Hi all,

I'm looking at upgrading my bone standard E60 530i's stereo system. It's the base stereo... not even the Hifi option, and no external amp.

Here's what I'm looking at:

• Focal K2 KRS100 4" Component Speakers to replace OEM units in front doors, and on rear parcel shelf.
• Earthquake SWS-8 8" woofers under front seats
• JL Audio JL G6600 - 6 Channel Amplifier to drive all 6 speakers.

Amp specs are as follows:

# Rated Power 14.4 V Stereo: 75 W RMS x 6 @ 4 ohm 100 W RMS x 6 @ 2 ohm
# Rated Power 14.4 V Bridged: 150 W RMS x 3 @ 8 ohm 200 W RMS x 3 @ 4 ohm
# Rated Power 12.5 V Stereo: 55 W RMS x 6 @ 4 ohm 75 W RMS x 6 @ 2 ohm
# Rated Power 12.5 V Bridged: 110 W RMS x 3 @ 8 ohm 150 W RMS x 3 @ 4 ohm
# THD at Rated Power: <1% THD, 20 Hz - 20 kHz

I'm sure this system would be a significant improvement over the base system

What do you guys think?

 

you know, when i bought the sws 8", it made a difference, but when i bought the 2 alpine type-x in the boot, it made a hugeee difference, so much that if i turn the sws8" off, you wont even notice. so i felt that i wasted money buying the under seat woofers. if you want serious sound, i suggest to get a woofer in the boot.

 

it depends if you are easily able to let the boot air into the car. If you have a sealed boot then the Earthquakes are a better bet. Are you sure that the amp is able to deal with driving all those speakers. The earthquakes on their own require quite a bit of power to drive.

Edit : Just looked, as suspected that amp is underpowered. Each Earthquake is 150W and driving a sub with a weak amp is not a good idea.

 

Yeah, I have got 2 12" JL subs in my boot and the bass is great, esp with the remote bass controller in the cabin!

The sub box i had made is not too large and leaves enough space in the trunk for luggage etc. I put my two amps in the spare wheel well so its all hidden....

 

i got two type X with pdx1000 amp.

It is awsome product and it really changed the sound...

 

Are you sure you even have subs under your seat? Or at least a compartment for a sub? I thought only HiFi and Logic 7 had these.

As for the earthquakes, I have already gone through two sets. I had a professional shop install them and run a compatible amp to drive the subs....verdict: They are terrible quality and Earthquake should stop making subs.

I have since put in a 12 inch W3 facing toward my ski hole...I leave the arm rest down and it sounds great. The shop also installed a custom mesh grill to replace the old ski hole insert which looks good.

 

oh yeah, you could even consider a sound processor,
something like an Alpine PXE-H650 or a JL Audio CL441dsp CleanSweep.
ive experienced it on my old car and it made a big difference.

 

I think BMW have the worst sound, if you want to keep the stock look upgrade your 4" and 1" tweeter to better high end drivers the focals should be fine. You could go with the 8" Peerless under your seat probably the best midbass ever. You can integrate all of it with the H650 from Alpipne and instead of the overpriced JL audio 6 channel, buy a Leviathon from Steve Mantz, he is the Guru of amplifiers has built the best of the best, he has now started his own line, this is also a 6 channel by 1110 i believe.

Thats a better suited system keeping your stock locations, the H650 will time allign everything and bring your stage to the front where its supposed to be.

Now, if you really want to make some sound, i would build a small box on a 12" firing through the ski pass get rid of the midbass under the seat and build some kick pannels to house a midrange and a tweeter for better axis, you will lack midbass unless you go with some 5 1/4 or 6.5 on the doors but that will require fabbing.

i mean you can really do all kinds of stuff, it all boils down to budget and what you want to get out of sound.

i have kick panels that house a 4" and 1" tweeter i have 7" midbass on my doors and 1" tweeters on my windshield, i also have a 12" sub firing through the skipass i have an RF 3sixty as a processor and 3 amps lol

good luck with the install

 

how did you get 6.5" on the door dude?! got pics?

 

OK, so if I get a 12" sub-woofer in a custom box pointed towards the ski hole, does that mean I need one high powered Amp for the sub, plus another 4-channel Amp to power the 4 x Focal K2 KRS100 components?

SO, two amps to drive the 5 speakers?

I tnink I'd be happy with the just one 12" sub-woofer. I want good bass, but I think two 12" is overkill for me. Just personal preference.

Have any of you guys tried the MB Quart PVi 210 4" component speakers? These will fit the factory location?