[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Lando X

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?

Best bet may be to check the G20 3-series and/or the G05 X5 forums. Larger sample size and higher probability that someone may have already done the HiFi (676) amp upgrade.

[popalock]

Looks like the guy who did the tutorial did the upgrade on the HK system.

Anyone here think the ghost subs would be an upgrade over the B&W underseat subs?

I'd be willing to try the upgrade if anyone has any direct experience comparing the before and after. As much extra as I paid for the B&W setup, I'd rather not jack with it if it doesn't give a notable improvement.

Kinda frustrating getting in my friends newer Range and absolutely LOVING the sound of his stock Meridian setup...

[bradythedog12]

MystroX5 did an excellent write up on how to dial in you r B&W!! Have you read???

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ighlight=audio

[bradythedog12]

MystroX5 did an excellent write up on how to dial in your B&W!! Have you read it???

https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ighlight=audio

[awesoM]

jmciver I just picked up my X7 M50i with HK and i moved my Bavsound from my G05 HK. Thank you for the note on removing the Airbag tab in the rear saved me a few minutes not having to find out for myself. In regards to the rear doors there was no need on my part to modify the bracket. I did not run the cables behind the bracket. I ran it in the front and then routed it to the back for excess. As such no need to do it.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by awesoM

jmciver I just picked up my X7 M50i with HK and i moved my Bavsound from my G05 HK. Thank you for the note on removing the Airbag tab in the rear saved me a few minutes not having to find out for myself. In regards to the rear doors there was no need on my part to modify the bracket. I did not run the cables behind the bracket. I ran it in the front and then routed it to the back for excess. As such no need to do it.

Glad it worked out for you . Regarding the rear doors, my guess is that Bavsound may have changed the design of the speakers - not sure how old yours are. In my case, the speaker terminals were in the way resulting in, at a minimum, a very acute angle to connect them. That very acute angle would have put a lot of stress on the terminals, most likely leading to bent/broken speaker terminals, so notching the factory bracket was necessary IMO.

[PinkNinja400Guy]

Thanks for the writeup on this! It was helpful.

I ordered the Bavsound stage 1 kit & ghost woofers, but I ended up acquiring gray market OEM B&W speakers and grilles which I just installed this weekend instead of the stage 1 kit. I haven't gotten around to it yet but I'm still going to install the ghost subs, since the B&W subs are 4 ohms impedance which seems risky (H/K stock are 8 ohms, the ghost subs match that).

Going to make a separate post on the partial B&W retrofit later once I have time to write that up.

Here are a few more notes on installation.



All the door panels on my '22 had a white cloth layer clipped into them, which the X5 in the Bavsound video didn't have. You need to be super careful with this when removing and reinstalling it. It's very easy to fray or completely rip the material, especially since it gets very thin near the door panel connection points.



Removing the D-pillar trim piece:

The original post here shows the location of the three clips on that panel. The panel comes out towards the center of the trunk / away from the side of the car. Aside from the tiny "Airbag" trim piece, you can do it all by hand - no pry tool needed. Start by prying out the Airbag trim and unscrew the bolt behind it. The bolt will remain captive. On that same corner of the panel, reach back to the window and you'll be able to pop out that corner with your fingers. Then move down (on that same side of the panel) and pop out that clip. Then, go back up to where the Airbag trim was and start moving along the top of the panel towards the back of the car, you'll be able to pop out the clip in that corner. The panel will pop out of the rubber weather strip. At that point, the final clip in the lower back corner is all that's left.

Reinstalling is straightforward, just make sure to tuck the panel back behind the weatherstripping. And make sure not to drop the 8mm bolts when dealing with the speaker bracket

To replace the tweeter in there, you need to use a pick tool as shown in the Bavsound video. The guy in the video mentions to be careful with it. I'd like to reiterate that - be careful! I *thought* I was being careful and then I almost stabbed myself in the face with a pick!



The center channel on the dashboard:

The speaker bracket is held in with six screws. Right next to each of the front two screws, there's a hole in the bracket. If you drop a screw into that hole, it's going to go down into the car. I did drop one screw there, I don't have a magnet fishing tool so I let that screw remain in the car behind the dashboard. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be causing any rattling.

Speaking of magnets, on the front two doors, once you unscrew the screw next to the door lock indicator, you'll need a skinny and at least ~2" long magnetic stick to pull that screw out of the door panel. When you're reinstalling, you'll have to drop the screw back in to there; if it doesn't align properly then you'll use the magnetic stick to lift out the screw and try again.



Door clips:

I didn't break any clips taking the doors off, but putting the doors back on was super frustrating until I found some methods to help with it.

If you get them all back on properly on the first try, good for you! If not, you'll need to take the door panel off and deal with the clips.

Learn how the clip mechanism works. The base of the clip has two black plastic disks. There's a rubber grommet which moves; when moved back it is completely flush with one of the base plastic disks.

The white tip/head of the clip and the rubber grommet (which is wrapped around a white plastic disk) move together. Between the tip and the grommet are a few white plastic parts. When the tip/grommet move backward (towards the base of the clip), the middle parts will expand outward (increasing diameter) and lock the clip in that expanded position. Once expanded, the diameter of the clip will be greater than the diameter of the holes in the doors. The tolerance here is pretty small. When you remove the door panel, you use enough force that the clips will be forced closed again, allowing them to slide out of the door holes.

You can "reset" an expanded clip using a clip tool. Photos attached. As the clips wear out, they will lose the ability to be reset fully into the smallest diameter that a new clip is capable of doing (my photos have a somewhat worn out clip - I didn't have any good ones left at the end). Shove the clip tool between the grommet and the base disk, wiggle it a bit to push the grommet forward. That'll allow the middle white plastic pieces to fall mostly back into their decreased diameter position. Once you do that, you can use your fingers to pull the grommet a bit further forward which will fully reset the clip; the middle parts will become even smaller and snap into the tip of the clip, forming a thin cylinder.

When reinstalling the doors, you need to make sure all the clips are lined up with the holes in the doors. Use your fingers to guide them into place before you try to snap on the door panel. If they're not perfectly aligned, the clip will expand prematurely and then it won't fit through the door hole. When that happens, take off the door panel, reset all the clips, and try again.

[awesoM]

Originally Posted by PinkNinja400Guy

Thanks for the writeup on this! It was helpful

Door clips:

I didn't break any clips taking the doors off, but putting the doors back on was super frustrating until I found some methods to help with it.

If you get them all back on properly on the first try, good for you! If not, you'll need to take the door panel off and deal with the clips.

Learn how the clip mechanism works. The base of the clip has two black plastic disks. There's a rubber grommet which moves; when moved back it is completely flush with one of the base plastic disks.

The white tip/head of the clip and the rubber grommet (which is wrapped around a white plastic disk) move together. Between the tip and the grommet are a few white plastic parts. When the tip/grommet move backward (towards the base of the clip), the middle parts will expand outward (increasing diameter) and lock the clip in that expanded position. Once expanded, the diameter of the clip will be greater than the diameter of the holes in the doors. The tolerance here is pretty small. When you remove the door panel, you use enough force that the clips will be forced closed again, allowing them to slide out of the door holes.

You can "reset" an expanded clip using a clip tool. Photos attached. As the clips wear out, they will lose the ability to be reset fully into the smallest diameter that a new clip is capable of doing (my photos have a somewhat worn out clip - I didn't have any good ones left at the end). Shove the clip tool between the grommet and the base disk, wiggle it a bit to push the grommet forward. That'll allow the middle white plastic pieces to fall mostly back into their decreased diameter position. Once you do that, you can use your fingers to pull the grommet a bit further forward which will fully reset the clip; the middle parts will become even smaller and snap into the tip of the clip, forming a thin cylinder.

When reinstalling the doors, you need to make sure all the clips are lined up with the holes in the doors. Use your fingers to guide them into place before you try to snap on the door panel. If they're not perfectly aligned, the clip will expand prematurely and then it won't fit through the door hole. When that happens, take off the door panel, reset all the clips, and try again.

After taking the doors apart a few cars and going through the process you would think I have perfected not breaking the clips, before I start I always buy the clips from Amazon for 13.99.

https://a.co/d/cGQAWgZ

I do want to hear about the experience with the B&W retrofit. Wish you had a Bavsound one to compare to see if worth the change if I already have the Bavsounds.

[BMW5and7]

Can you weigh on on the estimated cost (materials and equipment) of the project? Just a rough estimate?
This is a great tutorial, thank you so much…. Thinking of it as a winter project!!!!

[awesoM]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Can you weigh on on the estimated cost (materials and equipment) of the project? Just a rough estimate?
This is a great tutorial, thank you so much…. Thinking of it as a winter project!!!!

For myself personally, it was the Bavsound HK Kit with the Subs. I bought it before the price increase, 799 plus 499 for the subs. Spent 25 for the tool kit which they sold and 13.99 for the clips. And about 3 - 5 hours of your life :-).

[HatTrick71]

So I've had this page bookmarked for about a year now and finally bit the bullet and ordered the bavsound speakers and subs for the HK system in my 2021 when they started the recent 22% off deal. Overall fantastic write-up on the install and how it differs from the bavsound instructions and videos, and I did end up cutting the brackets in the rear doors as described in the original post with an oscillating tool. The end result is actually quite impressive -- I wasn't expecting nearly the amount of improvement I got without a new amp ... the bass is fantastic -- not booming, but very tight and definitely a much lower frequency response, and the mids and highs are much more clear and sound like the strings and horns are being played right in front of you. Overall I'm extremely impressed and my commute to and from work has become far more enjoyable, especially with a good lossless audio source like Apple Music.

[m20e3087]

Thanks OP for the detailed wire up. Considering to start with the subs, which looks like you can pick from the drop down menu (X7) with HK. Anyone running just the subs? If so how do they compared to stock?

[PinkNinja400Guy]

Originally Posted by m20e3087

Thanks OP for the detailed wire up. Considering to start with the subs, which looks like you can pick from the drop down menu (X7) with HK. Anyone running just the subs? If so how do they compared to stock?

As mentioned in the original post, the B&W subs are a lower impedance than the H/K subs. I think they will still work but there's a risk of causing damage to the amp over time if using at high volume? I'm not really sure.