3er's BAVSOUND Stage 1 Review

[DFozzy]

Originally Posted by 3er

Awesome, can't wait!

Quote from bavsound today in response to an inquiry if the subs are on track for June:
"They will sadly not make June. We are in the testing phase and if all goes well it will be later this year."

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by DFozzy

Quote from bavsound today in response to an inquiry if the subs are on track for June:
"They will sadly not make June. We are in the testing phase and if all goes well it will be later this year."

Exactly what I expected. More BS excuses from them.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by DFozzy

Quote from bavsound today in response to an inquiry if the subs are on track for June:
"They will sadly not make June. We are in the testing phase and if all goes well it will be later this year."

Very disappointing. Later this year could be anytime. I will have to listen to the car once I get it. If it sounds decent, I will wait to upgrade. My biggest complaints on BMW systems is the weak low end. I don't want to spend money on half an upgrade while waiting for sub upgrades. All or nothing for me at this point.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by OneRib

Very disappointing. Later this year could be anytime. I will have to listen to the car once I get it. If it sounds decent, I will wait to upgrade. My biggest complaints on BMW systems is the weak low end. I don't want to spend money on half an upgrade while waiting for sub upgrades. All or nothing for me at this point.

I did my F10 M5 that did not have the B&O sound system. I changed all speakers but the two under seat woofers (as you can see why) and the overall bass did improve, but its all midrange bass. Not low end bass!

They told me it would be end of 2014 for the subs. And before that, it was middle of 2014. Its been one BS excuse after another over there.

Until they have a full kit, I wont buy anything there again.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

I did my F10 M5 that did not have the B&O sound system. I changed all speakers but the two under seat woofers (as you can see why) and the overall bass did improve, but its all midrange bass. Not low end bass!

They told me it would be end of 2014 for the subs. And before that, it was middle of 2014. Its been one BS excuse after another over there.

Until they have a full kit, I wont buy anything there again.

I can see why you are upset, and that is the exact situation I want to avoid.

[VinnyA320]

installed the bavsound stage 1 kit in my HK F80 M3 a few weeks ago and I'll be honest. the bass seems perfect to me for what I listen to. I thought there would be no doubt in my mind that I would be getting their sub when it came out but I'll be honest, I unless you like A LOT of bass I think the base kit sounds great.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by VinnyA320

installed the bavsound stage 1 kit in my HK F80 M3 a few weeks ago and I'll be honest. the bass seems perfect to me for what I listen to. I thought there would be no doubt in my mind that I would be getting their sub when it came out but I'll be honest, I unless you like A LOT of bass I think the base kit sounds great.

You may be right, but I want the option.
AS for sound quality, I could say the same thing about the HK system in general. It can be set up to sound good, but Bavsound improves on it. I want the same option for the sub. I personally find the BMW OEM subs underwhelming.

It is possible I could take the stage 1 kit and feel just as you do, but if I don't then I wasted time and money on a half measure.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by OneRib

You may be right, but I want the option.
AS for sound quality, I could say the same thing about the HK system in general. It can be set up to sound good, but Bavsound improves on it. I want the same option for the sub. I personally find the BMW OEM subs underwhelming.

It is possible I could take the stage 1 kit and feel just as you do, but if I don't then I wasted time and money on a half measure.

Heres my honest experience with two different approaches.

I have a 2013 E92 M3 with the enhanced premium sound (best they offer at time) with Music Car NW's custom trunk sub enclosure and a JL W6 woofer. To me, that sounds perfect and looks factory.

When I got my M5 (used) it didn't have the B&O sound package. What it had was 80% similar to the M3's enhanced premium sound. Stock vs stock, I think the M3 setup sounded nicer but the M5s wasnt THAT bad.

I wanted to add a sub to the M5, but Music car didn't have a custom fitting into the side of the trunk F10 M5 trunk sub for sale (maybe they do now). And I wasn't going to put some big sub box in the trunk.

Thats where BAV sound came in for me. Now, I had already heard they were running late on the sub package. So I knew that walking into this. But they also sold it THICK saying it was coming VERY soon when I spoke to them via email last NOVEMBER. At that time, the M5 package was 600-700 bucks without the floor subs so I gave it a shot.

Was it worth 600-700 bucks? Id say yes it was. I am PLEASED with my purchase. Would I pay $1000+ for it, NO.

It comes with dynamat and using that and the speakers made a pretty big difference. What I did notice was that my overall volume is lower. I have to crank the dial more to get the same level of sound I had with the stock speakers. But it sounds much better.

Its midrange bass heavy and they recommended the BASS adjustment be in the negative for proper balance of bass. I have mine flat and you can totally hear my car thumping when Im getting gas and I DONT have the music cranked up. Im not sure if its the dynomat, speakers or combo of both, but you can hear bass coming out of the car even at low volumes. And I'm not talking about BOOM BOOM rattle bass. Im saying you can hear good clean sound bass making it thru the cars insulation. Just adding these speakers made my car sound like it HAS a custom system I guess you could say.


There where a few things I did not like. Mostly install wise issues. The tweeters are in aluminum casing. They snap into a plastic ring base in the car. Well, there tweeters are 1MM too small and they would rattle/spin in there. I added some double sided tape to the perimeter of the tweeters to hold them in place. Problem solved.

But, because they are in a bright aluminum housing, you can totally see them poking thru the black protection grill inside the car. So when I look where my tweeters are, I can totally see a bright round circle which is the speaker itself resides. I ended up taking mine out a month later and painting them black so they didnt look so "aftermarket" or cheap if you would.

The kit wasn't hard to install, but I think they should have labeled what speaker goes where. Because I did one door at a time, I found myself second guessing if I had the right speaker or not a few times.

The cables they include are very long and you end up with all sorts of extra wire in the door that you must secure. I went to my dealer for a door rattle (actual door panel rattle of plastic on plastic, nothing to do with kit) and they immediately blamed the speaker wires since you have to basically zip tie them to something. I got my door fixed, but that's something I personally had a minor dealer issue with.

So if I could NOT get a trunk sub, I would totally get this kit IF it was 600-700. I would not pay 1000+ for it.

If I COULD get a trunk sub in a nice custom side mounted trunk enclosure like i have in my E92 M3, then I would do THAT over this kit any day. Because once you remove some of the bass from the stock system and let the sub make up for it, I personally think it sounds better overall because of the added REAL bass.




Hope that helps.

[OneRib]

ILSMKU that more than helps. Thank you for the detailed review.

It does make me feel better about the kit as it is right now. I won't have my car stateside until late August at best, so I have time. Right now I am hoping that the subs are ready by then. If not, I will give the factory system a chance as is. The sub option is possible for the F80 but I'm leasing and that's farther than I want to go. One of my favorite things about the Bavsound system is that it's plug and play. Makes it easy to swap back out when I'm done. No wire splicing/drilling/cutting required.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by OneRib

ILSMKU that more than helps. Thank you for the detailed review.

It does make me feel better about the kit as it is right now. I won't have my car stateside until late August at best, so I have time. Right now I am hoping that the subs are ready by then. If not, I will give the factory system a chance as is. The sub option is possible for the F80 but I'm leasing and that's farther than I want to go. One of my favorite things about the Bavsound system is that it's plug and play. Makes it easy to swap back out when I'm done. No wire splicing/drilling/cutting required.

You're welcome. Just so you know, the rear sub and amp is also plug and play and in my opinion much easier of an install.

Member "technic" sells everything you need to add an amp and sub. No cutting any stock wires either. But either way you go, you'll be happy.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

You're welcome. Just so you know, the rear sub and amp is also plug and play and in my opinion much easier of an install.

Member "technic" sells everything you need to add an amp and sub. No cutting any stock wires either. But either way you go, you'll be happy.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

[3er]

Technic: Would you mind providing a recommended subwoofer setup for those with and without HK? ILSMKU mentioned that you sell such setups that are plug and play, which certainly peaked my interest.

[Technic]

That would be MusicarNW, I only sell the harnesses...

Originally Posted by 3er

Technic: Would you mind providing a recommended subwoofer setup for those with and without HK? ILSMKU mentioned that you sell such setups that are plug and play, which certainly peaked my interest.

[3er]

FYI: http://musicarnw.com/oe-look-subwoof...-sedan-f30f80/

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by OneRib

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by Technic

That would be MusicarNW, I only sell the harnesses...

Sorry. I should have said Technic sell everything but the actual sub and amp.

Hey Technic, my Dave Navone one off custom LOC is still working flawlessly after all these years.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

Sorry. I should have said Technic sell everything but the actual sub and amp.

Hey Technic, my Dave Navone one off custom LOC is still working flawlessly after all these years.

No worries. I thought that's the setup you were referring to. Plenty of time for me to decide.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

Sorry. I should have said Technic sell everything but the actual sub and amp.

Hey Technic, my Dave Navone one off custom LOC is still working flawlessly after all these years.

[TonySCV]

Thank you for this write-up. This was actually my 3rd BSW/Bavsound install so I felt like a bit of a pro , but the write-up and Bavsound's video were quite helpful.

There are a few big-time gotcha's though that the video does not spend enough time emphasizing or addressing:

- You need to remove the rubber speaker gasket/insulator off of the magnet for the center channel midrange to fit - and don't forget to install the sapcer as well. They mention the gasket briefly on the video and I missed it - this was after watching it twice! So remember to do that. That was an hour of my life I'd like back.

- If you have manual rear sunshades, the F30 video doesn't touch on this at all. To remove the roller shade that is for the rearmost small window on the door (rolls outward toward the left or right), roll down the windows and using the trim removal tool work on the lip on the side nearest the front of the car. They "hinge" on off the window frame. Don't use much pressure. Once it starts to loosen it will be easy to remove. You need to remove that sunshade before you start working on removing the door panel. It will make your life much easier.

- If you have manual side window sunshades, bring a LOT of patience. The tweeter is a BITCH to remove and replace because the sunshade track blocks much of the access. You can loosen the sunshade a little bit near the tweeter to help you with access, but honestly, just be patient, allow a lot of time, use a flashlight to study the bracket, and take a break if you get frustrated. It will fit snugly once it is fit properly. I used the "pick" tool to help me remove the old tweeter.

[Xerxes480]

About two thirds through my stage one install. Biggest problem so far is tweeters REALLY don't want to snap in in the rear doors. I'm to the point I'm worried about breaking something trying to get them in.

Anyone run into this?

X

[3er]

Originally Posted by Xerxes480

About two thirds through my stage one install. Biggest problem so far is tweeters REALLY don't want to snap in in the rear doors. I'm to the point I'm worried about breaking something trying to get them in.

Anyone run into this?

X

I did! I noted it in my write-up, but it's a bit buried in pictures:

"This is a bit hard to see, but I had to cut a small tab off of the tweeter mount on the rear door panels with a box cutter so that the BAVSOUND tweeter would click into place."

[Xerxes480]

Originally Posted by 3er

I did! I noted it in my write-up, but it's a bit buried in pictures:

"This is a bit hard to see, but I had to cut a small tab off of the tweeter mount on the rear door panels with a box cutter so that the BAVSOUND tweeter would click into place."

Thanks! Not sure how I missed that in your write-up. In this picture, is the tab already cut off? I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm cutting.

No other major difficulties (so far) - second biggest PITA has been trying to work around the door panel while it's still attached. Even propped on boxes, it's difficult to work around it. I will say this would be WAY more difficult if not for everyone else here sharing their own experiences. THANK YOU ALL! Hope to finish the install tomorrow. Then we see how many new rattles I have in my doors.

-X-

[3er]

Originally Posted by Xerxes480

Thanks! Not sure how I missed that in your write-up. In this picture, is the tab already cut off? I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm cutting.

No other major difficulties (so far) - second biggest PITA has been trying to work around the door panel while it's still attached. Even propped on boxes, it's difficult to work around it. I will say this would be WAY more difficult if not for everyone else here sharing their own experiences. THANK YOU ALL! Hope to finish the install tomorrow. Then we see how many new rattles I have in my doors.

-X-

I'm having a tough time remembering which one. I recall the it was somewhat clear which tab was holding up the tweeter when trying to snap it in place. The pictures are post-cutting the tab off. I also uploaded a few more and increased the exposure to see if you can compare the post-cut pictures with your own panel. Hopefully you can make it out! Good luck!