TLS

Hello everybody,
Congratulations on this great forum, I already found a lot of usefull info.
I'm a caraudio dealer(all German brands) in Belgium.
Since the E60 is quite a complex car regarding electronics, I was relieved to find such usefull info here.

I'm planning to do a sound upgrade on an E60, it has the basic european sound system.
setup as follow:
- 6 channel amp line-in via high-low converters.
- new 10cm component in front doors, powered with 65WRMS (CH1-2)
- OEM underseat subs, each powered with 65WRMS@4ohm(CH3-4)
- 12" sub in the trunk, bassreflex, powered with 210WRMS(CH5-6)

My main question is: Is it an option to keep the original subs under the seats?
I'm actually assuming that BMW doesn't have 3 types of different subs. To my experiance, BMW had quite good Nokia speakers in the older models(3-series etc.), but the HU-amp was crap.

my530i

You don't need to keep original sub under front seats. You can replace those with Earthquake SWS-8 which fits exactly to the existing sub housing and enclosure - even mouting hole position. Purely plug-and-play.
I agree HU and amp was crap and when you amplify signal from OEM HUD, you amplify noise, too.

TLS

I know I CAN replace them, but is it a must, since ther'e not so cheap, and involve quite a lot of work(removing seats etc)?
I think this customer doesn't want to go all the way, like spending 10K as I read on this forum.

rjcastr

Good luck in the job ahead working on this car is not easy, it will require a lot of patience but im sure it will sound sweet im doing a major job on mine myself and hoping that it will turn out okay, but involves custome pods for my components competition class, 3 amps an alpine processor and an alpine touchscreen monitor with bluetooth integration. Then comes the subs which i haven't even contemplated doing yet, im working on a removal false floor and wall right now.

It's a lot of work but it will look really nice.

If you have questions on building let me know i can provide you with some ideas.

my530i

Removing the sub is much easier than removing HD.

TLS

I fear with replacing the underseat subs with aftermarket subs, I won't have any drumkicks. The aftermarket subs have a fs that's way to low to play these.
Freq range of the sub has to extend to at least 150Hz, to rendez-vous with the 10cm component speaker respons at 120-150Hz.

subterFUSE

Are you saying the underseat subs are more like midbass drivers, then?

TLS

Indeed,
It's difficult to judge the OEM sub performance when they are powered by the HU(sounds muddy), I assume it will be mid-bass

But it's for sure it will be difficult to have frequency extension with aftermarket subs like SWS-8 up to 120-150Hz that are designed to produce really low-bass(see parameters).
100-200Hz(Kick frequencies) are extremely important in terms of entertainment level. The 100mm compo will have a tough job producing freq. below 150Hz.

There's also the question how the filtering y the HU is done; if the mid-bass freq are routed to the underseat subs(compo revieves high-pass), the compo won't even have the chance of trying to reproduce them.

pro2cer

I'm gonna disagree a bit on the lowend of the stock subs. I listen to a lot of low end- bass heavy music. I also own a recording studio and do mastering, so I have a bit of knowledge about this. I'm NOT sure what the freq response is but, It's low and pretty responsive without mud. I listen to music in the studio wth Mackie HR824's (120W on the 8's" amd 75W on the mid/highs'S) and they boast a good 37K easy. When I listen in the car, It's even more pronounced, more lowend than in the studio. So, IMO, it depends on the music you listen to. Alot of R&B is bass heavy, that's the nature of the music and I love listening to my masters in the car. I trust it to check clients masters with no problem.

I would keep the subs and maybe do the highs. GOOD Luck with your install.

Hamann5

Nice setup man..check this out