Anthro

This is a well-trod path, but I thought I'd share my very cheapskate approach to improving the audio in an E60. I have the "hifi" audio setup which I understand is the standard in North America but an option elsewhere (like where I am).

The original system is specified as follows:

- 10 speakers - 2 x subwoofer, 4 x midrange, 4 x tweeters
- the four midrange/tweeter combos are poweered by the M-ASK system that has 4 x 25W output (guessing peak, not RMS; it's not that powerful)
- the midrange speakers are in the doors (front) and parcel shelf (rear). They "have a load rating of 25W" and their effective frequency range is 100Hz to 15000Hz.
- the tweeters are in the door mirror triangles (front) and parcel shelf (rear). They are "designed with a load rating of 25W"
- the amplifier in the boot (trunk) powers the underseat subs has an output power of 2 x 40W. I am again going to guess that is peak not RMS but please correct me if I am wrong)
- the subwoofers have a "load bearing capacity of 40W" and "the transmitted frequency is between 30Hz and 500Hz." They are pretty decent and I get 20Hz sound out of them okay.

I replaced the rear parcel shelf speakers as the first thing I did, only because I was collecting all the parts and these were super quick to replace, like some clips and 10 x T20 screws. I replaced them with B&W speakers that are (according to the vendor, I dunno) what you get if you order the B&W option in a later model. I can say the quality of them is very good. I am told they are rated to 40W. In theory they are the same speakers that BMW claims are driven by a 1400W amp (1400W across lots of speakers of course).

Here they are. For comparison there are some shots of the originals too, which have a paper cone. There is nothing bad about a paper cone btw, but now I've had them in a while I am confident that the replacements are better all around than the originals.



While you are at it, replace the foam behind the speaker mesh.



Next, amp upgrade for the sub woofers. Lots of people have done this. Now that I have done it too, I can say that even having read it before, I am blown away by the difference an amp upgrade makes here. I didn't replace the subwoofers because the replacements are too expensive. Now that I've hooked up the amp I am glad I didn't spend any money on the speakers.

To make a loom, I used some "bootlace" terminal pins, which are very inexpensive and fit very (very) snugly in the socket that goes to the original amplifier. They are snug enough that there is no way they are going to work loose. They are designed for crimping but if you crimped them they might not fit any more, so instead I filled them with the wire I used and then some solder. If you get any solder at all on the outside, they don't fit into the socket any more.



The amp is a Toro MRX2. It claims 2 x 150W RMS. It is Class D so it is compact and efficient. I have never tried (a) this brand or (b) class D before, because it's years since I played around with this stuff. The amp is like $70 USD delivered. Maybe it falls short of the claimed output but either way it is more than powerful enough to drive the stock subwoofers. Putting all the numbers aside, holy sh1t this sounds better than stock.

I have yet to physically mount the amp but here it is sitting in the boot. It is a nice looking unit, the quality is good (you can find internal photos of these online) and it is heavy like it should be. I bought it kind of experimentally but I am very impressed with it, especially for the price.




Next I will be putting in the front speakers and the four-channel (4 x 80W RMS) that I bought to beef up the head unit. Based on the improvement from the sub woofer amp I am expecting BIG improvements.

dimalga

Enjoyed your post. For some reason I was under the impression you should avoid putting an aftermarket amp on the stock subs, though I hadn't really done much reading on it. This has inspired me to grab the same gear - what diameter bootlace did you use? I would much like to avoid any cutting, stripping, soldering, etc. of the original gear.

Paul

Anthro

Good stuff! I can confirm I am still happy with how this is sounding, and I still haven't found time to add the amp for the four door/parcel shelf speakers.

The bootlace terminals were size E2512. I think they could be slightly shorter but the outside diameter is perfect, so perfect you can't even spill a little solder on the outside without making them too tight.

Edit: the full description of the bootlaces I bought, in case it helps: E2512 14AWG 2.5mm² BLACK Insulated Ferrule Bootlace Terminals Crimp

dimalga

Thanks. I bought a whole bootlace kit considering it was only twenty bucks. I'm sure I'll find the right diameters.

I bought a 110W RMS amp. The more I thought about other posts explaining why you shouldn't bother with doing the under-seats, the more I realized it was opinions of bassheads. I'm not one of those guys, I just want a bit more bass in the car, so this does seem like an alright choice - guess we'll see soon enough.

I'm guessing that you can push a bit above the factory rating of 20W per woofer without risking blowing anything? Further - it would appear that you used the factory +12V and GND. I was thinking that's by far the easiest route, but I would probably swap the fuse up front to match the higher amp draw. I'll have to measure the line gauge, assume it's braided copper and look at a spec sheet to see if it's safe to do, say, 60W or 70W through it.

dimalga

Before you continue with speaker upgrades I suggest using NCSExpert to play with the five or so audio presets options you're capable of choosing on the MASK. If you have the North American HiFi system it defaults to what sounds to me like a virtual 7.1 preset. My first opinion when I bought the car was that treble was way too bright - harsh, even. I swapped the stock tweeters to the silk dome JL C3-100ts and it calmed it down a little bit. Beware - remove any unnecessary length of speaker line if you do swap, as they will absolutely pick up fuzz from RF signals.

Anthro

That's very interesting. I agree with your comment on the treble; it's clear but it dominates a bit. Can you tell me any more about the preset options?

mspswede

Help a brother out? Replacing my E60's (HiFi 676) 4" rear deck speakers with JBL Stage 3s. I've triple-checked +/- and connected them but no sound. The old (stock) speakers were working just before I removed them, but now they won't work either.

Just to re-cap my steps: removed each 4" OEM speaker, clipped off the blue connectors, crimped on female removable (slide) connectors, connected to new JBL's --> no sound. Tried OEMs again, now they have no sound.

Any thoughts? Is there something I can re-set?
Thanks!

Anthro

Hi Dimalga, I made an attempt at this yesterday as I was doing a few other things with NCSExpert (I am still learning...). I don't have the MASK module because I have option 676/HiFi which I think is what you mean by North American HiFi. So I have the CAPPL module instead. I couldn't find any audio preset settings anywhere... can you point me to any info about this?

dimalga

Hi,
It has been quite a while since I messed with NCSExpert, so I can't exactly recall what I did. I found I had more issues finding the right software revisions and profiles that worked with my car than actually coding it. Anyway, I used the examples in section 6 along with some guides from section 3 in this link:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-of-NCS-Expert

to start modifying things. I was able to change things such as removing the welcome message from the iDrive, use angel eyes as DRLs, remove the seatbelt chime (lol) and give myself a digital speedometer (which was way less cool than I thought). In essence you'll use NCSExpert to read your current settings into a file, use NCSDummy to modify that file, and code that modified file back into your car. NCSDummy will help you eliminate all of the irrelevant variables from the very long list. Speaking of codes lists:

https://5series.net/forums/diy-do-yo...s-list-109022/

... and there a lot more if you google around that have some descriptions on what they do, but NCSDummy mostly has that covered.

This is definitely something that you have to spend some time reading and running the examples on. You'll definitely want to be sure of what you're doing.

connor19981

Hi mate. Did you manage to sort out this sound issue. Looking jnto rear speakers myself didnt know if you would advise the jbls