[beanbaguk]

So I have my F31 M-Sport and I love it. Great car and the 320d engine is superb.

My biggest gripe apart from not having the full dark dash is the absolutely crappy stereo.

It's absolutely garbage. It lacks any detail, bass and the treble is either too harsh or gone altogether.

Short of the long is it has to change.

My stock set-up is two mid-range up front, two in the back and two subs, so I've been checking out my options.

Alpine audio upgrade.
Adds tweeters and replaces the two front mid-range speakers. It also adds a 160w RMS amp but it looks a pain to fit myself!

I retrofitted the alpine kit to my E87 and it was an absolute doddle to complete. No coding, very straight forward and the only nerve-wracking point was cutting the sub cables to attach the amp harness. The system worked a treat and was excellent.

In the F30/31 it looks like a different story. Coding required and worst of all, the need to drill a hole in the main harness entry point to connect the amp to the battery!!! Really?!!?! Is this seriously the best option or are there alternatives?



On top of the Alpine upgrade, I also plan to upgrade the subs with Focal IFBMW-woofers. They look like a quality upgrade and seem to be highly recommended.

Focal Speaker Upgrade
Just upgrade the speakers and use the stock amp.

This seems to be the cheapest option but how well will this work?

I'm not expecting explosive sound as the stock can't be all that great, but has anyone tried it and did it bring out more detail?

Other options
I'm all ears. My ideal option would be the Alpine upgrade but I'm reluctant to cut any grommet seals and BMW want to charge me €400 to fit it which I'm reluctant to pay out.

Thanks all!

[Technic]

The minimum upgrade that I suggest for the Stereo system is the MB Quart QM200.3 (front/component and woofers) and a signal-sensing 4ch aftermarket amp with Bass Boost EQ. An Alpine MRV-F300 (budget) or an Arc Mini KS125.4 (much better) will do nicely.

No need to code or any DSP correction, as the QM200.3 front crossovers have an adjustable tweeter level output. That is enough to passively correct the OEM overboosted highs signal. The 6.5" woofer got to go, so the QM200.3 8" will fix that. The 4ch aftermarket amp will power only the front component and the woofers -the only speakers that matter. The rear OEM speakers can stay and powered by the iDrive. Bass Boost EQ feature will wake up the new 8" woofers properly without raising gains.

And most importantly, no need to remove iDrive, drill anything, or deal with door main OEM harness. Just unbolt seats and tilt, all the main wiring is done at the woofers OEM connector as the old E9x Alpine OEM kit.

[beanbaguk]

Originally Posted by Technic

The minimum upgrade that I suggest for the Stereo system is the MB Quart QM200.3 (front/component and woofers) and a signal-sensing 4ch aftermarket amp with Bass Boost EQ. An Alpine MRV-F300 (budget) or an Arc Mini KS125.4 (much better) will do nicely.

No need to code or any DSP correction, as the QM200.3 front crossovers have an adjustable tweeter level output. That is enough to passively correct the OEM overboosted highs signal. The 6.5" woofer got to go, so the QM200.3 8" will fix that. The 4ch aftermarket amp will power only the front component and the woofers -the only speakers that matter. The rear OEM speakers can stay and powered by the iDrive. Bass Boost EQ feature will wake up the new 8" woofers properly without raising gains.

And most importantly, no need to remove iDrive, drill anything, or deal with door main OEM harness. Just unbolt seats and tilt, all the main wiring is done at the woofers OEM connector as the old E9x Alpine OEM kit.

That sounds good to me. The speakers look relatively straightforward to fit although I'd like to have it as integrated as possible so could the tweeters fit into the tweeter door trim or would it be a case of drilling a hole into the non-tweeter trim and inserting these tweeters? They're also pretty reasonably priced!

Also, where do I start fitting the amp? Is there a guide for this? (Loads of questions here).

- Where do I fit it?
- Is there a wiring harness I can use and will it auto-switch off to avoid draining my battery?
- How do I wire the amp to the iDrive (CIC)?

If anyone has a guide I'll study that before before deciding if I'll have a stab at it.

Cheers!

P.S. Are the subs from the QM200.3BMW speaker system plug and play? (Do they fit in the OEM BMW enclosures?)

[Technic]

Originally Posted by beanbaguk

That sounds good to me. The speakers look relatively straightforward to fit although I'd like to have it as integrated as possible so could the tweeters fit into the tweeter door trim or would it be a case of drilling a hole into the non-tweeter trim and inserting these tweeters? They're also pretty reasonably priced!

Also, where do I start fitting the amp? Is there a guide for this? (Loads of questions here).

- Where do I fit it?
- Is there a wiring harness I can use and will it auto-switch off to avoid draining my battery?
- How do I wire the amp to the iDrive (CIC)?

If anyone has a guide I'll study that before before deciding if I'll have a stab at it.

Cheers!

P.S. Are the subs from the QM200.3BMW speaker system plug and play? (Do they fit in the OEM BMW enclosures?)

- aftermarket amp can be installed where the OEM amp is located in other models -at the trunk left rear.
- PM for harness details
- Harness is connected to the front full range outputs of the iDrive and then split into the 4 inputs of the aftermarket amp directly. No need for Cleansweep or LOC.
- QM200.3 speakers fit OEM mounts but do not come with OEM connectors. Harness includes all OEM connectors required for as close as possible 100% PnP
- I suggest getting the OEM tweeter mounts at your local dealer

[instalher]

good call technic, on a budget this is a good way to go.