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advice on a bmw 330i system


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the_edsta 
Member - Posts: 7
Member spacespace
Joined: April 09, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: March 01, 2010 at 12:09 PM / IP Logged  

I apologize in advance if this gets a bit long… but I want to be as specific as possible so I can try to find a potential solution to this conundrum. I have posted it elsewhere on the net (not @ the 12volt, but elsewhere) and could use whatever expertise you guys could offer…

As I was shopping for a new vehicle, I was already planning my next cost-effective high SQ system. My previous system included two Alpine amps (MrpF300 &m650), a Pioneer deck (premier 720 was it?), focal access speakers up from, CDT midbass drivers in the rear, and a single 12” Alpine type R in a custom sealed enclosure. Sounded great, but there was room for improvement.

So for this time around, I was planning on buying a new deck that meets all my specs and matches the new interior (surprisingly enough, I may end up with one of the new ’10 Sony xplod units), keeping my old amps, and pairing them with a new sub/speaker combo. The plan was: Focal Poly components in the front doors, the amp running bridged 150x2 into them and a JL w3v3 12” in a sealed enclosure. I really felt like the 165v2’s from woofersetc were the best deal, and that I could keep them for a while (put them in my next vehicle too…

But here is the catch:

The BMW came with a harmon kardon sound system. It includes 5.25’s in the front doors as well as weak little door tweeters and a pathetic 3” midrange by the armrest, not to mention another 3” midrange in the rear doors and 6x9’s on the rear deck. Sound imaging is horrible, soundstage is worse, vocals are muddied, drums are muffled, and tons of room is wasted by individual amplifiers etc. Not happy.

So should I buy the v2’s in 5.25? Should I handcuff myself to 5.25s? I don’t have the $ to buy new speakers every time I buy a new car (I am planning on keeping this beemer for 2 years and then upgrading.. it already has high miles as it is and I know I can resell and get my money back in 2 years time) and I want this thing to return to stock when I sell it (some BMW people are crazy and like everything OEM… aftermarket will hurt resale). And considering I want to return to stock, modifying the door location is probably not an option…

Also, if I do get the 5.25’s, I’d like to keep a bit of rear fill (perhaps off the headunit)… and I have no idea what to do about that: 3” door speakers and rear deck 6x9’s are equally undesirable…

Building a new system for my 330i... Alpine amps, sony headunit, CDT midranges, focal tweeters, MB quart 12" (sealed), active crossover setup... ready in 3 weeks?
fiberglasslvr 
Copper - Posts: 116
Copper spacespace
Joined: June 26, 2008
Location: California, United States
Posted: March 01, 2010 at 3:51 PM / IP Logged  

#1 what year is your BMW?

#2 i agree with you on the sound in most BMW's

#3 does the factory radio have all the connections you require (i.e. aux, usb etc.)? if so have you thought of just running a processor such as Rockford 3sixty, Audison bit one etc.  and if the stock deck does not have aux inputs some processors have aux inputs to run I-pods etc. and that way you could run your amps but not have to deal with rewiring the car for an after market deck.

#4 as far as speaker selection, without modification your kinda stuck with the 5 1/4's . and as far as that 3" mid, you could replace the speaker set with a 3-way if its in your bugdet, or just do a 2-way and not hook up the 3" mid. and in the rear you can just not hook up the mid in the door, and you could probably do a 5 1/4 or 4" component set in the 6x9 location without modification . wich will make returning to stock simple.

in process of changing everything
the_edsta 
Member - Posts: 7
Member spacespace
Joined: April 09, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: March 01, 2010 at 4:02 PM / IP Logged  

1) 2003

2) I can't speak for many... but I can certainly speak for this Harmon Kardon upgraded system!  Ten muddy speakers instead of six well-powered, accurate ones!

3) I do believe I could use a sound processor/line out/preamp setup with my current radio, but this thing doesn't have mp3 capabilities, let alone a usb slot, digital-analog converter, 3-band EQ, etc. like I'd expect from my radio.  I'm pretty much sold on aftermarket at this point (though new wiring must be run).

4) Honestly, I don't think the extra 3" speakers from a 3-way component set actually help the sound.  They just repeat frequencies and alter imaging.   I really like the idea of throwing some non-6x9's in the rear deck instead of using 6x9's, but I still don't like the idea of speakers that far back in the car, radiating off of the rear window, altering my soundstage up front and (potentially) annoying back-seat riders (very rare in my car). 

Thanks for the input... if you're viewing this post, folks, keep it coming... it is much appreciated!

:-)

fiberglasslvr wrote:

#1 what year is your BMW?

#2 i agree with you on the sound in most BMW's

#3 does the factory radio have all the connections you require (i.e. aux, usb etc.)? if so have you thought of just running a processor such as Rockford 3sixty, Audison bit one etc.  and if the stock deck does not have aux inputs some processors have aux inputs to run I-pods etc. and that way you could run your amps but not have to deal with rewiring the car for an after market deck.

#4 as far as speaker selection, without modification your kinda stuck with the 5 1/4's . and as far as that 3" mid, you could replace the speaker set with a 3-way if its in your bugdet, or just do a 2-way and not hook up the 3" mid. and in the rear you can just not hook up the mid in the door, and you could probably do a 5 1/4 or 4" component set in the 6x9 location without modification . wich will make returning to stock simple.

Building a new system for my 330i... Alpine amps, sony headunit, CDT midranges, focal tweeters, MB quart 12" (sealed), active crossover setup... ready in 3 weeks?

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