[Wibbles]

Looking forward to getting this installed and hearing the difference to HK.

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by NealfromNZ

Loving the factory attention to detail.

Thanks, has to be done right!

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by Wibbles

Looking forward to getting this installed and hearing the difference to HK.

can't wait mate!

[blau3er]

UPDATE 01/08/23

One thing that has been bothering me about this install is that with my car being factory equipped with HK - it has the logos on the tweeter housings.

Once the B&O is in, my OCD would not allow a HK logo'd tweeter housing to remain - so a solution was needed.

I didn't want the plain black hi-fi tweeter housings as you can't see the tweeters behind them and they look rather basic. So, instead I took some inspiration from the OEM Alpine audio upgrade instructions, which show how to remove the HK logo's from the tweeter housings.

I ordered up a set of spare housings from my local dealer and then set about trying to find some Bang & Olufsen logo's. I picked up these on eBay and took a bit of a punt on them - and they JUST fit.

Originally I had planned to shave off the HK logo and stick these B&O logos onto the grey trim piece - but its actually metal, so it would take quite a bit of sanding and smoothing. Instead, I just opted to fit the B&O logo's in the recess it left behind - and I think it has come out pretty well!

[seabassmty]

Very Nice. Thanks

[blau3er]

UPDATE - 02/08/23

Stage 2 - running in the new tweeter cables and microphone cable (A236*3B connection)

Again huge shout out to Wibbles - we made a start on the new tweeter wiring requirements, and the additional microphone.

The tweeters are directly connected to the amp via a 32-pin plug, known as the A236*3B connector. In order to keep things OEM, I sourced the correct coloured 0.5mm2 cables - which made following the newTIS wiring diagrams and pin-outs much easier and I had made myself a crib sheet - which we used to make sure all of the pins were inserted into the correct locations on the 32-pin plug.

In order to make the loom, its is necessary to crimp on female MQS pins at the amp connector side. This was a breeze in comparison to the power cable crimping and we achieved factory crimping results using the IWISS iCrimp SN-28B crimping tool.

Once the crimping was completed, the cables were then ran in the boot area and down into the rear passenger compartment areas. The next steps will be to connect the rear tweeter cables into the rear door blocks and to continue to run the remaining tweeter cables and the microphone cable into the front section of the car. Hopefully there will be another update on Saturday if there is a chance to get some more cabling done.

Some pictures of the progress:

A236*3B 32-pin connector in place ready to connect to the B&O amp - note that in this photo the jumper cable from the HK loom still needs to be added as does the connector block locking cover.



Crib sheet to allow ease of clarity of the required pin-out connections



Passenger side cable run, cabling added to the OEM wiring harness:



Drivers side cabling diverted away from the main loom and into the OEM trunking and across the boot floor up into the drivers side wheel arch area.







Cabling dropped into the passengers side seat bolster area.



Cabling dropped into the drivers side seat bolster area, and routed through the OEM trunking.

[Wibbles]

Like factreeeeeee

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by Wibbles

Like factreeeeeee

Of course!

[blau3er]

Update - 13/08/23

Stage 3 - running in the remaining cables and fitting the speakers.

This was the final stage and by far the biggest task of them all in terms of time. Wibbles and I started at 10am and finished around 5pm. I did not take my photos of this stage unfortunately, as it just was not practical to stop and interrupt our progress to keep taking pictures. I will describe the process below though, and include the few photos that I did manage to take....

The door tweeter cable runs continued from the rear side bolsters and into behind the lower rear door threshold trims.



From here, it was then routed into each front and rear door connector block. The rears were more accessible than the fronts. The worst being the requirement to remove the footwell modules on the passenger side to gain access.

Once the cable was ran to these door blocks, the blocks were separated and male MQS pins were used on the car side of the connector. We used pin locations 42 and 43 on these blocks, which were empty and available for use.





The next job was to run in the new microphone cable for the B&O amp - which was a 6.5m cable and just about the correct length. It was ran along the same run as the tweeter cables and up into the a-pillar - before then being fished through into the headlining. The OEM mic was removed and replaced with a new genuine dual microphone - which connects both to the cars telematics system using the existing wiring - but also to the amp.





We then replaced as much trim inside the car as we could, before then tackling the door card wiring. The door cards were removed and the new tweeter cables were ran from door side connector blocks, using female MQS pins placed into the corresponding 42 & 43 pin locations. They were then terminated with a OEM tweeter plug connector - using male MQS pins - ready for the tweeters to be plugged into them.

No photos were taken of the door card work, as by this point the day was getting long!

We then fitted the amp, and removed the power signal cable from the HK most connector and fitted it into pin 17 on the 32-pin A236*3B connector for the B&O amp - we then connected up the previously made 10mm2 power supply and the amp fired up. It was also necessary to use the B&O specific MOST plug, as it is different compared to the HK one.



We tested our cabling and then got to work fitting the new speakers. This was the end result. I love how they look behind the grilles!













The final order of the day was to code the HU to activate the B&O EQ menus...

[Wibbles]

I was skeptical about the results achievable with this retrofit and even reccomended James go with an aftermarket system but after listening to the result I am blown away by the SQ and crisp bass that the B&O produces. Once the sound proofing in the doors is completed this will be even more amazing.

[blau3er]

I've waited a while to post my final thoughts of the system. This was in order to allow some time to live with it and makes some informed comments.

Was it worth it? YES!!

This represents a massive upgrade over the Harman Kardon, which was by no means a bad system (to my ears). The objective I wanted to a achieve was to get back to a similar system as the Individual Audio that I had in my old E91 and the B&O is streets ahead of that objective!

The bass is super clear and precise and does not get muddy and distorted like the HK did. The system definitely sounds better at higher volumes (just like the HK) but the other difference that I have noticed is the improvements to the clarity of the mids and highs - which comes from the individual amplification of the tweeters, elevating the sound to another level.

I am no audiophile or sound engineer - just a regular car enthusiast looking for an OEM upgrade that did not involve the hassle and cost of fine tuning and aligning an aftermarket system. The B&O ticks all the boxes and I simply could not fathom needing anything over and above the end result!



N.B: I have also finalised my PDF document, which details all of details of the retrofit - which I will make available to anyone who might wish to carry out such a retrofit.

[truymenh]

I retrofitted b&o in my f30 one year ago, but i did a bit differently. I took original b&o wiring harness from f10 m5. But I did not use b&o speaker, I used all b&w speakers with 3 diamond speakers instead. Fully working without any errors, including ASD, ambient lighting

[Andreyadol]

Hi all I'm also going to install B&O in F30...
I would love to see your PDF document��
I have experience in individual installation in E90

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by Andreyadol

Hi all I'm also going to install B&O in F30...
I would love to see your PDF document��
I have experience in individual installation in E90

Send me a PM and I’ll give you my mobile number for WhatsApp - happy to share it with you.

[f10andrii]

Originally Posted by blau3er

Send me a PM and I’ll give you my mobile number for WhatsApp - happy to share it with you.

can you please share it with me too ? Thanks

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by f10andrii

can you please share it with me too ? Thanks

Yes, sure.

PM me and I will send you my number for WhatsApp.

[ErikB]

Originally Posted by blau3er

UPDATE 01/08/23

One thing that has been bothering me about this install is that with my car being factory equipped with HK - it has the logos on the tweeter housings.

Once the B&O is in, my OCD would not allow a HK logo'd tweeter housing to remain - so a solution was needed.

I didn't want the plain black hi-fi tweeter housings as you can't see the tweeters behind them and they look rather basic. So, instead I took some inspiration from the OEM Alpine audio upgrade instructions, which show how to remove the HK logo's from the tweeter housings.

I ordered up a set of spare housings from my local dealer and then set about trying to find some Bang & Olufsen logo's. I picked up these on eBay and took a bit of a punt on them - and they JUST fit.

Originally I had planned to shave off the HK logo and stick these B&O logos onto the grey trim piece - but its actually metal, so it would take quite a bit of sanding and smoothing. Instead, I just opted to fit the B&O logo's in the recess it left behind - and I think it has come out pretty well!

I have the B&O tweeters as well and the little logos. i have not taken the time to remove the HK logo. Does that piece with the logo just pull straight off of the grill with a trim tool? I am hoping I can do this without removing the door panel again. Thanks!

[blau3er]

No, it is held on with metal clips, which are bent behind the grille.

You’ll need to release these from behind.

[ErikB]

Originally Posted by blau3er

No, it is held on with metal clips, which are bent behind the grille.

You’ll need to release these from behind.

I thought there might be, thats why I didnt pry on them yet. Thank you sir.

BTW, your install is immaculate!

[Danidan94190]

Hello,

i have a 7 series with hifi option 677.

i bought full set of bang and olufsen. i put the speakers and it's working.

when i put b&o amp, the radio is stuck in bmw screen and don't get on.

can you help me ?

[blau3er]

Hifi option does not use MOST loop, so that will be your first major issue.

I’ll send you a PM

[dragos2287]

Hello guys,
Thanks for sharing this project, @blau3er . I took a lot of inspiration from your work.
I did the same retrofit to my F07 5GT, went from hi-fi (without dsp) to Bang & Olufsen Amp and Bowers & wilkins speakers and subs. I bought cables, pins and the two plugs, 32 pin for subs, mic, radio on and the 20 pins for the mids and subs. I've done the wiring and all the connection myself, as per diagrams. The only difference is that I've routed everything from the roof, next to the side airbags (well, underneath those in order not to obstruct the functionality of those, touch wood ) and went down through A/B/C pillars and dashboard as I had to change my panoramic sunshade anyway.
Everything works perfect except the microphone. Couldn't find any information about this.
I routed it from the amp and connected it to the new hands free mic: 84109240962 .
I took out the old, left (driver) side microphone and stick this new one in place. It now throws an error that the emergency SOS is not working (obviously). I haven't tried other options/scenarios, for example, taking out the old right (passanger) side mic, as I ran out of energy at the time.
Can anyone help me on this one? maybe a diagram or something.

Dragos.