[squidlyboy]

I know this mod is a little controversial, but to each his own - so no flames please

After installing the BSW Stage-1 upgrades for my F30 Hi-Fi base system (along with an upgraded JL XD800/8 amp - 100w to each of the 7-channels - to replace OEM HiFi amp), i also added dual JL w3v3 500w subwoofers for the trunk (along with a JL JX500/1D 500w mono-amp). The 9 speakers that now cover the mid-range/bass tones and the low thumping sub-bass are spectacular, but frankly, i feel they completely overwhelm the two tweeters in the HiFi system (HiFi system includes tweeters only on the front doors - the center channel and rear speakers are mid-ranges only)

So to bring a little more balance to the overall system, i wanted to add a couple of extra BSW S-1 tweeters to the mid-range speakers in the rear doors (similar to how the HK system is laid out with tweeters accompanying every mid-range in the system). Thanks to MSportTune2 who provided me the initial info and pics over a year ago that gave me the confidence to go through with the upgrade ... just finally got around to doing the work

Here's how the finished additional tweeter looks on one of the rear doors:



An obvious pre-requisite for doing this work is that you should have already upgraded your base HiFi speakers with the Bavsound Stage-1 speakers. I also am of the opinion that unless you've also upgraded your OEM amp, this upgrade is likely not going to be all that effective. Like I mentioned earlier, I only did this addition because with an upgraded amp (800watt XD800/8, which sends 100w to each channel) to replace the OEM amp for the S-1's, and a 500w trunk sub/mono-amp, this system really does overwhelm the tweeters in the system.

So with all that out of the way, this work is a really easy upgrade that can be done in a couple of hours, and the work will look amazingly OEM clean when its done. While there is one hole that will need to be drilled in each rear door panel to place the extra tweeter (on each side), there are pre-marked outlines/templates in the door panels that allows for a perfect hole to be positioned / drilled. Other than that, there is no extra wiring, cutting, splicing on the OEM electrical system that will need to be done. Everything will look perfectly OEM when its done, and to BMW's exact positioning specifications for the tweeter. There is no guess work (or extra skill) involved in doing this DIY. And as a bonus, there is also no coding involved with this upgrade.

Here are the parts you need:

• Additional pair of Bavsound 25mm Silk-Dome Tweeters - these are the same ones from the Stage-1 upgrades,which includes the passive cross-over circuit - I got the pair from BSW for $120 Note: every BSW mid-range speaker has pre built-in connectors to receive the tweeter/crossover, so your rear door speakers are plug-n-play ready to take these tweeters (the tweeters just take their power from the mid-range speakers, so there is no additional cabling/wiring to the amp necessary, and no additional wire cutting/splicing as well - just snap in the connectors.
  
  
  .
• Tweeter speaker covers (BMW OEM Part #51427281459) for the rear doors - to make them look OEM from the outside! I got these from ECS Tuning (ES#2562990) for ~$25 each
  
  .
• Tweeter mounting brackets (BMW OEM Part #51427316863 and #51427316864) for the rear doors - to secure them in the door panels. I also got these from ECS Tuning (ES# 2664864 and ES# 2633779) for around $28 a piece
  
  .
• Axial Securing Clips (BMW OEM Part #52207115704) to secure the Tweeter bracket to the 3 corresponding posts built into the door panel. There are 3 per bracket, so you'll need 6 total. These can be purchased from many places online or at your local BMW dealership parts dept. At ~$2 a clip, it seems pretty pricey, but i found out that 1) i couldn't find an equivalent part elsewhere, and 2) the way these clips are designed (density/tensile strength), i don't think there is a better way to secure the bracket - i.e. high-bonding glue.
  

The procedure is relatively straightforward:

• Remove rear door panels in the exact same way you did when you did your BSW S-1 upgrade (Bavsound Youtube Video). Note: always use a plastic trim tool to remove trim pieces on door. Never metal as it could scratch the finish.
  • Pop the door handle cover/trim with a plastic trim tool, then remove the two T25 Torx screws that secure the handle to the door.
  • Pop the window controller unit from the handle, using same trim tool, then disconnect the wiring from the controller unit.
  • Slowly pop the door panel off, starting from one side using the trim tool to pop the fasteners/connectors, and working around sides/bottom of the door panel
  • Carefully disconnect the 4 wires / harnesses (bottom LED wire, strip accent LED wire, door latch mechanism, and window controller wiring) connected to the door
  • You can now safely remove the door panel - set it aside for the next step of the re-work.
  .
• Locate the 50mm tweeter circular template- there is a perfectly sized pre-marked hole, outlined in the back of the door panel just above the mid-range hole, where the tweeter will fit through door. I used a pencil / compass to highlight the circle and cross-hairs as they are fairly faint on the light colored panel. Darkening the circle and cross-hairs will make it easier for the drilling you will do in the next step.
  
  
  .
• Drill out the circular template using a 2 inch (51mm) Hole Saw Bit or a 50mm Step-Drill Bit. I used the 2-inch Hole Saw Bit from Lowes, and it gave me a perfect 50mm hole. The pilot drill bit in the center of the bit allows you to perfectly position the center of the circle by aligning it against the marked cross-hairs. This gives you a perfect circular hole at the right size and at the precise location it needs to be at. It took me literally 5 seconds to cut the hole out, once i lined up everything.
  
  
  .
• Push the Tweeter through the back of the Mounting Bracket. Its the only way it'll go in. Just wiggle the tweeter back and forth into the back of the mounting hole, twisting it gently as you go until it snaps into place. Once its in, it should be in there pretty tight (it shouldn't move it all). Don't worry if it doesn't look right. Looking at it from the front of the mounting bracket, its set at an angle. Thats the way it should be.
  
  
  .
• Drop the Mounting Bracket holes over the 3 posts in the door panel. It should just line up and drop in - the 3 holes over the 3 posts. It should just drop over the posts with no resistance. In the next step, we'll secure the bracket to the door panel using the Axial Securing Clips.
  
  .
• Secure the bracket to the back of the door panel using the 3 Axial Securing Clips pushing one over each of the posts. This is actually a little harder than it looks. The Axial Security Clips are made of some pretty strong steel (not aluminum), and do not bend easily. I couldn't just push them over the post with my fingers to secure the bracket. I had to prep it by bending each little prong outwards using a needle-nose. And even then i couldn't use my fingers to push it all the way down. Once i was able to get the clip onto the tip of the post, I used a pair of pliers to push the clip to go all the way down.
  
  I must say, this is a pretty well designed bracket/clip combination. The bracket is pretty much secure after putting on just ONE clip - doesn't move AT ALL :-) You know something is well designed when it is secure after using only one clip. I love the feeling of something that is well designed / engineered. This is one of them Here is how the bracket sits in the door panel after being secured by the 3 clips.
  
  .
• Snap Tweeter cover onto the Mounting Bracket through the door panel. This will secure the Tweeter cover to the door panel and keep it nice and flush with the surface of the door panel, making it look OEM mint! The thing you need to know is that there are 5 clips on the tweeter cover that correspond to 5 slots on the mounting bracket. The position of these clips/slots is such that it can only go on ... one way. The largest of the 5 clips on the tweeter cover needs to be turned to the 9 o'clock position on the door panel before attempting to snapping it in place. Just look for the largest tab, turn it to 9 o'clock, then slowly snap it into place. Then go around the cover and press in firmly until the other 4 clips snap into play.
  
  .
  When you are done, the tweeter cover should be flush against the door panel with no gaps whatsoever. If there are gaps, then one of the tabs didn't go in to the bracket slot all the way. Pop the cover and try again. I love how mint this looks BMW did a great job designing this bracket/cover assembly. Couldn't be any simpler to install and couldn't look any cleaner!
  
  
  l
  
  Just as an FYI... the diameter of the cover from edge-to-edge is 60mm so it can/will hide a lot of mistakes. The hole you drilled in the door panel is only 50mm, so there is an extra 10mm to play with (5mm on each side). So if your hole is a little bit larger than 50mm, there's no need to fret. The overhang of the cover will obscure a lot of mistakes.
  .
• And to finish it off... connect the Tweeter to the Midrange connector - But before you do, make sure you attach the BSW-supplied cross-over dongle/circuit to the Tweeter before attaching the entire thing back to the mid-range. For my BSW S-1 install, i pulled the Midrange/Cross-Over connector out from the door cavity and cable tied it to the outside of the foam cover/seal next to the midrange for easy access. Once the cross-over is connected to the tweeter, just snap the Tweeter's connector to this and you're done!
  
  
  .
• Return the door panel back to the door - again, the Bavsound Install video on Youtube is helpful here in case you forgot the details.
  • Reconnect the 4 wires from the car door to the door panel
  • Line up the door panel to the connectors on the door, then when you are sure everything is aligned, give each connector a good pop to secure it
  • Re-connect the window up/down controller into the arm rest
  • Screw the two T25 Torx screws in the handle to secure the door panel to the car door
  • pop the handle trim back onto the handle
• Repeat for the other rear door.
• Rock and Roll!

Some post install notes:

1. Josh at BSW (who designed the S-1 mid-range speakers) had some good advice for those who are doing this upgrade. Because the rear tweeters are right next to your ears (compared to the tweeters in the fronts) you may want to use the fader to attenuate the volume of the rears slightly to compensate for the distances and to bring a little more balance to the entire system. For those with a DSP/EQ in their system, you'll have even more fine-grained control over this to suit your tastes.
   .
2. I am not an audiophile, but i know what sounds good I got some push-back for doing this as people have told me that accurate imaging and the frontal soundstage will be degraded by adding tweeters to the rear. But as i pound mostly EDM / Dance / House / Trance music, imaging doesn't figure in as being that significant to me. I just want to be enveloped in music. I suppose if i listened to more jazz, classical, or other related music where source placement/location of instruments is more applicable, it would be. But since i don't, it isn't :-)
   .
3. Disclaimer as usual - i am in no way responsible for any damage you do to your car as a result of this mod. I'm merely showing you what i did. What you do to your car is your responsibility

UPDATE: The whole cabin is a lot more "lively" and balanced now with the extra tweeters. There is great detail, clarity, and sparkling precision in the overall tonality. But now, there just seems like there's more of it. With 75w-100w of clean power going to each BSW S-1 channel, adding these extra tweeters makes a huge difference and brings a fuller, more balanced, and a more complete sound across the entire cabin of the car.

The biggest difference to the system, however, has been adding the trunk subs last month. I was completely oblivious to what i was missing until i added them recently (and did A/B comparisons with them on and with them off). It was like discovering jelly for the first time, after eating peanut-butter only sandwiches your whole life. I feel like the whole "bottom half" of my music has been missing this entire time (I guess you don't know what you don't know ). After the addition of the trunk subs, the sound now is just damn rich, full-bodied, and silky smooth ... befitting of how a BMW sound system should be. The need for the extra tweeters IMO was not even necessary until i added the subwoofers, and discovered how over-powering they were.

[Serpent720]

Nice Work!

[Billfitz]

Because the rear tweeters are right next to your ears (compared to the tweeters in the fronts) you may want to use the fader to attenuate the volume of the rears slightly to compensate for the distances and to bring a little more balance to the entire system.

Move the tweeters back another 6 to 8 inches and you fix that, as well as making them more useful to rear seat passengers.

I got some push-back for doing this as people have told me that accurate imaging and the frontal soundstage will be degraded by adding tweeters to the rear.

That push back would have come from uninformed oddiophools. In a car there is no such thing as accurate imaging or a frontal sound stage, unless you're sitting on the center console.

An alternative for those with the stock hi-fi system is to add a pair of these. They include a high pass capacitor, so tying them to the stock system isn't difficult:

http://www.parts-express.com/pioneer...-pair--267-288

Update: I installed a pair of these in my rear doors, they work perfectly. I wrapped the bezel in silver vinyl to match the rest of the trim.
https://www.amazon.com/JBL-GTO19T-Pr...sr=1-3-catcorr

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Move the tweeters back another 6 to 8 inches and you fix that, as well as making them more useful to rear seat passengers.

Thats clever - natural attenuation through distance, rather than penalizing the rear passengers for the sake of the driver. I like it.

Practically speaking though, that would be difficult to do without some creative and major re-work relocating, mounting, and securing the tweeter mounting bracket - using completely new mechanisms. The OEM door panel has 3 fixed posts that the bracket just slips over, not to mention a pre-marked speaker template for drilling reference. These posts are built right into the door panel, and permanently fixed, so they don't move and can't be re-located. The tweeter was designed to go there. Thats why this install was so easy - its all there for you to just drop in... literally.



FWIW, I actually don't attenuate the back tweeters personally, despite what BSW told me. I don't think its too much or too close

Originally Posted by Billfitz

That push back would have come from uninformed oddiophools. In a car there is no such thing as accurate imaging or a frontal sound stage, unless you're sitting on the center console.

I've always thought it was odd that some people care so much about "proper imaging" and soundstage in an automobile environment where your car engine, road noise, and other over-whelming environmental factors degrades a lot of what you would normally try to achieve in a home theater or home audio type of an environment, where its infinitely more quiet. Seems like its just not worth it. But thats just me.

On a slightly different note, i have a brand new JBL MS-8 sitting in a box because about a year ago, it took me over 2 weekends (about 6 total hours) trying to get the calibration sweeps to make the audio sound as good as just my plain JL XD800 does. I could get it 99% of the way there, but I soon realized i was spending more time tweaking than i was enjoying music that sounded perfect as-is with just the JL amp alone. To me, its all about the ROI.

[TBLM235X]

Excellent write-up!

It looks like the standard JL sub gain knob you installed (next to the shifter) was replaced by a custom silver knob? Can you give a little insight on it - where did you find it, was it a direct fit replacement? Really nice finishing touch!

Thanks!

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

The OEM door panel has 3 fixed posts that the bracket just slips over, not to mention a pre-marked speaker template for drilling reference. These posts are built right into the door

That I was unaware of, as I haven't looked inside my doors yet. In that case a tweeter that can be aimed back towards the rear passengers would accomplish the same thing.

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by TBLM235X

Excellent write-up!

It looks like the standard JL sub gain knob you installed (next to the shifter) was replaced by a custom silver knob? Can you give a little insight on it - where did you find it, was it a direct fit replacement? Really nice finishing touch!

Thanks!

I knew someone was going to ask about that

I was perfectly happy with the default plain black knob from the rbc-1 remote volume controller, until i saw this picture in some subwoofer article on the net. I was absolutely stunned how sharp, stylish, OEM, and high-class it looked ... very befitting of the BMW brand

After getting my audio to sound exactly the way i want it to now, i thought, i have to find something as cool as that. Plus, i find that i use that knob for just about every song i listen to to get the right mix of low bass, so i'm always tweaking it. My hand is almost permanently resting on it when i'm driving. That plus the fact that when that pot dial turns, it feels so solid, and it feels so "quality", i figured i have find something that looks as good and is befitting of how good everything feels.

So i went searching high and low (went a little crazy tbh), and got a bunch of really sick, blinged-out knobs. Here's a bunch of them from asia that are currently on their way to me, so i don't have them in hand yet (the one you saw was the first one that arrived, so i included that pic). Btw, the black one on the bottom right is the same one as installed in the BMW above. I have 10 pcs of each coming to me, so if you are interested for $1, i can send you one. Or maybe for $5, i can send you one of each, PM me if you are interested.



Here are a few other onesies, twosies i purchased domestically. Getting them here is a lot more expensive. They ranged anywhere from $2 - $10 each. The one on the bottom right is the one i just received that you see installed in the picture. I got most of these from Small Bear Electronics in NY. I got another one from DIY Guitar Pedals.



Because of where i installed the controller unit in the shift trim area, i can only use 15mm diameter knobs (max). The thing to look for is to make sure they are compatible with 6mm potentiometer shafts (internally) if you are using the JL RBC-1 remote control knob. They will usually say this in the description what they are compatible with. If you really like the knob, and its a little off (like the one in my pic), i just used a dremel tool with a thin sanding bit, and clear it out a little to make it fit.

I'm planning on keeping a small bag of all of them in my glove box and change it out like how people change out jewelry or shoes (daily? weekly?). Life is short. Keep it real...

[TBLM235X]

Wow! Thank-you for the great update, especially the details on the sizes and the links! I am going to save this post so when I'm ready for my audio install, I may take you up on your offer. I really like the one you have installed now in your picture, it looks so high quality compared to the basic JL version. I also like the placement; in my past (aftermarket) audio set-ups, I was constantly adjusting the sub bass gain on every song. Thanks again!

[danielmok39]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

I know this mod is a little controversial, but to each his own - so no flames please

After installing the BSW Stage-1 upgrades for my F30 Hi-Fi base system (along with an upgraded JL XD800/8 amp - 100w to each of the 7-channels - to replace OEM HiFi amp), i also added dual JL w3v3 500w subwoofers for the trunk (along with a JL JX500/1D 500w mono-amp). The 9 speakers that now cover the mid-range/bass tones and the low thumping sub-bass are spectacular, but frankly, i feel they completely overwhelm the two tweeters in the HiFi system (HiFi system includes tweeters only on the front doors - the center channel and rear speakers are mid-ranges only)

So to bring a little more balance to the overall system, i wanted to add a couple of extra BSW S-1 tweeters to the mid-range speakers in the rear doors (similar to how the HK system is laid out with tweeters accompanying every mid-range in the system). Thanks to MSportTune2 who provided me the initial info and pics over a year ago that gave me the confidence to go through with the upgrade ... just finally got around to doing the work

Here's how the finished additional tweeter looks on one of the rear doors:



An obvious pre-requisite for doing this work is that you should have already upgraded your base HiFi speakers with the Bavsound Stage-1 speakers. I also am of the opinion that unless you've also upgraded your OEM amp, this upgrade is likely not going to be all that effective. Like I mentioned earlier, I only did this addition because with an upgraded amp (800watt XD800/8, which sends 100w to each channel) to replace the OEM amp for the S-1's, and a 500w trunk sub/mono-amp, this system really does overwhelm the tweeters in the system.

So with all that out of the way, this work is a really easy upgrade that can be done in a couple of hours, and the work will look amazingly OEM clean when its done. While there is one hole that will need to be drilled in each rear door panel to place the extra tweeter (on each side), there are pre-marked outlines/templates in the door panels that allows for a perfect hole to be positioned / drilled. Other than that, there is no extra wiring, cutting, splicing on the OEM electrical system that will need to be done. Everything will look perfectly OEM when its done, and to BMW's exact positioning specifications for the tweeter. There is no guess work (or extra skill) involved in doing this DIY. And as a bonus, there is also no coding involved with this upgrade.

Here are the parts you need:

• Additional pair of Bavsound 25mm Silk-Dome Tweeters - these are the same ones from the Stage-1 upgrades,which includes the passive cross-over circuit - I got the pair from BSW for $120 Note: every BSW mid-range speaker has pre built-in connectors to receive the tweeter/crossover, so your rear door speakers are plug-n-play ready to take these tweeters (the tweeters just take their power from the mid-range speakers, so there is no additional cabling/wiring to the amp necessary, and no additional wire cutting/splicing as well - just snap in the connectors.
  
  
  .
• Tweeter speaker covers (BMW OEM Part #51427281459) for the rear doors - to make them look OEM from the outside! I got these from ECS Tuning (ES#2562990) for ~$25 each
  
  .
• Tweeter mounting brackets (BMW OEM Part #51427316863 and #51427316864) for the rear doors - to secure them in the door panels. I also got these from ECS Tuning (ES# 2664864 and ES# 2633779) for around $28 a piece
  
  .
• Axial Securing Clips (BMW OEM Part #52207115704) to secure the Tweeter bracket to the 3 corresponding posts built into the door panel. There are 3 per bracket, so you'll need 6 total. These can be purchased from many places online or at your local BMW dealership parts dept. At ~$2 a clip, it seems pretty pricey, but i found out that 1) i couldn't find an equivalent part elsewhere, and 2) the way these clips are designed (density/tensile strength), i don't think there is a better way to secure the bracket - i.e. high-bonding glue.
  

The procedure is relatively straightforward:

• Remove rear door panels in the exact same way you did when you did your BSW S-1 upgrade (Bavsound Youtube Video). Note: always use a plastic trim tool to remove trim pieces on door. Never metal as it could scratch the finish.
  • Pop the door handle cover/trim with a plastic trim tool, then remove the two T25 Torx screws that secure the handle to the door.
  • Pop the window controller unit from the handle, using same trim tool, then disconnect the wiring from the controller unit.
  • Slowly pop the door panel off, starting from one side using the trim tool to pop the fasteners/connectors, and working around sides/bottom of the door panel
  • Carefully disconnect the 4 wires / harnesses (bottom LED wire, strip accent LED wire, door latch mechanism, and window controller wiring) connected to the door
  • You can now safely remove the door panel - set it aside for the next step of the re-work.
  .
• Locate the 50mm tweeter circular template- there is a perfectly sized pre-marked hole, outlined in the back of the door panel just above the mid-range hole, where the tweeter will fit through door. I used a pencil / compass to highlight the circle and cross-hairs as they are fairly faint on the light colored panel. Darkening the circle and cross-hairs will make it easier for the drilling you will do in the next step.
  
  
  .
• Drill out the circular template using a 2 inch (51mm) Hole Saw Bit or a 50mm Step-Drill Bit. I used the 2-inch Hole Saw Bit from Lowes, and it gave me a perfect 50mm hole. The pilot drill bit in the center of the bit allows you to perfectly position the center of the circle by aligning it against the marked cross-hairs. This gives you a perfect circular hole at the right size and at the precise location it needs to be at. It took me literally 5 seconds to cut the hole out, once i lined up everything.
  
  
  .
• Push the Tweeter through the back of the Mounting Bracket. Its the only way it'll go in. Just wiggle the tweeter back and forth into the back of the mounting hole, twisting it gently as you go until it snaps into place. Once its in, it should be in there pretty tight (it shouldn't move it all). Don't worry if it doesn't look right. Looking at it from the front of the mounting bracket, its set at an angle. Thats the way it should be.
  
  
  .
• Drop the Mounting Bracket holes over the 3 posts in the door panel. It should just line up and drop in - the 3 holes over the 3 posts. It should just drop over the posts with no resistance. In the next step, we'll secure the bracket to the door panel using the Axial Securing Clips.
  
  .
• Secure the bracket to the back of the door panel using the 3 Axial Securing Clips pushing one over each of the posts. This is actually a little harder than it looks. The Axial Security Clips are made of some pretty strong steel (not aluminum), and do not bend easily. I couldn't just push them over the post with my fingers to secure the bracket. I had to prep it by bending each little prong outwards using a needle-nose. And even then i couldn't use my fingers to push it all the way down. Once i was able to get the clip onto the tip of the post, I used a pair of pliers to push the clip to go all the way down.
  
  I must say, this is a pretty well designed bracket/clip combination. The bracket is pretty much secure after putting on just ONE clip - doesn't move AT ALL :-) You know something is well designed when it is secure after using only one clip. I love the feeling of something that is well designed / engineered. This is one of them Here is how the bracket sits in the door panel after being secured by the 3 clips.
  
  .
• Snap Tweeter cover onto the Mounting Bracket through the door panel. This will secure the Tweeter cover to the door panel and keep it nice and flush with the surface of the door panel, making it look OEM mint! The thing you need to know is that there are 5 clips on the tweeter cover that correspond to 5 slots on the mounting bracket. The position of these clips/slots is such that it can only go on ... one way. The largest of the 5 clips on the tweeter cover needs to be turned to the 9 o'clock position on the door panel before attempting to snapping it in place. Just look for the largest tab, turn it to 9 o'clock, then slowly snap it into place. Then go around the cover and press in firmly until the other 4 clips snap into play.
  
  .
  When you are done, the tweeter cover should be flush against the door panel with no gaps whatsoever. If there are gaps, then one of the tabs didn't go in to the bracket slot all the way. Pop the cover and try again. I love how mint this looks BMW did a great job designing this bracket/cover assembly. Couldn't be any simpler to install and couldn't look any cleaner!
  
  
  l
  
  Just as an FYI... the diameter of the cover from edge-to-edge is 60mm so it can/will hide a lot of mistakes. The hole you drilled in the door panel is only 50mm, so there is an extra 10mm to play with (5mm on each side). So if your hole is a little bit larger than 50mm, there's no need to fret. The overhang of the cover will obscure a lot of mistakes.
  .
• And to finish it off... connect the Tweeter to the Midrange connector - But before you do, make sure you attach the BSW-supplied cross-over dongle/circuit to the Tweeter before attaching the entire thing back to the mid-range. For my BSW S-1 install, i pulled the Midrange/Cross-Over connector out from the door cavity and cable tied it to the outside of the foam cover/seal next to the midrange for easy access. Once the cross-over is connected to the tweeter, just snap the Tweeter's connector to this and you're done!
  
  
  .
• Return the door panel back to the door - again, the Bavsound Install video on Youtube is helpful here in case you forgot the details.
  • Reconnect the 4 wires from the car door to the door panel
  • Line up the door panel to the connectors on the door, then when you are sure everything is aligned, give each connector a good pop to secure it
  • Re-connect the window up/down controller into the arm rest
  • Screw the two T25 Torx screws in the handle to secure the door panel to the car door
  • pop the handle trim back onto the handle
• Repeat for the other rear door.
• Rock and Roll!

Some post install notes:

1. Josh at BSW (who designed the S-1 mid-range speakers) had some good advice for those who are doing this upgrade. Because the rear tweeters are right next to your ears (compared to the tweeters in the fronts) you may want to use the fader to attenuate the volume of the rears slightly to compensate for the distances and to bring a little more balance to the entire system. For those with a DSP/EQ in their system, you'll have even more fine-grained control over this to suit your tastes.
   .
2. I am not an audiophile, but i know what sounds good I got some push-back for doing this as people have told me that accurate imaging and the frontal soundstage will be degraded by adding tweeters to the rear. But as i pound mostly EDM / Dance / House / Trance music, imaging doesn't figure in as being that significant to me. I just want to be enveloped in music. I suppose if i listened to more jazz, classical, or other related music where source placement/location of instruments is more applicable, it would be. But since i don't, it isn't :-)
   .
3. Disclaimer as usual - i am in no way responsible for any damage you do to your car as a result of this mod. I'm merely showing you what i did. What you do to your car is your responsibility

UPDATE: The whole cabin is a lot more "lively" and balanced now with the extra tweeters. There is great detail, clarity, and sparkling precision in the overall tonality. But now, there just seems like there's more of it. With 75w-100w of clean power going to each BSW S-1 channel, adding these extra tweeters makes a huge difference and brings a fuller, more balanced, and a more complete sound across the entire cabin of the car.

The biggest difference to the system, however, has been adding the trunk subs last month. I was completely oblivious to what i was missing until i added them recently (and did A/B comparisons with them on and with them off). It was like discovering jelly for the first time, after eating peanut-butter only sandwiches your whole life. I feel like the whole "bottom half" of my music has been missing this entire time (I guess you don't know what you don't know ). After the addition of the trunk subs, the sound now is just damn rich, full-bodied, and silky smooth ... befitting of how a BMW sound system should be. The need for the extra tweeters IMO was not even necessary until i added the subwoofers, and discovered how over-powering they were.

Hello, can Bavsound sell tweeters only?
how do you get the Bavsound tweeters? because I can't only buy tweeters from Basvound's website....
What can I do?

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by danielmok39

Hello, can Bavsound sell tweeters only?
how do you get the Bavsound tweeters? because I can't only buy tweeters from Basvound's website....
What can I do?

You can't order it off their website. You have to contact them directly. I spoke with Jeremy W. at Bavsound. He sold me the pair for $120.

[danielmok39]

Great, thanks!!!!

[danielmok39]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

You can't order it off their website. You have to contact them directly. I spoke with Jeremy W. at Bavsound. He sold me the pair for $120.

Hi, I sent Bavsound a email, but they said they wouldn't sell tweeter only. Why?

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by danielmok39

Hi, I sent Bavsound a email, but they said they wouldn't sell tweeter only. Why?

Thats odd... i called a year ago, and they were ready to sell me the pair at that time. Then i called again a few months ago to finally make the purcahse, and while they tried to talk me out of it, Jeremy said he would still sell it to me. Here's his contact info.

Jeremy Whittle / BAVSOUND
jeremyw@bavsound.com
619.489.5770 Ext 804

Try talking to him directly, and you can say that he sold me a pair. He was getting ready to sell me a center channel tweeter also for $99 (they are a little bit more as they don't purchase as much quantity for these tweeters from their supplier)

[danielmok39]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

Thats odd... i called a year ago, and they were ready to sell me the pair at that time. Then i called again a few months ago to finally make the purcahse, and while they tried to talk me out of it, Jeremy said he would still sell it to me. Here's his contact info.

Jeremy Whittle / BAVSOUND
jeremyw@bavsound.com
619.489.5770 Ext 804

Try talking to him directly, and you can say that he sold me a pair. He was getting ready to sell me a center channel tweeter also for $99 (they are a little bit more as they don't purchase as much quantity for these tweeters from their supplier)

Thanks a lot!

[MSportTune2]

Hi Ben, great write up and I am glad you have gotten this out of the way. You took it to another level and your DIY
looks very professional.
I took my system a step further by having all four doors and trunk soundproof with STP and then
added a Hertz active sub DBA 200.3 as I wanted to maximize the trunk space. I also had the system professionally tuned.

I am very happy with the outcome and will retire from adding anything else for now.

Did you add the rear parcel shelf speakers too?

Thanks for sharing.

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by MSportTune2

Hi Ben, great write up and I am glad you have gotten this out of the way. You took it to another level and your DIY
looks very professional. I took my system a step further by having all four doors and trunk soundproof with STP and then added a Hertz active sub DBA 200.3 as I wanted to maximize the trunk space. I also had the system professionally tuned. I am very happy with the outcome and will retire from adding anything else for now.

Did you add the rear parcel shelf speakers too?

Hey Pete - thanks again for all the initial info for getting me going on this. Turned out great! Nice job on finishing your audio system with the STP and the Hertz Sub. I used Dynamat and audio accoustical foam in all my doors for the deadening. It took a whole weekend to do that, but i'm happy with the results

I went ahead with this mod for three reasons:

1. Cost - at a little over $200, it was reasonable from a cost stand point.
2. Effort - it did not require any change to any other existing audio equipment nor did it require running extra wires or splicing/modification of existing ones.
3. Difficulty - it did not require any special skills to do this. All the heavy lifting was done by BMW / BSW in designing a kick-ass drop-in bracket, and click-in tweeter, respectively.

As far as the rear deck speakers go, while it would have been nice to get the HiFi system up to snuff with the HK system (i.e. total number of speakers), to do so would incur high cost, a lot of effort, and much difficulty. Replacing the rear shelf alone with the BMW OEM part was going to run $300 (more than this whole project!). In addition, a new Amp would have been required to accommodate the extra 2 channels (i only have an 8-channel amp). Plus adding two extra rear speakers would require running new wiring from the amp to the rear shelf. It was more than i wanted to deal with ...

With that said, i'm toying with adding the extra tweeter to the center channel (which is even more controversial than adding the tweeters to the rear doors). But the cost ($99) and effort (pull speaker cover and snap in tweeter) are negligible. My only concern is that i'm thinking of eventually putting in BSW Ghosts in the under-seats, and if i do that, i want to beef up the power to them (200W) by bridging two channels from the XD800 to each of them. Since i don't have enough spare amp channels, i would have to delete the center channel in order to do it. So getting a tweeter for the center would be a waste if i went that route.

After that, I think i'm done as well with my audio. I have a Bimmertech Rear-Cam system arriving soon, so that will (hopefully) be the last thing i do to the car. Its time to just enjoy the car!

[_bdiddyb_]

squidlyboy , where did you put the JL XD800 amp? did you run the pair of SUBs in 2 ohms? ... and did you use any processor?

[MSportTune2]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

Hey Pete - thanks again for all the initial info for getting me going on this. Turned out great! Nice job on finishing your audio system with the STP and the Hertz Sub. I used Dynamat and audio accoustical foam in all my doors for the deadening. It took a whole weekend to do that, but i'm happy with the results

I went ahead with this mod for three reasons:

1. Cost - at a little over $200, it was reasonable from a cost stand point.
2. Effort - it did not require any change to any other existing audio equipment nor did it require running extra wires or splicing/modification of existing ones.
3. Difficulty - it did not require any special skills to do this. All the heavy lifting was done by BMW / BSW in designing a kick-ass drop-in bracket, and click-in tweeter, respectively.

As far as the rear deck speakers go, while it would have been nice to get the HiFi system up to snuff with the HK system (i.e. total number of speakers), to do so would incur high cost, a lot of effort, and much difficulty. Replacing the rear shelf alone with the BMW OEM part was going to run $300 (more than this whole project!). In addition, a new Amp would have been required to accommodate the extra 2 channels (i only have an 8-channel amp). Plus adding two extra rear speakers would require running new wiring from the amp to the rear shelf. It was more than i wanted to deal with ...

With that said, i'm toying with adding the extra tweeter to the center channel (which is even more controversial than adding the tweeters to the rear doors). But the cost ($99) and effort (pull speaker cover and snap in tweeter) are negligible. My only concern is that i'm thinking of eventually putting in BSW Ghosts in the under-seats, and if i do that, i want to beef up the power to them (200W) by bridging two channels from the XD800 to each of them. Since i don't have enough spare amp channels, i would have to delete the center channel in order to do it. So getting a tweeter for the center would be a waste if i went that route.

After that, I think i'm done as well with my audio. I have a Bimmertech Rear-Cam system arriving soon, so that will (hopefully) be the last thing i do to the car. Its time to just enjoy the car!

Hi Ben, agree with your reasoning. For me it was to go full HK and along the way it got stalled as our base stereo require a full harness and the HK amp is just too expensive. It got reignited when Bimmertech came along and they could provide a customed harness that is plug and play. I just connected the 4 speakers on the parcel shelf to my rear doors as adviced by Bimmertech but I know that's not ideal. I just wanted one amp to take care of everything.

Yup, I have been enjoying the ride with much better music but I made a mistake of upgrading my wife's new car with Focal Be Utopia 3 way system and it blows what i have out of the door.
Anyway, I am done and won't be tempted further to mod my ride.

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by _bdiddyb_

Where did you put the JL XD800 amp? did you run the pair of SUBs in 2 ohms? ... and did you use any processor?

hey bdiddyb - i didn't realize it until i started searching for some of my old posts that i saw your setup a year or so ago and was wanting to setup my subs the same way you did. Everything you said was spot on! So much so, that I ended up getting the same JL subs and JL amp as you did. I had forgotten about the post, but i guess you left an indelible impression on me

My main xd800 amp is located under the cubby hole cover on the left side where the OEM amp/ASD amp are/were located. I did have an MS-8 Logic7 processor originally, but i spent so much time putzing around and endlessly tweaking it to get it just right, i was getting frustrated and not enjoying the music - we're talking weeks. In the end, i couldn't get any better sound with the MS-8, than with just the XD800 alone (which sounded pretty damn near perfect to me), so i ended up selling it recently.

The dual JL W3V3's come configured at 2 ohms by JL in their enclosure.

Originally Posted by MSportTune2

Hi Ben, agree with your reasoning. For me it was to go full HK and along the way it got stalled as our base stereo require a full harness and the HK amp is just too expensive. It got reignited when Bimmertech came along and they could provide a customed harness that is plug and play. I just connected the 4 speakers on the parcel shelf to my rear doors as adviced by Bimmertech but O know that's not ideal. I just wanted one amp to take care of everything.

Yup, I have been enjoying the ride with much better music but I made a mistake of upgrading my wife's new car with Focal Be Utopia 3 way system and it blows what i have out of the door.
Anyway, I am done and won't be tempted further to mod my ride.

So the 4 rear parcel speakers are wired/connected directly to the rear door speakers? Seems like that would be harder to wire than running from the trunk amp directly to the rear shelf. I'm trying to understand the logic behind that. In any case, nice job on getting the Focal Utopia Be... that system is like 3x the cost of my entire system!!! you must love your wife! Curious what kind of car you got her?

[MSportTune2]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

hey bdiddyb - i didn't realize it until i started searching for some of my old posts that i saw your setup a year or so ago and was wanting to setup my subs the same way you did. Everything you said was spot on! So much so, that I ended up getting the same JL subs and JL amp as you did. I had forgotten about the post, but i guess you left an indelible impression on me

My main xd800 amp is located under the cubby hole cover on the left side where the OEM amp/ASD amp are/were located. I did have an MS-8 Logic7 processor originally, but i spent so much time putzing around and endlessly tweaking it to get it just right, i was getting frustrated and not enjoying the music - we're talking weeks. In the end, i couldn't get any better sound with the MS-8, than with just the XD800 alone (which sounded pretty damn near perfect to me), so i ended up selling it recently.

The dual JL W3V3's come configured at 2 ohms by JL in their enclosure.

So the 4 rear parcel speakers are wired/connected directly to the rear door speakers? Seems like that would be harder to wire than running from the trunk amp directly to the rear shelf. I'm trying to understand the logic behind that. In any case, nice job on getting the Focal Utopia Be... that system is like 3x the cost of my entire system!!! you must love your wife! Curious what kind of car you got her?

The wiring is pretty straightforward. I did not want to add anymore amps so best choice was to wire it up to rear doors.

Over here cars are just too expensive so I rather not discuss a sore point.

[dembinsk]

Has anyone cut the rear shelf speaker holes, since my rear shelf is the HiFi system with no speaker cut-outs, to add midrange and tweeter pairs, just like the HK audio system comes with?

I am in the process of doing this, using the BimmerTech Alpha One Speakers with their Audiotec Fisher Match PP-86DSP amp and curious if anyone has experience in this.


Update: rear shelf speaker cutout completed.


thnx. -dd

[jus711]

Very nice! I bought my F30 with Bavsound Stage 1 already installed. And I am planning on further upgrades with a 12w6 and 600/1v3 slash series amp. I’m also going the xd800/8 route and I have a Rockford DSR1 DSP. But I’ve been afraid about having enough highs and I’ve been tinkering with the idea of installing a set of Hertz Mille tweets I have from my last system. This sounds much better provided Bavsound will sell me the tweeters. Thanks so much for the write up! One question: the crossovers for the kids are already installed next to the rear mids?