[jrp73]

What is the verdict on coding? Is there any benefit to coding in hi-fi or any other option rather than leaving in on BASE?

[Lukeh112]

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 🙈😂

[morunas]

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!

[Space-ball]

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.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by Space-ball

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

You must always disconnect the battery negative terminal before working on anything electronic. This is what can happen if you don't.

[saphiixx]

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.

[saphiixx]

just further to this has anyone figured out if you can still use an MMI box with the amp connected?

[Thefelifeli]

Originally Posted by saphiixx

just further to this has anyone figured out if you can still use an MMI box with the amp connected?

+1
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)

[Fitf8]

Originally Posted by Daveyvtec

Hi all, this isn’t a question, more a very simple solution I have found that I’d like to share and hopefully make someone’s life a little easier and their crap base audio system sound a little better.

Firstly, I’m not affiliated with Vibe. I’m just a guy with an F30 that has base audio and got to the stage where I wouldn’t listen to music because the sound system was crap.

I’ve seen a lot of threads in a lot of different forums talking about what upgrade can you do and what coding and wiring do they need to do so. I’ve researched the hell out of this so here’s my two cents for you all.

I just bought a Vibe Powerbox 65.4M with BMW T harness. It took about 25 minutes to fit. I had to remove the head unit so that meant removing some trim which was really only 6 torx head T15 (vids on YouTube of course). It came with clear and concise instructions so your technical level doesn’t need to be that high to hook it up. I placed the amp under the glove box between the underside of the glove box and the removable panel. It fit like a dream and no visible wires with enough room for it to breath.

I used BimmerCode to change my head unit EQ range to HiFi

As someone who’s always had good sound systems and was horrified by the quality of the base audio system, I can tell you that this upgrade is the best €210 I’ve spent. It powers the 4 door speakers and the two sub ls with no extra wiring.

Running the stock speakers, the difference is nuts. Although if you push them hard enough, they will crackle. I had to fine tune with gain on the amp for front and rear and mess with some settings on my Apple Music EQ but after that it’s just a matter of adjusting your bass and volume settings through your idrive sound options depending on what you listen to.
All in all this was a very simple and effective upgrade to a very lacklustre sound system. I’d recommend it to anyone and I hope this post does someone some good.

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

[masamra]

Originally Posted by Daveyvtec

Hi all, this isn’t a question, more a very simple solution I have found that I’d like to share and hopefully make someone’s life a little easier and their crap base audio system sound a little better.

Firstly, I’m not affiliated with Vibe. I’m just a guy with an F30 that has base audio and got to the stage where I wouldn’t listen to music because the sound system was crap.

I’ve seen a lot of threads in a lot of different forums talking about what upgrade can you do and what coding and wiring do they need to do so. I’ve researched the hell out of this so here’s my two cents for you all.

I just bought a Vibe Powerbox 65.4M with BMW T harness. It took about 25 minutes to fit. I had to remove the head unit so that meant removing some trim which was really only 6 torx head T15 (vids on YouTube of course). It came with clear and concise instructions so your technical level doesn’t need to be that high to hook it up. I placed the amp under the glove box between the underside of the glove box and the removable panel. It fit like a dream and no visible wires with enough room for it to breath.

I used BimmerCode to change my head unit EQ range to HiFi

As someone who’s always had good sound systems and was horrified by the quality of the base audio system, I can tell you that this upgrade is the best €210 I’ve spent. It powers the 4 door speakers and the two sub ls with no extra wiring.

Running the stock speakers, the difference is nuts. Although if you push them hard enough, they will crackle. I had to fine tune with gain on the amp for front and rear and mess with some settings on my Apple Music EQ but after that it’s just a matter of adjusting your bass and volume settings through your idrive sound options depending on what you listen to.

All in all this was a very simple and effective upgrade to a very lacklustre sound system. I’d recommend it to anyone and I hope this post does someone some good.

Can i still fit the Amp if I have an Android screen on my F30?
Thanks a lot

[TriniGT]

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?

[Billfitz]

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.

[TriniGT]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

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.

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?

[Billfitz]

I did not say that. You can code the HU for operation by itself with its low power internal amps, or for with the Hi-fi or H-K amps.

[Odaxxi]

Originally Posted by saphiixx

just further to this has anyone figured out if you can still use an MMI box with the amp connected?

Were you able to connect both the MMI box and amp in the end?
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

[Zinny]

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.

[masamra]

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

[Odaxxi]

Originally Posted by Zinny

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.

I haven’t yet purchased the amp solely because I’m not sure if it’ll work! I mean I’m sure there’s a way, I’m just not smart enough to figure it out.
Let us know if you’re able to make it work, it seems there’s a few of us in the same situation

[Zinny]

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.

[Beauh]

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.

[TriniGT]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

I did not say that. You can code the HU for operation by itself with its low power internal amps, or for with the Hi-fi or H-K amps.

Hi Billfitz, is it possible to let me know how to go about doing this?

[Billfitz]

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.