My plans for upgrading the standard UK stereo
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From: Wigan(ish), England
Sorry, posted this in wrong thread a minute ago but......
Bad news I'm afraid. There is no signal coming from these pins on the standard EU radio. Must need programming to enable them. Looks like I'm gonna need a cleansweep or Alpine PXE type solution. Gutted.
Bad news I'm afraid. There is no signal coming from these pins on the standard EU radio. Must need programming to enable them. Looks like I'm gonna need a cleansweep or Alpine PXE type solution. Gutted.
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From: London, UK
My Ride: BMW E60 520d SE Saloon M47 2.0dTitanium Grey II, Grey−Dakota Leather, Visibility Package, Media Package, Through Load System, Lumbar support − fr seats, Automatic Air Conditioning−Advanced, High beam assistant, Hi−Fi Loudspeak
Model Year: 2006
Originally Posted by BigAardvaark' post='550435' date='Mar 25 2008, 02:45 PM
Sorry, posted this in wrong thread a minute ago but......
Bad news I'm afraid. There is no signal coming from these pins on the standard EU radio. Must need programming to enable them. Looks like I'm gonna need a cleansweep or Alpine PXE type solution. Gutted.
Bad news I'm afraid. There is no signal coming from these pins on the standard EU radio. Must need programming to enable them. Looks like I'm gonna need a cleansweep or Alpine PXE type solution. Gutted.
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 69
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From: Wigan(ish), England
Using a pin block I "found" at work and some deft soldering, the installers made up a harness to the pins with RCA cables attached. They hooked up an amp and got nothing, completely dead left and right, not even a low pass signal. I don't have a CCC if that makes a difference? I have M-ASK....
All I can think of is that there is some setting, somewhere that tells the hardware to output on those pins.
Oh, they did make a grand job of fitting the MB Quarts into the doors. I now have some treble!!! Although I now also have airbag malfuntion warnings.... Searching for help now!
All I can think of is that there is some setting, somewhere that tells the hardware to output on those pins.
Oh, they did make a grand job of fitting the MB Quarts into the doors. I now have some treble!!! Although I now also have airbag malfuntion warnings.... Searching for help now!
Contributors
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,719
Likes: 3
From: London, UK
My Ride: BMW E60 520d SE Saloon M47 2.0dTitanium Grey II, Grey−Dakota Leather, Visibility Package, Media Package, Through Load System, Lumbar support − fr seats, Automatic Air Conditioning−Advanced, High beam assistant, Hi−Fi Loudspeak
Model Year: 2006
Only a dealer can get rid of the airbag warnings or if you have one of those OBC reset tools. Your installer should have disconnected the battery negative before starting the work.
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I think he knows this too but they've got a disclaimer on the back of their booking paperwork to that effect. Those reset tools are like ?120 so I'll try and sweet talk the dealer first.... Anyone have any innocent sounding excuses or should I try the "just came on" routine?
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From: Wigan(ish), England
So, the thread goes full circle, Satan was right. So was Russ 
But he's in perfect E60 heaven for now, 535d, individual audio......
Well, I gotta do something about this sound quality issue. So, I'll keep you guys in the loop if you're interested? Nothing here for our US cousins unfortunately.... Stop reading here......
Story so far, about 300 foot of cabling has been added to my car but nothing yet connected due to lack of line level outputs on M-ASK.
The big advice from this to potential new buyers who in the remotest possible way like music is - FOR FUCKS SAKE, GET THE HIFI SPEAKER OPTION. If you're like me and this is your first BMW (I come from 5 Audi's) and you think "I've just spent the best part of ?30000 on this car, how bad can the stereo be?" THINK AGAIN, or rather think 4 paper speakers with ZERO tweeters and a tranny radio amp behind the whole thing with no line level outputs and you'll be in the "ball park". It really is that bad.
A better picture for you - You've got a "Goodmans" radio. You wish you had Sony or a Pioneer or a Philips or a Denon or an Onkyo or a Kenwood or a......... Sorry, you can't and you can't swap it for one either, you didn't pay enough money, na na na nah. That'll teach you. Pay more next time.
No, I won't, there won't be a next time. I'll buy Jap. Or another VW/Audi.
New plan is to add an Alpine PXE-H650 audio processor to the mix. Do a couple of searches if you're interested but it sounds bloody rather marvellous to me..... Too much month at the end of the money at the mo though.... Watch this space....
But he's in perfect E60 heaven for now, 535d, individual audio......
Well, I gotta do something about this sound quality issue. So, I'll keep you guys in the loop if you're interested? Nothing here for our US cousins unfortunately.... Stop reading here......
Story so far, about 300 foot of cabling has been added to my car but nothing yet connected due to lack of line level outputs on M-ASK.
The big advice from this to potential new buyers who in the remotest possible way like music is - FOR FUCKS SAKE, GET THE HIFI SPEAKER OPTION. If you're like me and this is your first BMW (I come from 5 Audi's) and you think "I've just spent the best part of ?30000 on this car, how bad can the stereo be?" THINK AGAIN, or rather think 4 paper speakers with ZERO tweeters and a tranny radio amp behind the whole thing with no line level outputs and you'll be in the "ball park". It really is that bad.
A better picture for you - You've got a "Goodmans" radio. You wish you had Sony or a Pioneer or a Philips or a Denon or an Onkyo or a Kenwood or a......... Sorry, you can't and you can't swap it for one either, you didn't pay enough money, na na na nah. That'll teach you. Pay more next time.
No, I won't, there won't be a next time. I'll buy Jap. Or another VW/Audi.
New plan is to add an Alpine PXE-H650 audio processor to the mix. Do a couple of searches if you're interested but it sounds bloody rather marvellous to me..... Too much month at the end of the money at the mo though.... Watch this space....
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Originally Posted by Satan1974' post='264377' date='Apr 4 2006, 10:48 AM
Hi all,
I am planning to upgrade the standard UK stereo in my E60 and as I know this is something many other people have asked about doing on the forum, I thought it would be good to share my experiences as I move through the planning, purchasing and installation phases.
As you may or may not know, the standard UK stereo is not as good as the standard US stereo. In the UK, we have three versions of the stereo. Standard - 6 speakers, HiFi - 10 Speakers, Logic7 - 13 Speakers. In the US, your "standard" stereo is our "HiFi" option.
Needless to say, the Standard stereo is.... sub-standard. You have two 4" woofers in the front doors (with no tweeters). There are two 8" speakers under the seats - but these are wired in parallel with the door speakers so have no additional amplification or crossover/frequency filtering. Finally you have two 4" woofers in the parcel shelf - again with no tweeters. Unlike the Hifi and Logic 7 configurations, there are NO amplifiers in the boot of the car, so you can't simply put a new amplifier there.
This is my plan so far, but it's still up for negotiation!
1) Replace the rear speakers with a set of Focal component speakers with crossover and separate tweeter.
2) Use a 2-channel amplifier with speaker-level-inputs to intercept the standard stereo signal and amplify it before feeding these new parcel shelf speakers.
3) Replace the front door speakers with a set of shallow-mount Focal component speakers, again with crossover and separate tweeter.
4) Replace the underfloor speakers with 8" shallow mount Earthquake SWS-8 subwoofers. At present, I have been unsuccessful in finding a UK supplier of these speakers, so I'm weighing up whether it will be best to purchase from Germany or US. There seem to be no other 8" shallow mount subs on the market that will fit the enclosure.
5) Fit a 4-channel amplifier behind the glovebox. Intercept the existing inputs to the door speakers and underfloor speakers. Insert a filter or crossover to feed low ranges to two amplifier inputs, the outputs will feed the underfloor SWS subs. Insert filter or crossover to feed mid-hi ranges to the other two amplifier inputs, the outputs will feed the crossovers which will feed the speakers in the front doors.
Question 1 ... so - what do people think? Is my plan flawed? Is the use of two separate amplifiers (to save having to run power or speaker cables from the front to the back) ok?
Question 2 : does anybody have an easy way to get to the back of the factory fit stereo, so I can get at all of the speaker wires and fit a 6-channel amplifier in the dashboard somewhere? I know that BMW can fit an auxilliary input which attaches to the back of the stereo, which takes an hour or so, so it can't be _THAT_ hard to get to the back?
So.... everybody feel free to comment and assist in my quest - and the forum shall be rewarded with full step by step instructions (with photos) on how to perform a complete amp/speaker upgrade.
I am planning to upgrade the standard UK stereo in my E60 and as I know this is something many other people have asked about doing on the forum, I thought it would be good to share my experiences as I move through the planning, purchasing and installation phases.
As you may or may not know, the standard UK stereo is not as good as the standard US stereo. In the UK, we have three versions of the stereo. Standard - 6 speakers, HiFi - 10 Speakers, Logic7 - 13 Speakers. In the US, your "standard" stereo is our "HiFi" option.
Needless to say, the Standard stereo is.... sub-standard. You have two 4" woofers in the front doors (with no tweeters). There are two 8" speakers under the seats - but these are wired in parallel with the door speakers so have no additional amplification or crossover/frequency filtering. Finally you have two 4" woofers in the parcel shelf - again with no tweeters. Unlike the Hifi and Logic 7 configurations, there are NO amplifiers in the boot of the car, so you can't simply put a new amplifier there.
This is my plan so far, but it's still up for negotiation!
1) Replace the rear speakers with a set of Focal component speakers with crossover and separate tweeter.
2) Use a 2-channel amplifier with speaker-level-inputs to intercept the standard stereo signal and amplify it before feeding these new parcel shelf speakers.
3) Replace the front door speakers with a set of shallow-mount Focal component speakers, again with crossover and separate tweeter.
4) Replace the underfloor speakers with 8" shallow mount Earthquake SWS-8 subwoofers. At present, I have been unsuccessful in finding a UK supplier of these speakers, so I'm weighing up whether it will be best to purchase from Germany or US. There seem to be no other 8" shallow mount subs on the market that will fit the enclosure.
5) Fit a 4-channel amplifier behind the glovebox. Intercept the existing inputs to the door speakers and underfloor speakers. Insert a filter or crossover to feed low ranges to two amplifier inputs, the outputs will feed the underfloor SWS subs. Insert filter or crossover to feed mid-hi ranges to the other two amplifier inputs, the outputs will feed the crossovers which will feed the speakers in the front doors.
Question 1 ... so - what do people think? Is my plan flawed? Is the use of two separate amplifiers (to save having to run power or speaker cables from the front to the back) ok?
Question 2 : does anybody have an easy way to get to the back of the factory fit stereo, so I can get at all of the speaker wires and fit a 6-channel amplifier in the dashboard somewhere? I know that BMW can fit an auxilliary input which attaches to the back of the stereo, which takes an hour or so, so it can't be _THAT_ hard to get to the back?
So.... everybody feel free to comment and assist in my quest - and the forum shall be rewarded with full step by step instructions (with photos) on how to perform a complete amp/speaker upgrade.
Just got my 2008 e60 520D, was a dealer pre-reg so had no option to order the better sound system. Like you and others, I really cant live with the lack of treble so am looking at options.
Did you get the shallow focal speakers OK into the front doors in the end? what did they sounds like?
Also, there are tweeter grilles in the doors, but I guess nothing in them. Is it possible to mount the tweeters from a component set in there, or just easier to use 4 inch multi way speakers in the doors.
Cheers
Richard
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From: Kent, England
My Ride: 520D M Sport Manual, Media Package, Dakota Grey leather, USB, Folding mirrors, Carbon Black.
Out of curiousity, what year E60 are you chaps tinkering with? Do you have Media Package? If so, how does the ideas put forward impact E60 with media pack?
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Originally Posted by BigAardvaark' post='550641' date='Mar 25 2008, 11:42 PM
Using a pin block I "found" at work and some deft soldering, the installers made up a harness to the pins with RCA cables attached. They hooked up an amp and got nothing, completely dead left and right, not even a low pass signal. I don't have a CCC if that makes a difference? I have M-ASK....
All I can think of is that there is some setting, somewhere that tells the hardware to output on those pins.
Oh, they did make a grand job of fitting the MB Quarts into the doors. I now have some treble!!! Although I now also have airbag malfuntion warnings.... Searching for help now!
All I can think of is that there is some setting, somewhere that tells the hardware to output on those pins.
Oh, they did make a grand job of fitting the MB Quarts into the doors. I now have some treble!!! Although I now also have airbag malfuntion warnings.... Searching for help now!
Hello,
I can sucessfully modify the M-ASK to have RCA (line level) sound out...for all 4 channels. To do this means you'll need an external 4 channel amp to drive your speakers.
I've done this to mine as I've seriously upgraded my sound system and needed Preout.
I am looking into doing this for the Professional Sat Nav CCC as well...but that's a work in progress as they are hell to take apart.
Hope the troubles you've had todate haven't forced you to change car or do something drastic!