[jacar]

I had leased a 2010 328i (my first bmw) and just assumed the base stereo would be at least decent in this level of car-boy what a surprise to find that once on the road the music is really bad, turn up the volume to hear the miss and lows and the highs get very harsh. Being a leased car, I can't replace the system. After reading about the JBL MS-2 I got one at Cruchfield for $135 and it is pretty amazing, it took some attempts to get it properly tuned but it is what should have been in the car in the first place. The sound stage is brought up to the center of the dash, and mids and lows are now brought up to a good level without the highs being harsh which would happen when increasing the volume level.
It can't completely make up for the small speakers and lack of power, but short of installing a new system (which I can't in a leased car) this is really good. With better speakers such as the BSW Stage 1 this might make a really good and inexpensive upgrade without the difficulty of an amp and re-coding, etc.
The cigarette lighter plug in this car is in the console and the MS2's plug is tall so that the console lid won't close. I had made up my own 6 volt power by using a shorter igo plug and a 6 volt tip: however I was having the MS2 lock up every 15 minutes or so. I found a plug extender cord at Radio shack, this is low enough to close the console and has a short wire then a receptacle for the MS2's power supply to plug in to. I have had no lock-ups after that.