[davethefish]

Originally Posted by Thackers

What do you reckon an audio installer would have charged?

no idea, and to be honest if i had to do another one the same i could do it quicker,
as a fair bit of time is spent thinking out cable runs and how to remove trim ect....but all that is unbelievably easy.

i'm glad i did it myself as it has been immense fun.
nothing is really too taxing technically. (once i'd ironed out a few wiring conundrums)
if i were to give it a 'haynes book' spanner rating (for those who have ever skinned their knuckles with this workshop guide)
i'd say it was a 2 spanner job

[teaston]

Originally Posted by davethefish

no idea, and to be honest if i had to do another one the same i could do it quicker,
as a fair bit of time is spent thinking out cable runs and how to remove trim ect....but all that is unbelievably easy.

i'm glad i did it myself as it has been immense fun.
nothing is really too taxing technically. (once i'd ironed out a few wiring conundrums)
if i were to give it a 'haynes book' spanner rating (for those who have ever skinned their knuckles with this workshop guide)
i'd say it was a 2 spanner job

It sounds as if it's very similar to the E90, only problem i had is i didn't have a large enough torx bit to remove the front seats, they're a t45 or t50 aren't they?

[davethefish]

Originally Posted by teaston

It sounds as if it's very similar to the E90, only problem i had is i didn't have a large enough torx bit to remove the front seats, they're a t45 or t50 aren't they?

yes m8, it's a T50 bit for the front and back seats.

[matt666]

Sounds good. Linking forward to the install pics!

[davethefish]

so after what seems like an age,
i've sorted a lot of the installation pic's

to keep the thread tidy,
i'll post the rest of the pic's in the first post.
so their not strewn all over the place.
this will probably take a little time too...you did say lots of pics

as said in the earlier post it's all up and running.
and the sound is utterly amazing!
but due to waiting on some parts from bmw for final connections,
things like the woofer jumpers have been temporarily made(although more than adequate and i've left the connections in an easily accessible area.)

also the doors still need a little more work, the loom tape i ordered didn't arrive until this week, but the door cards can be removed in about 1-2 minutes anyway,
so access isn't a problem.
and though the cross overs are securely stuck with gorilla tape.
(they are quite light)

i'm still thinking about a better way to mount them.
but spent a good couple of hours thinking about it while installing them.
so just decided to go back to it, as i just wanted to get it all up and running.

[teaston]

Good work, we really should have stickies in this forum!

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by teaston

Good work, we really should have stickies in this forum!

+1

Would be handy with a number of upgrades, GAP, MPG, detailing, best roads

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Brigand

+1

Would be handy with a number of upgrades, GAP, MPG, detailing, best roads

EBT!

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by teaston

EBT!

Coding in general

Oops missed that one lol.

[nas80]

did you fit the under seat subs?

[davethefish]

Originally Posted by nas80

did you fit the under seat subs?

yes m8 that will be on day 4
i'll post some more pics of the install later tonight...

[davethefish]

all the installation pictures have now been added to the (now very long) first post.

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=997859

[teaston]

Originally Posted by davethefish

all the installation pictures have now been added to the (now very long) first post.

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=997859

Very impressive mate, that looks like a mammoth task!

Hopefully anyone reading this that's speccing a new car will be wise and add HK, along with xenons as they are the 2 absolute must have options as the standard equipment is complete rubbish!

[davethefish]

Originally Posted by teaston

Very impressive mate, that looks like a mammoth task!

Hopefully anyone reading this that's speccing a new car will be wise and add HK, along with xenons as they are the 2 absolute must have options as the standard equipment is complete rubbish!

that's a fair point,
if buying new they are must have options.

if buying an AUC like i did, options are very scant, few cars with just msport plus pack.
and buying prices significantly higher....£3-5k usually including higher options too.
but still way more than adding the msport plus pack alone costs new....?

btw my missus has just been out in the car with me,
and though showing no interest whatsoever during the upgrade.
can't believe how good the music is in the car!
she said it was like being live at a concert...

[davethefish]

after downloading and installing a .gas DSP setup file from edd at monsteraudiodesigns.

i've also downloaded a few other 120.4 DSP .gas amplifier settings files from makkan00 on E90 post,
and tried those out too.

at the moment i'm happiest with edd's amp settings but with the bass frequencies from 50Hz down to 25 Hz moderated a bit as i feel these are a bit heavy for my taste.
and also the top end of frequencies adjusted down a bit as i haven't attenuated the tweeters at all at the moment.

it also allows the HU's general bass and treble settings to be easily adjusted , as i have the HU's bass and treble settings on a preset. though these were set on 0 and then adjusted minus or plus as desired.

there are so many settings it's great that you can download a working set designed for a BMW HU's output, and just tweak the equaliser from there.

i'd be lying if i said i understand half of what all the other settings are about.
but i hope to pick them up and understand them better eventually.

a couple of pics of settings menu (i'll take screen shots next time)

[mightycrown]

Hey, Very very detailed post of your install. Mine is very similar but with different gears. I got PP 82 DSP from Helix for powering and processing,
Focal K2 100 component for the fronts, Rainbow dreamline midrange woofer for the rears and Rainbow Bmw specific underseat 8" as Midebass. A center channel with Emphase 4" coaxial not yet installed but has done all the prep work. Waiting to carve the Dashboard which I really want no mistake. Imagining a big ugly on your center dash
Would you mind to share your crossover point for different speakers? specially between the fronts and the underseats ones. I dont think I m getting it correct, they dont sound well together per my expectation.

[F30AM]

The OP's system sounds much better than HK. In fact it is a superb setup.
Can be installed by this firm if you are not into DIY:
http://www.monsteraudiodesign.co.uk/

[Steven1077]

I'd be happy with a decent sub

[ajfoggy]

Hi Dave, I got all my kit through the other day from Edd. Just wondering, there is a blue cable that comes with the power cable kit, and it mentions running this back to the headunit?

I can't see any reference to this cable on your install is it something that is not needed? Or if it is what do I do with it? Does it somehow signal to the amp to power up?

Cheers

[pdk42]

Originally Posted by ajfoggy

Hi Dave, I got all my kit through the other day from Edd. Just wondering, there is a blue cable that comes with the power cable kit, and it mentions running this back to the headunit?

I can't see any reference to this cable on your install is it something that is not needed? Or if it is what do I do with it? Does it somehow signal to the amp to power up?

Cheers

It's for the on/off switching. It's not needed if you set the amp to auto-sense (i.e. that music etc coming from the amp turns it on).

[ajfoggy]

Originally Posted by pdk42

It's for the on/off switching. It's not needed if you set the amp to auto-sense (i.e. that music etc coming from the amp turns it on).

Nice one thanks! I presume that it best/normal to do that then rather than run another cable.

[pdk42]

Originally Posted by ajfoggy

Nice one thanks! I presume that it best/normal to do that then rather than run another cable.

Yes - that's what I'm doing. If you want the hard-wired on/off, you need to find a connection to an ignition-switched circuit.