Bavsound Stage One Speaker Upgrade w/Ghost Subs

[Curt2000]

I confess that in 2003 I had a blacked out 1990 Lexus LS400 with two 12" subs and a 1000W amp in my trunk. The whole car smelled of burning amplifier, the bass would make you dizzy and outside the car sounded like I had a bucket of bolts rattling in the trunk. I look back on my days of aspiring juvenile delinquency and I shutter with embarrassment. Which is why to-date I haven't touched a car stereo in any vehicle I have owned even though I would heavily modify every other aspect of the car.

That is, until today. There have been several shows where my car has scored a big fat zero in the audio/visual department and my excuse has always been, 'because race car bro!' I have also often found myself wanting to really jam out to one of my favorite songs and cranking up the volume only to be met with cringeworthy bass distortion and polluted clarity courtesy of the stock sound systems. Even now, in my Harmon Kardon equipped F80, I still find myself wanting more clarity and power. I used to think that sub boxes and aftermarket amps were the only way to accomplish this which also included re-wiring and cutting/splicing the audio system, fitment issues with new speakers, and stinky interiors.

Enter Bavsound!

I had never heard of Bavsound until their Messing Metallic F80 feature here on bimmerpost. When I checked out THEIR WEBSITE I realized that I would be getting back into the audio system modification business! Bavsound offers complete plug-and-play drop-in speaker replacement kits for pretty much every BMW produced. Sure enough they have a stage one kit for the F80 M3 along with ghost sub woofer kits to replace the woefully weak OEM under-seat woofers. This was the non-invasive complete sound system refresh I had been looking for to finally check the last box of modding for my Sunburst M3 and at an incredibly reasonable price.

Fast forward a week and my full stage one kit with ghost subs had arrived! Bavsound has torn a page from the Steve Jobs quality retailing book by boxing their speakers in Apple-Esque quality materials! The silky finish sharp corner white cubes with the Bavsound logo beautifully printed on the cover fully reinforced the quality of the Bavsound products and really made me feel like these speakers were something exclusive.

I cleared my schedule the next day to tackle the install! I cleaned out the garage, parked all the cars on the curb, and brought in my two 100lb tool boxes. I had forgotten that every single tool required for the install was included in the Bavsound installation kits. Ratchet, driver, tons of attachments, plastic and metal prying tools, and even a low profile right angle driver for the hard to reach bolts! I had lugged my heavy tool boxes out for nothing! To make things even easier Bavsound provides in-depth DIY installation videos! that exclusively use the supplied tools during the demonstrations. It was an incredibly enjoyable DIY!

Now lets talk about the speakers. The Sunburst M3 came with the 'best' speaker system available for BMW models but once the OEM speakers were side-by-side with the Bavsound speakers there was no question that I just made the 'best' much better! The mid speaker magnets are 2x the size of the OEMs and all of the speakers were much more substantial looking/feeling. As promised, everything plugs-in to the stock wiring and bolts back into the stock mounting points without any issues.

Right off the bat I could tell a dramatic improvement in purity/clarity of the system at higher volumes. The beat/bass is sharp and powerful and doesn't distort as you crank it up. I can fully manipulate the equalizer without ever worrying about the speakers not being able to handle the increased loads. I would liken the OEM vs Bavsound experience to 780i HD to 4K television quality, its that good!

Overall I am very glad I found the Bavsound line of products for BMW. Not only did I check that last box on my modding list, I did-so in a very subtle yet impactful way. The Bavsound kits are top shelf products at a very reasonable price and now that I've began talking about how much I like them I am hearing from all kinds of different BMW owners about how much they love their Bavsound kits as well. This is a very enjoyable mod for any BMW and I look forward to jamming with it for many miles to come!
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[Sassicaia]

First of all what kind of show are you going to where your car scores a big fat zero?

Does it resemble something like this?










Second this is a great review. While i find myself often turning my music off to enjoy the awesome sounds of the MPE this could be a mod that makes it to my list.

Nice photos!

[Curt2000]

Originally Posted by Sassicaia

First of all what kind of show are you going to where your car scores a big fat zero?

Second this is a great review. While i find myself often turning my music off to enjoy the awesome sounds of the MPE this could be a mod that makes it to my list.

Nice photos!

Haha jeez those were some disgraceful pictures Glad you liked the write up!

[Ryan239]

Great writeup, and I have to say your car is gorgeous! Hands down I think that is the best color I've seen on an F80 so far.

[M3NahRich]

Definitely a great write up and definitely is an amazing kit. I am a fan of the quality improvement in both the actually sound but also in the quality of the speaker system.

This is truly one of my next Mods.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

[Curt2000]

Originally Posted by Ryan239

Great writeup, and I have to say your car is gorgeous! Hands down I think that is the best color I've seen on an F80 so far.

Thanks man!

[cvn]

Good review, so much want..

[Draper]

Nice write-up!

How long did the install take you? I have a stage 1 and ghosts subs on the way.

[boosted43]

780i to 4K? Lollll

[BitchinManWheels]

What are your EQ settings?

[Curt2000]

Originally Posted by M3NahRich

Definitely a great write up and definitely is an amazing kit. I am a fan of the quality improvement in both the actually sound but also in the quality of the speaker system.

This is truly one of my next Mods.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

Originally Posted by cvn

Good review, so much want..

Do-it!!!

Originally Posted by Draper

Nice write-up!

How long did the install take you? I have a stage 1 and ghosts subs on the way.

Thanks,
took about 3 hours all total, not hard at all especially with the tool kit and videos

[Someone?]

Nice, this has been on my list, now im 100% sure, Thanks

[James0518]

Great write up! I can't wait to put in my order. One question though: did you elect for any sort of dynomat? I've read that it sets the kit off even more.

[Draper]

Originally Posted by Curt2000

Thanks,
took about 3 hours all total, not hard at all especially with the tool kit and videos

Thanks!

I've had the full kit on my workbench for about 2 weeks now. I hope to get to it soon, but finding 3 free hours with 3 young kids at home is like trying to find a unicorn.

[LarryDavid]

Are there any actual pictures of the car? Nothing showing up. Also a video with sound quality would be great if there's one about! Looks like you have a good camera

[njguy]

Awesome