Deano

I have the US standard stereo system in my 545. It lacks good tight bass drive at higher volume levels. If possible, I would like to improve this without adding a large box in the trunk/boot.

I have read in this forum about Earthquake SWS-8's, an 8-inch (200mm) woofer that can be a direct replacement for the woofers beneath the front seats. Of course, more amplifcation would be required.

From this forum, I gather there is at least one person who likes this setup, and one person who thought that the Earthquake drivers were cheaply made and had trouble with blown speakers.

Questions:

1) How many of us are enjoying the earthquake SWS-8 speaker mod?

2) If I opt-ed for the Earthquake woofers, would I lose important mid-bass information, as I think I've read, the sub-seat woofers are driven in parallel the front door speakers? Would this degrade the tonal quality of the system.

3) Would adding a slightly more powerful six channel amplifier to drive the stock speakers be a low cost solution to improve quality of higher volume listening?

4) Would the sub-seat woofer swap along with a 12" earthquake subwoofer in a very shallow box that hangs from the package shelf give me better sound? I don't want to lose much trunk space.

5) How many of us have added a sub-woofer with a custom enclosure to the rear corner of the trunk?

TIA

Merdashti

Deano,

Is your current system the one with Logic 7? or is it the basic bmw radio system ??



M.

Deano

I've got the basic system that's sold in the US.

Merdashti

Ok so that means that you dont have the logic 7 system - why dont you try to see if you can retrofit the logic 7 on your car it would probably be cheaper and would retain the same original BMW wiring..

M.

Russ1974

Bad advice, retrofitting Logic 7 is VERY expensive if not impossible, aftermarket is the only way to upgrade the BMW system. Spend 10 minutes on the search function with things like "upgrading factory stereo" etc and you'll find literally dozens of threads on the subject - there is a new thread every week or so on the same topic. I don't usually like throwing people off to the search function to read previous threads but seriously, since I joined here 3 years ago, the topic of "upgrading stereo" HAS to be the single most repeated theme on here that I've seen

Deano

I have searched the forums. I am intrigued by the earthquake sub-woofers, and the scope of that mod. In fact there is an excellent thread going on right now concerning the intallation of the earthquake sub-woofers w/ amp.
However there's no sound data on that system yet.

From what I've read, there seems to be less than a handful that have done this mod. I know there are a lot of folks that seldom chime in about their mods. I'd like to hear from them about their experience with this particular mod, as it's close to my budget for such an upgrade.

Merdashti

Russ1974,

I have a friend that loved the way my Logic 7 sounded - he upgraded his standard BMW system to the logic 7 with no problems! You are right about it being way too expensive - but you retain your original wires and add value to your car. I myself I believe in always going with original BMW parts / retrofits but this is me

M.

my530i

Dear Merdashti,
It'll be extremely valuable to this board if you can get info from your friend how to get L7 retrofitted.
What are needed and what steps to advise dealer to do, etc.

I already have L7, but being with this board for 2years, I can see that members w/o L7 are hungry for this info

Black BMW530iA

I have the Logic 7 but I?m not that impressed. Yes, the bass is there but I miss the "punch" in the back Might be because I have allways rebuilt the stereo in my previous cars with double 10" or 12" speakers

Merdashti

Dear my530i,

Bmw dealerships are always not eager to do any special retrofittings and trust me when I say that! They go strictly by the book. Most dealers will give you some lame excuse such as this item did not come with your car or it cannot be fitted to your car.

Basically, initial research would be to find out if your car has the right wire harness and you can do so just by peaking in the back left hand side of the trunk - just behind the panel. Now I do not know about US spec cars and what is usually ordered.. but here in kuwait cars are usually ordered with 95% of the available options and the ability to upgrade.

My friend basically replaced the whole system - the amplifier with DSP, the speakers, mid ranges, the woofers under the seats. This is a costly upgrade and this is what you will be looking at;

1. Amplifier $1100.
2. Dashboard Midrange $75
3. Dashboard speakers $150 (pair)
4. Dashboard tweeters $140 (pair)
5. Under seat base speakers $870 (pair)
6. Front door mid ranges $150 (pair)
7. Front door tweeters $140 (pair)
8. Rear door mid ranges $150 (pair)

This is without the labor or software programming.


M.