[jmciver]

I just did a speaker upgrade using the Bavsound Stage 1 kit and Ghost Subwoofer upgrade to my factory Harmon Kardon system and thought I would post a partial DIY. I say partial DIY because this upgrade has been documented on the G05 X5 forum, the X5 and X7 are very similar, and Bavsound has a good DIY video for the G05 X5. However, Bavsound does not technically offer a kit for the X7 yet, but you can still order the components so this partial DIY will explain some of the differences between the X5 and X7 install. Also, Bavsound technically does not offer a Ghost subwoofer option for the X5 either, yet many have installed them. I will cover that a bit later as well.

First, if you are interested in this sound upgrade and you have not seen the Bavsound G05 X5 install video, you should take a look. As I mentioned above, the X5 and X7 installs are very similar so my pics and discussion below will make more sense once you have seen this video:

Also take a look at this thread on the X5 forum by a member who installed the Bavsound Ghost Subwoofers:

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1751932

If you made it this far, the next question you should ask yourself is why should I do this upgrade? Well, it depends. To quote another forum member, if your hearing can't tell the difference between a $10 transistor radio and a $10k sound system - this is not for you. But you don't need to be an audiophile to appreciate a good sound system. I was actually "ok" with the HK system in the X7 (it is better than the HK system in my M3), but I wanted something more. This upgrade gave me what I was looking for - more clear and crisp sound with tighter bass; that can be played at louder levels without distortion. Ok, now on to the partial DIY..

1. The install of the dash center channel speakers and the front door speakers in the X7 is exactly the same as the X5. The only thing I did slightly different is I wrapped most of the new speaker wiring in Tesa Tape, which is a cloth tape that car manufactures use on wire harnesses to help prevent rattles. My OCD when it comes to rattles is pretty high so I did not want to do all of this work, only to have a small rattle show up somewhere. But the Tesa Tape is not absolutely necessary for this upgrade.

The pic below shows the wiring for the front passenger door (the new speaker is just out of the pic on the bottom). The blue arrow is the factory tweeter wire taped up. The red arrow is new Bavsound tweeter wire going to the new tweeter, and the yellow arrow is the Bavsound capacitor/filter for the new tweeter tucked away - all wrapped in Tesa Tape. Again, the basic install on the front doors for the X7 is the same as the X5.



The first area that is different from the X5 is the rear doors. The speaker mounting bracket of the X7 must be modified in order to fit the new Bavsound speaker. The picture below is the bracket installed on the door with the factory speaker removed. The arrow is where a notch needs to be cut to make room for the speaker terminals on the new speaker. The circles are the two T20 torx screws and a clip that will allow you to remove the bracket from the door for the modification on the bench. The harness connector that is clipped on the bracket will slide off (downward) with light force.



The next few pics show why the bracket must be modified (interference with the speaker terminals), the modified bracket with the notch cut in it, and the final result with the speaker installed on the bracket on the bench and on the door. I used a Dremel tool to make the notch in the plastic bracket.









This next picture shows the final tweeter install on the rear door panel, which is similar to the X5. The left arrow shows where I coiled up the excess tweeter wire and put it in the spot where the factory capacitor/filter went. The right arrow shows where I mounted the Bavsound capacitor/filter - again all wrapped in Tesa Tape. I also used double sided tape to hold the new tweeter capacitor/filter in place.




The next set of pictures are for the D-pillar speaker install. Of note, if you are upgrading from the standard HiFi system speakers, there will not be any speakers installed in this location. This is also very similar to the X5 except for how the trim panel is mounted. Since I have the alcantara headliner, I wore latex gloves for this part as to not potentially damage the alcantara with skin oils. The trim panel is held in place by one T30 torx screw under the AIRBAG cap (yellow arrow), and three clips (circles). Use a plastic trim removal tool to pop out the AIRBAG cap, then loosen the screw. Once done, pop off the trim piece at the corners where the clips are located, just like on the X5.






With the trim panel removed, the speaker bracket is exposed. It is held in place by three 8mm hex screws at the location in the pic below. The one on the left is behind the seat belt, the one on the right is behind that small piece of foam insulation.




Once the bracket is removed, the mid range and tweeter is swapped just like in the X5 install video. The picture below shows where I mounted the new capacitor/filter with double sided tape (right arrow) and the tweeter connector harness wrapped in Tesa Tape (left arrow). Install is reverse of removal.




The last part of this DIY is for the Ghost subwoofer install. As I mentioned above, Bavsound technically does not have a subwoofer option for the X5 (and by proxy the X7). This is because the modification necessary to make it work is not that plug-n-play and can cause damage to the factory subwoofer enclosure. But, their Ghost subs do work in the factory enclosure and there have been several G05 X5 owners (and at least one X7 owner ) who have successfully installed these subwoofers.

At the time of this post, if you would like to order a set of Ghost subs for your HK equipped X7, you will need to order the Ghost Subs for a HK equipped G20 3-Series. Below are a few pics and notes to help those who may want to attempt the subwoofer install as well.

To get to the subwoofer, you need to unbolt the four T50 torx bolts that hold down the seat. On the front two bolts, there are some decorative covers that must be removed. They clip in place on the edge of the seat rails, they are a PITA to remove, and the probability of breaking the clips on them is moderate (I broke a few) even though I followed the factory procedures to remove them. However, they clipped back on just fine (I may buy replacements, but I am in no rush). Once the front two bolts are out, slide the seat all the way forward and remove the rear two bolts.

This bit is important, the tightening torque for the bolts when re-installing the seat is 42nm (31 ft lbs). Every thread I saw on the X5 forum on this topic kept listing 45 ft lbs as the torque spec. I checked it using my BMW factory procedures (BMW ISTA) and it listed 42 nm as the spec for the X7 (and presumably the X5, but I did not check).

The pics below show the seat lifted out of the way and the speaker grill removed. You will need to pull up the carpet a bit to access the four 10mm nuts that hold down the factory enclosure. Disconnect the wire harness, and wiggle out the subwoofer enclosure





Once out of the X7, remove the top bracket (held in place by four T20 torx screws) and set aside for now. Now comes the fun part, break out your heat gun, turn it on low, and rotate it in a circle around the top edge of the subwoofer, keeping the tip of the heat gun 1-2 in from the edge. You want to rotate the heat gun at 7-8 sec per revolution. The idea here is to heat up the adhesive that secures the woofer to the enclosure, but not melt the plastic enclosure. Do this for 4-5 min and the adhesive should be soft enough to remove the factory sub.



There are four tabs that also help to hold the subwoofer in place (first pic with subwoofer removed, arrows point to the tabs). Once the edge has been heated, gently pry out on these tabs while the plastic is still a bit soft - but not all the way or too hard. It is not the end of the world if they break, but it is better if you don't (I didn't break any). Next, take your flat head screwdriver and begin to pry in the areas below, starting on one side. The idea here is to slowly wedge the screw driver between the enclosure and the factory subwoofer. Be patient, using moderate force with the screwdriver and slowly pry out the tabs on the same side you are prying with the screwdriver. The factory sub will slowly detach from the enclosure, and you will have a fully functional factory sub AND enclosure (last pic). There is no need to separate the top half of the factory sub (as some others have done, thus destroying your factory sub) in order to remove the factory sub from the enclosure.










Next, place the new Ghost sub in the enclosure (it will snap into place if you did not break those tabs I mentioned earlier). Then screw it down with the four self tapping screws provided at each corner. Either do this by hand with a screwdriver or very carefully/slowly with a drill/driver as you don't want to strip the holes with the self taping screws. I added a ring of Tesa tape on the edge to help prevent the possibility of rattles when the top bracket is replaced.



Because the Ghost sub is thicker than the factory sub, the top bracket will not sit flush on the mounting holes. There will be a 1/4 in gap or so. Others have just screwed the bracket back in place, bending the tabs to fit. I wanted to have a better fit so I raided my "junk fastener drawer" (doesn't everybody have one ??) to find a spacer that would work and found some rubber grommets that were the perfect size.








With the rubber grommet standoffs installed, the top bracket screwed down with a factory fit on the new sub. Then just re-install in the X7, button everything up, and repeat on the other side.






Overall, I thought this was a pretty straight forward DIY install. The only real noteworthy difference between the X5 install is the modification necessary on the rear door speaker bracket. The Ghost subwoofer install is a bit more challenging as it requires the patient use of a heat gun (a hair dryer could work but would take longer due to less heat), but it is not that hard and is the same for the X5.

Hope this helps any fellow X7 owners who are looking to upgrade their sound system (especially those who got stuck with the HiFi system due to the chip shortage). I tried to cover all of the differences between the X5 install, but if I missed something or if clarification is needed, let me know.

Thanks and enjoy!

[Phasers]

As someone whose X7 is coming with the base Hi-Fi system, thank you!

How much did this run you?

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Phasers

As someone whose X7 is coming with the base Hi-Fi system, thank you!

How much did this run you?

According to their site, the standard price for the Stage 1 kit is $897 if upgrading a HK system and $647 if upgrading a HiFi system. The Ghost Subwoofer kit, which replaces the two underseat subs, is $557. They typically run special discounts from time to time, like Black Friday, etc.

Also, there is no need to upgrade the speakers and subs at the same time. A common recommendation is to upgrade the subs first, as that is where the system typically lacks more according to many (and I would agree), then upgrade the speakers later if you think you want/need it. In my case, I did the entire install over the weekend in parts, installing the speakers first on Sat then the subs on Sun. The system definitely came "alive" with just the speakers upgraded, but made the bass sound even worse (more muffled IMHO). When I installed the subs the next day the system sounded more complete and balanced.

So if you don't want to do the entire upgrade at once, I would recommend you do the subs first.

[crackerjack15]

Awesome writeup! How about where to hook up an external subwoofer? I have an infinity baselink that will accept high level inputs, but when I tried to tap off of subs under the seats it won't work. The factory subs must be servo controlled because they have constant voltage.

[Mail4loys]

thanks for documenting it for us to refer

[djbonsu]

Thanks for this jmciver ! I am looking to swap the Ghost subs in the future. I know the sound is pretty subjective but what are you overall impressions with the complete system? I know you say the HK system came alive but in what way?

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by crackerjack15

Awesome writeup! How about where to hook up an external subwoofer? I have an infinity baselink that will accept high level inputs, but when I tried to tap off of subs under the seats it won't work. The factory subs must be servo controlled because they have constant voltage.

Unfortunately, hooking up an external subwoofer will require a special interface to the stock amplifier - and don’t know of a specific product that can do it. I know Bavsound does have an aftermarket replacement amp that could do that with the older BMW HK and HiFi systems, but as far as I know, they don’t have one for the current BMW sound systems yet.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by djbonsu

Thanks for this jmciver ! I am looking to swap the Ghost subs in the future. I know the sound is pretty subjective but what are you overall impressions with the complete system? I know you say the HK system came alive but in what way?

The best way I can describe it, which is similar to what others have said, is that the mids and highs became more crisp and clear, with less distortion especially with higher volume. The bass also became more defined, tighter and stronger (i.e. more "thump"). Also, I found that the sound was better overall (like I described above) with completely flat EQ settings and the bass and treble at the mid points. When I tweaked my EQ, bass and treble settings back to my pre-install settings - the system really came alive to me. I actually turned down the treble a bit as well, from my pre-install settings, since the higher frequencies are more clear with the Bavsound speakers. I kept the bass a bit high (at me pre-install level) as I prefer a bit more bass with the music I listen to, but now the bass sounds better, like I described above.

One thing I will add is that your sound source makes a difference. For example, Sirius XM sounded better than the "free" Pandora I would stream as the Sirius XM sound is a better quality (higher bit rate) than the free Pandora (lower bit rate) IIRC - but all sound sources sounded better overall. As you mentioned, describing sound quality is very subjective and can be hard to quantify. But I am very pleased with the sound improvement. The system is supposed to sound better as the speakers break in, especially the subs. According to Bavsound, the subs need approx 20 hrs of "break in" before they reach their full potential. Hope this helps some.

[jmciver]

So I have a few other thoughts I would like to add regarding the Ghost Sub performance, in particular in the X7, now that I have listened to them daily for about a week now. If in your youth, you liked having subs in your car that could be heard thumping several blocks away (I can neither confirm nor deny I did this ), the Ghost subs will definitely not scratch that itch. However, if you do enjoy and/or prefer additional bass when you listen to your music, the Ghost subs are a great improvement over the stock HK subs. Even with the bass turned up completely, the stock HK subs were just "ok" to me as far as "thump" was concerned. But I never did turn up the bass to max because distortion would kick in above the midway point.

While I don't like the bass as loud as I did in my youth, I still like to feel some "rumble" in the X7 when I listen to my music. The fact that the X7 is built like a coffin when it comes to the interior acoustics further enhances the bass effect of the subs IMHO (probably more so than other BMW models that don't have the same level of quieting). So if you would like to have increased yet "civilized and mature" bass for your X7, the Ghost subs alone may be a good investment for you …

One caveat I have regarding my experience is the HK amp vs the HiFi amp. The HK amp is more powerful than the HiFi amp and I don't have any experience with the Ghost subs in a BMW with the HiFI amp. I am sure the Ghost subs will sound better than stock with either stock amp option. But it stands to reason that the Ghost subs will sound "better" with the HK amp than the HiFi amp. How much better? I don't know and of course that can be very subjective as well.

[Angelo_GraysonMiniBMW]

To make the hi-if system much better, is it just a matter of adding an amp and replacing all the speakers?Bmw salesperson said if any wires are cut, it would void the warranty of electronic systems. Based on that, my only options are the plug and play bimmertech and bavsound. No idea which is the better system

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Angelo1

To make the hi-if system much better, is it just a matter of adding an amp and replacing all the speakers?Bmw salesperson said if any wires are cut, it would void the warranty of electronic systems. Based on that, my only options are the plug and play bimmertech and bavsound. No idea which is the better system

I will speculate that both aftermarket sound upgrades are comparable, but I only have experience with Bavsound and I have been happy with the performance upgrade. Regarding your warranty, the sales person is using some basic fear tactics about aftermarket upgrades to the car and the warranty. However, in general, the less “hacking” you can do to the car’s wiring, the better. So the PnP options by Bavsound or Bimmertech offer are good options when it comes to ease of install (and removal) and the warranty.

However, the weakest link in the base HiFi system is the amp, IMHO. So if you were to do the sound upgrade in stages, I would do the amp first. Also, since modern BMWs get vehicle software upgrades more routinely, should you decide to swap out your amp, you should verify with either Bimmertech or Bavsound (whichever one you decide to go with) if there will be any issues with their amp being installed and a software update. Sometimes car software updates have issues if one of the components/modules is missing - and the amp is a component/module that can get factory/dealer updates from time to time.

[Angelo_GraysonMiniBMW]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will call BavSound tomorrow and see what they recommend. Thank you

[Xtabi]

Originally Posted by jmciver

I just did a speaker upgrade using the Bavsound Stage 1 kit and Ghost Subwoofer upgrade to my factory Harmon Kardon system and thought I would post a partial DIY. I say partial DIY because this upgrade has been documented on the G05 X5 forum, the X5 and X7 are very similar, and Bavsound has a good DIY video for the G05 X5. However, Bavsound does not technically offer a kit for the X7 yet, but you can still order the components so this partial DIY will explain some of the differences between the X5 and X7 install. Also, Bavsound technically does not offer a Ghost subwoofer option for the X5 either, yet many have installed them. I will cover that a bit later as well.

First, if you are interested in this sound upgrade and you have not seen the Bavsound G05 X5 install video, you should take a look. As I mentioned above, the X5 and X7 installs are very similar so my pics and discussion below will make more sense once you have seen this video:

Also take a look at this thread on the X5 forum by a member who installed the Bavsound Ghost Subwoofers:

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1751932

If you made it this far, the next question you should ask yourself is why should I do this upgrade? Well, it depends. To quote another forum member, if your hearing can't tell the difference between a $10 transistor radio and a $10k sound system - this is not for you. But you don't need to be an audiophile to appreciate a good sound system. I was actually "ok" with the HK system in the X7 (it is better than the HK system in my M3), but I wanted something more. This upgrade gave me what I was looking for - more clear and crisp sound with tighter bass; that can be played at louder levels without distortion. Ok, now on to the partial DIY..

1. The install of the dash center channel speakers and the front door speakers in the X7 is exactly the same as the X5. The only thing I did slightly different is I wrapped most of the new speaker wiring in Tesa Tape, which is a cloth tape that car manufactures use on wire harnesses to help prevent rattles. My OCD when it comes to rattles is pretty high so I did not want to do all of this work, only to have a small rattle show up somewhere. But the Tesa Tape is not absolutely necessary for this upgrade.

The pic below shows the wiring for the front passenger door (the new speaker is just out of the pic on the bottom). The blue arrow is the factory tweeter wire taped up. The red arrow is new Bavsound tweeter wire going to the new tweeter, and the yellow arrow is the Bavsound capacitor/filter for the new tweeter tucked away - all wrapped in Tesa Tape. Again, the basic install on the front doors for the X7 is the same as the X5.



The first area that is different from the X5 is the rear doors. The speaker mounting bracket of the X7 must be modified in order to fit the new Bavsound speaker. The picture below is the bracket installed on the door with the factory speaker removed. The arrow is where a notch needs to be cut to make room for the speaker terminals on the new speaker. The circles are the two T20 torx screws and a clip that will allow you to remove the bracket from the door for the modification on the bench. The harness connector that is clipped on the bracket will slide off (downward) with light force.



The next few pics show why the bracket must be modified (interference with the speaker terminals), the modified bracket with the notch cut in it, and the final result with the speaker installed on the bracket on the bench and on the door. I used a Dremel tool to make the notch in the plastic bracket.









This next picture shows the final tweeter install on the rear door panel, which is similar to the X5. The left arrow shows where I coiled up the excess tweeter wire and put it in the spot where the factory capacitor/filter went. The right arrow shows where I mounted the Bavsound capacitor/filter - again all wrapped in Tesa Tape. I also used double sided tape to hold the new tweeter capacitor/filter in place.




The next set of pictures are for the D-pillar speaker install. Of note, if you are upgrading from the standard HiFi system speakers, there will not be any speakers installed in this location. This is also very similar to the X5 except for how the trim panel is mounted. Since I have the alcantara headliner, I wore latex gloves for this part as to not potentially damage the alcantara with skin oils. The trim panel is held in place by one T30 torx screw under the AIRBAG cap (yellow arrow), and three clips (circles). Use a plastic trim removal tool to pop out the AIRBAG cap, then loosen the screw. Once done, pop off the trim piece at the corners where the clips are located, just like on the X5.






With the trim panel removed, the speaker bracket is exposed. It is held in place by three 8mm hex screws at the location in the pic below. The one on the left is behind the seat belt, the one on the right is behind that small piece of foam insulation.




Once the bracket is removed, the mid range and tweeter is swapped just like in the X5 install video. The picture below shows where I mounted the new capacitor/filter with double sided tape (right arrow) and the tweeter connector harness wrapped in Tesa Tape (left arrow). Install is reverse of removal.




The last part of this DIY is for the Ghost subwoofer install. As I mentioned above, Bavsound technically does not have a subwoofer option for the X5 (and by proxy the X7). This is because the modification necessary to make it work is not that plug-n-play and can cause damage to the factory subwoofer enclosure. But, their Ghost subs do work in the factory enclosure and there have been several G05 X5 owners (and at least one X7 owner ) who have successfully installed these subwoofers.

At the time of this post, if you would like to order a set of Ghost subs for your HK equipped X7, you will need to order the Ghost Subs for a HK equipped G20 3-Series. Below are a few pics and notes to help those who may want to attempt the subwoofer install as well.

To get to the subwoofer, you need to unbolt the four T50 torx bolts that hold down the seat. On the front two bolts, there are some decorative covers that must be removed. They clip in place on the edge of the seat rails, they are a PITA to remove, and the probability of breaking the clips on them is moderate (I broke a few) even though I followed the factory procedures to remove them. However, they clipped back on just fine (I may buy replacements, but I am in no rush). Once the front two bolts are out, slide the seat all the way forward and remove the rear two bolts.

This bit is important, the tightening torque for the bolts when re-installing the seat is 42nm (31 ft lbs). Every thread I saw on the X5 forum on this topic kept listing 45 ft lbs as the torque spec. I checked it using my BMW factory procedures (BMW ISTA) and it listed 42 nm as the spec for the X7 (and presumably the X5, but I did not check).

The pics below show the seat lifted out of the way and the speaker grill removed. You will need to pull up the carpet a bit to access the four 10mm nuts that hold down the factory enclosure. Disconnect the wire harness, and wiggle out the subwoofer enclosure





Once out of the X7, remove the top bracket (held in place by four T20 torx screws) and set aside for now. Now comes the fun part, break out your heat gun, turn it on low, and rotate it in a circle around the top edge of the subwoofer, keeping the tip of the heat gun 1-2 in from the edge. You want to rotate the heat gun at 7-8 sec per revolution. The idea here is to heat up the adhesive that secures the woofer to the enclosure, but not melt the plastic enclosure. Do this for 4-5 min and the adhesive should be soft enough to remove the factory sub.



There are four tabs that also help to hold the subwoofer in place (first pic with subwoofer removed, arrows point to the tabs). Once the edge has been heated, gently pry out on these tabs while the plastic is still a bit soft - but not all the way or too hard. It is not the end of the world if they break, but it is better if you don't (I didn't break any). Next, take your flat head screwdriver and begin to pry in the areas below, starting on one side. The idea here is to slowly wedge the screw driver between the enclosure and the factory subwoofer. Be patient, using moderate force with the screwdriver and slowly pry out the tabs on the same side you are prying with the screwdriver. The factory sub will slowly detach from the enclosure, and you will have a fully functional factory sub AND enclosure (last pic). There is no need to separate the top half of the factory sub (as some others have done, thus destroying your factory sub) in order to remove the factory sub from the enclosure.










Next, place the new Ghost sub in the enclosure (it will snap into place if you did not break those tabs I mentioned earlier). Then screw it down with the four self tapping screws provided at each corner. Either do this by hand with a screwdriver or very carefully/slowly with a drill/driver as you don't want to strip the holes with the self taping screws. I added a ring of Tesa tape on the edge to help prevent the possibility of rattles when the top bracket is replaced.



Because the Ghost sub is thicker than the factory sub, the top bracket will not sit flush on the mounting holes. There will be a 1/4 in gap or so. Others have just screwed the bracket back in place, bending the tabs to fit. I wanted to have a better fit so I raided my "junk fastener drawer" (doesn't everybody have one ??) to find a spacer that would work and found some rubber grommets that were the perfect size.








With the rubber grommet standoffs installed, the top bracket screwed down with a factory fit on the new sub. Then just re-install in the X7, button everything up, and repeat on the other side.






Overall, I thought this was a pretty straight forward DIY install. The only real noteworthy difference between the X5 install is the modification necessary on the rear door speaker bracket. The Ghost subwoofer install is a bit more challenging as it requires the patient use of a heat gun (a hair dryer could work but would take longer due to less heat), but it is not that hard and is the same for the X5.

Hope this helps any fellow X7 owners who are looking to upgrade their sound system (especially those who got stuck with the HiFi system due to the chip shortage). I tried to cover all of the differences between the X5 install, but if I missed something or if clarification is needed, let me know.

Thanks and enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time to make the detailed post!

On a side note I upgraded to the ghost subs in my f80 many years ago. Huge difference in sound. I love the HK + Ghost subs in that car.

Not being able to get the HK in the X7 is one of the things holding me back from ordering one. And now hearing that it sounds even better than the HK in the F80 is hardening my resolve to continue to wait.

[Angelo_GraysonMiniBMW]

Originally Posted by Xtabi

Thanks for taking the time to make the detailed post!

On a side note I upgraded to the ghost subs in my f80 many years ago. Huge difference in sound. I love the HK + Ghost subs in that car.

Not being able to get the HK in the X7 is one of the things holding me back from ordering one. And now hearing that it sounds even better than the HK in the F80 is hardening my resolve to continue to wait.

Exactly why I decided to lease the X7 instead of buying it. I confirmed if you add an amp it could cause a warranty problem. Not worth the hassle/risk. Also, taking all the panels off is another risk of damaged clips, material and possibly creaking new creaking sounds. I’ll just lease mine and wait out the supply shortage and regroup in 36mo on exactly what I want. However, I have test driven so many new suvs, GLS, JGC summit reserve L(great sound system and amenities) terrible engine, Audi Q7, etc. and the X7 just out drives them all and feels so much better in the cockpit. That alone is at least enough for me to get over the crappy 10 speaker Audio system.

[Xtabi]

Originally Posted by Angelo1

Exactly why I decided to lease the X7 instead of buying it. I confirmed if you add an amp it could cause a warranty problem. Not worth the hassle/risk. Also, taking all the panels off is another risk of damaged clips, material and possibly creaking new creaking sounds. I’ll just lease mine and wait out the supply shortage and regroup in 36mo on exactly what I want. However, I have test driven so many new suvs, GLS, JGC summit reserve L(great sound system and amenities) terrible engine, Audi Q7, etc. and the X7 just out drives them all and feels so much better in the cockpit. That alone is at least enough for me to get over the crappy 10 speaker Audio system.

Makes sense.

[gomori922]

I wonder if we can buy a woofer mount separately so we don’t have to go through a hassle of using heatgun.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by gomori922

I wonder if we can buy a woofer mount separately so we don’t have to go through a hassle of using heatgun.

Not possible, at least not as a separate BMW part. The part numbers for the underseat woofers are for the composite unit - woofer and enclosure. Theoretically it is possible if you could find the company that manufactures the enclosure for BMW. But even if you could find said company, there is no guarantee they would sell it to you.

So your best alternative would be the used parts/junk yard route.

[wh1te]

Why you chose bavsound over bimmertech? I saw bimmertech have and ampliefiers

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by wh1te

Why you chose bavsound over bimmertech? I saw bimmertech have and ampliefiers

At the time, price. I would consider Bavsound and BimmerTech comparable sound upgrades.

As far as amplifier options from either are concerned, neither of them have one that is it compatible with G-series cars like the X7 with HK - at least not yet.

[Lando X]

Originally Posted by Angelo1

Exactly why I decided to lease the X7 instead of buying it. I confirmed if you add an amp it could cause a warranty problem. Not worth the hassle/risk. Also, taking all the panels off is another risk of damaged clips, material and possibly creaking new creaking sounds. I'll just lease mine and wait out the supply shortage and regroup in 36mo on exactly what I want. However, I have test driven so many new suvs, GLS, JGC summit reserve L(great sound system and amenities) terrible engine, Audi Q7, etc. and the X7 just out drives them all and feels so much better in the cockpit. That alone is at least enough for me to get over the crappy 10 speaker Audio system.

I wanted to follow-up on this point as a fellow x7 owner seriously considering doing this.

The bimmertech amp as an example, is plug & play (if coming from hifi 676 option) and matches the existing wiring harness one to one I'm told. If you don't cut wires and just plug it in wondering how that could void the warranty. Bmw wouldn't even be able to tell the difference unless they physically looked in the compartment which unsure would ever happen based on it's trunk location. More importantly though, my understanding is they would need to prove that the aftermarket components caused the problem per something called the Moss act. Blindly saying it voids the warranted would be a violation that you could report to the ftc.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...ne-maintenance

Many people have made these switches so interested in if other's have any actual experiences with the dealer not fixing things because of one of these installs and proving the amp or speakers were to blame being the are basically recipients of the signal (and just to clarify, if you blow the factory speakers out because you put a more powerful amp in then bmw could say we aren't replacing those speakers because of what the more powerful amp did and in that scenario it would be on you) .

[jmciver]

The Bavsound and BimmerTech amp options for the HiFi (676) systems are well designed amp options. That, combined with their PnP design will essentially make the worst case scenario you are describing (blowing speakers, damaging other electronics, etc.) a non-issue. So I would not worry about that.

I think the real concern would be software updates. The current G-series BMWs get routine factory software updates (1-2 times a year), via the Over the Air (OTA) process. These OTA updates can update some or all of the modules in the car - the amp is one of these modules that could receive an update. In the previous F-series BMWs, if a module was "missing" (or replaced by an aftermarket component), the software update for the entire car would fail because that one module was missing. I have not heard if this is specifically the case with G-series cars, but logic stands to reason that an OTA update of a G-series car with an aftermarket amp installed could also fail.

Lack of OTA software updates is not necessarily the end of the world as the car will still function without them. But since modern cars, like the X7, are more like cell phones when it comes to software updates, it is understandable that one would not want to lose software update capability. All that said, it would be nice if Bavsound or BimmerTech (or an owner with the amp installed) could verify if OTA software updates are actually affected with the install of one of their aftermarket amps. The design of the radios in the G-series cars, which use a Radio Audio Module (RAM), which is different from the previous F-series cars, may allow the install of an aftermarket amp without interfering with OTA updates.

[Lando X]

Originally Posted by jmciver

The Bavsound and BimmerTech amp options for the HiFi (676) systems are well designed amp options. That, combined with their PnP design will essentially make the worst case scenario you are describing (blowing speakers, damaging other electronics, etc.) a non-issue. So I would not worry about that.

I think the real concern would be software updates. The current G-series BMWs get routine factory software updates (1-2 times a year), via the Over the Air (OTA) process. These OTA updates can update some or all of the modules in the car - the amp is one of these modules that could receive an update. In the previous F-series BMWs, if a module was "missing" (or replaced by an aftermarket component), the software update for the entire car would fail because that one module was missing. I have not heard if this is specifically the case with G-series cars, but logic stands to reason that an OTA update of a G-series car with an aftermarket amp installed could also fail.

Lack of OTA software updates is not necessarily the end of the world as the car will still function without them. But since modern cars, like the X7, are more like cell phones when it comes to software updates, it is understandable that one would not want to lose software update capability. All that said, it would be nice if Bavsound or BimmerTech (or an owner with the amp installed) could verify if OTA software updates are actually affected with the install of one of their aftermarket amps. The design of the radios in the G-series cars, which use a Radio Audio Module (RAM), which is different from the previous F-series cars, may allow the install of an aftermarket amp without interfering with OTA updates.

This is very helpful so thanks for the add-on. I think if someone out here can confirm no issues in terms of the interaction of OTA software updates that would be greatly appreciated. Anyone with personal experiences about how this plays out with the aftermarket amp installed?