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      08-23-2019, 08:03 PM   #1
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Amp Location?

Hi everyone, new here, happy owner of a frozen grey s30i, 1 week old, 1000 miles.

Loving the car overall, only thing I'm struggling with is a bass dead spot in the driving position - I'm 6', have the seat all the way to the back. When in the driving position, there's a bass dead spot - lean forward towards the windshield and there's a ton of bass, lean back, it disappears, and all I hear is the trunk rattling.

Does anyone know where the amp is mounted? Not the same place as all my past BMWs. I'd like to add a small amp and secondary sub.

Update: amp is in the same location as normal (above left side wheel in the trunk), just no access hatch this time.

Last edited by auditorycanvas; 08-24-2019 at 06:58 PM..
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      08-26-2019, 10:21 AM   #2
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Just curious what amp and sub you'll be installing. I have an M40i with the standard hifi sound system (not the Harmon Kardon). It could definitely use a speaker upgrade at least. Have you ever used Bavsound speakers?
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      08-27-2019, 04:26 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 7bimmers View Post
Just curious what amp and sub you'll be installing. I have an M40i with the standard hifi sound system (not the Harmon Kardon). It could definitely use a speaker upgrade at least. Have you ever used Bavsound speakers?
For the amp, I'm trying to find out if the Match UP 7BMW is compatible, or wait for a compatible version.

The Bavsound Revenant is essentially as rebranded Match UP 7, but with the DPS locked, so you can't tweak it.

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...ifiers/up-7bmw

If you're in the US, you can get them from Crutchfield: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-gJCj92...H-UP-7BMW.html

I'll likely use their plug and play replacement speakers too.

In the meantime, I've been trying different sub solutions to fix the deadspot.

Any amp/sub combo I've tried in the trunk so far has just exacerbated the deadspot. The only decent solution I found was surprisingly a compact sub behind the passenger seat, which does an incredible job of filling the deadspot and sounds far better than you'd ever expect for a compact sub.

One annoyance is that the additional amp/sub amplifies the ASD, so I'm probably going to have to get that disabled, as it's already driving me nuts.

Last edited by auditorycanvas; 08-27-2019 at 04:32 AM..
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      08-29-2019, 06:10 PM   #4
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I have the HK system and I will say that of all of the BMW's that I have owned and all that have had the HK system, the one in the M40i is the worst, it truly sucks.

I talked to Bavsound about replacing the speakers and they have a kit that they can offer, but it is mainly only 4" speakers, which doesn't sound like much of an upgrade in the stage, so I just deal with it until someone comes up with a much better solution.

I sent a bunch of pictures to Bavsounds and they, as I, were surprised that there are absolutely no subwoofers in the HK system, so this is pretty much what they offer for an upgraded sound stage.

https://www.bavsound.com/Product/bsd...one-bmw-e89-hk
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      09-04-2019, 02:38 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by str86diesel View Post
I have the HK system and I will say that of all of the BMW's that I have owned and all that have had the HK system, the one in the M40i is the worst, it truly sucks.

I talked to Bavsound about replacing the speakers and they have a kit that they can offer, but it is mainly only 4" speakers, which doesn't sound like much of an upgrade in the stage, so I just deal with it until someone comes up with a much better solution.

I sent a bunch of pictures to Bavsounds and they, as I, were surprised that there are absolutely no subwoofers in the HK system, so this is pretty much what they offer for an upgraded sound stage.

https://www.bavsound.com/Product/bsd...one-bmw-e89-hk
The subs are the lower speakers behind the seats as opposed to underneath the seats as normal.

They use the enclosure between the rear board and the trunk board as a "sub box", but it's so badly dampened, it just causes the trunk to resonate on low mids and rattle like a collection jar.

They're also a total pain to access to swap out and dampen. I'm planning on dampening it properly when I have enough time. Probably at the same time I do the amp swap.
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      09-04-2019, 04:34 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by auditorycanvas View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by str86diesel View Post
I have the HK system and I will say that of all of the BMW's that I have owned and all that have had the HK system, the one in the M40i is the worst, it truly sucks.

I talked to Bavsound about replacing the speakers and they have a kit that they can offer, but it is mainly only 4" speakers, which doesn't sound like much of an upgrade in the stage, so I just deal with it until someone comes up with a much better solution.

I sent a bunch of pictures to Bavsounds and they, as I, were surprised that there are absolutely no subwoofers in the HK system, so this is pretty much what they offer for an upgraded sound stage.

https://www.bavsound.com/Product/bsd...one-bmw-e89-hk
The subs are the lower speakers behind the seats as opposed to underneath the seats as normal.

They use the enclosure between the rear board and the trunk board as a "sub box", but it's so badly dampened, it just causes the trunk to resonate on low mids and rattle like a collection jar.

They're also a total pain to access to swap out and dampen. I'm planning on dampening it properly when I have enough time. Probably at the same time I do the amp swap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by auditorycanvas View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by str86diesel View Post
I have the HK system and I will say that of all of the BMW's that I have owned and all that have had the HK system, the one in the M40i is the worst, it truly sucks.

I talked to Bavsound about replacing the speakers and they have a kit that they can offer, but it is mainly only 4" speakers, which doesn't sound like much of an upgrade in the stage, so I just deal with it until someone comes up with a much better solution.

I sent a bunch of pictures to Bavsounds and they, as I, were surprised that there are absolutely no subwoofers in the HK system, so this is pretty much what they offer for an upgraded sound stage.

https://www.bavsound.com/Product/bsd...one-bmw-e89-hk
The subs are the lower speakers behind the seats as opposed to underneath the seats as normal.

They use the enclosure between the rear board and the trunk board as a "sub box", but it's so badly dampened, it just causes the trunk to resonate on low mids and rattle like a collection jar.

They're also a total pain to access to swap out and dampen. I'm planning on dampening it properly when I have enough time. Probably at the same time I do the amp swap.

Here's a link to the speaker and amp location. Includes all OEM part numbers.
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...M40i&mg=65
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      09-04-2019, 06:22 AM   #7
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Thanks for the reply guys. The speakers that I have in the back, where the picture is pointing out the sub. Very much looks like a midrange speaker in my car, see attached picture. Are you saying that this is the sub?
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      09-04-2019, 04:05 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by str86diesel View Post
Thanks for the reply guys. The speakers that I have in the back, where the picture is pointing out the sub. Very much looks like a midrange speaker in my car, see attached picture. Are you saying that this is the sub?
The round grill is the sub
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      09-04-2019, 04:06 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 7bimmers View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by str86diesel View Post
Thanks for the reply guys. The speakers that I have in the back, where the picture is pointing out the sub. Very much looks like a midrange speaker in my car, see attached picture. Are you saying that this is the sub?
The round grill is the sub
You can pop off the round speaker cover to see the sub. I think it's screwed in from behind though. Screws don't seem to be accessible from the front.
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      09-09-2019, 01:22 AM   #10
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Great information everyone.. I know everyone says that with every model year, the HK sound is getting worse.. and I have to agree! The HK in the Z4 is truly the worst system I've experienced in a BMW.. to the point where I thought something was broken/loose. It rattles! Increase the "speed volume" setting to max and you'll think there's something broken. In previous systems it's tuned so that you can max out almost any setting and there's little to no distortion (not to mention it won't rattle).

Keeping an eye on this thread! Hopefully Bav releases an upgrade. I'm thinking of applying dynamat in the trunk to try and dampen it.
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      09-09-2019, 03:23 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by -cj- View Post
Great information everyone.. I know everyone says that with every model year, the HK sound is getting worse.. and I have to agree! The HK in the Z4 is truly the worst system I've experienced in a BMW.. to the point where I thought something was broken/loose. It rattles! Increase the "speed volume" setting to max and you'll think there's something broken. In previous systems it's tuned so that you can max out almost any setting and there's little to no distortion (not to mention it won't rattle).

Keeping an eye on this thread! Hopefully Bav releases an upgrade. I'm thinking of applying dynamat in the trunk to try and dampen it.
A big part of it is the dead spot at the driver position. Lean forward and you hear the bass instead of the rattle. I added a powered compact sub behind the passenger seat which does a great job of filling the dead spot. Now just need to take the trunk apart and dampen it.

The BAV amp is a rebranded MATCH UP7, with the tuning locked. The Matchup is already compatible. I think the only reason the BAV one isn't is because they tune it per vehicle, and haven't yet done a Z4 tune.

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...ifiers/up-7bmw
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      09-19-2019, 06:51 AM   #12
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Update: I just finished a full install of a DSP, amps, and speakers. See full post here: https://g29.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1672543

Last edited by auditorycanvas; 11-25-2019 at 12:34 AM..
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