[MrPogle]

A relative is looking at leasing a new 530d. As it is a lease he doesn't want to add any options unless he has to. The only thing that is looking like an issue is the standard speakers. I've never heard them in an F10 but in several other BMWs they have been poor. The HK sound is out of the question but Advanced might be on.

Any experience/thoughts?

[gtthree]

The base stereo is terrible and is difficult to upgrade.

The best approach might be to run with advance as this will open up upgrade possibilities, such as swapping in HK speakers or focals. Also it is easy to swap out the advanced amp with a simple technic harness if you are looking to improve the amp.

The advanced has tweeters, a centre channel and larger sub woofers 8 inch versus 6.5 inch. It is also amplified.
Base has no tweeters, no amp and no centre channel.

[Johnny Grabble]

My experience... The standard stereo in an F10 is worse than the standard stereo in a Ford Ka Edge. Advanced is OK, the minimum acceptable IMHO but not as good as the Sony system in a Ford Kuga.

[spirocheter]

Got my 64 plate 535d yesterday and it's true to say, the standard hi-if sounds pretty poor. There is a blanking area where the HK tweeters sit at the door mirror level. I had heard HK, whilst better, is not audiophile. I have a high end Quad hi-if at home, and I think if I'd ponied up for HK, I'd be expecting audiophile quality. I didn't want to go down the path of becoming obsessed with upgrading.

I thought I'd not bother at all, but it leaves me wondering! It's a diesel also, so no soundtrack of engine note to listen to either!

[changed]

A few days into my car and very happy in every way, except the audio.

It's the first bm I have owned without hk audio, and it is total pants, needs upgrading without a doubt, not sure what and how much but it simply is not good enough as it is.

However, it can be altered and won't effect how good the car is overall

Any pointers on what's available for us in th UK?

[MrPogle]

Originally Posted by spirocheter

I think if I'd ponied up for HK, I'd be expecting audiophile quality.

Really? It's less than a grand. Would you honestly expect audiophile quality in a car for that? I have it and think it sounds very good. I doubt I would pay any more for car audio but I like ACDC and Johnny Cash.

The B&O, on the other hand. I'd expect to be blown away by that. I doubt I could bring myself to pay 3k, though, even if I was.

[Jon D]

I had a 2010 F10 and was perfectly content with the standard audio system.
Frankly, I don't see the point of lashing out on audiophile quality hi-fi in a car where you have the intrusion of road, wind and engine noise to contend with.

[The Beast]

Originally Posted by Jon D

I had a 2010 F10 and was perfectly content with the standard audio system.
Frankly, I don't see the point of lashing out on audiophile quality hi-fi in a car where you have the intrusion of road, wind and engine noise to contend with.

I personally rarely listen to music at home, so I prefer a decent home theatre system. However I always listen to music in my car so want a half decent sound system it. I have HK in both my F10 and my wife's F48 and think they are decent factory for systems for the money involved. I used to install car stereo systems as a hobby in my younger years (I ran 3000 watts RMS in a Golf GTi) and whilst these are not top end, they are not bad for the money and the ease of not having to send the car in for a custom install

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by The Beast

I ran 3000 watts RMS in a Golf GTil

3000 watts , how on earth did you manage to hear what was going on around you?

[The Beast]

Originally Posted by Jon D

3000 watts , how on earth did you manage to hear what was going on around you?

I gave up custom audio systems as they were starting to impact on my hearing!

Didn't have it to max volume all the time but needed the power to drive the power of the speakers I had installed (2 JBL 1500 GTI's, Infinity Tops and Mids front and rear, active cross overs, three amps - 3000 watts, updated alternator, extra battery in the trunk, sound deadening and much more) I could rattle house windows from half a mile away if turned up, mum always knew when I was coming home

[Fox530]

Originally Posted by Jon D

I had a 2010 F10 and was perfectly content with the standard audio system.
Frankly, I don't see the point of lashing out on audiophile quality hi-fi in a car where you have the intrusion of road, wind and engine noise to contend with.

The base stereo in my 2010 530d was also entirely acceptable - much better than the woeful standard system in the E39. My new 5 Series has the Harmon Kardon system and of course its better, but I'd not pay 900 quid for it.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by Fox530

The base stereo in my 2010 530d was also entirely acceptable - much better than the woeful standard system in the E39. My new 5 Series has the Harmon Kardon system and of course its better, but I'd not pay 900 quid for it.

Same goes for my current 6 and it wasn't changed with the 2015 LCI so I'll be more than happy with the standard audio.
What did change last year was the inclusion of sports exhaust as standard - think I'll prefer listening to that!

[mobilejo]

I found the base audio system completely dreadful. It was muddy and the treble/mid sounds would get quieter when a more bass heavy part of a song came on! It was so frustrating just due to the inconsistency thanks to that last issue.

I had the system 3 fitted by http://www.audiofile-incar.co.uk/ which despite the price, I am thankful for everytime I sit in the car.

[spirocheter]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

I found the base audio system completely dreadful. It was muddy and the treble/mid sounds would get quieter when a more bass heavy part of a song came on! It was so frustrating just due to the inconsistency thanks to that last issue.

I had the system 3 fitted by http://www.audiofile-incar.co.uk/ which despite the price, I am thankful for everytime I sit in the car.

Wow, that looks like a pretty comprehensive upgrade package. I'm sure the sound is night and day different. It would appear, counter to what I have read elsewhere, you can upgrade without having the HK upgrade (perhaps better value than considering in the first place).

I take it you had the base system, then went to stage 3?

I suppose the only factors which would hold me back might be warranty concerns and the distance to drive and the time to have the upgrade done, oh, and perhaps most importantly, being able to justify this to my wife ahead of decorating or changing our somewhat dated bathroom!

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by spirocheter

Wow, that looks like a pretty comprehensive upgrade package. I'm sure the sound is night and day different. It would appear, counter to what I have read elsewhere, you can upgrade without having the HK upgrade (perhaps better value than considering in the first place).

I take it you had the base system, then went to stage 3?

I suppose the only factors which would hold me back might be warranty concerns and the distance to drive and the time to have the upgrade done, oh, and perhaps most importantly, being able to justify this to my wife ahead of decorating or changing our somewhat dated bathroom!

The stage 3 is quite invasive - new door speakers, tweeters installed, new understeat subs, amplifier hidden in boot and dynamat in various places. But I felt it made the most sense - no point sorting the bass and keeping the std poor mid range and lack of tweeters, and no point having the door speakers amplified without getting decent bass to match.

It was not close but not overly far for me (Bham -> Hertfordshire) and they completed it within a day and gave me a loan car so I took the time to drive into London and run some errands.

The workmanship is excellent - nothing is visible giving away the fact that the system is aftermarket. The information on the website re: how they treat the car and their attention to detail is very accurate.

The sound is now fantastic. I added my own 10" sub & amp to the boot for some extra kick (I like bass ).

I have had numerous (11 or 12 now, lost count) BMW's with various sound systems; HK, Logic 7, hi-fi etc. They have always disappointed, just some more than others. Never heard B&O but I can say that mine sounds much better, goes much louder and has much more bass than any of the other 'upgraded' systems I have personally owned.

[spirocheter]

It's a good resource to be aware of, thanks for posting. I'm sure there aren't many of us who would trust any sort of invasive work to be trusted to an unknown entity. It's not cheap, but if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

I have a friend who has his whole house set up with B&O, sounds pretty impressive, but then I have a used Quad hi-fi which was a tiny fraction of what he paid, and despite not being multi room, sounds better to my ears at least.

I have the base system, so if I score some major brownie points at home for any reason, may later consider this route (and once the house is straightened up)!

[2real4u]

B&O is phenomenal, I had installed it once from scratch on F13 with all LEDs, massive job for few days. Same time I got in my old e92 gladen extreme set, hertz 5 channels and audison bit one DSP, second hand one worth over £1000 kit. Both of them was very powerful and extremely loud, but 16 speakers on B&O made something special, sound bit more delicious, richer, create more wave around your ears.