Mess with retrofitted HK at dealership

spyro512 · 08-19-2021, 05:48 AM

Hi guys

Let me explain the mess I just discovered at my vehicle: bought this 2018 F30 320i to some guy that claimed he had the HK system retrofitted at the dealership.

If I download the service history of the vehicle it does appear that HK was upgraded, and I also can see the tweeters with the Harman Kardon logo at the A pillars. There's also a better quality than the default speakers for sure, but the following confuses me:

1) I do NOT have a center speaker. Shouldn't it be seating at the back of the center screen?

2) I do NOT have any settings apart from the basic treble/bass

3) The maximum volume output is not very high and the sound is lower at the rear seats, which forced me bias the volume to the back

4) I don't see any amp or any FA/VO code that relates to HiFi, Alpine or HK with Esys

Can anybody help me on this? I suspected he just scammed me by putting the HK tweeters at the A pillars, but the sound quality upgrade is obvious and the service history can't lie because I downloaded it myself!

On the other hand, I also suspected that they just failed to code it, but that still doesn't explain the lack of the center speaker!

Thanks in advance for your help

Tuerkay · 08-19-2021, 06:17 AM

1) many people retrofit the HK System without the center speaker. You don´t realy need it
2) if there is no extended equalizer, the HU is not coded to HK. (base or stereo)
3) Check the AMP. could also be that he fitted the Alpine amp. That one is only connected to front speakers and Sub. Rear speakers sound lower.
4) you can retrofit amp by only coding HU with new VO. Could be a reason

but the sketchy part is the HK retrofit which is listet in the service history.

retrofits are only added to online VO/Service history if FEM is coded with that SA and then brought to the dealer for an service/update. the dealer does not check if the retrofit was realy done. the system will only sync your car VO with the cloud backup.
So it might be possible that the seller added the SA to the VO, wen´t to a dealer. Made an Cloud Sync and then removed VO again.
It might also be that the seller only changed the speakers without adding an AMP.

Check your trunk for an amp. If there is one, compare the OEM number.
If there is an amp in your trunk but it´s not listet in esys if you "Read (ECU)", it is not properly connected.

08-19-2021, 05:48 AM	#1
spyro512 New Member 0 Rep 17 Posts Drives: Mini F60 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: France iTrader: (0)	Hi guys Let me explain the mess I just discovered at my vehicle: bought this 2018 F30 320i to some guy that claimed he had the HK system retrofitted at the dealership. If I download the service history of the vehicle it does appear that HK was upgraded, and I also can see the tweeters with the Harman Kardon logo at the A pillars. There's also a better quality than the default speakers for sure, but the following confuses me: 1) I do NOT have a center speaker. Shouldn't it be seating at the back of the center screen? 2) I do NOT have any settings apart from the basic treble/bass 3) The maximum volume output is not very high and the sound is lower at the rear seats, which forced me bias the volume to the back 4) I don't see any amp or any FA/VO code that relates to HiFi, Alpine or HK with Esys Can anybody help me on this? I suspected he just scammed me by putting the HK tweeters at the A pillars, but the sound quality upgrade is obvious and the service history can't lie because I downloaded it myself! On the other hand, I also suspected that they just failed to code it, but that still doesn't explain the lack of the center speaker! Thanks in advance for your help
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08-19-2021, 06:17 AM	#2
Tuerkay Enlisted Member 12 Rep 48 Posts Drives: BMW F20 Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Germany iTrader: (0)	1) many people retrofit the HK System without the center speaker. You don´t realy need it 2) if there is no extended equalizer, the HU is not coded to HK. (base or stereo) 3) Check the AMP. could also be that he fitted the Alpine amp. That one is only connected to front speakers and Sub. Rear speakers sound lower. 4) you can retrofit amp by only coding HU with new VO. Could be a reason but the sketchy part is the HK retrofit which is listet in the service history. retrofits are only added to online VO/Service history if FEM is coded with that SA and then brought to the dealer for an service/update. the dealer does not check if the retrofit was realy done. the system will only sync your car VO with the cloud backup. So it might be possible that the seller added the SA to the VO, wen´t to a dealer. Made an Cloud Sync and then removed VO again. It might also be that the seller only changed the speakers without adding an AMP. Check your trunk for an amp. If there is one, compare the OEM number. If there is an amp in your trunk but it´s not listet in esys if you "Read (ECU)", it is not properly connected.
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