An X5 gets an audio makeover

[emrliquidlife]

Hello gents. My last thread was about buying a 2017 CPO X5. Car has some squeaks and rattles, but I'll get that fixed.

The stock hifi blows. So I've sourced a bimmertech amp for the 676 system. This amp comes with a helix DSP. So it is very adjustable via a laptop.

Tonight I bought a gently used Bavsound upgrade. It's the front sound stage and rear door speakers. A few days ago I got a set of Bavsound coaxial speakers for the rear high mounted speakers.

I already have the earthquake shallow fit speakers so once my Bavsound kit comes in, I should be able to do a full upgrade.

However I'm fighting a clock. I'm due for surgery in the middle of Nov and I expect to be down hard for 3 months. So I'm in a rush.

Deficiencies in the stock system are a muddy mid range, a wonky handoff to the stock tweeters. There is zero soundstage/presence. The stock subs are not worth mentioning. There is awful breakup and distortion at louder volumes. The 676 is a mess

I already had the focal plug and play and K2 as options. But since this is the wife's car, I'm keeping the goods for myself. I promised her a better sound than the HK system. I didn't promise Crown Jewels.

So tomorrow is amp day. That's phase 1, phase 2 is woofers, phase 3 is door speakers. a tune is phase 4. Down the road, a dedicated sub and sub amp will round this out. Last car audio I did was in 2002. Welcome to my return to car audio.

[emrliquidlife]

Gratuitous product porn

I thought about going with a all Boston Acoustics setup, but I just don't have the time. Boston speakers have the 4 mounting holes. Our BMWs use a goofy three hole mounting system. You can get around this, but you would need adapters.

The GRS coaxial might see some use. But that will be down the road when I'm tinkering.

When I recover I'll be getting a CPO 3 series. The vocals are for moi.

[///d]

yeah I was not impressed with the HK in my X5. Absolutely no low response unless sitting in the driveway with no road noise, and overall clarity is sub-par.

I added a JL 10w3 powered by a JL 500.1 and LC2i. Its better, but since you have to run off the factory amp outputs it has a very narrow freq response. Havent gotten around to looking at upgrading the rest yet.

[scotty339]

I enjoy the S688 H&K in my X5, but there is always room for improvment.

Enjoying the pictures as you go. Hopefully you can get it done before you go under the knife. Best wishes.

[emrliquidlife]

I completed Boca Vista stage 1. The Bimmertech amp is installed and operating. I'm not going to get into the details of the install. Too many better threads show you how.
But, prior to buttoning up the new amp, set your gain. Once the bimmertech is installed you can't get to the gain screw.
Helpful tools were 1/4 extensions for the 8 and 10 mm bolts and nut. I found that I didn't need to remove the drivers side cargo area carpet panel. There is a generous amount of flex. Just remove the torx screw and plastic inserts by the rear seat backs and at the top of the panel. Really, this install is easy. Ratings

Busted/bleeding knuckles - 0
Contortion factor - 2
Complexity - 1
Extra parts count - 1

It's really plug and play.

[emrliquidlife]

Boca Vista Phase 2 complete.

Earthquake SWS thin mount subs are in.

Difference from the stock hifi subs is night and day. It's a BIG step up in lower end musicality. But realize this is really a woofer. If you use words like, "thumps, banging, bomb, hitten," this upgrade is of no interest to you. If you listen to songs that start with yo or the artist mentions himself in his song, just skip this upgrade. Save yourself the money on expensive shallow mount woofers and go directly to the subwoofer route. If you are considering audio products from taramps or skar, you need multiple large subwoofers.

My earthquake SWS are certainly louder. But I'm yet to receive a tune file from Bimmertech. So at this time it sounds miserable.

Tips. The carpet is once again very forgiving. Peel it back as much as you dare. The stock woofer/waffle cover that bolts in with the basket was going to make contact if I mounted it as stock. So I bolted in the basket, then set the waffle cover on top of the 4 bolt heads. I put up two pictures that show what I'm talking about. Notice the difference in clearance from the foam surround to the waffle cover. This gave me the needed clearance so my sws foam surround wouldn't make contact with the waffle cover. The red stripes wires on both sides are your positive leads.

Busted/bleeding knuckles - 0
Contortion factor - 3
Complexity - 3 (freaking plastic torx bolt covers and waffle covers.
Extra parts count - 0

[emrliquidlife]

I had to wait for my Bavsound drivers to come in. I bought a kit used. The kit has 5 4" drivers and two tweeters. Based on that I decided to swap the rear door drivers for a coaxial from Bavsound. If you look in the Mini section they have them. There are some audio enthusiasts that leave the rear as mud fill I call it. Just playing mids doesn't make for a good experience for rear seat passengers. Your up front thinking how nice everything sounds, folks in the back are scratching their heads. I can always tune the highs out if it becomes a distraction.

The Bavsound coaxial were bought used, but have never been mounted. And they came with the Bavsound sound deadening. Daddy like the woven cone. But for $274 retail from Bavsound, why in the world is the basket plastic? The surround seems to allow for a generous amount of movement.

So tomorrow is my big day to do the front sound stage. The coaxial speakers can wait until Spring/Summer. I did get files from Bimmertech. I have a audiotec fisher BMW SUV profile and a profile for Alpha one speakers. Laptop is loaded with software.

Lots to do before my surgery date.

[Revie19]

Following, best of luck with the install and surgery!!

[///d]

I forget, can the Earthquake subs run off the factory amp? Might look into those if they do indeed make that big of a difference.

[emrliquidlife]

Originally Posted by 2one8

I forget, can the Earthquake subs run off the factory amp? Might look into those if they do indeed make that big of a difference.

Earthquake output is impressive for a thicker conn8