[mikekilpatrick]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

I got all caught up in your disappointment and didn't spend the time to think about the subs, they will need some break in time before they play loud or low. I would play them at just about half volume for the next week or two every time you drive the car and see if they get better.

You need a gasket installed...

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Sorry bro that is incorrect, the bava sub upgrade is specifically designed to work with the factory amp. It would not be plug and play if it required an amp upgrade.

Here's what their website says Teddy

Upgradable design with 100W RMS / 200W Peak Power Handling Per Woofer -- Even though our woofers are designed to be extremely efficient to maximize the output of your factory amplifier, they're also built for upgradability, you can power them with an aftermarket amplifier of your choice up to 100W per channel.

Not much more power but more than whatever factory amp is putting out

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by mikekilpatrick

DONT INSTALL YET!



First and foremost, thank you SO much for your purchase of our all-new Ghost Underseat Subwoofer Upgrades for your 5 Series. We can't wait for you to get them installed and rocking out. But first, please read this e-mail as it contains ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY information to ensure your woofers sound amazing!



However, as sometimes happens with new products, we made a mistake creating the parts list during manufacturing, and a gasket required for installation wasn't correctly pre-installed on the woofers. Without this gasket, your new woofers won't seal properly in their enclosures, resulting in poor performance.

Our goal is always to make your experience as simple, easy, and enjoyable as possible, and to make a product that is 100% complete right out of the box. We didn't live up to our standards, and I want to personally apologize for our mistake.



The good news? The fix is incredibly easy, and we're already taking care of it.



All that's needed is some new gasket material which you can apply to your enclosure before installation. As of this e-mail, we're already in the process of purchasing and sending the gasket material that's required to the shipping address you provided for your purchase. In order to ensure you receive it as quickly as possible, we'll be sending the gasket via Amazon Prime so you'll have it in 2 days or less and can install right away). If you need it shipped to an address other than your original shipping address, please reply ASAP and let us know.

(We won't be sending you tracking numbers simply because you'll probably have the gasket before we can get that out to you!)



If you're in a rush and would like to source the gasket material locally so you don't have to wait to install your new woofers, you can do so at any Home Depot or similar. Here's the gasket material we'll be sending you:



http://www.amazon.com/Frost-King-V25...5%3A2470955011



Plus, as our way of saying thank you, we'll be sending you a $15 Amazon Gift Card which you can use to purchase some amazing new music to enjoy with your new subs.



Now, because we didn't expect this to be necessary, we naturally haven't produced an installation video on how to apply the gasket and install your new woofers with it, but expect a follow up e-mail in the next 24 hours with a complete video on the installation process.


(NOTE: If you are outside the U.S., please reply to this e-mail so we can get you sorted as we are unable to ship the gaskets internationally).


Finally, we also want to provide some important information regarding the design, tuning, and performance of your new woofers. When we engineered the woofers for your BMW, as with everything we do, our focus was on maximizing sound quality and usable performance first, and total bass output second.



What does this mean? Without any additional equalization, our woofers (relative to the factory speakers and Stage One) will be slightly quieter than the factory woofers in some, but not all, applications. However, with some small EQ adjustments, their usable output (meaning how loud they can be played without distortion) is significantly higher, and their dynamics and low end extension are, in a word, exceptional.




Long story short, if after installing your new woofers you'd like more bass output, some small adjustments to your EQ will absolutely blow you away!



Here are the recommended changes if your goal is maximum bass output:



(NOTE: these are not "absolute" recommendations, but how much you should adjust from your "normal" settings to optimize bass response)

1.Reduce your Treble setting by 2-4 "notches" and leave "Bass" where it is.
2.Adjust your EQ as follows:

100Hz +1 click
200Hz -2 clicks
500Hz (none)
1KHz -1 click
2 KHz -4 clicks
5 KHz -4 clicks
10 KHz -1-3 clicks
Finally, your new woofers need time to fully break in and sound their best -- around 10-20 hours at least of playing time. Before they're fully broken in, output and dynamics won't be at their peak level. As they say, good things take time!

Once again, we're so sorry for the inconvenience. Even after an amazing 11 years in business, we still make mistakes, but we've always taken care of our customers, and we always will. Thanks so much in advance for your understanding and for being such an amazing customer; you make what we do the greatest job in the world.

Now, just hang tight for your gasket material and for that follow up installation video shortly, and as always, if you have ANY questions, or there's anything at all we can do for you, please let us know.

I'm surprised that these did not go through quality and assurance before shipping out? Sounds like Bav dropped the ball on that one and instead of checking their new product that everyone's been waiting for years and years they simply rushed things and now have to make excuses why they *ucked up! Just my opinion but this statement here I put in BOLD should have been said upfront as most people bought this specifically for the bass output! Cause I bet if they did they wouldn't have this many people ordering these subs!

Finally, we also want to provide some important information regarding the design, tuning, and performance of your new woofers. When we engineered the woofers for your BMW, as with everything we do, our focus was on maximizing sound quality and usable performance first, and total bass output second

What does this mean? Without any additional equalization, our woofers (relative to the factory speakers and Stage One) will be slightly quieter than the factory woofers in some, but not all, applications. However, with some small EQ adjustments, their usable output (meaning how loud they can be played without distortion) is significantly higher, and their dynamics and low end extension are, in a word, exceptional.

[ThereGoesForNothing]

Mike when did you get this email from BavSound? I do not see any email from them.

I have my speakers since Wed and I was planning on putting them tomorrow. But now that they need some gasket, I will wait till next week.

[Teddylongtooth]

We're splitting hairs here, they will work with the factory amp or the bimmer tech amp. But an amp upgrade is not necessary. That's what we're both sayin.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

We're splitting hairs here, they will work with the factory amp or the bimmer tech amp. But an amp upgrade is not necessary. That's what we're both sayin.

Pretty much

[DonJkZ]

Haven't received an email either yet, they're probably getting around to it, but then again mine won't be delivered till end of Jan and I hope I have the gasket upon delivery LOL, I have an F10 with base audio btw, currently have the bavsound stage 1, I'm not hugely bothered by plug and play but first time on the car audio scene, and generally not too keen on splicing too many wires :P
Anyone here got the terrible base audio system like me?
Any advice on amp options?

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by DonJkZ

Haven't received an email either yet, they're probably getting around to it, but then again mine won't be delivered till end of Jan and I hope I have the gasket upon delivery LOL, I have an F10 with base audio btw, currently have the bavsound stage 1, I'm not hugely bothered by plug and play but first time on the car audio scene, and generally not too keen on splicing too many wires :P
Anyone here got the terrible base audio system like me?
Any advice on amp options?

i have the ridiculous hifi system! but will end up changing it out next year. Bimmertech Amp, Gladen Extremes, Morel's or Jehnert's for components and 2 12" JLW3's...not sure what amp i'm going to use to push the subs yet?

Bimmertech Amp, Mosconi just to name a few amplifiers/DSP...all plug n play if you get the connectors. you can have custom wires made for you speakers to make them plug n play for pretty much any speaker brand.

as far as your Bav Subs i'm sure since yours won't be shipped out until Jan they probably will already have the gaskets installed on them. definitely give us your impressions on them when you get them in. there will probably be numerous threads on these since people are now just receiving them.

[VC_BMW]

Originally Posted by DonJkZ

Haven't received an email either yet, they're probably getting around to it, but then again mine won't be delivered till end of Jan and I hope I have the gasket upon delivery LOL, I have an F10 with base audio btw, currently have the bavsound stage 1, I'm not hugely bothered by plug and play but first time on the car audio scene, and generally not too keen on splicing too many wires :P
Anyone here got the terrible base audio system like me?
Any advice on amp options?

Hi DonJkZ, I have the base audio like you. I currently have Focal 100KRS for the front doors and the rest of the speakers will be Bav speakers (the Bav subs are in transits). I am thinking to upgrade with the bimmertech amp or not. What are your thoughts?

[DonJkZ]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

i have the ridiculous hifi system! but will end up changing it out next year. Bimmertech Amp, Gladen Extremes, Morel's or Jehnert's for components and 2 12" JLW3's...not sure what amp i'm going to use to push the subs yet?

Bimmertech Amp, Mosconi just to name a few amplifiers/DSP...all plug n play if you get the connectors. you can have custom wires made for you speakers to make them plug n play for pretty much any speaker brand.

as far as your Bav Subs i'm sure since yours won't be shipped out until Jan they probably will already have the gaskets installed on them. definitely give us your impressions on them when you get them in. there will probably be numerous threads on these since people are now just receiving them.

Ahh, yes I'm probably going to get the bimmertech amp soon, most likely after I hear the new underseat woofers first. Thanks for the info, I still can't believe base audio in the uk has no tweeters! And yes I'll definitely give my opinion of the Subs when they're installed. Currently I'm quite impressed with the Stage 1, I'm fully aware though that for the kind of bass I want (decent punch to feel it in the seat at least!) that I need an amp and probably a subwoofer in the trunk. I use the boot space a lot though, so trying to see how much bass I can get with these new subs first and then with the amp

Also I'm quite confused how the 8channel bimmertech amp would divide the power in a uk base audio system?

[DonJkZ]

Originally Posted by VC_BMW

Hi DonJkZ, I have the base audio like you. I currently have Focal 100KRS for the front doors and the rest of the speakers will be Bav speakers (the Bav subs are in transits). I am thinking to upgrade with the bimmertech amp or not. What are your thoughts?

Hey, my bad, maybe I should have been more clear that the base audio system I meant was the UK one, this means no separate amplifier and no tweeters :'(

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by DonJkZ

Ahh, yes I'm probably going to get the bimmertech amp soon, most likely after I hear the new underseat woofers first. Thanks for the info, I still can't believe base audio in the uk has no tweeters! And yes I'll definitely give my opinion of the Subs when they're installed. Currently I'm quite impressed with the Stage 1, I'm fully aware though that for the kind of bass I want (decent punch to feel it in the seat at least!) that I need an amp and probably a subwoofer in the trunk. I use the boot space a lot though, so trying to see how much bass I can get with these new subs first and then with the amp

Also I'm quite confused how the 8channel bimmertech amp would divide the power in a uk base audio system?

Nelson from Bimmertech has a link on how to setup the 8 channels.

[mikekilpatrick]

Install instructions for gasket.

As promised here are your gasket install videos, both on the enclosure as we recommend, and also on the speaker in case you don't want to pull the enclosure or for e60/e65 chassis

http://bavsound.us2.list-manage.com/...0&e=dd614512b8

http://bavsound.us2.list-manage.com/...9&e=dd614512b8

Either will work just fine, but you only have to do one or the other, not both.

Best,

Jeremy / BAVSOUND
Amazing BMW audio gear -- made simple.

www.bavsound.com

[lsturbointeg]

[tree]

I did the install yesterday. Some notes:
My car has the HK option, and Luxury seating package.
I watched the video that BAV published for installing

, and watched the two videos on using the gasket material. I didn't want to wait for Amazon to send the gasket material, so I went to home depot and got the same stuff.

I had one of my car guy buddies come over and help, and having 2 people really made it much easier. It's a tight dark space under the seat, and why drink alone.

Removing the plastic tim pieces at the base of the seat was a little challenging. You have to get the front piece off to get access to the T50 bolt. It was easier to remove and re-install the rear pieces with the bolts a little loose. Take your time with these and you will figure it out.

After unbolting the seat, we found that tilting it back, and moving the entire seat as far to the back of the car as possible gave the best access. We even lifted the seat up off the floor 6-8" and put some blocks under the rails to give us some more room to work. It was nice to get all the coins back that i lost under the seat

After removing the grill, you have to carefully pull quite a bit of carpet away from the speaker. I tried to remove the plastic housing from the car like shown in the video, but it didn't come out easily, and in the process it looked like it would be much simpler to leave the housing in place and just unscrew and remove the speaker.
That's what we did, and I think this is the way to do it in the F10.

BAV said that the speakers are "side specific", but I could see no right/left difference in either the factory speakers, mounting housing, or BAV speakers. With the speaker out, it was a good time to trim some carpet so that after installing the new speaker absolutely NO carpet material would touch the speaker. It's safer to do this with the speaker removed.
I applied the gasket material like BAV instructed to the underside of the speaker and carefully installed. Go slow and easy tightening the 4 speaker mounting screws, as it takes a few minutes to compress the gasket material. Alternate tightening in an X pattern to ensure uniform compression of the gasket. Be sure to check the sound at this time. After tightening mine to what I thought was pretty tight, I had a subtle rattle when I turned up the volume with a bass heavy song. Carefully snugging down the screws a little more eliminated the rattle. Reinstalling the grills, and seat was very straightforward. The seat has guide pins on the bottom to help align it when reinstalling

I haven't been able to spend much time yet in the saddle to give a good listen, but so far I think the bass sounds a little crisper, and more accurate compared to the factory speakers. I think I will let them "break in" a little and have got to listen to a variety of music in order to get a true comparison.

It took us almost 2 hrs to do the passenger side, and only about 40 min to do the driver's side once we knew how to do it.

I hope this is helpful, and will re-post my listening impressions after I have a good chance to go through my music library.

Happy Holidays, and happy motoring

[pdrf10]

Nice write-up; thanks for the tips! Sounds like removing the speakers and leaving the housing enclosures in the vehicle is the way to go...

Regarding your comment about the speakers being "side specific", I believe the video above is assuming the complete removal of the speaker/plastic housing unit, at which point driver or passenger side becomes relevant if the installer chooses to remove and bench both speaker/plastic housing units at the same time. The plastic speaker housings should be stamped "L" or "R" and are side-specific in orientation to the vehicle. The speakers themselves (outside of their enclosures) are not side-specific.

Quick question, as I received my subs yesterday afternoon and am awaiting the additional gasket material as well: I noticed the underside of my Ghost subs came with an est. 1/8" black foam gasket pre-installed - - do you recall if yours did as well, and if so, you then installed the supplemental gasket material on top? Or, by chance, did your set come without any pre-installed 1/8" foam liner, and you installed the supplemental gasket material onto the metal rim?

[tree]

My speakers had the black foam that you describe. I even contacted Bavsound with the same question. They said to still use the gasket material. This was their reply

We are hoping to have our video out tonight, but you will essentially be outlining the enclosure the the tape where the underseats will be going. If you peek at your factory woofer when pulling it out you will see how it was applied on that. The enclosures from BMW are imperfect enough that the foam gasket we supply isn't always able to supply a 100% seal. The foam will no problem

I applied it as shown in their video
http://bavsound.us2.list-manage.com/...9&e=d200bdfb8f

[mikekilpatrick]

Originally Posted by ThereGoesForNothing

Mike when did you get this email from BavSound? I do not see any email from them.

I have my speakers since Wed and I was planning on putting them tomorrow. But now that they need some gasket, I will wait till next week.

12/16/15 is when the email came in...

[mikekilpatrick]

Dont forget to TORQUE your seat bolts back in when done. Since this is a safety issue if god forbid you get into a car accident, they should be torqued properly. I need to review my stuff to find out the correct torque.

[tree]

Please post the torque settings if you can find them. The guys at Bavsound assured me that they would provide the torque settings prior to shipping the speakers, but they failed to do so. I got mine pretty tight, but I'm going to stop by my local dealer and see if they can look it up for me.

I spent some time in the car yesterday listening to all kinds of music, and messing around with the EQ settings. So far I like the sound. Bass is much clearer, and I'm hearing things that I haven't heard before in my music. I haven't really pushed the volume too high yet, but there is a good solid punch from these speakers, and much improved low end frequency response. Overall I am very happy with this upgrade. I think it's a significant improvement over the stock speakers, just as I think the stage 1 was a significant upgrade as well. I'm interested to hear what everyone else's experience is as well. My only (minor) criticism so far is that Bav failed on the gasket issue, failed to provide torque specs, and failed to provide good install instructions specific for the f10 chassis.
These things were easily overcome, but I think they could have done a little better in that regard.

[pdrf10]

Originally Posted by tree

My speakers had the black foam that you describe. I even contacted Bavsound with the same question. They said to still use the gasket material. This was their reply

We are hoping to have our video out tonight, but you will essentially be outlining the enclosure the the tape where the underseats will be going. If you peek at your factory woofer when pulling it out you will see how it was applied on that. The enclosures from BMW are imperfect enough that the foam gasket we supply isn't always able to supply a 100% seal. The foam will no problem

I applied it as shown in their video
http://bavsound.us2.list-manage.com/...9&e=d200bdfb8f

Thanks for the update!

[ThereGoesForNothing]

Originally Posted by tree

My only (minor) criticism so far is that Bav failed on the gasket issue, failed to provide torque specs, and failed to provide good install instructions specific for the f10 chassis.
These things were easily overcome, but I think they could have done a little better in that regard.

This is what I felt when I installed my subs on Wed knowing that it is missing Gasket on Saturday. Now I have this nagging feeling that the subs are not sounding to great at low volumes. I need to take them apart and put the gasket material, waste of time..