05-12-2023, 08:33 AM | #112 |
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Hello again.
After a few days I retried the install. Moving the optical cable from original bmw harness to the vibe one and my Bluetooth now works. It sounds so much better but I will be adding the speakers and tweeters. Thanks for the advice on here. Now just to hide all the wires and find somewhere for the amp 🙈😂 |
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05-12-2023, 02:51 PM | #113 |
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Drives: BMW 335i F30 2012 Modern
Join Date: May 2023
Location: Dubai
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If only I saw this sooner
This is amazing man. I appreciate this so much!
Wish I spared the hours spent on finding amp upgrades that did not require dismantling the full interior... Sorry for the eventual stupid question since I freshly joined the BMW worlds and was searching for the mentioned T harness for BMW but cannot figure out which one works exactly. Saw a post recommending this: https://www.amazon.ae/gp/product/B00...SO1ZHRN9&psc=1 but does not make sense seeing the RCA ends. VIBE POWERBOX65.4BMW3 BMW seems to work for series 3 but their website shows compatible with most 3 series. No reference to the 2012 F30 335i (CIC HU) Thanks again! |
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05-27-2023, 07:22 AM | #114 |
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Hi
Following a post I made elsewhere in the forum, thought I'd share my experience with my 2017 LCI F36 with base audio. I have already replaced the speakers with HK mids and tweeters from a breaker, however sound was very shrill. So looking for an amp, I opted for the Vibe 65.4 to keep costs down and keep as simple as possible. I put it in the cavity between the glovebox and HU, my HU is double size so no room underneath - I just reread the OP and see you put it below the glovebox, I might look to move it as getting the box out is right royal pain. The ISO connectors are tight, but managed to get them all in. I set gains to about 90%, FULL on front channel and HPF on rear. Reassembled everything, realised I now had no clock and some other stuff not quite right, I didn't realise about the optic cable needing moving, so stripped it all down, corrected and reassembled again all ok now. Also of note, is that if you remove the airbag override switch with power on the car it gives an error code even after reattaching, reset with Bimmerlink app, it still shows other errors about the speaker lines interrupted which won't clear, to be expected I guess. It now sounded better, but made some code changes as per this post here on another forum, to enable Hifi mode and set amp to external and Variant 2 - seems to have sorted the shrillness - need to spend some time listening but certainly sounds 'right' now.https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threa....437890/page-2 I'll see how it goes before decided if to do the subs or not, plus I just faded it to forward channels only as not upgraded the rears yet. |
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05-27-2023, 07:29 AM | #115 |
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You must always disconnect the battery negative terminal before working on anything electronic. This is what can happen if you don't.
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08-03-2023, 02:08 PM | #116 |
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Hi Folks,
Just adding to the thread, bit the bullet and purchased the powerbox after reading this thread, install is relatively simple however the instructions could be much better. Luckily my HU was the single din entrynav2 so room for the loom wasnt too much of an issue, i threaded the amp connector down the passenger footwell trim and just connected the amp to test and adjust settings before moving it to a more permanent location. Reading the above discussion, setting max gain, full front and HPF rear with the base audio steup with no speakers or upgrades has immensely increased the volume and quality of the standard audio, coming from a car with full HK system i would say apart from the logic surround effects i dont miss it. I then looked into coding with bimmercode, i coded the HIFI option with variant 1,2,3 and found these to be worse than the standard speakers with no amp, practically no bass and all the sound coming from the front of the car. Reverting back to stereo has solved this again, perhaps this option would be best if you have upgraded speakers and tweeters. Thanks to all the above threads this has sorted the audio in my car for now, next for a set of vibe speakers with tweeters and the trims. |
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08-22-2023, 06:52 AM | #118 | |
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Quote:
I’m looking to install the amp too on my 2014 F20, I have upgraded BW speakers with tweeters both front and rear, only missing the Subs upgrade, but by reading the forum I think the amp will be a far greater improvement rather than spending money on the subs now. I do have an MMI installed and would like to know if it is possible to install the amp… (space might be an issue because I have the large NBT radio with nav and installing the MMI was already quite a hurdle due to the quad locks not fitting behind the radio) |
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08-22-2023, 09:20 PM | #119 | |
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Brilliant Post - thanks
Quote:
Just brilliant! Any updates on how well your setups are working please? If you have to do it again, what would you do differently please? Thanks |
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11-29-2023, 02:34 PM | #120 | |
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Thanks a lot |
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01-17-2024, 06:02 AM | #121 |
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Hi guys, question, I have an F30, base audio, think it is a six speaker system, mids on the doors with two small bass speakers under the seats. I did an NBT headunit retrofit and now looking at doing a speaker upgrade as from my understanding the base headunit had a built-in amp an the NBT would have the HK amp externally.
I already purchased a complete set of HK speakers to retrofit to my vehicle with all the grill covers etc. Can I get a regular amp (none plug'n play) and take the outputs from the headunit and feed it to the amp and then take the outputs to power the HK speakers without triggering any errors? |
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01-17-2024, 12:17 PM | #122 |
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If by regular amp you mean one with RCA jack inputs, no. The HU doesn't have RCA outputs. You'd need an aftermarket wiring harness. BTW, the base,hi-fi and H-K all use the same HU. Whether it uses the internal or external amp is a matter of wiring and coding.
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01-21-2024, 04:31 PM | #123 |
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Are you saying that I can code my headunit to give a greater output to the speakers without having an amp? Where can I get a reto harness to install an aftermarket amp?
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01-22-2024, 08:41 AM | #125 | |
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Quote:
I’m wanting to get an amp, but like you I’ve got an MMI box installed so not quite sure if it’ll work out. Would love better sound, but not sure if I’m willing to sacrifice CarPlay |
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02-01-2024, 09:36 AM | #126 |
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Odaxxi I'm in a similar situation as you, recently fitted an MMI box and have bought the HK speaker/tweeter retrofit kit, looking to see if I can patch the amp in with the MMI box, logic says it should work but I'd like to know if someone has already managed it.
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02-01-2024, 12:00 PM | #127 |
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Hello,
I have the POWERBOX65.4BMW3, the Amp doesn't go off with the car, it drained my battery overnight, I have it connected using the provided harness and nothing else. Anyone can advice on this? Thanks |
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02-05-2024, 07:21 AM | #128 | |
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Let us know if you’re able to make it work, it seems there’s a few of us in the same situation |
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02-11-2024, 03:44 PM | #129 |
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Odaxxi So I've just installed the H/K retrofit speakers and tweeters to my car (they came with the surrounds to fit the tweeters in the a-pilar), along with my BM Performance MMI box, no external amp - wow, I'm no audiophile but the sound is really crisp and much louder. The MMI box has a DSP which you can tune the treble down on, after that it's pretty much perfect.
If I were you I'd genuinely scrap the amp, buy new speakers and tweeters and fit a half decent MMI box. You probably won't be disapointed, I'm not. P.S - Speaking with a seller of the Vibe AMP, they say it's not plug and play with an MMI box, to get it to work is something like getting a specific harness and taking the speaker wires out of the plug that goes to the HU and wiring it from the MMI to the AMP manually. |
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02-28-2024, 08:34 AM | #130 |
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Fitter in London?
Hi all, I had the dreaded water issue which has fried my ASD. Upon investigation I have also thought about adding the Vibe powerbox to whilst I fix my audio. Are there any fitters in London this group would recommend?
FYI noting a BMW F33 2016. |
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04-24-2024, 12:39 PM | #131 |
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04-24-2024, 12:58 PM | #132 |
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There's a coding entry to activate retrofitted Hi-Fi in Bimmercode, in the head unit section. For other options, like H-K or B&O you'd have to use the Expert Mode. There are posts here about where to code those options.
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amplifier, audio, base, upgrade |
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