Just bought an E39 528i year 2000, reg 2002 from AB this arvo - less than ~125,000km very GC inside and out! Now thinking of upgrading the pitiful sounding std sound systems. Reading the variuos forum, I am considering adding an amp to the std system as stage 1 and later upgrading speakers with additional hideaway sub (Alpine/Kenwood/Infinity) as stage 2 when there is more money.Any suggestions on amp type/brand to drive all the speakers - 3 way front & 2 way rear, I think from memory (will not get the car for until end month - need to get NCB letter, loan etc sorted out first).From the all you memebers that have gone down this path - any suggestions? Looking for a cleaner/brighter sound.I am pretty handy with electronics so would probably DIY the install unless I can get someone to do it well without chopping my neck!Thanks for any infor/assistance.
E39 Year 2000 Amp Upgrade
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Vanquish
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Hi bro,
Congrats on your new purchase. The E39 is an excellent platform for ICE upgrade ... even if it's just simple one. Great build quality and the cabin is super quiet even at high speeds.
Now, on to your little problem. It looks like your long term plan is to have a full after-market setup eventually in your car ( amp/s, speakers and a sub maybe ) so you'll need to buy hardwares which will grow with your system and not succumb to impulse driven purchases ...
First things first, I believe that your E39 mite just have an OEM Alpine amp (factory fitted) in the boot beside the changer - other CKD E39 owners, please chime in and confirm this. But I've heard it in my pal's car and it's only so-so in terms of quality. So, you need to look at aftermarket amps if you're serious about sound. However, there are some factors that you'll need to take into factor -
1. Front speaker setup - some E39s have a 3 way front while others are just 2 way. Either way, 5.5 inch mid bass in the door parcel, 2 inch mid units in the upper door parcel near the aircond vent and the tweeters in their housing at the edge of the A pillar are the standard equipment if the E39 comes with a 3 way front setup. Cars with a 2 way set up will not have the 2 inch mid units however. Now, if your plans are to replace this totally, you will need to hunt for a 3 way component set that has a similar range of drivers. Or, you can eschew the 2 inch mid unit and go for the regular and easier to source 2 way component sets. Either way, the stock door parcel takes nothing bigger than a 5.5 inch mid bass unless you're planning to fabricate customs door pods or kick panels. Your choice ....
P/S - speaker types and brands are rather subjective and differ from one individual to another. I'm not sure if you're the type who likes your music loud, bright and with lots of detail or someone who prefers a more natural but realistic sounding - well defined instruments, vocals while being able to withstand long hours of play without irritating your ears. We'll get to brands and types of speakers once you've answered this part.
2. Once you've decided which speaker set up you're going with, you can start looking at the amps for the job. My thought is to always go with the most powerful amp for your budget - you can never have enough power and more power means more headroom. Now, assuming you go with the 3 way front component set, you need an amp that produces about 75-100W RMS of power - 3 way components needs more juice to sound good unlike their 2 way siblings. A decent amp with about 75W x 4 output will do if you're the type who does not listen to his music at high levels. So, 2 channels goes to the front speakers and the other 2 can be feed for your sub - when you get one.
3. Rear speakers - Stock location holds a pair of co-ax speakers if I'm not wrong. I'd change this to a matching pair of co-ax from the same brand as the front speakers brand / type for uniformity sake. Since these are mainly for rear-fill sound, you can opt to run them off the HU's power if needed .... unless rear speaker output is important to you.
4. Sub - what is your preference ? A traditional 10 or 12 inch in a sealed/ported enclosure/bass tube or space saving self-powered mini-sub with its own enclosure. The first one will need power to run - 2 channels bridged from your amplifier should take care of this. You can also run a bass tube ( saves space with decent bass output ) in a similar manner. The second one is ideal if you want something small and can be tucked away in a corner of your boot and still provides a decent amount of bass for general listening. A built in amplifier handles the power requirements - which frees up the 2 channels from your amp for other purposes.
A word of caution - I'm not sure how well versed you are with the E39 wiring and onboard electronics but unless you're absolutely sure of doing this DIY, my advise would be to find a competent installer who's is able to handle the task efficiently and spare you of any electronic gremlins later. The E39 is a rather complex car with the amount of wires/cables/wiring looms running around, sensors, fuses and etc hence due care must be exercised. Neway, feel free to speak to the others here who's ICEd up their E39s - Alvin, Yazid, WJ and the rest should be able to share their experience with you.
Hope that I've been of some help ....
Cheers,
.
Congrats on your new purchase. The E39 is an excellent platform for ICE upgrade ... even if it's just simple one. Great build quality and the cabin is super quiet even at high speeds.
Now, on to your little problem. It looks like your long term plan is to have a full after-market setup eventually in your car ( amp/s, speakers and a sub maybe ) so you'll need to buy hardwares which will grow with your system and not succumb to impulse driven purchases ...
First things first, I believe that your E39 mite just have an OEM Alpine amp (factory fitted) in the boot beside the changer - other CKD E39 owners, please chime in and confirm this. But I've heard it in my pal's car and it's only so-so in terms of quality. So, you need to look at aftermarket amps if you're serious about sound. However, there are some factors that you'll need to take into factor -
1. Front speaker setup - some E39s have a 3 way front while others are just 2 way. Either way, 5.5 inch mid bass in the door parcel, 2 inch mid units in the upper door parcel near the aircond vent and the tweeters in their housing at the edge of the A pillar are the standard equipment if the E39 comes with a 3 way front setup. Cars with a 2 way set up will not have the 2 inch mid units however. Now, if your plans are to replace this totally, you will need to hunt for a 3 way component set that has a similar range of drivers. Or, you can eschew the 2 inch mid unit and go for the regular and easier to source 2 way component sets. Either way, the stock door parcel takes nothing bigger than a 5.5 inch mid bass unless you're planning to fabricate customs door pods or kick panels. Your choice ....
P/S - speaker types and brands are rather subjective and differ from one individual to another. I'm not sure if you're the type who likes your music loud, bright and with lots of detail or someone who prefers a more natural but realistic sounding - well defined instruments, vocals while being able to withstand long hours of play without irritating your ears. We'll get to brands and types of speakers once you've answered this part.
2. Once you've decided which speaker set up you're going with, you can start looking at the amps for the job. My thought is to always go with the most powerful amp for your budget - you can never have enough power and more power means more headroom. Now, assuming you go with the 3 way front component set, you need an amp that produces about 75-100W RMS of power - 3 way components needs more juice to sound good unlike their 2 way siblings. A decent amp with about 75W x 4 output will do if you're the type who does not listen to his music at high levels. So, 2 channels goes to the front speakers and the other 2 can be feed for your sub - when you get one.
3. Rear speakers - Stock location holds a pair of co-ax speakers if I'm not wrong. I'd change this to a matching pair of co-ax from the same brand as the front speakers brand / type for uniformity sake. Since these are mainly for rear-fill sound, you can opt to run them off the HU's power if needed .... unless rear speaker output is important to you.
4. Sub - what is your preference ? A traditional 10 or 12 inch in a sealed/ported enclosure/bass tube or space saving self-powered mini-sub with its own enclosure. The first one will need power to run - 2 channels bridged from your amplifier should take care of this. You can also run a bass tube ( saves space with decent bass output ) in a similar manner. The second one is ideal if you want something small and can be tucked away in a corner of your boot and still provides a decent amount of bass for general listening. A built in amplifier handles the power requirements - which frees up the 2 channels from your amp for other purposes.
A word of caution - I'm not sure how well versed you are with the E39 wiring and onboard electronics but unless you're absolutely sure of doing this DIY, my advise would be to find a competent installer who's is able to handle the task efficiently and spare you of any electronic gremlins later. The E39 is a rather complex car with the amount of wires/cables/wiring looms running around, sensors, fuses and etc hence due care must be exercised. Neway, feel free to speak to the others here who's ICEd up their E39s - Alvin, Yazid, WJ and the rest should be able to share their experience with you.
Hope that I've been of some help ....
Cheers,
.
wirelessjunkie
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Give Simon Teh from Tehnichi a buzz. No harm for a free opinion.
I actually thought that the standard set up (no additonal amp) was OK where clarity was concerned. Mine came with mid and tweeter in front and mid in the rear. What was really lacking was the bass.
I added on and a 10" sub and an amp to drive the sub (placed next to the CD changer in the boot)and I'm quite happy with the set up. A couple of points to note, the sub needs to be in an enclosure so you'll loose some boot space and since the E39 is so well insulated, you cannot get the effect of the sub placed in the boot. There rear parcel shelf metal deck (accessed from the boot) has 2 pre cut circular sections about 5" dia. (for the original sub woofers from factory), remove at least one for the sound waves to be transmitted into the pasenger compartment.
Hope this helps
I added on and a 10" sub and an amp to drive the sub (placed next to the CD changer in the boot)and I'm quite happy with the set up. A couple of points to note, the sub needs to be in an enclosure so you'll loose some boot space and since the E39 is so well insulated, you cannot get the effect of the sub placed in the boot. There rear parcel shelf metal deck (accessed from the boot) has 2 pre cut circular sections about 5" dia. (for the original sub woofers from factory), remove at least one for the sound waves to be transmitted into the pasenger compartment.
Hope this helps
wirelessjunkie
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I'm heading to Tehnichi tomorrow morning to drop off my car. I can meet you there at 9:30am if you like. You can sample his E39 complete with Phass amps etc..
AstroCreep
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BMWE39KL, publicbus,
The best is to get it done by the pros = go to a proper, good shop. I've heard few times about the shop mentioned by previous forumer, but never been there myself (where ah?)
If you want to wire it up yourselves, it can be a headache. I'm still yet to fully understand the different colour coded wires, but am happy to share with you what I've discovered. Initially installed by one of the good shops, but then rewired them a bit myself. We can meet up somewhere for TT, during daytime.
Mine is '98 E39 528, full spec with SatNav and DSP.
The best is to get it done by the pros = go to a proper, good shop. I've heard few times about the shop mentioned by previous forumer, but never been there myself (where ah?)
If you want to wire it up yourselves, it can be a headache. I'm still yet to fully understand the different colour coded wires, but am happy to share with you what I've discovered. Initially installed by one of the good shops, but then rewired them a bit myself. We can meet up somewhere for TT, during daytime.
Mine is '98 E39 528, full spec with SatNav and DSP.
bimmer73
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BMWE39KL said:
Dude
If you can afford it maintain the standard stereo change to
1. Front 4' Mid Bass with separarte tweeters + 1 500 watts Amplifier (Kenwood/ MB Quarts)
2. Rear 4' Mid Bass 2 way or Component speakers with separate tweeters on the rear door panel + 1 500watts Amplifier
3. 1 Pcs 10" Soundstream for subs + 1 750 watts Amp.
4. Caliber Pre Amp. for individual control for the front, rear and the subs.
should cost you around RM3500 or more depending on what brands you are using.
