[g8128]

Arghhh. Apple Macs don't crash, thats what they say. You now what, mine just did and I have to type my post all over again !

Anyways, just thought of sharing the things I have done to my 635d.

It has a standard BMW stereo since upgrading it to Logic 7 Professional wasn't really what I needed ( not a big fan of surround sound ). I would rather prefer stereo sound better than crappy surround sound from 7 speakers. Also, it was an additional £800 or so. BMW Individual Audio is around £1500 but still is just a speaker upgrade, no sub-woofers or anything else to improve the bass.

The really cool thing I do enjoy about the new 6 series is that it has its own hard-drive. No-more burning CDs or connecting my iPod ! I don't really understand when people say that the iDrive system is difficult to learn. I find it quite easy. Surprisingly, I test-drove an Audi S5 the other day, the sound system was really hard to control and understand. Maybe, it takes some getting used to, but anyways, back to my car.

So, I decided with adding the following 2 things to enhance the car audio listening experience :

Sub-woofer and amplifier

JL and JL, both. Decent, economical as compared to the other high-end components out there and all in all, I was just after some bass, not a crazy lot bass to keep the neighborhood awake. Costed around £800 and significantly improved the bass and the general sound quality. The iDrive sound menu is more than enough to let you fine-tune and tweak the amount of treble and bass you need.

Sound-deadening ( Dynamats )

I had never heard of these before I actually came across them. They are basically thick sound insulating rubber-pad like things that are self-adhesive and you put them on to the doors, the boot, the roof and the floor of your car. I only went for the doors and the boot. Doors to keep the rattling of the doors and to keep the outside noise to a low. And the boot, to make sure that there is no bass-leak ( if thats a word! ) outside.

After putting them on the doors and the boot, even without the sub-woofer and the amp, there was significant improvement in the overall bass and the sound quality. The rattling was gone and with closed doors, windows and boot, it was barely possible to hear anything outside the car even though things inside were like a live concert !

They cost me around £650 from the internet and ideally, should be the first thing you should do when you buy a car and are thinking of doing anything to the audio system.

Anyways, the whole thing cost me around £1500 ( which is the same as getting BMW Individual Audio but with bass, a sub-woofer and an amp that you could take out and install in your new car when you get one in the future ). Unfortunately with dyna-mats, they are permanent and if you try peeling them off, they come off all torn and damaged and are of no use.
So you usually do it for you, and the next owners of the car. Does it add any value to your car, I wouldn't know but don't think so.

The next thing I could is maybe change my speakers, but I am happy with the sound system I have just now and am really busy to keep my car off-road for 2 days !

A thing to keep in mind though. Dynamats make the door and the boot a bit heavy. You feel this when you hear the sound of closing the door or the boot. Or even just gently knocking on the body before and after installing dynamats. Youtube has got several befores and afters, check them out if you want to know more.

Also, the boot is so heavy now that when I press the boot-open button on my key, it only opens half-way. A solution around this is to get new hydraulics for the boot but things are fine for now.

And lastly, some pictures to give you a visual illustration :-)
( I couldn't take any pictures of the door but you can see what it is and how it is installed )

Hope you enjoyed reading !

[g8128]

Oh, and here is the image after closing everything up :-)

[navin]

Originally Posted by g8128

It has a standard BMW stereo since upgrading it to Logic 7 Professional wasn't really what I needed

How do you Time Align the subwoofer with the front speakers? Logic 7 would allow you to do that. I agree that 7 or for that matter 5.1 sound in a car makes little sense. 2.1 is really all one needs with rear fill so that the poor rear passengers do not feel left out.

You will need to add a product like Alpine PXE650 or RF's 360.2 or JBL's MS-8 (overkill I agree - which is why I am looking forward to a MS-5 version of the MS-8) to get TA na?

[g8128]

Maybe later. We will see how much of an issue TA ends up being

[jkdas]

Almost like an active sub right? You can have boot space if you take the box.

JL which?

[navin]

Originally Posted by g8128

Maybe later. We will see how much of an issue TA ends up being

Once you are subject to TA and the entire soundstage coming in front of you engine compartment instead of bass coming from the rear you never go back

With careful amplifier tuning and good front speakers (so you can cross over to the subwoofer around 70Hz or lower) you can get very good soundstage. TA just make your life easier.

[g8128]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Almost like an active sub right? You can have boot space if you take the box.

JL which?

I'd rather have the option to move the whole thing to the next car whenever I buy one.

I might have to tweak the size of the box itself but that is to be done when the time comes to sell the car. The car is 5 months old, I have no immediate plans to sell it

JL 5001V2 - Amp
JL-12W6V2-D4 - Sub-woofer

[panky12345]

Originally Posted by navin

Once you are subject to TA and the entire soundstage coming in front of you engine compartment instead of bass coming from the rear you never go back .

Correct.

And as of now, I can see from the HU pic that the fader is set more towards the rear. What speakers are you running in the front?

[g8128]

The normal BMW ones.

I like the fader to be a bit towards the back. Individual preference I suppose.