Finally upgraded my stereo - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

AlbertM · 21st January 2002, 19:20

Well, I finally decided to upgrade the stereo in my 2001 M5 (with M Audio).
Here is what I did:
1) MB Quartz RKC113 rear
2) MB Quartz PSD 213 front
3) Additional MB Quartz tweeters in the front where the empty
slots were.
4) JL Audio 300/4 amp.
5) All rear and door panels housing speakers have been taken out and put extra cushioninig to remove rattle and improve base sound.
6) Stock subwoofers are powered by the stock amp.

Stock radio and nav, all radio controls left intact.

The sound is much, much better without the rattle in in the back.
Also the rattle during normal drtiving went away, so I am very pleased.
The only thing is that my fader is set to 70% rear 30% front since
the tweeters are very very loud.

Anyone else upgraded their stereos?

bmurphy · 21st January 2002, 19:44

Alot of people have upgraded their stereos but I have not as of yet. Would be interested in a guestimate as to what you had to pay for your upgrades, not to get into your personal business just wondering if it's like $1k, $2k, etc.? Thanks! Murph

AndyMenard · 21st January 2002, 23:51

Quote:

Originally posted by AlbertM
Well, I finally decided to upgrade the stereo in my 2001 M5 (with M Audio).
Here is what I did:
1) MB Quartz RKC113 rear
2) MB Quartz PSD 213 front
3) Additional MB Quartz tweeters in the front where the empty
slots were.
4) JL Audio 300/4 amp.
5) All rear and door panels housing speakers have been taken out and put extra cushioninig to remove rattle and improve base sound.
6) Stock subwoofers are powered by the stock amp.

Stock radio and nav, all radio controls left intact.

The sound is much, much better without the rattle in in the back.
Also the rattle during normal drtiving went away, so I am very pleased.
The only thing is that my fader is set to 70% rear 30% front since
the tweeters are very very loud.

Anyone else upgraded their stereos?

Albert,

I have a 2000 M5 and therefore did not have the M audio option available to me at the time of purchase. I therefore went for an aftermarket Sub setup as follows:

2 Kicker Free-air subs firing upward on a custom deck with Dynamat in between the car's deck and the speaker deck (for sound deadening and to prevent rattles) - driven by a single Precision Power 2X150 amp. This dramatically improved the overall sound of the otherwise stock system.

Speakers - I also went with the MBQuart Q Series - all around, minus the crossovers, because I kept my stock amp/DSP.

Overall sound quality is dramatically improved in my car compared to the stock setup. I also kept all of my head unit's functionality such as volume control, DSP, NAV, phone controls, etc..

Total cost was around $3000.00 installed.

Since then, I have recently installed a NeoCar Jukebox (MP3 player) with 80 Gigabytes of space. Again, a custom install requiring my head unit to be sent to Vision Car Audio for RCA clean input jacks. Very nice setup and now I can (as soon as I encode all of my CDs) have my entire music collection in the car with me, without having to carry around CDs.

BM5VIUS · 22nd January 2002, 18:08

Hi all,
Why is everyone using the same company for the stereo upgrades ? What's so special about them ?

CM5GO · 22nd January 2002, 18:16

MB Quart speakers are amazing. I have had them in a number of my vehicles. I want to put some in the 5er but I am not keen on using the stock amplification.

I also dont want to use after market ampolifiers because the stock head unit does not have pre-out for the RCA inputs on the amp. I have had bad experiences with RCA plugs drawn off of speaker wires so i wont go that route either.

Stock setup is not that bad and I dont have money to blow right now so i will likely stay with stock for a while.

But trust me. If you are going to upgrade, go with the quart's or something as high end. They will bring many hours of listening pleasure.

Albert,
Youre right that the tweets on the MB quarts are extremely brilliant. SOme think they are too bright but I love them. Try turning down you treble as opposed to fading to the rear. That way you wont lose the center stage effect. Just a thought.

ThemisN · 22nd January 2002, 21:58

Firstoff guys, what sizes are used in the M5 front and rears? I currently have 2 pairs of dynaudios that something tells me wont fit in this car. I might have to revert back to MB Q's (which I used in my older benz).

Secondly....to add an amp(s) , is there an adapter out there, or were line out converters used?

And last but not least....If i do not order the M Audio, what am i missing out on? I have a pair of Velodyne subs that can go in either freeair or sealed configurations...is the space/grill for the M Audio subs still there to be used by my subs? Would it be recommended to get the M Audio anyway and then upgrade anyway?

atomic80 · 22nd January 2002, 22:09

AlbertM: Can you tell me how your intaller managed to figure out how to tap the aftermarket amp into the head unit? Did they use a line driver? Because when I took my car in to have the MB quart speakers and an aftermarket amp put in they couldn't figure out how to properly connect the amp. On one hand they had to have the head unit turned all the way down or risk blowing out the amp and on the other hand there would be a lot of static. We never did figure out a way around this issue. I ultimately ended up just having the factory amp power the MB quart speakers up front. I also put in a set of neo tweeters to fill in the missing space too and I used the "Q" MB quart to replace the factory front speakers up front. I'm using stock speakers in the back since I don't really hear them.

ThemisN · 22nd January 2002, 22:36

Atomic80....a variable line out converter would have most likely taken care of this. The bad thing about it is, u are then forced to leave in the stock amp, and then knock the signal back down....for SQ nuts, it isnt something favored, but it gets the job down for most people. If clarity is a must, Soundgate is what I would recommend, despite being pricey. I currently have one of these that I was gonna use on my current car....now im trying to hear if thats the only way it can be done in the M5....anyone? is there an adapter out there?

BM5VIUS · 22nd January 2002, 22:38

The speakers are 5.25" in the doors.

Next, what 'open slot' are you putting tweeters in ? Is there a blank speaker grill on the car I don't know about or do you replace the two that are already there ?

atomic80 · 22nd January 2002, 22:52

ThemisN: That's what I thought...I did hear about using the one from SoundQuest. I ultimately decided to just forego using the aftermarket amp altogether since it sounds pretty good using even just the factory amp. I don't have problems with my stereo sounding too bright. The NEO tweeter took care of this. It provides the needed "fill" therefore balancing the highs, mids and lows.