AlVal

I've found that amongst the mass of threads relating to the different e60 sound systems, there is much confusion, a lot of it which is down to misunderstandings of what a "standard" spec sound system is, since standard spec varies according to country. I'd like to suggest this post be one that I'll try and maintain and update with nothing but correct and accurate information. I need some help to keep this accurate and to gather part numbers. Any time someone posts a correction or further important info in this thread, ill update this first post, so the first post (this one) should hopefully include everything you could need to know!

Basic EU Spec - "Hi-Fi" (Basic US Spec) - Logic 7


Tweeters door mirrors No Yes Yes
Speakers in front doors Yes Yes Yes
Speakers in rear doors No Yes Yes
Speakers in Parcel Shelf Yes Yes Yes
Tweeters in Parcel Shelf no no Yes
Subwoofer underneath Seats Yes Yes Yes
Center Speaker in Dashboard No No Yes
Amp in trunk: no yes [url src=http://forums.e60.net/uploads/post-3-1107375803.jpg]http://forums.e60.net/uploads/post-3-1107375803.jpg]yes[/url]


Please help me update all the part numbers for the list above, and ideally a picture of the speaker, and i will make it so that you can click ony any of the "yes" and get a part number and a picture

Points that require clarification:

is the part behind the dash where the sound initially emerges from (call it the pre-amp or what you like) the same in all systems?

are there software coding differences between the systems? (presumably so, since the L7 has advanced eq control from idrive)


can anyone give a reasonably simple/non-technical explanation of the wire routing differences in the 3 systems? this is my understanding at the moment,
it would be great if anyone could improve this or correct any mistake


Basic system: amplified sound comes out of unit behind dash and wires run directly to all speakers. is this right? or do the
speaker wires go through the trunk and run past where the hi-fi system has an amp? trying to establish if, in this basic system,
the wiring is there to just plug in the hifi amp in the boot, or if the speaker wiring just runs direct from the dash to the speakers.
is there a fiber optic cable in place running to the trunk?

hi-fi system: amplified sound comes out of unit behind dash, goes to trunk where an 8 amplifier which accepts
the "speaker-level" (already amplified) outputs from the dash into it's inputs (or does it take fiber optic signal from dash??) , further amplifies the sound,
then sends it directly to the front door crossover (which seperates out high frequency sound and sends it to
the mirror tweeters and seperates out mid frequency and sends it to the main front door speakers)

logic 7 system: fiber optic output from dash goes to trunk where a 7 channel logic 7 amp amplifies the sound,
then sends the fully amplified sound to the 7 channels:

Channel 1: left front door crossover, which filters out very low freq, then directs low/mid freq to door speaker and high freq to mirror tweeter
Channel 2: right front door crossover which filters out very low freq, then directs low/mid freq to door speaker and high freq to mirror tweeter
Channel 3: left rear crossover, which splits the freqs out to three speakers (left rear door, left rear parcel shelf and left rear parcel tweeter)
Channel 4: right rear crossover, which splits the freqs out to three speakers (right rear door, right rear parcel shelf and right rear parcel tweeter)
Channel 5: driver seat crossover, which filters out high freq, and passes on the remaining low freq to underseat sub
Channel 6: passenger seat crossover, which filters out high freq, and passes on the remaining low freq to underseat sub
Channel 7: center speaker (all freqs. or crossover filtering first?)

Why are so many people advocating using speaker-level outputs as inputs to their new amps when upgrading their systems? to me this is absolutely crazy, and one of
the most obvious points in designing an upgraded system where you're losing quality. by doing this you're trying to cure the poor sound the standard amp emits, instead of
preventing the standard amp from touching the signal at all. prevention is better than cure.....

http://forums.e60.net/uploads/post-3-1107375803.jpg

madoon

i have to say that is a very nice guide...
defintely will be usefull to many people..
just wanted to point out that you made a small mistake...or perhaps its me who is mistaken...

the hifi system...
1 does not have speakers in the back doors...
2 has tweeters in the rear parcel shelf...

but a really nice post im sure many people will find it usefull...thanks,,

bruce_miranda

There was a pdf file on this site to show the wiring of the Basic, Hi-Fi and the Logic 7. I cant find it but I'm sure someone else will.

dlevi67

Thanks for this - at the very least it's a good guide to the perplexed.

Re your question above: I think it's the heritage of considering a car as an electrically noisy environment, and so sending around a relatively high voltage signal runs less risk of noise injection. No matter that shielding technology and electrical noise suppression is much better now than 20 years ago. Also - any source can pilot a speaker-level input. Line level (2V or less) inputs require line level outputs, and these aren't always available from all sources; in fact I think the "Business" (basic) BMW set up does not provide line level inputs or outputs. But in principle you are completely right

[rant mode]

Having said that - give me a second to put my flak jacket on - I don't understand why people spend thousands to get "better quality" sound in a car, which is a hellish environment in which to reproduce sound accurately. It's noisy, reflective (glass), small, has enormous constraints on where you can place speakers and their orientation and size, has huge changes in temperature and humidity requiring compromises on materials to ensure durability, and last but not least requires you to concentrate on other things, like driving Or is it just the sense of the challenge?

Lest I be accused of being a luddite - I am a dedicated music listener, ready to spend several thousands (having indeed spent them) to listen to music properly at home, and spending considerable money on buying software and going to concerts. But in the car?

[/rant mode]

BigAardvaark

Did anyone manage to find this PDF Bruce?

Cheers,

Ian.

andrei

nice job, thanx.

seoulman

How about the BMW Individual Sound System?