[jcss812]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

wanted to thank the OP for the write up, i I ordered the speakers and grills a week or so ago, i opted for the free shipping figuring it would arrive sometime in December, but they shipped it FedEx so i got it last week and did the install this afternoon. I had printed out the door panel removal instructions from TIS but forgot them, ended up just using this thread.

install was straightforward, it took longer than it should have because i kept doing stupid things like forgetting to connect wires or the Bowden cables and had to pull the door panels off to fix. I am now an expert at pulling the door panels and resetting the panel clips.

I initially had issues getting the tweeters seated- the aftermarket tweeter covers seem to be made of a stiffer plastic that the HK ones.
theres a rubber gasket the edge of the tweeter has to sit on that kept getting bunched up- once i figured out how to get the housing to fit between that gasket and the felt, it all snapped into place without a gap. i also covered the light pipes with some tesa tape.



i was able to get all the screws into the drilled out welds, i popped the seams and put the welds under tension while drilling, i didnt end up having to drill completely into them to get them to separate, they would pop apart when the plastic was thinned enough. that left enough of the post to thread the screws into.

to my untrained ear, the speakers in the kit sound cleaner/clearer. they are an upgrade over stock, i have not heard any of the other upgrade options, but im more than happy with the result for the price.

Based on what i see of the parts, im fairly certain that these are parts being made after hours on the lines that make the genuine parts or something similar.

thanks again to the OP!

This looks great and thanks OP for cleaning up the install directions. I was looking at the X5 thread and got spun lol. Did you use the same suppliers as OP?

[jcss812]

Originally Posted by PinkNinja400Guy

More photos

In the X5 thread you referred to I agree the directions were lacking and all over the place, ty for this detailed post.

I saw a couple of members towards the end of the thread mention the lights are kinda dull and not as bright as expected. Now this might be due to them not using the silver speakers from the supplier but black from HK or another brand, what's your experience?

[PinkNinja400Guy]

Originally Posted by jcss812

In the X5 thread you referred to I agree the directions were lacking and all over the place, ty for this detailed post.

I saw a couple of members towards the end of the thread mention the lights are kinda dull and not as bright as expected. Now this might be due to them not using the silver speakers from the supplier but black from HK or another brand, what's your experience?

The lights are of an appropriate brightness. Not too bright, not dim either. I'm using the silver speakers. I guess using black speakers probably reduces brightness.

I took this photo in pitch black. This is with orange ambient lighting. My phone camera's algorithms tried to brighten it up a bit which is why some of the light strips look white. But the relative brightnesses are correctly represented in this photo, same as it appears to the eye in real life:

- the front tweeter is about the same brightness as the lower light strip which runs across the dashboard (between AC and radio controls)

- the front door speaker is about the same brightness as the lighting in the upper door pocket (a tiny bit dimmer)

- on the rear door, the speaker matches the brightness of the upper door pocket

[jcss812]

Originally Posted by PinkNinja400Guy

The lights are of an appropriate brightness. Not too bright, not too dim. I'm using the silver speakers.

I took this photo in pitch black. This is with orange ambient lighting. My phone camera's algorithms tried to brighten it up a bit which is why some of the light strips look white. But the relative brightnesses are correctly represented in this photo, same as it appears to the eye in real life:

- the front tweeter is about the same brightness as the lower light strip which runs across the dashboard (between AC and radio controls)

- the front door speaker is about the same brightness as the lighting in the upper door pocket (a tiny bit dimmer)

- on the rear door, the speaker matches the brightness of the upper door pocket

Thanks for the reply and pictures. One more question before I pull the trigger, I saw the negative reviews from the vendors where the 'O' in Bowers looked strange as in it's a little bigger than it should on the center speaker on the dash. Does your have this issue at all?

[BMWFantastic85]

Sorry for the ignorance, is this kit compatible with stock speakers (non HK)?

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by BMWFantastic85

Sorry for the ignorance, is this kit compatible with stock speakers (non HK)?

hifi? i believe you need less speakers, hifi has 5 mids and tweeters. HK has 7 sets. i think hifi does not have the D pillar mids and tweeters.
the speaker covers are the same.

the weakest point of the HiFi is the amp, 165W vs 464 for hk and 1500 for B&W. bimmertech makes a pnp amp upgrade.

if you're going for the looks, the grills will fit. if you're going for sound, the speakers will be an upgrade over hifi or HK BUT the hifi amp is the weakest link of the hifi setup.

[PinkNinja400Guy]

Originally Posted by jcss812

Thanks for the reply and pictures. One more question before I pull the trigger, I saw the negative reviews from the vendors where the 'O' in Bowers looked strange as in it's a little bigger than it should on the center speaker on the dash. Does your have this issue at all?

The set I got didn't have this issue.

[MystroX5]

Originally Posted by jcss812

Thanks for the reply and pictures. One more question before I pull the trigger, I saw the negative reviews from the vendors where the 'O' in Bowers looked strange as in it's a little bigger than it should on the center speaker on the dash. Does your have this issue at all?

There is a lot of issues that doesn’t look oem and now that I have compared them with detailed reference pics of my OEM system there are a lot off dead give away it’s not OEM

First dead giveaway is the “O” logo as well as font spacing. The upper door grille font is also way off with rough and inconsistent depth in the engraving. The grille holes spacing is also off and not matching oem. Absolutely bogus. It jumps right at you if you are use to seeing the oem all the time.

No way that’s oem.

This is oem B&W from my dash.

[nynd]

There are various knock-offs out there. Some even have misspelling of Wilkins as Wiklins or Wilkins .. lol

[jcss812]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

There is a lot of issues that doesn’t look oem and now that I have compared them with detailed reference pics of my OEM system there are a lot off dead give away it’s not OEM

First dead giveaway is the “O” logo as well as font spacing. The upper door grille font is also way off with rough and inconsistent depth in the engraving. The grille holes spacing is also off and not matching oem. Absolutely bogus. It jumps right at you if you are use to seeing the oem all the time.

No way that’s oem.

This is oem B&W from my dash.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm not that worried as long as the font is all the same size and fitment it good. Maybe someone can post pics of the gray markets to compare since the pics I posted were from negatives reviews. I did see some pics where the 'O' looked fine. I just want the lights and am happy with the HK so far but maybe upgrade to focals later.

[john_wick]

Thanks for the write up. Not sure I am willing to tackle this task but nice to know its a "cheap" upgrade.

[Orient330iNYC]

i got my set from the same seller as pink ninja. to my eye its identical to factory. i did not connect the wiring for the center speaker so mine is not lit.

[jcss812]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

i got my set from the same seller as pink ninja. to my eye its identical to factory. i did not connect the wiring for the center speaker so mine is not lit.

These look great, the lettering is uniform. About to pull the trigger!

[devil84]

Thanks for the write up.

I am going to use this as I am planning to do this in my g30. Hoping it the same process as your write up

[gray_speedster]

Im going to embark on this project this week. For the center speaker, for those that connected it, did you disconnect the dash trim to get that done? If so, how does the plug come off. I have tried it, but was not able to make the disconnect happen.

[PinkNinja400Guy]

Originally Posted by gray_speedster

Im going to embark on this project this week. For the center speaker, for those that connected it, did you disconnect the dash trim to get that done? If so, how does the plug come off. I have tried it, but was not able to make the disconnect happen.

You don't need to take off the dash trim, only the speaker cover piece in the top center of the dash.

Watch the Bavsound video, in the first post here: https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1846757

Around 34 minutes is where he shows the center channel speakers.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by gray_speedster

Im going to embark on this project this week. For the center speaker, for those that connected it, did you disconnect the dash trim to get that done? If so, how does the plug come off. I have tried it, but was not able to make the disconnect happen.

do you mean for the lit Bowers & Wilkins logo? or the speaker wiring itself?

[gray_speedster]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

do you mean for the lit Bowers & Wilkins logo? or the speaker wiring itself?

For the lit Bowers and Wilkins logo. I know it has to hook up to the dash trim. Was not sure if I should remove it or do it with it just pulled back.

[JoeyDDD0919]

After watching this thread, I'm so attempted to bring my car to the garage to do the retrofit...

[Jerry333]

I actually did the same retrofit, Haha

[Jszlaga]

Thanks to the posters here. I just made purchase from same seller as OP. I only want this kit for the lighting and better sound so I’m not too worried about it but the lettering in what I received is way off from OEM. Poor attempt in my opinion but again I don’t really care much as I’m not trying to fake having the B&W. Just thought I’d share for those interested in making this purchase.

[Blueninja606]

Found my way into this thread. How much time would ya’ll say would be needed to do this upgrade?