Someone has previously talked about replacing the stock speakers with a specific alpine replacement.

I can find a kit for the old 5 series but not for the new one, anyone know if there is one for the e60 ?

Or maybe some other alternative ?

Also, it has been mentioned about putting an amp and sub in the boot, but i have no understanding of how i would do this, or even where i can go. Anyone got any ideas for possible shops who can do this kind of work near London, England ?

Thanks

 

smokin, I have looked into doing this and have spoken with a few good ICE specialists in the Surrey/Hampshire area of the UK.

Basically it seems if you take your E60 to any ICE shop they will run for cover and hide under their desks. the E60 is NOT one of their favourite cars to work on for a few reasons:

1. BMW get the stock E60 speakers from Nokia, and they are slimline speakers fitted in slimline locations. This means there is limited choice on upgrade sizes unless you want to customize the door panel !

2. the E60 has fibre optic network inside meaning they have to be VERY careful when working on your car

3. the output from the audio setup requires converters to connect to most standard amps.

I got a few quotes and for a half decent system using good quality speaker upgrades and amp, your looking at about ?900 inc all parts and labour. could probably be done cheaper than this using japanese components, depends what kind of sound you like. I preferred the sound of the not-so famous mass market brands.

my example spec for that price was:

- front speakers, DLS 4" slimline component series
- rear speakers, DLS 5.25" coaxial series
- 2 x speaker to RCA converters
- cabling
- Genesis Profile 4 amp

subs etc could be added if you wished.

 

NM thanks - a really useful reply .
What a pity I didn't think harder about this before ordering the car!
Also I'm bitterly disppointed that the std sound is inferior to my partners little 206 ... pretty poor isn't it .

 

the standard audio is at best OK but if you went for a system like the example I gave i think the overall sound would be 100% better. ?900 is a lot of money but for the overall improvement it is worth it, you could spend a LOT more if you got carried away

all of the dealers I spoke to said upgrading the speakers alone (inc cost of fitting) was a false economy without at least adding an amp, kind of makes sense but I guess you could always do it in two stages and see if you were happy with just the speaker upgrade before committing to adding the amp.

 

Can some one describe very well the standard sound system outside USA?

The one in USA really sound nice but I hear so many complains from people (mostly) outside usa.

Waiting for reply

 

The standard sound system in Europe is smaller than the US. Just 6 speakers.
I belkieve the US comes with 10 speakers and better sound quality.

 

Yep, in Europe we have the standard, the Hi-Fi and the L7, US starts with Hi-Fi as standard, AFAIK!

 

Yesterday, I had a chance to listen to Mark Levinson sound system in Lexus ES 330, and I could not believe it. Guess what? Too much market hype about the Mark Levinson. The bass is so flubby, and the treble is not precise compared to the Hi-Fi 10 speaker system in BMW. After getting back to my car, the sound is better. Not way better, but I think I feel a little better about my current sound system. The bass and treble in Hi-Fi system is very solid and clear which means that the distortion is not much compared to Lexus ES330 Mark Levinson system. I guess the L7 would be best, IMO. I agree that Mark Levinson, Bose, Harman Kandon are under the same company, but, what the heck, they are not created equal.

 

I learned about BMW sound the hard way. Took the cheap route with my '01 Z3 and had to spend the next two years trying to make the stereo sound right.

It never did.

Premium sound is a "must have" option.

 

You can greatly improve your sound by putting some quality components up front and a decent sub in the back. Some decent amps to power everything and you should be fine. The rear fill doesn't make that much of a difference, so keeping the stock speakers should be okay.

Your choice of speakers up front will make the biggest difference in your sound, so spend the bulk of your money there. There are great buys on the internet and on ebay. Once you have everything, just bring it into a shop to have them install it.

Logic 7 goes for $1800 and sounds okay, but I wish I spent my money elsewhere. L7 may be good for a stock system, but they still use paper speakers and you really can't expect much from them. I'm looking to upgrade in the future, but don't feel like paying a shop to install everything.