Mike986

Hi Technic / anyone else who has done this upgrade,

I have a 2004 E60 545i which has the small amp in the boot, underseat standard subs (from reading I know they're not technically a sub), mid ranges in front doors and tweeters up near the mirrors. The build spec says S676A hi-fi speaker system but coming from a Volvo S60 with dolby pro logic surround sound, I'm pleased to read there is a bit of hope to improve the BMW sound when not listening to the V8 soundtrack.
Considering fitting front centre co-axial, is it the DLS 224 that I would need if I purchased the cable from Technic, as somewhere else in this thread there is mention of it being a DLS 424.
Thanks

bimmerrg

I am not sure those DLS center speakers are available any more, I used BMW individual co-axial center speaker and it rocks. Make sure your dash has grill to put in the speaker!

Note that I also have BSW stage 1 speakers which I think made it more pleasure to listern, not sure how factory ones sound with JBL MS-8.

I didn't mess with subs under seat, they sound much better with MS8.

Mike986

Thanks bimmerrg. The DLS it seems is discontinued but I'm talking to Elias to confirm a different option. I will also check the BMW individual co-ax one. I'm pleased to hear you think the standard subs under seat sound better.

Mike986

An update that I now have the MS8 and a Vibe Slick4, 4" 2-way co-ax to fit under the centre front grille.
PNP Cables arrived from Technic. The supporting comments via personal mail have been excellent so I'm about ready to strip the dashboard & have a go at fitting the equipment next week.
Hopefully the standard front side and rear parcel shelf speakers will sound ok.

My only concern being how easy it will be to get the wiring through/past the back seats, as mine are not the split/fold option. Amazing that the person who spec'd the car went for active steering, active headlights, sunroof etc etc then didnt think how it may have been a bit more practical.

balbs

Taking the back seat out is fairly easy. Check out Rootkit's post here (#618).
https://5series.net/forums/e60-parts...2/#post1343394

Mike986

Thank you for that link - very helpful indeed.

Mike986

All now fitted and working well. It did feel like an epic task & having fitted the wiring all down the passenger left hand side of the car (when pointed forwards) it was a tight fit under the side trim, after unbolting the passenger seat to route cabling under there.
I may have left too much slack in the centre cable in the dash, as it reached to the back door pillar near the boot entry but clearly wasn't going to be enough to reach the MS8. So added a bit more cable to it. Other than that & needing to check with Elias about which cables were the negative cables for the subs (checking the cable further into the nicely trunked bit shows the join up so proving which negative was left/right etc) it was ok. I struggled to get some trim off my car. Perhaps I should've used more force but I was worried about breaking old plastic. The cables just about went under with a bit of persuasion.
One downside was finding water under the back seat ....sunroof drain plugs might be my next piece of work this week !

balbs

Quick question...Is the power LED always on? Every time I open the trunk, the blue power LED is on. Does it turn off when the car alarm is armed and the car is "asleep"?

Mike986

I think I managed to test this when fitting mine and the ignition was off & I'm sure the blue LED went off after a while.
No issues with mine in terms of any battery drain, so I'm confident it does turn fully off when vehicle enters sleep mode on being locked.

The sound when running the radio isn't great, but perhaps I need a digital radio rather than analogue. I left the display connected in mine & ran that wire with the others from front to back, placing the display in the small cubby hole under the light switch. That way you can view & adjust easily. I do find I need to fade to rear a bit sometimes.
The bluetooth echo on the callers side only isn't fixed by the JBL firmware update, which makes the mute button cancel all logic/time delay apparently. All clear in the car though so I guess I just have to live with this problem.

balbs

Thank you! I'm trying to chase a possible power drain that I'm noticing and was just wondering if the MS-8 have something to do with it or if my constant short trips isn't charging the battery well enough. I guess one thing I can also try is to plug the display in and make it visible from one of the windows and see if it turns off and on with the alarm.