[rytec]

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.

Thanks for this info, could you point me to the right internet link where I can buy the correct unit and cbla harnas for my F31? Thanks a lot

And is it worth to replace the speakers with ICBMW100L speakers, I read something about these are speakers with tweeters build in. Do you need to place extra cables if you replace the standard base speakers in the doors with these?

BR
Ryan

[Billfitz]

Never use coaxial midranges, they place the tweeters too low. If you're going to add tweeters do it the right way, mounted by the mirrors in the front, at the top of the doors in the back.

[rytec]

Originally Posted by Jimmert

I run Full in the front and HPF on the rear. (+ Hifi coding)

I have an Android HU and with this the sound is also better than the BMW oem.
Is it usefull to change in Bimmercode that to hifi to test or not?

And I think it's better to first replace the speakers with this combination?

If I would place this amplifier, will that produce better sound with Android HU too?

[Daveyvtec]

Originally Posted by rytec

Thanks for this info, could you point me to the right internet link where I can buy the correct unit and cbla harnas for my F31? Thanks a lot

And is it worth to replace the speakers with ICBMW100L speakers, I read something about these are speakers with tweeters build in. Do you need to place extra cables if you replace the standard base speakers in the doors with these?

BR
Ryan

Originally Posted by rytec

Thanks for this info, could you point me to the right internet link where I can buy the correct unit and cbla harnas for my F31? Thanks a lot

And is it worth to replace the speakers with ICBMW100L speakers, I read something about these are speakers with tweeters build in. Do you need to place extra cables if you replace the standard base speakers in the doors with these?

BR
Ryan

I got my unit from Crown Customs Car Audio as Vibe didn't ship to Ireland 😂 I found them after googling the unit itself so if you just do that, you'll find a seller with little hassle.

In terms of the replacement speakers, I just left mine stock. I'm gonna replace them at a later date as I've been focusing on a few cosmetic upgrade for the outside of the car. But in answer to the second part of your question, I don't know as I haven't done it.

Dave

[rytec]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Never use coaxial midranges, they place the tweeters too low. If you're going to add tweeters do it the right way, mounted by the mirrors in the front, at the top of the doors in the back.

Which speakers would be good to use in the doors as an upgrade for my base system?

I'm wondering which unit provides the sound now.
When I use the Android HU, this unit will create the sound now, not my OEM unit, correct?

So I think that I first will upgrade the speakers in the doors and maybe the subs later on to experience the difference.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by rytec

Which speakers would be good to use in the doors as an upgrade for my base system?

I'd buy a used set of the OEM Hi-Fi speakers from someone who replaced them. The entire aftermarket speaker industry is predicated upon the assumption that the OEM Hi-Fi and H-K speakers are deficient. They're not. Even the base are reasonably adequate when they're only powered with the 15 watts or so that the base OEM HU is capable of. I can't comment on your Andriod HU without seeing complete accurate specs for it.

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Never use coaxial midranges, they place the tweeters too low. If you're going to add tweeters do it the right way, mounted by the mirrors in the front, at the top of the doors in the back.

I guess it depends what your expectations are.
I actually disagree with what you said. I installed coaxial Focals in my rear doors and it massively improved the sound quality for the people travelling at the back.
In fact I believe that If instead of all the hassle with installing front HK mids and tweeters I just fitted focals I'd also be very happy. They do sound good, really good.

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by rytec

Thanks for this info, could you point me to the right internet link where I can buy the correct unit and cbla harnas for my F31? Thanks a lot

And is it worth to replace the speakers with ICBMW100L speakers, I read something about these are speakers with tweeters build in. Do you need to place extra cables if you replace the standard base speakers in the doors with these?

BR
Ryan

I've got those speakers in my rear doors and they sound really really good. I can fully recommend them.
They are 1:1 replacement and there's no need for any alterations.

[rytec]

Originally Posted by kierownik

I've got those speakers in my rear doors and they sound really really good. I can fully recommend them.
They are 1:1 replacement and there's no need for any alterations.

What did you install in the front doors then?

[rytec]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

I'd buy a used set of the OEM Hi-Fi speakers from someone who replaced them. The entire aftermarket speaker industry is predicated upon the assumption that the OEM Hi-Fi and H-K speakers are deficient. They're not. Even the base are reasonably adequate when they're only powered with the 15 watts or so that the base OEM HU is capable of. I can't comment on your Andriod HU without seeing complete accurate specs for it.

Thanks a lot for this tip! Can you also buy secondhand HK speakers to use with the standard amp or isn't that possible or only possible with hifi speakers?
Great idea of buying secondhand hifi speakers! I will have a look on Ebay and have to find out the right part number for my BMW F31 2014.

Do the hifi speakers sound better than the standard speakers?

I don't think the Android HU has a power amp itself, but is the amp of the car build in the oem radio unit behind the trim or is the amp somewhere else and is it replaceable easily?

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by rytec

What did you install in the front doors then?

Harman Kardon mids and tweeters. But to be brutally honest... I think I would be equally happy with Focal speakers both at front and back. The HK's have a lot of trebble, lacking a bit in the mid tones section tho. Where Focals at the back sound much more balanced than HK. Don't get me wrong. HK sound really good and after some adjustments in the sound menu I found a good setting. But like I said before... If I had a chance to compare HK mids + tweeters and Focals before I installed HK's I would go with Focals on all 4 doors. Not only would that save me quite a lot of money but the sound would be a bit warmer all together. HK speakers are great but I guess to get them to release their full potential you would need some sort of equalizer which basic bmw HU doesn't have.
But that is just my own opinion after some time of having it all installed. It all depends what your music/sound likings are.

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by rytec

Thanks a lot for this tip! Can you also buy secondhand HK speakers to use with the standard amp or isn't that possible or only possible with hifi speakers?
Great idea of buying secondhand hifi speakers! I will have a look on Ebay and have to find out the right part number for my BMW F31 2014.

Do the hifi speakers sound better than the standard speakers?

I don't think the Android HU has a power amp itself, but is the amp of the car build in the oem radio unit behind the trim or is the amp somewhere else and is it replaceable easily?

HK or HiFi speakers will work with HU itself. That's how I run it. HU outputs 4x25W RMS.

[rytec]

Originally Posted by kierownik

Harman Kardon mids and tweeters. But to be brutally honest... I think I would be equally happy with Focal speakers both at front and back. The HK's have a lot of trebble, lacking a bit in the mid tones section tho. Where Focals at the back sound much more balanced than HK. Don't get me wrong. HK sound really good and after some adjustments in the sound menu I found a good setting. But like I said before... If I had a chance to compare HK mids + tweeters and Focals before I installed HK's I would go with Focals on all 4 doors. Not only would that save me quite a lot of money but the sound would be a bit warmer all together. HK speakers are great but I guess to get them to release their full potential you would need some sort of equalizer which basic bmw HU doesn't have.
But that is just my own opinion after some time of having it all installed. It all depends what your music/sound likings are.
HK or HiFi speakers will work with HU itself. That's how I run it. HU outputs 4x25W RMS.

Thanks too for this good info, did you already replaced the standaard subs under the seats by Focals?

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by rytec

Thanks a lot for this tip! Can you also buy secondhand HK speakers to use with the standard amp or isn't that possible or only possible with hifi speakers?

H-K will work. However, I know that the woofers are 8 ohm, so I suspect that the midranges are as well. That being the case they would need more power to reach the same output level as the 4 ohm Hi-Fi.

[rytec]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

H-K will work. However, I know that the woofers are 8 ohm, so I suspect that the midranges are as well. That being the case they would need more power to reach the same output level as the 4 ohm Hi-Fi.

"same output level as the 4 ohm Hi-Fi." to reach this 4 ohm it's possible to use the standard oem radio output without an extra amp?

Is it possible to install an extra amp in the car and connect it to the original radio unit or do you need another radio unit together with an amp?

[Billfitz]

I wouldn't do anything without first adding an amp, as that's the weakest link in the chain, not the speakers.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1475424

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

H-K will work. However, I know that the woofers are 8 ohm, so I suspect that the midranges are as well. That being the case they would need more power to reach the same output level as the 4 ohm Hi-Fi.

I'm not so sure about mids being 8ohm. I run HK mids and tweeters at the front. All powered by the HU and they are loud or even slightly louder than my original base speakers were at the same volume level. The only downside is lack of proper eq.
As a matter of fact I didn't even feel like I needed to add an additional amplifier until I decided that I want to replace my subs which I decided to give up anyway and keep the original subs. They're not that bad and I'm not a super loud listener.

[Billfitz]

Only BMW knows for sure, and they're not saying. Someone would have to measure them. If the HU has a pre-shape EQ that's tuned for best results with the base midrange with no tweeters then it's not going to be right with the H-K or Hi-Fi midranges with tweeters. The low power of the HU internal amps will also result in high THD when pushed to even moderate levels, which can add to harsh response through tweeters. I doubt that the HU is capable of 25w/ch, as it requires a sophisticated step up power supply to get more than 15w or so from 12v.

[TeaorCrumpets]

Personally having the base audio .. biggest Bang for your buck was upgrading the front speakers and MMI box wow what a difference and TBH i dont see the need for a amp now.

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by TeaorCrumpets

Personally having the base audio .. biggest Bang for your buck was upgrading the front speakers and MMI box wow what a difference and TBH i dont see the need for a amp now.

That's exaclty what I've done. Mmi box + HK speakers at the front +focals at the back and it's really good. No need for amp unless you want more powerful subwoofers
I also recently upgraded my screen to 8.8".

[wataroo]

Originally Posted by FastFrog

No, the EXTERNAL setting won't switch off anything, nor switch the HU output from High-Level to Low-Level. It only affects the EQ.

You will find an in-depth write-up about the sound settings and coding here: https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threa...n-most.437890/

I've finally found the setting of my liking. It's definitely a personal preference, but this works for me. After some going back and forth with the setup, I am very happy with this upgrade given the money spent! Your suggested link really helped. Thanks once again.

[HU settings]
AUDIO_SYSTEM > HIFI (STEREO was too EQ'd for me)
AMPlIFIER_VARIANT > INTERNAL (EXTERNAL didn't give me enough volume)
AUDIO_SYSTEM_VARIANT > VARIANT_2 (VARIANT_1 had weak bass and VARIANT_3 had too much bass)

[VIBE settings]
Gain at Max
Running front at FULL and rear at HPF

Note: Since I had already installed tweeters, this is not a stock base audio.

[Incomplet]

Thanks for sharing your installation guides/tips!

Am I able to install the amp if I already have an MMI box? Could daisy-chaining be possible?

Thanks!