The best audio upgrade for the X5

[SlowX6M]

I also see that RR has "exciter speakers" in the headliner, not regular speakers, whatever the hell they are.

[SlowX6M]

LOL, just for shts and giggles, this is for Rolls Royce with Bespoke system

65139224867 tweeter - can be had for around $130, seems to be a relatively crappy HK tweeter, also branded as B&O in some BMW models.

65136837197 - midrange, the only pricing I could find is on a Russian site for about ₽148,965, which is about $2k.

65136837207 - subwoofer, cant find pricing.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

LOL, tell me about it. There is a part of me that wants to try and source Rolls Royce Bespoke speakers, good thing google search doesn't turn out any pricing.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...adge&mg=65

Probably an arm and a leg lol. Save that money for some go fast parts instead

[SlowX6M]

This is the Logic 7 EQ vs B&W EQ. The B&W has a lot of fancy graphics and a bunch of different surround presets, but the EQ in both go 100-100,00hz

[argento]

SlowX6M I think I'm jealous of the fact that you get messages in your connected drive via combox, lol. I don't. I upgraded to the latest 4G combox, purchased the $200/yr bmw services for connected drive, had bmw try to fix, and have still never been able to get texts or emails like I used to back in 2017 upon purchase.

Thanks for the pix and video!

[SlowX6M]

Originally Posted by argento

SlowX6M I think I'm jealous of the fact that you get messages in your connected drive via combox, lol. I don't. I upgraded to the latest 4G combox, purchased the $200/yr bmw services for connected drive, had bmw try to fix, and have still never been able to get texts or emails like I used to back in 2017 upon purchase.

Thanks for the pix and video!

Did you enable notifications in your phone for the bluetooth device?

[argento]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

Did you enable notifications in your phone for the bluetooth device?

Yes. Is your phone iOS or Android? Sorry to take this thread off topic..

[argento]

Back on topic, does your new M vehicle with B&W have baffles behind the speakers or any kind of foam? Wondering if there is some sort of baffling that can be done to improve sound...

[RL18]

Originally Posted by argento

Back on topic, does your new M vehicle with B&W have baffles behind the speakers or any kind of foam? Wondering if there is some sort of baffling that can be done to improve sound...

Dynamat is what I used in all my doors

Or get something like this: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT4...h.html?tp=2809

[SlowX6M]

Originally Posted by argento

Back on topic, does your new M vehicle with B&W have baffles behind the speakers or any kind of foam? Wondering if there is some sort of baffling that can be done to improve sound...

Well, I didn't open up the doors in the X6M, but I did remove the center for testing, and it doesn't come with any baffling. If you go on realoem, it looks like even RR speakers are basically exposed at the back. I know that for premium home audio speakers, the enclosure is almost as important as the speaker.

[SlowX6M]

Originally Posted by argento

Yes. Is your phone iOS or Android? Sorry to take this thread off topic..

iOS, but it works fine with my daughter's android as well. You might want to contact a member on here, I believe the username is OKEE, he helped me years back.

When I originally bought the car in 2012, BMW's ordering structure was a completely clusterpluck. They had a separate option for office, BMW apps, bluetooth, and so on. So my car came with the office option that allowed for the text and email messages in the idrive screen, but no BMW apps, which I didn't even discover until much later.

Then I got a 2015 X1 for my daughter in the end of 2014, and it had both office and BMW apps, and shortly after I got myself a 2015 m235i which had BMW apps but not office. I took both cars to OKEE and he was able to code BMW apps into the X5 and office into the m235i. There was a one time fee that had to be paid to BMW for a keycode to get BMW apps, and there was supposed to be a fee for the office function on the m235i, but he was able to circumvent it.

[SlowX6M]

So back on topic, so far I only got one diamond B&W tweeter and put it in the center, but honestly I can't hear any difference vs the Bimmertech tweeter I was using. This is probably the result of the filter that I am using.

I am looking at other tweeter options online, I see the Infiniti and then there are more expensive tweeters such as Audiofrog, Hertz and JL audio that seem to have rave reviews.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_301ML2...-ML-280-3.html

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-7RC066...IaAkpeEALw_wcB

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_136997...ct-Single.html

If I was to go with these, what kind of crossover/filter should I use? Luckily in the X5 the tweeter plugs right into the midrange, so it gets the full range of frequencies that the midrange gets, and then I need a crossover/filter that can filter out below the tweeters frequency response. With the Hertz tweeter, its response its 1,000-25,000 HZ, which is pretty amazing.

There are also Focal TBM utopia for $1,750 that have frequency response up to 40,000hz - but they are probably a complete waste with BMW's subpar amp/dsp.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091TBM...BM.html?tp=107

[RL18]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

If I was to go with these, what kind of crossover/filter should I use? Luckily in the X5 the tweeter plugs right into the midrange, so it gets the full range of frequencies that the midrange gets, and then I need a crossover/filter that can filter out below the tweeters frequency response. With the Hertz tweeter, its response its 1,000-25,000 HZ, which is pretty amazing.

Well the crossover issue can be fixed...

The hertz tweeter would need this for a high pass filter: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1850

The audiofrog would use this for a high pass filter: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1862

The jl would use this hpf: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1874

Remember most humans can't hear frequencies above 20,000hz and depending on age it might be higher or lower. As far as the how low the tweeters play as long as they over lap what the midranges (which in my opinion shouldn't have to play frequencies above 5000hz) can play they will do just fine. In my case my midranges play from 150hz-4500hz and my tweeters play from 2500hz-20,000hz.

[SlowX6M]

Originally Posted by RL18

Well the crossover issue can be fixed...

The hertz tweeter would need this for a high pass filter: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1850

The audiofrog would use this for a high pass filter: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1862

The jl would use this hpf: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1874

Remember most humans can't hear frequencies above 20,000hz and depending on age it might be higher or lower. As far as the how low the tweeters play as long as they over lap what the midranges (which in my opinion shouldn't have to play frequencies above 5000hz) can play they will do just fine. In my case my midranges play from 150hz-4500hz and my tweeters play from 2500hz-20,000hz.

Wait, it just hit me, since my E70 has a single wire going to the midrange speaker, and then the tweeter plugs directly into the midrange, which basically acts like a pass-through, and the tweeter has a filter - that means the filter on the tweeter cuts out frequencies below certain point, but the midrange has no cut off for the high frequencies and thus it plays them. I assume its not a good thing?

[RL18]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

Wait, it just hit me, since my E70 has a single wire going to the midrange speaker, and then the tweeter plugs directly into the midrange, which basically acts like a pass-through, and the tweeter has a filter - that means the filter on the tweeter cuts out frequencies below certain point, but the midrange has no cut off for the high frequencies and thus it plays them. I assume its not a good thing?

Yes that's right! The 4" will play those frequencies but that's where you'll hear distortion. You could also add in low pass filters for the midranges, that's what i did in my system. Then you might be able to further fine tune in your eq settings and get more out of them.

[SlowX6M]

Originally Posted by RL18

Yes that's right! The 4" will play those frequencies but that's where you'll hear distortion. You could also add in low pass filters for the midranges, that's what i did in my system. Then you might be able to further fine tune in your eq settings and get more out of them.

All this new info is making my head spin. Now I remember when I experimented with a bimmertech setup (midrange and tweeter), they actually have a filter that plugs into the cards audio cable, and splits the wires - one going to the midrange, and the other going to the tweeter, and then their tweeter has a separate filter. I guess the Bimmertech system does it the right way - if I had to guess their first filter cuts off higher frequencies to the midrange, but acts as a pass through for the tweeter, which then cuts off lower frequencies with its own filter.

They are very basic filters, I wonder if I could just utilize them with my B&W speakers.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

All this new info is making my head spin. Now I remember when I experimented with a bimmertech setup (midrange and tweeter), they actually have a filter that plugs into the cards audio cable, and splits the wires - one going to the midrange, and the other going to the tweeter, and then their tweeter has a separate filter. I guess the Bimmertech system does it the right way - if I had to guess their first filter cuts off higher frequencies to the midrange, but acts as a pass through for the tweeter, which then cuts off lower frequencies with its own filter.

They are very basic filters, I wonder if I could just utilize them with my B&W speakers.

I've never hear of a crossover system like that. But you can also put low pass filters inline, something like thing would work: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...tave--260-1924

That's why I went with the infinity tweeters. They have their own filter inline then I just used a low pass filter like the one above for my midrange speakers

[argento]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

All this new info is making my head spin. Now I remember when I experimented with a bimmertech setup (midrange and tweeter), they actually have a filter that plugs into the cards audio cable, and splits the wires - one going to the midrange, and the other going to the tweeter, and then their tweeter has a separate filter. I guess the Bimmertech system does it the right way - if I had to guess their first filter cuts off higher frequencies to the midrange, but acts as a pass through for the tweeter, which then cuts off lower frequencies with its own filter.

They are very basic filters, I wonder if I could just utilize them with my B&W speakers.

Did the bimmertech mid filters come w your tweeter purchase or did I miss where you bought the entire system at one time?

[SlowX6M]

Originally Posted by argento

Did the bimmertech mid filters come w your tweeter purchase or did I miss where you bought the entire system at one time?

No, I actually bought a midrange and tweeter from them, but I wasn't too impressed with the midrange (a lot better than bavsound, but roughly equal to L7, worse than B&W), so I went with their tweeters only. The midfilter comes with their midrange, but they sell them separately for $15 a piece, I'll take a photo and post it shortly.

[argento]

Originally Posted by SlowX6M

No, I actually bought a midrange and tweeter from them, but I wasn't too impressed with the midrange (a lot better than bavsound, but roughly equal to L7, worse than B&W), so I went with their tweeters only. The midfilter comes with their midrange, but they sell them separately for $15 a piece, I'll take a photo and post it shortly.

Great to know...I'll email them and check the filters out...

[SlowX6M]

This is the bimmertech filter - as you can see it splits the input to midrange and tweeter, but the tweeter also has its own filter.

Unfortunately bimmertech does not post any specs on their speaker and filters frequencies.

[argento]

How does it sound?

BTW, they wouldn't sell them separately...they want me to buy midranges. I even offered to buy tweeters. Not too surprising.

I can get the connectors/pins, I just need a source for inline filters...and the recommended frequency ranges that match the F90 tweeters...this may be asking too much, lol.

A start: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-3mNM8t...SABEgJ40PD_BwE

So, I'm just now getting it, most of these are high pass filters (inline capacitors), otherwise we need to use RL18's recommendation for low pass or bandpass...