[jeffc83]

Glad it worked out for you!

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

First of all, welcome!

You are right and you're not being too picky.

The stock sound is not very good. BMW offers Harman Kardon as an option and it is much better. Since you already have your car, the Harman Kardon option is probably off the table. I don't think it can be added after the fact, at least in a cost-efficient way. There are some pretty serious audiophiles on this forum who will likely respond and give you some good advice on aftermarket options.

Enjoy your new ride. Let us know what you end up doing with your sound.

Yes if you want better sound get the HK system. Even that isn't the best but certainly better. It seems to vary depending on the source used. XM seems to sound better than FM and I've driven cars with better sound systems.

[jeffc83]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

Yes if you want better sound get the HK system. Even that isn't the best but certainly better. It seems to vary depending on the source used. XM seems to sound better than FM and I've driven cars with better sound systems.

What year do you have? Most of our cars have the old outdated XM module which is pure shit and mine is a 2015, which one would think has a newer module. I find HD/FM to be far superior to XM in my case...

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by jeffc83

What year do you have? Most of our cars have the old outdated XM module which is pure shit and mine is a 2015, which one would think has a newer module. I find HD/FM to be far superior to XM in my case...

I have a 2016. My old 2011 camry has the jbl system and the bass is way cleaner and deeper on FM or any source really but xm sounds better than fm on my HK system. Pandora and phone apps like Spotify sound ok to me but not great. Haven't tried the CD player which is only single disc or the aux input

[tympj]

The 2 keys I've done with HK in my 328i is adjusting the EQ settings which makes all the difference with sound quality. Second is to use mp3 files for my music and import them into the hard drive. Even though I have a considerable number of CD's, I just can't be bothered fumbling around with them anymore. I also can't be bothered with Spotify, Pandora, XM radio or bluetooth. Even using my iphone 5 with USB to play my music, it works but it refreshes my songs slower than using the hard drive in the idrive. Having my mp3 music on the hard drive, is the best technological advance in my 60+ yrs for playing 1100+ songs at very high quality sound with no glitches whatsoever.