lame stereo in 7 series

[ronaldo]

hey all...

last night i acquired my 1999 740i with sport package. i LOVE the car so far, but i have only thing to gripe about. the stereo is lamesauce. the mids and highs are pretty good, but the low end is horrible! i believe it does not have the premium sound system or harman/kardon system but even so, i expected more. the rear speakers i am guessing are 6x9's and provide pretty much all of the bass, or at least most. the low-end (bass) is very weak in this car, and it gets weaker as the stereo gets louder. i was wondering if there was any factory upgrade i could get somewhere like an external plug-in amplifier or anything i could install for an improvement. i dont really want to install an aftermarket sub/amp system in this car as i have done in others ive owned, but if that is the only real way to improve sound uality then i may just resort to that. anything!! hehe....

also i moved from a volvo 850R (totaled now) to this, and the stereo in that was one of the best factory systems i have ever had the pleasure of listening to. the BMW was almost a all a huge upgrade, except the stereo!

thanks!

[El Presidente]

nothing I know of thats factory to improve sound. If you want to keep a factory appearance and keep size low, i suggest an infinity basslink.

[ronaldo]

yeah i actually have one in my other car, but the problem is that i cant have ny obstructions in te trunk becasue my work needs me to cart lot of stuff around and when i travel i need the room for luggage. i really really like the sound of the basslink though. i would put it in the spare tire well but i aint putting the spare in the trunk, for the same reason as the sub. but i do have 2 old rockford fosgate 8's that i could get a small amp for and build some stealth boxes....... hmm. well we shall see. still everyone LMK about any easy/factory upgrades! thanks.

[El Presidente]

I don't know much about the sevens interior, but I imagine there isnt room under/in any of the seats? Worth checking out. I like the stealthbox idea too.

[ronaldo]

i think i am going to fiberglass a small enclosure to fit under the spare tire. like... it will take up all of te volume underneath the spare in the tire well and i will put one 8" sub in it. i domt want monster bass, just more. i chose this becase there is no room in the interior for an enclosure and i cant have anything in the trunk taken up by subs.

[ronaldo]

oh man today i found the equalizer in the navi system layout dealy, MAN it sounds WAY better now that i adjusted that! the car didnt come with an owners manual (bought it from a ford dealer) so i didnt have it to guide me with the audio system (one is on order courtesy of encinitas ford). anyway, i dont need to do any upgrades now! hehehe..... thanks anyway though

[jeppcharts]

Originally posted by ronaldo@Apr 16 2004, 12:43 AM
oh man today i found the equalizer in the navi system layout dealy, MAN it sounds WAY better now that i adjusted that! the car didnt come with an owners manual (bought it from a ford dealer) so i didnt have it to guide me with the audio system (one is on order courtesy of encinitas ford). anyway, i dont need to do any upgrades now! hehehe..... thanks anyway though

I'm with you. I just bought a '97 528i and was truly underwhelmed until I found the EQ hidden in the DSP options. I'm pretty sattisifed with the sound now, but I do think that I'm going to buy some kind of sub-woofer to strenghten the lows just a hair. Any suggestions, anyone?

[007ben]

Originally posted by jeppcharts@Apr 16 2004, 10:22 AM

I'm with you. I just bought a '97 528i and was truly underwhelmed until I found the EQ hidden in the DSP options. I'm pretty sattisifed with the sound now, but I do think that I'm going to buy some kind of sub-woofer to strenghten the lows just a hair. Any suggestions, anyone?

A basslink kit from bavauto should just plugnplay. I havent shoped their 5 sereis stuff but they have its for the 3 so it wouldn't suprise me if they had it for the 5 as well.

[bitcore]

$575 is a redicuious price for that ammount of output. Although if you really really want a plug and play system, I guess you could just go for it

[007ben]

This is true, the price is a bit high.

I guess it is the price convinces and plug n play...

[Gulelin]

My 330xi has the Harmon/Kardon and uses 6x9's for subs from what i can tell and it's pretty impressive. Best sounding factory system i've ever heard to date, only gripe is on some CD's I get a buzz from one of the midrange speakers at high volume. Anyone else had that? Sorry to hijack the thread a little=)

[jeppcharts]

Originally posted by 007ben+Apr 16 2004, 03:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (007ben @ Apr 16 2004, 03:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-jeppcharts@Apr 16 2004, 10:22 AM

I'm with you. I just bought a '97 528i and was truly underwhelmed until I found the EQ hidden in the DSP options. I'm pretty sattisifed with the sound now, but I do think that I'm going to buy some kind of sub-woofer to strenghten the lows just a hair. Any suggestions, anyone?

A basslink kit from bavauto should just plugnplay. I havent shoped their 5 sereis stuff but they have its for the 3 so it wouldn't suprise me if they had it for the 5 as well. [/b][/quote]
I checked it out and it sounds great, but can't afford it right now. Thanks though..

[eloff19]

basslinks can be had for about 175 shipped new from e-bay...and in all honesty you could make your own plug and play adapters...but it only takes about 10 minutes to wire it if you know what you're looking for.

[jeppcharts]

Originally posted by eloff19@Apr 18 2004, 08:39 PM
basslinks can be had for about 175 shipped new from e-bay...and in all honesty you could make your own plug and play adapters...but it only takes about 10 minutes to wire it if you know what you're looking for.

Thanks alot. That's definately more like it.

[eloff19]

you bet...keep us updated dude