[Max Well]

We decided to replace my wife’s OEM HK speakers with the BavSound product after reading Forum posts and watching the BavSound ‘How to’ video, which made it seem pretty easy. We opted against changing the subs initially to see how difficult it was to just do the speakers.

We got them from Ben (RGSport) and really appreciated his suggestion to also use Newtis as reference (and not just the BavSound video which glosses over some points and doesn’t even cover the rear cargo speaker install). Newtis link: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...speaker-cover/ . BavSound video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo )

It took my wife and I about 7 hours to complete. Having an extra set of hands was helpful, especially when working with the door panels. For us (having never performed car audio installs before) the process was not as easy as their video indicates, and it wasn’t exactly a simple ‘plug-n-play’. Yes, the speakers fit into the same locations without needing new mounts or drilling. But, BavSound tweeters’ mid-wire rubber component (? crossover) is about twice the size of the OEM one, which made it impossible to fit into the smaller design space of the OEM locations. For some of the areas that didn’t matter as much as you can zip-tie the excess wire and leave it loose in the rear cargo, rear door and center locations. But the front door tweeter area by the side mirror has a foam insert which is molded around the small HK crossovers. After spending about 30 minutes trying to force it into the existing foam, we ended up trimming a lot of the foam away to make it work. It would’ve been helpful to have known that up front and would’ve saved us quite a bit of time.

The gaskets you add to the door mid-range speakers, which help to keep the wires tucked in a position where they can exit their housing, add a lot of thickness to the midrange’s frame. The video makes it look simple to just screw back into the housing, but in reality, at the 8’49” mark of the video it appears they actually trimmed the gasket material away from the screw hole without indicating such (if they did we missed it). At 9’09” he is easily able to hand tighten the screws into the housing, something not possible if the gasket is left intact around the screw holes as they don’t even protrude past the gasket/midrange housing. Left on, you have to pinch the gasket material firmly even to be able to get the screw to start to seat in the door housing.

And as some have mentioned in earlier threads, you have to remove the glue at 10 different points of the rear cargo speaker housing to make the change. This was the only area in which the BavSound tweeters were not held firmly by the housing, so although you can zip-tie the wires and crossovers so they don’t flop around, you still need to apply some type of adhesive to the tweeters or they can easily rotate and most likely vibrate. We didn’t have a heated glue gun as others have suggested so I just used DAP silicone caulking at four points around the tweeters.

We would agree with what has been written previously about the BavSound speakers - the overall sound with our FLAC files on our USB stick is much clearer with more complexity and dimension without being overly bright. Bass is still lacking to some extent, so we may consider changing out the subs but are going to live with this for a few months first.

I’d be curious what others have been charged to have the installation done by a car audio specialist. For me, the effort involved isn’t worth me doing a similar upgrade on my X3MC, but my wife really likes the improved audio now in her X3MC, so that’s the key. No doubt I could probably accomplish it under 5 hours now that I know what to expect, but I don’t see ever doing it in mine.

A few other points – after one of the door installations I noticed a small rubber washer on the ground. I wasn’t about to take the door panel off again to figure out where it went, but on the next door I realized it fell off one of the door panel clips, so for those planning on doing this, be sure to check those before you put the door panels back on the door. Also, I’m curious if anyone else who has done this can comment about any difficulties encountered with the bottom screws on the door panels? Of the four doors, all of them removed easily, but when putting back together I was unable to tighten a number of the bottom door screws. They weren’t stripped as they never even came close to tightening, nor could I back them out as they kept spinning (even while applying back pressure on the panel with a trim tool while trying to unscrew, hoping that would hold the guide tight enough to allow the screw to turn), so it almost seems like the screw guides inside the door may have loosened preventing further tightening or even removal. If anyone does the install in the future a close-up image of the bottom door screw guides might be helpful for future reference (sorry I didn't think to take at the time as I was getting frustrated with the installation...).

[AlexFL]

Max, thanks for the detailed write-up and sorry that you had to deal with so many issues during the installation. I paid 1k the speaker installation and additional 500 for the subs, so at least you saved a ton of money! (correction: it was 1k for speakers and subs together)

[r33_RGSport]

Max Well Thank you for the mention and the write up.
You should've PM me,

For the front door tweeter filter, it supposed to be located behind the door trim, not where the tweeter's at. That way you don't need to shave off that foam padding.

For the adhesive's, the package should include a small E6000 epoxy. You put a dab of E6000 epoxy on the tweeter where it meet the housing.

While the bottom screws on the bottom of the door. Yes, BMW uses a weak plastic to hold the screw in place.
I did damaged my driver side, but not the passenger side.
But, after leaving it the way it is, the door panel trim held in place very well, I didn't hear any noise at all. So, I'll fix it the next time when I have to do something with it again.

Glad that you enjoy the sound improvement though.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by AlexFL

Max, thanks for the detailed write-up and sorry that you had to deal with so many issues during the installation. I paid 1k the speaker installation and additional 500 for the subs, so at least you saved a ton of money!

Thanks, Alex - knowing what you paid for the install does make a big difference, so thanks for that!

Originally Posted by r33_RGSport

Max Well Thank you for the mention and the write up. You should've PM me,

For the front door tweeter filter, it supposed to be located behind the door trim, not where the tweeter's at. That way you don't need to shave off that foam padding.

For the adhesive's, the package should include a small E6000 epoxy. You put a dab of E6000 epoxy on the tweeter where it meet the housing.

While the bottom screws on the bottom of the door. Yes, BMW uses a weak plastic to hold the screw in place.
I did damaged my driver side, but not the passenger side.
But, after leaving it the way it is, the door panel trim held in place very well, I didn't hear any noise at all. So, I'll fix it the next time when I have to do something with it again.

Thanks, Ben. I didn't want to bother you with a bunch of newbie-installer type questions, and my wife and I like to try to figure things out on our own (even when it is frustrating ). Re: the tweeter filter (now I know what it is called, thanks for that!) in the front door, even if I do another install for my X3MC I'll still plan on leaving it in that foam location, as now I would just immediately trim it out. I'm including an image of the inside of the front door, and you can see a bunch of wires and cords between the corner and the speaker already. Knowing that the cover has to come down over that, I didn't want to run the risk of blocking any of that area. I know in the video they did that for the 2018 G01 install, but if I'm not mistaken, that was when they had a separate harness that went between the mid and the tweeter (it wasn't connected to the tweeter then). Once you shave off the foam area it fit snugly and was an easy fit to replace the tweeter cover to the door. I just didn't know to do that from watching the video and newtis didn't describe that as they assume an OEM replacement.

I didn't see any E6000 epoxy in our items. I went through each box pretty thoroughly as you can see when I laid everything out, but it is possible I might have missed it. Either way, the silicone caulk adhesive should do the same thing, just not dry as quickly but that wasn't an issue as I still had a bunch of hours of install to do!

And thanks for confirming you had a similar screw problem on the bottom of the door. I think I also read this morning that someone on the G01 Forum had the same thing happen, so it sounds like a bit of a design/engineering flaw. But as you say, the door is solid even without those functioning, but my compulsive side wouldn't let me give up without putting about 20 minutes into trying to get them to grab.

And here is a close-up image of the door clip black washers, one of which fell off during my install. In fact, I think the middle one in the image I'm showing looks loose, and may have also been close to falling off.

[r33_RGSport]

Originally Posted by Max Well

Thanks, Alex - knowing what you paid for the install does make a big difference, so thanks for that!



Thanks, Ben. I didn't want to bother you with a bunch of newbie-installer type questions, and my wife and I like to try to figure things out on our own (even when it is frustrating ). Re: the tweeter filter (now I know what it is called, thanks for that!) in the front door, even if I do another install for my X3MC I'll still plan on leaving it in that foam location, as now I would just immediately trim it out. I'm including an image of the inside of the front door, and you can see a bunch of wires and cords between the corner and the speaker already. Knowing that the cover has to come down over that, I didn't want to run the risk of blocking any of that area. I know in the video they did that for the 2018 G01 install, but if I'm not mistaken, that was when they had a separate harness that went between the mid and the tweeter (it wasn't connected to the tweeter then). Once you shave off the foam area it fit snugly and was an easy fit to replace the tweeter cover to the door. I just didn't know to do that from watching the video and newtis didn't describe that as they assume an OEM replacement.

I didn't see any E6000 epoxy in our items. I went through each box pretty thoroughly as you can see when I laid everything out, but it is possible I might have missed it. Either way, the silicone caulk adhesive should do the same thing, just not dry as quickly but that wasn't an issue as I still had a bunch of hours of install to do!

And thanks for confirming you had a similar screw problem on the bottom of the door. I think I also read this morning that someone on the G01 Forum had the same thing happen, so it sounds like a bit of a design/engineering flaw. But as you say, the door is solid even without those functioning, but my compulsive side wouldn't let me give up without putting about 20 minutes into trying to get them to grab.

And here is a close-up image of the door clip black washers, one of which fell off during my install. In fact, I think the middle one in the image I'm showing looks loose, and may have also been close to falling off.

Yea, that rubber washer do comes off.

Seems like BavSound changed the tweeter wire design.

[to_riffic]

I gotta commend your wife that she was even involved in the installation process! I'm sure most would say "good luck" after unboxing the parts!

[j080808]

Originally Posted by Max Well

Also, I’m curious if anyone else who has done this can comment about any difficulties encountered with the bottom screws on the door panels? Of the four doors, all of them removed easily, but when putting back together I was unable to tighten a number of the bottom door screws. They weren’t stripped as they never even came close to tightening, nor could I back them out as they kept spinning (even while applying back pressure on the panel with a trim tool while trying to unscrew, hoping that would hold the guide tight enough to allow the screw to turn), so it almost seems like the screw guides inside the door may have loosened preventing further tightening or even removal. If anyone does the install in the future a close-up image of the bottom door screw guides might be helpful for future reference (sorry I didn't think to take at the time as I was getting frustrated with the installation...).

These are essentially 'single use' only parts and very frustrating. They are Expanding Nut 07147265039 and my dealer stocked them.

Mine became "stripped" when both trying to remove and install the screw last week, while installing my laminated acoustic glass. Just be thankful the back side didnt break and fall inside the door cavity (2 of my 4 did so) which requires removal of the inside door panel which requires removing (dis-engaging) the door glass. What should have been a 30 minute glass replacement turned into hours....

If you do have to remove a door panel, plan on replacing these parts. You will need to loosen the inside door panel by removing the torx screws and rotating the locking pins. You can wedge your fingers inside and pop the expanding nut out. Or, if you can get the screws out with the expanding nuts in place, dont reinstall the screws.

Offending fastener pic added. This should be one piece. The front (black side) faces the door panel, with the white piece sinking into the door. They separate/break easily, and/or spin inside the door.

[spta97]

Another great, detailed post! Please see my comments inline.

Originally Posted by Max Well

It took my wife and I about 7 hours to complete. Having an extra set of hands was helpful, especially when working with the door panels. For us (having never performed car audio installs before) the process was not as easy as their video indicates, and it wasn’t exactly a simple ‘plug-n-play’.

I just did mine a couple weeks ago over a few days. Like most car work, I can do it in half the time now that I understand how its done.

Originally Posted by Max Well

Yes, the speakers fit into the same locations without needing new mounts or drilling. But, BavSound tweeters’ mid-wire rubber component (? crossover) is about twice the size of the OEM one, which made it impossible to fit into the smaller design space of the OEM locations.

I just stuffed mine in there and have not had issue.

Originally Posted by Max Well

The gaskets you add to the door mid-range speakers, which help to keep the wires tucked in a position where they can exit their housing, add a lot of thickness to the midrange’s frame. The video makes it look simple to just screw back into the housing, but in reality, at the 8’49” mark of the video it appears they actually trimmed the gasket material away from the screw hole without indicating such (if they did we missed it). At 9’09” he is easily able to hand tighten the screws into the housing, something not possible if the gasket is left intact around the screw holes as they don’t even protrude past the gasket/midrange housing. Left on, you have to pinch the gasket material firmly even to be able to get the screw to start to seat in the door housing.

Although the new speakers sat proud of the door, I just pushed firmly and allowed the gasket to compress as I screwed down.

Originally Posted by Max Well

And as some have mentioned in earlier threads, you have to remove the glue at 10 different points of the rear cargo speaker housing to make the change. This was the only area in which the BavSound tweeters were not held firmly by the housing, so although you can zip-tie the wires and crossovers so they don’t flop around, you still need to apply some type of adhesive to the tweeters or they can easily rotate and most likely vibrate. We didn’t have a heated glue gun as others have suggested so I just used DAP silicone caulking at four points around the tweeters.

I had a hot glue gun (they are good to have and cheap). I also used them to keep the crossovers in the rear out of the way by using a ziptie and hot gluing it to the speaker mount.

Originally Posted by Max Well

We would agree with what has been written previously about the BavSound speakers - the overall sound with our FLAC files on our USB stick is much clearer with more complexity and dimension without being overly bright. Bass is still lacking to some extent, so we may consider changing out the subs but are going to live with this for a few months first.

The subs are louder and clearer but fail on low frequencies. Check my thread here: https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...2#post26103042

Also, taking them out is a serious PITA and I damaged my speakers doing so. I later read advice that some people freeze them (to make the glue brittle) or heat them (to make it soft). I wish BAVSound just gave you the full enclosure. If BMW used screws they would have been the easiest part of the install.

Originally Posted by Max Well

A few other points – after one of the door installations I noticed a small rubber washer on the ground. I wasn’t about to take the door panel off again to figure out where it went, but on the next door I realized it fell off one of the door panel clips, so for those planning on doing this, be sure to check those before you put the door panels back on the door.

LOL! I had the EXACT thing happen to me. I was all "I'll put it back next time"

Originally Posted by Max Well

Also, I’m curious if anyone else who has done this can comment about any difficulties encountered with the bottom screws on the door panels? Of the four doors, all of them removed easily, but when putting back together I was unable to tighten a number of the bottom door screws. They weren’t stripped as they never even came close to tightening, nor could I back them out as they kept spinning (even while applying back pressure on the panel with a trim tool while trying to unscrew, hoping that would hold the guide tight enough to allow the screw to turn), so it almost seems like the screw guides inside the door may have loosened preventing further tightening or even removal. If anyone does the install in the future a close-up image of the bottom door screw guides might be helpful for future reference (sorry I didn't think to take at the time as I was getting frustrated with the installation...).

Similar issue. I just turned the screw until it was sitting in there and left it. I see the post above indicates the issue and replacement part. I guess technically you can squirt some hot glue in there to give the screw something to bite?

Another tip:

- Don't disconnect more wires than required on the door cards. A lot of them are a pain, just remove what you need so you can lower the panel to the ground (or rotate it).

Once I got into the swing of things I actually enjoyed doing it. Some of the install was done in my cramped one car garage but I would take the speakers out and bring them inside to swap.

I too like the overall quality improvement but I am still going to install an amp and dedicated sub in my trunk. Waiting for the add a sub harness to come back in stock.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by to_riffic

I gotta commend your wife that she was even involved in the installation process! I'm sure most would say "good luck" after unboxing the parts!

- she was actually the calming force during this process as the words coming out of my mouth at times were not the best...

Originally Posted by j080808

These are essentially 'single use' only parts and very frustrating. They are Expanding Nut 07147265039 and my dealer stocked them.

Mine became "stripped" when both trying to remove and install the screw last week, while installing my laminated acoustic glass. Just be thankful the back side didnt break and fall inside the door cavity (2 of my 4 did so) which requires removal of the inside door panel which requires removing (dis-engaging) the door glass. What should have been a 30 minute glass replacement turned into hours....

If you do have to remove a door panel, plan on replacing these parts. You will need to loosen the inside door panel by removing the torx screws and rotating the locking pins. You can wedge your fingers inside and pop the expanding nut out. Or, if you can get the screws out with the expanding nuts in place, dont reinstall the screws.

Really key post to share, j080808, and much appreciated. Indeed, if I were to identify the weakest link in this entire process, without a doubt this would be the one that had me the most worried. I re-read my initial post and I apologize that I failed to mention with one of the doors, with all of the clips already unfastened, I thought the bottom door screw on the right rear door had been released as it was loose but I couldn't pull it out. I figured the panel would just release it as I pulled, but it stuck at that screw.

Needless to say that was not a good moment...

So I'm sitting there holding a panel which is now loose at every other point, except at the base where a lone retaining screw won't release from the door proper. I will not repeat the words I expressed. I've enjoyed wood-working for years, including hand dove-tailing of cabinets, so I'm fairly adept at hand tools. But I also knew if I couldn't release that screw there would be no way to get the panel off without potentially bending a joint. I have a heavy duty trim tool which I positioned to the side of it and applied a lot of pressure as I unscrewed and fortunately the guide seated enough to allow the screw to disengage.

We probably need to have a discussion about what others would do if that screw doesn't release... Opinions welcomed as I honestly was just going to close it back up at that point.

Originally Posted by spta97

Another great, detailed post! Please see my comments inline. I just did mine a couple weeks ago over a few days. Like most car work, I can do it in half the time now that I understand how its done. ...

Also, taking them out [edit - ref the subs] is a serious PITA and I damaged my speakers doing so. I later read advice that some people freeze them (to make the glue brittle) or heat them (to make it soft). I wish BAVSound just gave you the full enclosure. If BMW used screws they would have been the easiest part of the install. ...

LOL! I had the EXACT thing happen to me. I was all "I'll put it back next time" ...

Similar issue. I just turned the screw until it was sitting in there and left it. I see the post above indicates the issue and replacement part. I guess technically you can squirt some hot glue in there to give the screw something to bite?...

Once I got into the swing of things I actually enjoyed doing it. Some of the install was done in my cramped one car garage but I would take the speakers out and bring them inside to swap.

I too like the overall quality improvement but I am still going to install an amp and dedicated sub in my trunk. Waiting for the add a sub harness to come back in stock.

Thanks, spta97. Your warning about the subs is noted, and I have expressed that to my wife indicating we should probably enjoy the better sound we have now and leave it at that!

Regarding the failed bottom screws - it isn't as much of a problem putting the panel back on, for as Ben and I have mentioned, the panels seem tight enough with the peripheral clips and the upper screws. The problem really comes in if one is trying to remove the panel and the screw just keeps rotating but doesn't release. I do hope we can come up with a Forum consensus on how best to proceed if that happens...

And as much as I enjoy projects (as I think some of my earlier threads would support), I will say I did not enjoy this one. I am rather demanding when it comes to product design and repair capability, and somewhere in this process it appears some tweaking is sorely needed. Designs should anticipate the need for repair, unless other issues factor into decisions (labor costs and parts as possibly a positive, etc...).

[spta97]

In defense of Bavsound, they have no influence over the difficulty that BMW engineers design into their vehicles.

I have no idea why BMW refuses to use fasteners that are more than onetime use.

I miss the ease of a Japanese car that can be completely disassembled with a #2 phillips screwdriver and a 10mm socket .

I was super frustrated at first but as I took off a panel and figured it out the next one was a piece of cake.

The only difficult part of the sub install is getting the sub out of the enclosure. Other than that it is a very simple matter of unbolting the seat (T-50) and leaning it back, removing 4 T20 screws for the cover, then 2 10mm bolts holding down the enclosure.

I would not give up just yet!

The subs do have limitations but they definitely are an improvement over OEM.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by spta97

In defense of Bavsound, they have no influence over the difficulty that BMW engineers design into their vehicles.

I have no idea why BMW refuses to use fasteners that are more than onetime use. ...

No question about that. My comments reflect more the project's degree of difficulty and time involvement, which (in our opinion at least) is quite opposite to what their video seems to portray.

No doubt much of that is caused by the design attributes BMW built into these systems. I have no idea how the part j080808 shared even made it out of concept design. Maybe for use in a cheap throw-away item, but not as a mechanism to secure a door panel to a frame with a screw (which is intended to allow ease of removal and re-fastening).

[j080808]

Max Well's tutorial/experience is an excellent write-up and information on the install.

The take away from the installation notes and my experience removing the door panels is this: proceed with caution with these nuts. I learned the hard way on my first door and it still didnt prevent a headache on the second door. Simply removing and installing the screws caused them to break and drop inside the door, which required a bunch more disassembly/reassembly and fishing around inside the door with chopsticks to retrieve the broken piece that was rattling around.

On a side note, love my acoustic glass that I could spec on my G01, but not the F97.

[AlexFL]

Originally Posted by Max Well

No question about that. My comments reflect more the project's degree of difficulty and time involvement, which (in our opinion at least) is quite opposite to what their video seems to portray.

No doubt much of that is caused by the design attributes BMW built into these systems. I have no idea how the part j080808 shared even made it out of concept design. Maybe for use in a cheap throw-away item, but not as a mechanism to secure a door panel to a frame with a screw (which is intended to allow ease of removal and re-fastening).

Wow, this is Home Depot quality. I’m so glad I didn’t try to install the speakers by myself. I’m an emotional guy and this would really piss me off.

[hilld]

Originally Posted by Max Well

Re: the tweeter filter (now I know what it is called, thanks for that!) in the front door, even if I do another install for my X3MC I'll still plan on leaving it in that foam location, as now I would just immediately trim it out.

I read that as a Twitter filter and was wondering where I can get one of those.

In all seriousness though, that is simply a bass blocker to make sure you don't send low frequencies to your tweeter that could damage it. A better solution would have been to have a cross-over that controls that, but it looks like BMW might have cheapened out and gone down the bass blocker route instead.

Nice job of documenting that install.

[PostModernHero]

Originally Posted by j080808

On a side note, love my acoustic glass that I could spec on my G01, but not the F97.

Pretty sure acoustic glass is standard on F97...

[j080808]

Originally Posted by PostModernHero

Pretty sure acoustic glass is standard on F97...

I wish it was.

[spta97]

Hey Max Well - I noticed that my tail lights are resonating when the tunes are up loud due to the rear hatch speakers.

Not sure if this happened with the OEM, but curious if yours are doing the same.

I will address this with sound dampening when I rip out the hatch to do my sub and amp install.

[spucktacular]

Great job mate! Give it some time and you'll upgrade the underseat woofers too..

I did a similar upgrade to my X4 that had the HK system. I swapped every single speaker + tweeter in the car and at first stuck with the OEM woofers. I ordered the BavSound woofers, but they were on back order and took two months for them to arrive. The positive was that I got to see the various acoustic dynamics before and after.

Few words of advice:

1) They take a few weeks to break in, and they will sound (much) better as the materials achieve their optimal properties.

2) They sound better, but require a different approach to listening. Personally I find at low to moderate levels, the highs are more defined, but mid and low frequencies pale versus the OEM HK speakers. However as you increase the volume and amps start to push the BavSound speakers, they come to life. The conclusion is that they need the power that comes at higher volumes to really push them the way they were designed. At lower volumes, the higher mass of the bavsound speakers don't sound as full.

3) The woofers are the same, at low volumes they sound average.. but crank them to 70-80% and the difference is clear. However, a word of caution.. the HK amp cannot push a full BavSound speaker + woofer upgrade to their fullest... after 80-90% volume, certain frequencies start to fall off.. clearly showing the speakers can handle more power than the HK amp can provide. Sadly, I'm not aware of any easy solutions here as the HK system uses a fiberoptic communications network between the head unit and amp in the trunk. You can't just swap it out as the audio imputs are digital signals (tcp/ip layer 3 vlan I believe), and it also acts as a DSP which interfaces with the iDrive. Its proprietary. Most aftermarket amps take in low-power analog signals (2/4/6/8 channels, whatever).


Honestly, the bavsound approach is nice.. but on a car pushing 100-110K (Canadian dollars the HK system is mediocre. I don't understand why a bang olufsen or bowers wilkins $5k premium option wasn't made available. Just cause the X3M/X4M is based on an entry level X3 platform doesnt mean its acceptable for it to have the same shitty paper speakers as a sibling costing half as much.

I get that BMWs are considered to be like a Honda for most rich people, but I thought we could hope for more with the full M variants.

Originally Posted by Max Well

We decided to replace my wife’s OEM HK speakers with the BavSound product after reading Forum posts and watching the BavSound ‘How to’ video, which made it seem pretty easy. We opted against changing the subs initially to see how difficult it was to just do the speakers.

We got them from Ben (RGSport) and really appreciated his suggestion to also use Newtis as reference (and not just the BavSound video which glosses over some points and doesnÂ’t even cover the rear cargo speaker install). Newtis link: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...speaker-cover/ . BavSound video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo )

It took my wife and I about 7 hours to complete. Having an extra set of hands was helpful, especially when working with the door panels. For us (having never performed car audio installs before) the process was not as easy as their video indicates, and it wasn’t exactly a simple ‘plug-n-play’. Yes, the speakers fit into the same locations without needing new mounts or drilling. But, BavSound tweeters’ mid-wire rubber component (? crossover) is about twice the size of the OEM one, which made it impossible to fit into the smaller design space of the OEM locations. For some of the areas that didn’t matter as much as you can zip-tie the excess wire and leave it loose in the rear cargo, rear door and center locations. But the front door tweeter area by the side mirror has a foam insert which is molded around the small HK crossovers. After spending about 30 minutes trying to force it into the existing foam, we ended up trimming a lot of the foam away to make it work. It would’ve been helpful to have known that up front and would’ve saved us quite a bit of time.

The gaskets you add to the door mid-range speakers, which help to keep the wires tucked in a position where they can exit their housing, add a lot of thickness to the midrange’s frame. The video makes it look simple to just screw back into the housing, but in reality, at the 8’49” mark of the video it appears they actually trimmed the gasket material away from the screw hole without indicating such (if they did we missed it). At 9’09” he is easily able to hand tighten the screws into the housing, something not possible if the gasket is left intact around the screw holes as they don’t even protrude past the gasket/midrange housing. Left on, you have to pinch the gasket material firmly even to be able to get the screw to start to seat in the door housing.

And as some have mentioned in earlier threads, you have to remove the glue at 10 different points of the rear cargo speaker housing to make the change. This was the only area in which the BavSound tweeters were not held firmly by the housing, so although you can zip-tie the wires and crossovers so they donÂ’t flop around, you still need to apply some type of adhesive to the tweeters or they can easily rotate and most likely vibrate. We didnÂ’t have a heated glue gun as others have suggested so I just used DAP silicone caulking at four points around the tweeters.

We would agree with what has been written previously about the BavSound speakers - the overall sound with our FLAC files on our USB stick is much clearer with more complexity and dimension without being overly bright. Bass is still lacking to some extent, so we may consider changing out the subs but are going to live with this for a few months first.

IÂ’d be curious what others have been charged to have the installation done by a car audio specialist. For me, the effort involved isnÂ’t worth me doing a similar upgrade on my X3MC, but my wife really likes the improved audio now in her X3MC, so thatÂ’s the key. No doubt I could probably accomplish it under 5 hours now that I know what to expect, but I donÂ’t see ever doing it in mine.

A few other points – after one of the door installations I noticed a small rubber washer on the ground. I wasn’t about to take the door panel off again to figure out where it went, but on the next door I realized it fell off one of the door panel clips, so for those planning on doing this, be sure to check those before you put the door panels back on the door. Also, I’m curious if anyone else who has done this can comment about any difficulties encountered with the bottom screws on the door panels? Of the four doors, all of them removed easily, but when putting back together I was unable to tighten a number of the bottom door screws. They weren’t stripped as they never even came close to tightening, nor could I back them out as they kept spinning (even while applying back pressure on the panel with a trim tool while trying to unscrew, hoping that would hold the guide tight enough to allow the screw to turn), so it almost seems like the screw guides inside the door may have loosened preventing further tightening or even removal. If anyone does the install in the future a close-up image of the bottom door screw guides might be helpful for future reference (sorry I didn't think to take at the time as I was getting frustrated with the installation...).

[spta97]

Originally Posted by spucktacular

Great job mate! Give it some time and you'll upgrade the underseat woofers too..

....
3) The woofers are the same, at low volumes they sound average.. but crank them to 70-80% and the difference is clear. However, a word of caution.. the HK amp cannot push a full BavSound speaker + woofer upgrade to their fullest... after 80-90% volume, certain frequencies start to fall off.. clearly showing the speakers can handle more power than the HK amp can provide. Sadly, I'm not aware of any easy solutions here as the HK system uses a fiberoptic communications network between the head unit and amp in the trunk. You can't just swap it out as the audio imputs are digital signals (tcp/ip layer 3 vlan I believe), and it also acts as a DSP which interfaces with the iDrive. Its proprietary. Most aftermarket amps take in low-power analog signals (2/4/6/8 channels, whatever).
.

According to rumor, and Bavsound's site, they are working on a replacement amp. I would imagine it would come in at $1k+.

I agree with the shittyness of the stock system, but my major complaint is that upgrading is so difficult. If it was a crappy system I could just swap out with real components/amps I would be ok with it as I have yet to hear any OEM system that was on the level of an aftermarket.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by spta97

Hey Max Well - I noticed that my tail lights are resonating when the tunes are up loud due to the rear hatch speakers.

Not sure if this happened with the OEM, but curious if yours are doing the same.

I will address this with sound dampening when I rip out the hatch to do my sub and amp install.

No issues in that regards on my wife's X3MC, spta97. I checked again this morning with some loud classic rock tracks and no resonating or even lighting issues back there. Let us know what you find if you try to source the cause.

Originally Posted by spucktacular

Great job mate! Give it some time and you'll upgrade the underseat woofers too..

I did a similar upgrade to my X4 that had the HK system. I swapped every single speaker + tweeter in the car and at first stuck with the OEM woofers. I ordered the BavSound woofers, but they were on back order and took two months for them to arrive. The positive was that I got to see the various acoustic dynamics before and after.

Few words of advice: [edit...]

Honestly, the bavsound approach is nice.. but on a car pushing 100-110K (Canadian dollars the HK system is mediocre. I don't understand why a bang olufsen or bowers wilkins $5k premium option wasn't made available. Just cause the X3M/X4M is based on an entry level X3 platform doesnt mean its acceptable for it to have the same shitty paper speakers as a sibling costing half as much. I get that BMWs are considered to be like a Honda for most rich people, but I thought we could hope for more with the full M variants.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, spucktacular. I mentioned your comments to my wife this morning as she headed off to work, so we'll keep an ear out for the speaker maturation over time. We took the advice some have suggested in earlier threads and on other sub-forums to level out her previous EQ settings which we had for the HK settings but she ended up adding about 3 clicks more bass back in, which we both enjoy with our rock interest. Suspect we'll be modifying that as well down the road as everything settles in.

And I agree with your comments which I highlighted in bold in your quote. I tried to look back to some of the first threads we had here on the F97/98 Forum, as I know I wrote something almost identical way back when. Couldn't find it on first glance, but I'll keep trying, as I absolutely agree. Some of us buy the F97/98 because it is the perfect size, nimble, quick, etc., and not because we can't afford the X5/6/7 lines. Why larger models have to be the only ones to be able to even have the option of higher-end seems to be somewhat near-sighted, but surely as a Global Mnfr firm they have far more insight and knowledge of those issues than I!

[spta97]

Originally Posted by Max Well

No issues in that regards on my wife's X3MC, spta97. I checked again this morning with some loud classic rock tracks and no resonating or even lighting issues back there. Let us know what you find if you try to source the cause.

Thanks for checking Max Well. I noticed the rear hatch speakers are resonating on some songs. I called Bavsound and they suggested I may have installed too tightly and to ensure they are flat and only tighten the screws snug.

I tried and it helped a bit but they are still resonating even out of the basket. Hopefully they can send a new pair which will resolve the issue. I am not hearing this on the door or center speakers.

Regardless, I am still going to sound proof that area when I do the sub/amp.

Will keep you posted.

Edit - Good idea on setting the EQ to flat as the speakers respond much differently than the stock HKs. I've noticed that the Ghost Subs tend to distort around 100hz so I will be installing bass blockers to filter out the low frequencies and shunt to my future sub trunk box.

Now that I have tuned, outside of my rear hatch speaker issue, it sounds much better than stock.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by spta97

According to rumor, and Bavsound's site, they are working on a replacement amp. I would imagine it would come in at $1k+.

I agree with the shittyness of the stock system, but my major complaint is that upgrading is so difficult. If it was a crappy system I could just swap out with real components/amps I would be ok with it as I have yet to hear any OEM system that was on the level of an aftermarket.

Interesting about the amp. I went to their website and it looks like they've already got replacement amps for other models, so would make sense they'd develop one for the X3/4 lines as well considering how popular they are.

Curious how the 'Revenant' specs of 1300 watt w/ 64bit DSP processor compares with the HK OEM amp? https://www.bavsound.com/pages/bmw-amplifier-upgrade

I would think changing the amp out should be an actual simple 'plug-n-play' given our amp's location (unlike the speakers and subs ). I'd considering changing not only my wife's but also mine, as reportedly it improves even the stock speaker experience?