Are you happy with your E70 sound system?
 

I have listened to the base sound system and was not impressed. The premium is $1800 and I do not want a changer. Are you happy with the way your base system sounds? With the radio the subwoofers under the seats sounded much too thumpy (not very accurate). I'm sure that the premimum would be better but would I be better off doing the upgrades myself (I pioneered the upgrades for the newest Corvette with the Bose/ Nav). Any thoughts out there?

Hi Steve,

I am trying to find out the same info. I tried to get the upgraded sound without the changer but have had no luck so far. Where did you get to hear the standard system at? Is there one in Stuttgart at a dealer yet?

I am in Stuttgart as well. :thumbup:

Let me start by saying that I love BMWs. However, I find german cars to have crappy stereos in general. Lexus clearly smokes them in this department with the Mark Levinson stereo.

:iagree:
Although I can't comment on the E70, I had the standard stereo in my MY'01 and the premium sound now in my MY'05. Both leave alot to be desired. I don't know if they changed the sound system. If I didn't lease, I would have stayed with the standard and upgraded the system myself.

My dad however has a Touareg and his stereo blows mine away. So does my sisters Toyota minivan :rolleyes:

My MK V GTI's stereo is better than my e90 330i's. Even my dad's brand new S500's (S550 in US) stereo is some what lousy. I was playing around in a pre-facelift E60's logic 7 Stereo, and the highs sounded muffled and not clear. WTF is wrong with MB and BMW stereos?

There are not any in Stuttgart that are other than stray test vehicles and those are being hidden away from view. The European release is in April and thus the reason for the delay in delivering mine. They will not import the US version until after the Euro release.

I just test drove several versions in the States yesterday. I'm now convinced that I DO want the sport suspension (awsome!), I will buy that tech package, the sunroof is out (too much buffeting to be useful), the cold weather package is a must, third row seats are not worth considering, and ,finally, I want the NAPA leather.

I did listen to the premimum stereo but I was not left with any bite marks in my ass telling me to order the change that I will never use (IPOD integration for me).

When I finally get mine I guess I'll just have to start tearing into it like I did my Vette.
http://steved.smugmug.com/photos/107733438-M.jpg

Thanks for the info! I will not make it back to the states until late April, this is bad cause I will not be able to hear it for myself. Have you heard the standard system yet? If so how big is the difference???

I also had to gut my Camaro SS as the sound just would not do!!!

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...74_16_full.jpg

Gotta few Alpine compnents underneath and a few MB Quart seperates. :thumbup:

I've only head the radio with both the std and prem. They were both lacking but the std was abusive with the excess of boomy bass. I could live with the premimum but for a lot less $$ it could sound so much better.

Stealthy and sweet!

Where are you in STR?

Thanks! I live in Boblingen. Where are you?

Heimsheim - and work on Patch.

Cool! I know Patch, been working there for a little over 4 years. :thumbup:

Unfortunately, the car we bought has the standard sound system. Waiting for a custom ordered vehicle would have taken up to 4 months as opposed to 3 weeks for the car we are getting.

What would be the easiest way to upgrade the standard sound system? Is it really that bad?

Also, does anyone have a compehensive set of pictures of the RSE system?

Thanks

In the same boat.
 

I have a new X5 and am REALLY dissapointed in the sound. My previous X5 was better ( although it seems not critically aclaimed here).

Bass not tight, midrange a mess.

Any thoughts? HELP !!

try setting up your eq

Base system is pretty good...
 

The only thing I want to do is add more power. When using the AUX for an IPOD, even cranked, it's not too loud. Could use a bigger amp.

thats not the stereos fault...get a proper cable:
http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Ipod-3-5.../dp/B000CCF9UM

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d_i=B000CCF9UM

these cables will increase volume and quality by 50%.
My Ipod sounds just like the original CD using this cable.

What system does yours have? The standard system in Australia I believe has 6 speakers? Is this the same as yours?

I agree, this worked for me in my MBZ.

BMW should really learn from Japanese car companies. I have standard system on my X5, since H/K system in my M3 was very bad IMO wasn't worth extra $. However, my current basic X5 sounds better than premium system in M3. I used to have FX35 and it had very nice system I'm not even sure if I paid extra for it.

I think all these comments should be taken with a grain of salt, since audio preference is another one of those subjective traits of a vehicle.

The stock system in the E53 wasn't great at all, zero bass (4/10). The upgraded DSP system I tried on a facelift E53 was decent, perhaps a 7.5/10.

The X3's base system isn't great, but its better than many of the other BMW standard ones. Could use more midrange, and the bass can lose the "tightness" of sound at higher volumes. Also sounds a bit muddy on certain types of music 6.5/10.

I've enjoyed the Logic7 systems in the latest BMWs. I played with some of the many settings on a 335i coupe. Quite comparable IMO to the Acura ELS Surround on my friend's '04 TL, likely due to different location of subwoofers. Both get a 9.5/10.

I don't ride in a recent Lexus enough to evaluate the Mark Levinson system. Last time I tried to play with one on the GS, I got lost in the touchscreen menus and gave up.

:iagree:

btw- its also important to note that if you are not listening to CD's, the stereo will sound like crap. The only way to enjoy good sound is with a good source like the CD or HD radio. Both the FM and Sirius signals sound bad regardless of the quaility of the system.

i have the premium sound system in my x5 and its crap. Even the crappy premium bose sound in my chevy avalanche sounds better. I think alot has to do with the accoustics of the interior of the x5 rather than the components. Either way Bmw needs to team up with a premium sound company like everyone else. The most recent is jaguar's partnership with B&W for its sound system.

I think I went to too many rock concerts in the 70's and 80's, so my ears may not be as 'tuned', but I have the premium sound system in my 08 X5 and love it. I think one has to be careful with how you ripped your MP3's. In the early days when disk space was at a premium, many of us ripped at a low rate to fit more songs on our players. With 120GB iPods now, you should rip at the highest rate possible and use lossless if at all possible. If you have an old ripped collection, I would recommend re-ripping the whole CD library. Takes a long time, but the quality is worth it, particularly in a tight enclosed space like a car.

I know what you're saying.. Most of my files are Apple Lossless or at least 256-320k mp3's I just really think the Accoustics are bad inside the car. Either that or my ears are spoiled by my B&W 802d's in my home theatre

what about just upgrading the speakers? I believe there was a vendor who posted an E70 speaker upgrade kit that would replace all pre-installed speakers, including the subs... for about $650 bucks!

if its acoustics and speaker brand/design maybe it pays to just swap them out...

i can't remember where the link is....but it may be the ticket we're looking for..

I have an 08 X5 w/ with the premium sound...it's "okay."

Sounds better to me that the premium in my '07 335 convertible did for some reason. :dunno:

i have the premium sound system in my e70 .. and its the best .. i couldnt ask for anything more

i just came from one of those custom autosound shops and they had suggested swapping out the 4 main speakers (door speakers w/tweeters) to Polk db6501 kit to improve on sound quality...

i asked about swapping out all 12 speakers and he suggested not to simply because the stock amp wouldn't have enough power to effectively power the upgraded speakers...doing so will result in weakening signal strength thus giving you negative results.

my vehicle is already in products so i dont' have much of an option on upgrading to the premium sound... (and i also don't need the changer) so i believe swapping out the main speaker/tweeter set to better quality ones makes alot of sense... and saves alot of money!

i understand BSW is coming out with an X5 speaker upgrade kit soon but swapping out all 12 speakers while using my current amp may not work for me...

any thoughts? has anyone considered this??

I don't know what you guys have, but I have the permium in my X and I think its actually pretty damn good.
I had dsp in my 2004 X and it sucked, untill I put the stealth box and jbl amp. then it has some kick. however still not as good as the premiun I have now.
What are you guys listening to?
and I think the premium sounds better then any of the other manufacturers stock sytems, cept maybe lexus(in terms of quality sound).

Audi's B&O is beyond excellent. I was stunned by the A8L I tried it in.

Soon, it's going to be available across the line, for much less than the A8's $6,300 system. In fact the one available in the S5 is $2,390, and the new A4's will be sub-$1K.

And yes, I think they can all stand up to Lexus's systems. The one in our RX330 isn't particularly great, and it is an ML.

Actually, that's not entirely correct.

Regardless of the OEM audio system -be Top HiFi (DSP) or HiFi- replacing the speakers on any BMW is not as simple as it seems, as the impedances of the OEM speakers are not the common 4 ohms as most of the aftermarket offerings. The OEM amps have not only the impedances of those speakers matched for power, but they also have internal crossovers matched to those impedances on each speaker.

Changing that impedance will change -not necessarily improve- the overall response of the system. In the BSW upgraded speaker combo for BMW's it seems that they actually took notice of the impedance of each OEM speaker and found a matching aftermarket replacement for them to offer this kit as a complete replacement with better response than OEM. Otherwise it will be hard for them to even say that there's going to be an improvement in sound quality while using the OEM amp.

There are ways to overcome the limitations of the OEM amp depending of the type of OEM system. If your X5 do not have any DSP processing then the OEM amp could be bypassed and an aftermarket amp with matching speakers could be installed. This is done by interfacing the aftermarket amp at the analog outputs of the tuner/inputs of the OEM amp. From there on the aftermarket amp(s) could take care of any speaker system that you wish to install. The only requirement for this bypass is that the aftermarket amp needs to be balanced input capable; all JL Audio amps, for example, are designed as differential input capable. If the amp is not balanced input capable then a differential passive or active LOC device (convert differential to non-differential signal) need to be used before the aftermarket amp.

If the amp is DSP then the OEM amp cannot be bypassed, as the whole tuner/amp communication is digital. As such, any aftermarket amp installed will have to be fed from the OEM amp analog outputs and not from its digital inputs. This is so because there is no aftermarket interface/converter yet that can be used to tap those digital signals at the OEM DSP amp inputs that then can be input into aftermarket amps and be processed. Replacing the tuner and amp is basically a non-issue, as this system is integrated into everything in the car (Assist, Telephone, PDC, Nav) that has to do with sound and alert tones thru the speakers.

Using the OEM DSP amp outputs as inputs for aftermarket amps is not as simple as installing Line Output Converters (LOC) and that's it. If the idea is to just add a sub, yes, it will work by using the OEM sub outputs from the OEM amp. However, if the idea is to replace all the speakers then it must be remembered that the OEM DSP amps have internal crossovers and EQ/tine correction processing. Therefore, to obtain a full bandwidth signal to be used as input to an aftermarket amp a device that can sum channels is required and the DSP processing (EQ) has to be reverted to flat.

All this could be done automatically by one of those new OEM integration processors like Cleansweep, 3SIXTY.2, Alpine Imprint or the upcoming JBL MS-8, by using one of those Zapco DC amps (built in DSP) or the professional -manual- way with an RTA and perhaps an Audiocontrol DQL-8.

Hope that this helps... ;)

If anyone...
 

...tries the BSW speaker upgrade, please share the results. I have the standard sound system, (bought a 2007 X5 used last week), and think the bass is way too muddy. If the BSW kit really offers improvement it may be a worthwhile investment.

has anyone optimized the equalizer settings and if so... can you take a pic of them?