[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Greetings All


Can anyone recommend any good, yet affordable Subwoofers for the base audio setup on an F30 please, I've only seen a few options out the, and most of them are in excess of 150+ for just 1 sub


Also, can you install subwoofers that are manufactured for previous generation 3 Series in the F30?

Thanks in advance

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Hanzo Nagamoto

Greetings All


Can anyone recommend any good, yet affordable Subwoofers for the base audio setup on an F30 please, I've only seen a few options out the, and most of them are in excess of 150+ for just 1 sub


Also, can you install subwoofers that are manufactured for previous generation 3 Series in the F30?

Thanks in advance

You think £300 is a lot for a pair of subs!? No point putting anything cheaper than that in!!

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

I guess it's because I'm not familiar with the pricing of aftermarket audio mods. The last time I did an after market mod in one of my vehicles was back in 2009, it was £230 for an extra large sub in the boot LoL! I've seen on eBay, that you can get the "Hi-fi" version of the F30 subwoofer, you wouldn't happened to of experienced the sound quality of that sub, vs the stock/base one have you?

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Hanzo Nagamoto

I guess it's because I'm not familiar with the pricing of aftermarket audio mods. The last time I did an after market mod in one of my vehicles was back in 2009, it was £230 for an extra large sub in the boot LoL! I've seen on eBay, that you can get the "Hi-fi" version of the F30 subwoofer, you wouldn't happened to of experienced the sound quality of that sub, vs the stock/base one have you?

Don’t bother mate, even the HK ones aren’t amazing.

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Faaaaaark!!! I can't win, I'll just bite the bullet and get a pair of Focals....

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Hanzo Nagamoto

Faaaaaark!!! I can't win, I'll just bite the bullet and get a pair of Focals....

Good choice, make sure you get the V2 version that fits the F30. What sort of amp are you going to get?

[matty81]

I have rainbow subs and they sound really good, punchy and good bass but it's th amp that will make a difference

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Originally Posted by teaston

Good choice, make sure you get the V2 version that fits the F30. What sort of amp are you going to get?

I didn't end up getting the Focal in the end, I just couldn't bare to spend about £280, just on sub, I'm way to much of a cheapskate to do that.

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Originally Posted by matty81

I have rainbow subs and they sound really good, punchy and good bass but it's th amp that will make a difference

Matty, have I ever told you, that you're the bestestest in the whole wide world. I can't believe it, I've just picked up a pair of Rainbow Subs for £203

I think I came across the Rainbow subs several times, put what always put me off is I didn't see the female connector type in any of the pictures, and didn't want to risk wasting time and money on having to potentially returning it.

From the specs I read on these babies, the frequency response is better than that of the Focal's. Running from 35Hz to 5Khz, whereas the Focal's run from 38Hz to 200Hz. Another plus is that, the Rainbow's are meant to work quite well with just the base audio setup (No amp), which means, I can either spend that £80 I saved (from not getting the Focals) to get an amp, or, I might just run 'em with the basic/stock setup. Thanks again Sir.

[LiquidMercury]

Can you post some pics installed please m8? Especially as you have a 320i like myself. Cheers n beers.

[devil84]

Originally Posted by Hanzo Nagamoto

Matty, have I ever told you, that you're the bestestest in the whole wide world. I can't believe it, I've just picked up a pair of Rainbow Subs for £203

I think I came across the Rainbow subs several times, put what always put me off is I didn't see the female connector type in any of the pictures, and didn't want to risk wasting time and money on having to potentially returning it.

From the specs I read on these babies, the frequency response is better than that of the Focal's. Running from 35Hz to 5Khz, whereas the Focal's run from 38Hz to 200Hz. Another plus is that, the Rainbow's are meant to work quite well with just the base audio setup (No amp), which means, I can either spend that £80 I saved (from not getting the Focals) to get an amp, or, I might just run 'em with the basic/stock setup. Thanks again Sir.

where did you get the subs for 203 from.?

[Dr Forinor]

Originally Posted by teaston

Don’t bother mate, even the HK ones aren’t amazing.

Damn, my audio standards must be really low. I actually think the HK system is decent, granted I can tell they aren't the best but I would never complain with them.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Dr Forinor

Damn, my audio standards must be really low. I actually think the HK system is decent, granted I can tell they aren't the best but I would never complain with them.

They are decent, but not amazing

My MB Quart 200.3 subs in my E90 were definitely better.

[Dr Forinor]

Originally Posted by teaston

They are decent, but not amazing

My MB Quart 200.3 subs in my E90 were definitely better.

I suppose any aftermarket system will always be better than something that a car manufacturer offers up at the price point that the HK are an option at.

[F31Ed]

Originally Posted by devil84

where did you get the subs for 203 from.?

£205 on Amazon UK with free shipping from Germany

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...&condition=new

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Originally Posted by LiquidMercury

Can you post some pics installed please m8? Especially as you have a 320i like myself. Cheers n beers.

Yeah sure, I'll definitely be doing a how to manual on stall the Rainbow subs. There's a video I've watch probably a million times over. It looks like a piece of cake. I swear, you'll never find a better tutorial than this. Check this video out by Bavsound, the installation is the same for ALL subs o the F30, and other F series vehicles. I'm waiting patiently to get my car back from the garage, but, as soon as I get it, I'm installing my subs!!!!!

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Originally Posted by F31Ed

£205 on Amazon UK with free shipping from Germany

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...&condition=new

Yep, those are the ones. I ordered mine at like 2/3AM last night (this morning) and apparently, I'll receive 'em by Thursday!!!!!!!!!

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Originally Posted by devil84

where did you get the subs for 203 from.?

Got 'em from Amazon. When you click on the Rainbow Subwoofer avert on Amazon, they'll show up as £229+ I think. but, there should be a bit on the advert which says "2 from new", in the middle'ish of your screen. Click on that, and it will shoew you two additional sellers. one of 'em are selling it for £205 now,from Germany (although I got mine for £203 + free delivery Every penny counts).

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Greetings All

I finally managed to install the Rainbow Subs, and because it was my first time, I tripped a few times during the install. It took me way longer to install than it should of. This is mainly because these are not really plug & play subs, although, they're not far off from being plug & play. The subs come with an adapter cable, which allows you to connect the oem connector to the Subs. These are screw type connected subs, so it means that you have to attach the Positive (+) and Negative (-) to the screw connectors, and at the other end, you connect your OEM Male connector to the female end of the adapter. Sorry, I didn't manage to take any pictures, I was rushing to avoid rainfall and sun down was fast approaching. I only managed to get a few crappy shots I'm afraid. I could only get a picture off the net to demonstrate how the adapter cable looks (view picture attached).



The thing that tripped me up was, on the adapter cable, there are 4 cables, the two inner ones are Positive/Negative, and the outer ones were purple in colour. it was these to purple cables which threw me of, as I hadn't a clue where to connect them. After messing around for what seemed like eternity, stupid me finally figured it out. Aswell as connecting to positive/negative cables to the screw connectors of the subs, I also, connected the purple cables to each the positive and negative cables. So basically, I twisted one of the two purple cable's wire ends to the positive cable's wire end, and the other purple cable's wire end to the negative cable's wire end, and then I screwed them to the screw connectors of the sub, which luckily is marked with a positive and negative symbol for the to screw terminals.

*Sorry if this sounds confusing, I wish I had more pictures to demonstrate what I'm talking about, bu, the installation really is quite simple, it's just, it was a learning curve for me (as it was my first time)*.

The last thing that tripped me up was the fact that BMW are a**holes sometimes. Most BMW subs are screwed to the housing, but, I kid you not, I was one of the unlucky bastards that happen to have my subs GLUEDDDDDDDDD! (View pictures attached) to the housing. At first, I thought I was going crazy. I searched, looking for the 4 screws that was meant to be securing the subs to the housing, not nothing. After a while, I said screw it (no pun intended), and I decided to just break the subs out of the housing (which was really risky). with precision and brute force, I managed to break the original subs out of the housing!









Other than that, the installation was straight forward. It's pretty much the same as the Bavsound tutorial video I posted earlier in this thread.


*One last, and IMPORTANT THING*

If like me, you have the Base Audio setup and no amp, to get the best sound out of these subs, you'll need to do a tiny bit of coding. When I completed the sub woofer installation. I noticed that the sound difference from the stock subs, and the Rainbow subs was the same. I was so gutted and disappointed. But, by luck, whilst I was experimenting with coding in my car. I came across a code parameter called "AUDIO_SYSTEM_VAR", which is located in the HU_NBT/HU_CIC CAFD scetion. When you select the AUDIO_SYSTEM_VAR options, you'll see 4 options in total. "var 1" "var 2" "var 3" "var 4" (depending on what head unit version you have). Mine was set on "Var 2", so I tried var 3, and var 4, but, var 1 added more bass my audio after I coded it in. And with a little Eq'ing, the subs now sound GREAT!! not flat like they did without the coding. This AUDIO_SYSTEM_VAR coding parameter is the best thing I've found in coding. It totally transforms the Base Audio, and add more bass end. And as for power, there is no chance I'm wasting money on an amp.

To to use this AUDIO_SYSTEM_VAR, you simply, go to;

HU_NBT, Read The Coding Data, Edit FDL, and then, in the search box, type "AUDIO_SYSTEM_VAR", and then change the option from 1, 2 ,3 or 4, what ever you think sounds good. Obviously, for each of the 4 var options you can choose, you'll have to code, then have a listen, and then code the other options until you decide which one sounds the best for your audio system.

I bet there are tonnes of people that have installed subs, and not realized that this bit of coding could make their subs sound a lot better.

Any questions, feel free to ask, as I know I haven't made everything crystal clear.

[Dyl]

Glad you managed it in the end.

All 'base' subs are glued though, so you were unlucky but only in the sense that anyone who has the 'base' is unlucky. Oh, and If you've not added tweeters yet, get it done!

[devil84]

are hifi subs screwed in?

[Hanzo Nagamoto]

Originally Posted by Dyl

Glad you managed it in the end.

All 'base' subs are glued though, so you were unlucky but only in the sense that anyone who has the 'base' is unlucky. Oh, and If you've not added tweeters yet, get it done!

Thanks Dyl, prying the the glued subs from the housing was intense, one wrong move would of meant irreparable damage, then my keyboard would be soaked in my salty tears whilst I search on Ebay for a replacement set of sub housing.

Speaking of Ebay, I'm looking to get these next, and then some tweeters. And then move on to more important mods like remaps.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-F30-F3...53.m1438.l2649