down someone on here?

[Digitalize]

Pretty much, why I haven't had mine done is that I know there's no one local to me.

You could also buy the cable, download the software and do it yourself, if you have a Windows machine.

[E60525d]

Coding is not difficult if you have NCS expert.

But bare in mind, once coding your rear speakers will go very quiet and so will the warning sounds and pdc. This is why I didn't do it.

[E90-AMD]

Originally Posted by E60525d

I went for a Kenwood kac-m3004. It was also purchased from ebay US.

It's power output matches the L7 speakers and subs near enough perfectly. As a bonus, the amp is very small and fits very well in the boot. To be honest most aftermarket amps will be much better than the Alpine as that is designed to work with the Alpine speakers and the standard subs!

On a side not, I also bought a Audison Bit Ten from a forum member but not installed yet. Wasnt planning on buying this but it turned up at a good price.

My system sounds fantastic now and coding it to Hifi should make a big improvement again according to most people. But i rather use the Audison to de-equalize the sound rather than to code it. Watch this space!

Was it difficult to install the aftermarket Amp and make it work with the rest of the BMW OEM system?

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by E90-AMD

Was it difficult to install the aftermarket Amp and make it work with the rest of the BMW OEM system?

Pretty straight forward, just a few more connections compared to the Alpine kit.

You still need to tap at the parallel connection in door sills like the Alpine, then just run the cables to the amp in the boot. Cable goes to the input and output of amp. Just ensure the amp has speaker level inputs.

[DanTheManc]

Get an Alpine SWE-815. Job done.


I have one in my Civic and it's great.


https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/pro...l-kaArBt8P8HAQ

[Digitalize]

Originally Posted by E60525d

Coding is not difficult if you have NCS expert.

But bare in mind, once coding your rear speakers will go very quiet and so will the warning sounds and pdc. This is why I didn't do it.

As the rear speakers are unamped you don't really want them loud anyway, it ruins the soundstage.

[hazkirby]

Thanks for the info.

I have a windows laptop , Bluetooth odb2 and will get that software. I'm also part developer by trade so hoping find it easy. *** 24 hours later new forum question "how do I logon " ***

[un1eash]

Originally Posted by E60525d

Coding is not difficult if you have NCS expert.

But bare in mind, once coding your rear speakers will go very quiet and so will the warning sounds and pdc. This is why I didn't do it.

Sound was reduced but still plenty loud enough to hear the parking sensors. Without coding I found the sound to bottom heavy and missing mid range, much better sound after coding.