DSP v Standard For Those in the Market

[skymac2]

The only bad thing that I have to admit to when talking about my new (June) 2005 X5 3.0i is that the sound was better in my 2004 Buick Rainier. The Rainier had DSP (came standard!) and I went without it for the BMW. If you are a mucisian, have an ear for music or just love music DO NOT PASS ON THE DSP!...especially if you had it or have it in another car you own; you WILL hear the difference.

The fellow that sold me the car confused me. I went with the "Premium Package" with my car and mistakenly thought that meant I got the "Premium Sound System" (DSP) too. My fault entirely for not looking closely. After I noticed that I wouldn't get the DSP with the Premium Package, but prior to when my car came in, I expressed my concern to the sales guy and he said that "the BMW came with a Harmon Kardon system that is superior to anything on the market". He assured me that a standard BMW sound system would be superior to anything in a Buick. Like a fool I went with that instead of insisting that he change my order.

Again, I admit that it's my fault, but if BMW wants people out there saying things like "Buicks have a better sound systems than BMWs", they should keep offering DSP as an option instead of standard. The Premium Sound for the BMW was like $1200, which, let's face it, should not be a lot if you're buying a BMW.

The major difference is in the bass. You can turn the bass up a bit on the standard system, but that doesn't make up for the lost quality in the equalization and the two missing woofers that would have come with DSP. Oh well. My bad.

I've investigated aftermarket, but I was told by BMW that any outside work on the car would void my warrantee. Plus they said that owners frequently experience a "hum" in the system with aftermarket work.

[ncx]

.02 cents: Add a sub to the existing system, cross it pretty low and spend the extra money you save on some other cool mods

[el_duderino]

1) DSP stands for Digital Signal Processing. Like many techiques, the use of DSP is NOT any sort of guarantee that the systems sounds good or sounds bad. The 2005 X5 that we worked on here had a DSP line on the menu setting, and it sounded tpretty bad to me (and the owner).

2) It does not void your warranty. The Magnuson Moss Act says that your warranty can not be voided simply because you had something done to your car that was not at the dealer. They have to prove it was the work's fault. Many BMW dealers across the country have aftermarket shops whom they have do their work for them. This demonstrates legally that the act of doing the upgrade doesn't universally void the warranty.

3) Many installers would have noise problems in the X5. Hell, many installers have noise problems in Honda Accords. The X5 IS a hard car to work on. Most stereo shops and most stereo installers shouldn't attempt it. I spent a lot of time getting the noise out of the last X5 we did, and then I spent a lot of time tweaking on it with the customer before he left, and now he has a hint of noise I need to get out of the system that wasn't there that morning (darn it!). I didn't check to see if all my sonic adjustments had any side effects on the background level, and they obviously did.

It's coming back next week to get the bass knob installed (it was in Customs: ) and I'll re-adjust it then.