Is it common for BMWs to blow speakers?

[och]

I am posting this in two different sections of the forum because I have the same exact issue with two cars.

Back in January I replaced speakers in my 2012 X5 with Bavsound. Less than a month later I started hearing distortions and I located them to be coming from the rear passenger side door speaker. I contacted Bavsound and they sent me a new speaker, but I haven't got around to replacing it yet since I am not really using the car with the quarantine.

The distortions are not always noticeable, as that speaker gets drowned out by the other 6 speakers, and are only obvious in some songs, and even then I first thought it was due to vibrations from the door panel or maybe the song itself being badly encoded. Thus I am not sure if the original factory speaker also had these distortions, but I know for sure that right after I replaced them there were no distortions coming from any new speakers because I individually listened to them all up close. The original system was Logic7 / Professional DSP - S677A.

I also have a 2017 X6M with Bowers & Wilkins system, and about a year ago I started noticing distortions from the sound system. I didn't bother locating which speaker was causing it, I simply brought it to the dealer and they confirmed that there was a damaged speaker and replaced it. I do not have the original paper work, so I don't know which one they have replaced.

Fast forward to now, and I started hearing the same exact distortions as in my X5, and this time I located it to the rear passenger side door. They are absolutely identical to the X5 and are only obvious on some songs during certain pitches, and other times the speaker gets drowned out by the rest of the speakers and its hard to even notice the distortions.

Just wondering if anyone else had a similar issue. Could it be something with the amp causing speakers to fail?

[RL18]

Originally Posted by och

I am posting this in two different sections of the forum because I have the same exact issue with two cars.

Back in January I replaced speakers in my 2012 X5 with Bavsound. Less than a month later I started hearing distortions and I located them to be coming from the rear passenger side door speaker. I contacted Bavsound and they sent me a new speaker, but I haven't got around to replacing it yet since I am not really using the car with the quarantine.

The distortions are not always noticeable, as that speaker gets drowned out by the other 6 speakers, and are only obvious in some songs, and even then I first thought it was due to vibrations from the door panel or maybe the song itself being badly encoded. Thus I am not sure if the original factory speaker also had these distortions, but I know for sure that right after I replaced them there were no distortions coming from any new speakers because I individually listened to them all up close. The original system was Logic7 / Professional DSP - S677A.

I also have a 2017 X6M with Bowers & Wilkins system, and about a year ago I started noticing distortions from the sound system. I didn't bother locating which speaker was causing it, I simply brought it to the dealer and they confirmed that there was a damaged speaker and replaced it. I do not have the original paper work, so I don't know which one they have replaced.

Fast forward to now, and I started hearing the same exact distortions as in my X5, and this time I located it to the rear passenger side door. They are absolutely identical to the X5 and are only obvious on some songs during certain pitches, and other times the speaker gets drowned out by the rest of the speakers and its hard to even notice the distortions.

Just wondering if anyone else had a similar issue. Could it be something with the amp causing speakers to fail?

That is weird. Have you pulled the door panel off yet? I found when upgrading my door speakers w/ aftermarket amp that the door panel does vibrate a lot in the rear doors on midbass/bass notes. Especially where the seams meet and rub. I used quite a bit of dynamat on the top part of the door and in between those seams to dampen vibrations.

Now when you say distorted can you tell what frequency of a note is being distorted? High or low frequencies? Are your eq settings boosted? Just realize that even the Bavsound speakers have no low pass filter on the 4" midrange, meaning they will try to play frequencies up to 20khz, I'm sure the factory eq compensates for this but they are not meant to play that high, resulting in distortion when the volume is up. In my case I'm using a 4.5khz lpf on my 4" mids and my tweeters have 2.5khz hpf, giving me a nice overlap.

[och]

Originally Posted by RL18

That is weird. Have you pulled the door panel off yet? I found when upgrading my door speakers w/ aftermarket amp that the door panel does vibrate a lot in the rear doors on midbass/bass notes. Especially where the seams meet and rub. I used quite a bit of dynamat on the top part of the door and in between those seams to dampen vibrations.

Now when you say distorted can you tell what frequency of a note is being distorted? High or low frequencies? Are your eq settings boosted? Just realize that even the Bavsound speakers have no low pass filter on the 4" midrange, meaning they will try to play frequencies up to 20khz, I'm sure the factory eq compensates for this but they are not meant to play that high, resulting in distortion when the volume is up. In my case I'm using a 4.5khz lpf on my 4" mids and my tweeters have 2.5khz hpf, giving me a nice overlap.

If I hold my ear to the speaker, it is distorted all the time, but it's only obvious during higher pitched frequences.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by och

l

If I hold my ear to the speaker, it is distorted all the time, but it's only obvious during higher pitched frequences.

Okay so if that is the only speaker doing this, why not start by replacing the speaker, listen to the new one, if it plays fine for awhile and then it starts to distort again you have a wiring problem or amp issue. If it still distorts right away with the same songs you have a vibration in the door panel.

[och]

Originally Posted by RL18

Okay so if that is the only speaker doing this, why not start by replacing the speaker, listen to the new one, if it plays fine for awhile and then it starts to distort again you have a wiring problem or amp issue. If it still distorts right away with the same songs you have a vibration in the door panel.

Its not vibration in the door panel for sure, its def a bad speaker, I'm just trying to see if anyone else had the same issue as its happening to two of my cars.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by och

Its not vibration in the door panel for sure, its def a bad speaker, I'm just trying to see if anyone else had the same issue as its happening to two of my cars.

Well I have not experienced any issues with blown speakers like that. Maybe someone will chime in with some experience though..

If I had an issue like that I would be inspecting wiring and looking for spots in the door that are damp.

I know that when a lot of people get out of my x5 they close the door like it's a piece of glass, then my carpet is wet, which the wiring runs right there under the carpet. A lot of the splices bmw made in the speaker wiring are not water resistant by any means.

[ryansbmw]

Just recently replaced a blown Bavsound mid range in my car. Previous owner had them installed so I’m not sure how old they are. Hopefully this one doesn’t blow

[och]

Originally Posted by ryansbmw

Just recently replaced a blown Bavsound mid range in my car. Previous owner had them installed so I’m not sure how old they are. Hopefully this one doesn’t blow

Which one was it?

[ryansbmw]

Front passenger

[och]

Replaced the speaker and all is good now. Hopefully wont happen anymore.