I'm in the same boat absolute kicking myself I didn't get H&K as I find the standard system poor.

There's an audio center that I've been meaning to go to if they suggest anything decent/cost effective I'll keep you posted!

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Thanks that'd be great! Be interesting to hear someone else's thoughts.

For me I want to keep with direct replacements and I'd quite like to install it myself if possible.

 

My only concern is that it's possible to change to speakers out, but would there need to be some sort of amplifier as I don't fancy taking the dash apart. A question for the professionals maybe....

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Hi All, i have plans for an audio upgrade in the f40, but i havent even got the car yet, so there is only so much prep i can do.

It looks like there should be a RAM (receiver audio module) in the boot on the left, which is an amp of sorts. It looks to have 3 sets of speaker outputs. 1 set to the rear doors. 1 set to the front doors and a separate set to the underseat woofers. The underseat speakers are likely the 6 inch jobs but the housings should accommodate the larger 8 inch hk or aftermarket "subwoofers", although the enclosures look smaller on the base audio than the hk enclosures. But there probably isnt a lot in it in practise. You cant buy the hk enclosures separately though which is a shame.

Buying the housings to fit the tweeters in is an expensive proposition. The crappy little grills are 50 quid each or something daft. The standard blank panels are approx £30 each i think, so ill get a spare pair of those and flush mount some tweeters.

The plan for me is to take the front and underseat outputs to a line output converter, then to two minidsps, that i already have, then to amplifiers mounted behind the panel in the boot. Space permitting. ive no idea how much room there is there. I should be able to make something fit.

Speaker wise, i may go with custom fit underseat mid bass speakers, but they are very expensive for what they are. There isnt much depth to retrofit much else though. For the front doors, ill make a speaker adapter and fit some hifi drivers, rather than car specific speakers, and especially bmw custom fit speakers, as you pay a lot for that convenience. I like the challenge though, so others will be happy to pay extra for the convenience of custom fits.

I should be able to do the whole lot without cutting a single wire, which is important, as this is a brand new car. Ill also be able to switch back to the original audio wiring with two plugs.

I can go into further details if anyone is interested, but its all a bit hypothetical until they actually build the damn car!!

 

Do you know if there is a remote turn on wire going to the audio receiver module located in the boot??

 

Wow, sounds like you're well in know about your car audio. I'm of the same opinion that whatever I consider doing I don't want to tamper with the wires, I'm even happy with direct fit speakers. Probably not the ultimate in sound but anything has to be an improvement 😎

 

Has anyone got anywhere with any upgrades for the Base Audio? I'd be interested to get any feedback as I'm just starting to look at upgrade options myself.

I'm thinking of starting with just changing the front door speakers to Focal IC 100L coaxial units. I figure they have to be better than the OEM units and at least I get some sort of tweeter without the expense/pain of changing the entire upper door surround trim to add tweeters in the door pillars.

I see some companies are now offering wiring harnesses that seem to tap into the RAM in the boot to add a separate amp

MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM

7-channel UPGRADE cable harness for the easiest connection of a MATCH UP 8DSP or UP 7DSP with MEC ANALOG IN to a BMW with RAM sound concept

www.audiotec-fischer.de

I'm hoping not to have to go that far. I don't want concert level audio, just something half decent.

 

Has anyone got anywhere with any upgrades for the Base Audio? I'd be interested to get any feedback as I'm just starting to look at upgrade options myself.

I'm thinking of starting with just changing the front door speakers to Focal IC 100L coaxial units. I figure they have to be better than the OEM units and at least I get some sort of tweeter without the expense/pain of changing the entire upper door surround trim to add tweeters in the door pillars.

I see some companies are now offering wiring harnesses that seem to tap into the RAM in the boot to add a separate amp

MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM

7-channel UPGRADE cable harness for the easiest connection of a MATCH UP 8DSP or UP 7DSP with MEC ANALOG IN to a BMW with RAM sound concept

www.audiotec-fischer.de

I'm hoping not to have to go that far. I don't want concert level audio, just something half decent.

I've replaced both front and rear door speakers with the Focal IC BMW 100L coaxial units, and they are a big improvement over the crappy originals, even without separate tweeters. Easy to fit, once you've done battle with getting the door cards off. I have also replaced the two 8-inch underseat woofers with Focal ISUB BMW 4 units but I'm not yet convinced that this does very much. Considering adding a small amplifier (Focal Impulse 4.320?) although this is clearly a bit more complex.

 

How about the match plug n play amp upgrade?

MATCH UP 7BMW

7-channel Plug & Play upgrade amplifier with integrated 8-channel 64 Bit DSP for BMW HiFi sound systems

www.audiotec-fischer.de

that should drive the vocals well , without any messing around with complex wiring

 

This is stated as compatible only with the BMW HiFi amplifier. The base RAM version is not supported.

 

What I'm currently trying to understand is how to connect the Focal amp. I understand that the four channels would support the two front door speakers and the two under seat woofers. The rear doors could remain driven by the original stereo. However, the Focal wiring accessory for BMW appears to offer a huge bunch of wires and connectors that would require dismantling the car to replace the current wiring. What I need is to be able to insert the amp's wiring between the RAM in the boot and the RAM's cables to the speakers.Two connectors there plus some cables ending in connectors for the amp, with no need to interfere with any of the current wiring.

 

After a bit of research, for the basic RAM audio, it looks like this amplifier:
MATCH UP 7DSP | Audiotec Fischer
could be suitable with one of these harnesses:
MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM | Audiotec Fischer
MATCH PP-BMW 1.4ASD | Audiotec Fischer
The second harness mentions ASD specifically, so I guess that this one should be OK for the M135iX.

 

The link that Geoff posted before your post and mine is the amp to match up cable required to all over connection

MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM

7-channel UPGRADE cable harness for the easiest connection of a MATCH UP 8DSP or UP 7DSP with MEC ANALOG IN to a BMW with RAM sound concept

www.audiotec-fischer.de

this should be the complete solution, sorry should have added that to my post

 

Think I might be going the same way as you, was initially going to use the match speakers as well, but would prefue the vocals as have used them in the lotus and are good quality
i discounted the full focal solution because the amp faff, but focal speakers and match amp with ram harness may be the way or Addison speakers

 

Looks like a workable solution. My only reservation is the cost - amp + harness around £700 - for something that's considerably more than I need. 7 channels + DSP + a lot of power is OK if you really want all that. Ideal for me would be the Focal 4.320 with an equivalent harness to the Match version. I don't understand why Focal promote the 4.320 as a simple P&P installation when their picture shows lots of cable and four speaker connectors. Rewiring the car is not on my agenda!

 

How about just the match cable to fit in car Lomb, and splice the other end to the focal to make that work then your not messing around with the car Lomb, might need some investi as to what wires are what

 

Yes, get both harnesses and settle down for some serious testing and soldering. Something to think about carefully.

 

I've been investigating the Focal harness for the 4.320 amp. After inquiries to Focal (no response) and a UK dealer (no response), I finally got an answer from a German dealer. The BMW 2.1 IMP HARNESS for this amp is a half-arsed implementation that is nowhere near a plug & play solution as is offered for other amps by Match and some others.

If you should decide to go this route then do yourself a favour and check this: unbolt a front seat and remove a woofer cover. If the speaker has only 2 wires connected then the Focal harness will not work. It needs both the woofer and the adjacent door speaker to be connected in parallel, as all the i/o to the new amp has to go via one cable pair for each side of the car. On my car (2021 F40 M135iX) the 2 speakers are connected separately to the RAM and this cannot work.

Looks like the 4.320 is out and I must look for something else, as merging two harnesses will not be a viable solution.

 

The more I think about this

The more I think about the it’s making me think just get the match 7up and ram harness, just a descition as to what speakers to go with

 

I'm happy with the Focal speakers (4x IC BMW 100L and 2x ISUB BMW 4) but Focal have killed my interest in the 4.320 amp. As a simpler alternative to the Match UP 7DSP, I am considering the Match 5.4 DSP + MATCH PP-BMW 1.4ASD harness, although I'd prefer a non-DSP amp. Can't remember the price but somewhat less than the UP 7DSP. Four channels is adequate, provided I can drive the fronts and under-seats.

 

Looking at the Match upgrade selector it imply you will need the RAM wire in g harness

Audiotec Fischer

www.audiotec-fischer.de

Which could mean some fiddling still to be done

5.4 looks to be £500 and the harness £200
Up is £620 and Ram harness £80

so little advantage on pricing, unless I’m looking at wrong items

 

Sorry, I couldn't follow your description. The A-F website doesn't seem to have a clear explanation of anything related to connection harnesses. I'm nearly convinced that I don't need DSP, and I'm looking for a more basic 4-ch amp, i.e. like the Focal unit but with proper P&P harness.

 

Having arrived at a waypoint in my journey, here are my conclusions:
1. I don’t need more than a basic non-DSP 4-channel amp. Anything more is just a wasted expense.
2. The only amp that seems to be OK for this is the Focal 4.320.
3. Focal’s “plug and play” harness for the F40 is useless on several counts and I haven’t been able to find an appropriate P&P harness for any other lower cost amp.
4. A potentially usable harness is the Audiotec-Fischer MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM, which plugs between the RAM and its cables.
5. This won’t fit the Focal amp directly, as it uses a 20-pin Molex connector, while the latter uses 14- and 8-pin connectors. Repinning the harness leads should be OK, if achievable.
6. Finding suitable Molex plugs to fit the 4.320 may be difficult. “Molex” is now a generic name, and the Molex catalogue has an infinity of connectors, none of which look like the required shape and size.
7. EBay is a source for various “Molex” plugs, which may be the answer.
8. My likely approach is
(a) Get a selection of Molex plugs (8- and 14-pin) for say £5.
(b) Get the 4.320 from a supplier that will accept returns, around £200.
(c) If an acceptable Molex plug to fit the amp is found then proceed to 9.
(d) If not then proceed to 10.
9. Get the A-F harness, around £90, and re-pin the cables to the new Molex connectors. Job done, total cost less than £300.
10. The choice is to:
(a) Give up and return the amp, or
(b) Buy both harnesses (Focal £80, A-F £90), use the Molex plugs from the Focal harness and solder/re-pin. Job done, total cost around £380.
At present I’m at 7 => 8(a).

 

It's done and working!
So here's the list:
The car came with the basic stereo, as HK couldn't be ordered last July.
Sounded pretty grim so I replaced all 6 speakers:
Focal coaxial IC BMW 100L in all 4 doors. I couldn't be bothered to use the separate tweeter setup in the front, as it needs the upper door trim replacing to fit the tweeters, at considerable expense. A simple job, once the door cards could be bullied into being removed.
Focal ISUB BMW 4 under the two front seats.
Still with the base stereo, the mid and upper sounds were greatly improved. The bass was still very lacking, however.
I then embarked on the amplifier upgrade.
The Focal 4.320 is a basic 4-channel non-DSP unit, and I'm perfectly happy to use this for the two front doors and the under-seat woofers. The rear doors remain driven directly from the car stereo, albeit with improved sound quality.
The only other item was an Audiotec Fischer MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM wiring harness. Quite a lot of work in connecting this, together with some of the very basic items that came with the Focal amp. It fits between the RAM module and the head unit and connects to the amp.
The amp does input and output for the front doors and the woofers, while the rear door connections bypass the amp.
The first installation is done, shoving the amp and a lot of cable behind the small hatch where the "mobility system" used to live, and right below the RAM. Will need a bit of tidying when the 'round tuit' arrives.
Overall it's outstanding. I'm not a wake-the-neighbours type, and I do my quality listening at home, but this puts the base stereo to shame. I did try turning up the volume on some Bach and I could feel it through the seat and the vibration of the steering wheel.
That's it, all done, and I can move on to something else, like washing the car.

 

The only other item was an Audiotec Fischer MATCH PP-BMW 1.7RAM wiring harness. Quite a lot of work in connecting this, together with some of the very basic items that came with the Focal amp. It fits between the RAM module and the head unit and connects to the amp.
The amp does input and output for the front doors and the woofers, while the rear door connections bypass the amp.
The first installation is done, shoving the amp and a lot of cable behind the small hatch where the "mobility system" used to live, and right below the RAM. Will need a bit of tidying when the 'round tuit' arrives.

This Friday my f40 118i will arrive (with base audio system). I'm also interested in this upgrade. Can you specify how this connecting went? So the connection between the harness, amp and RAM, does this all take place in the booth? pictures would be nice

cheers,

Dion

 

Glad your listening to Bach cjn

 

Must be something to do with that organ throbbing beneath my seat.

 

I am upgrading the audio on my f40 128ti, is it worth changing the subs under the seats or better just upgradin the speakers?

 

Have a look at my post #25 above. Happy to answer any questions. Assuming, of course, that your 128 has the same setup as my 135.

 

Cheers, how hard is the door card removal?

 

Before you start, you need the instructions! PM me an email address and I'll send you the relevant pages from the manual, plus some other stuff I sent to another interested party.

 

I am also interested in the instructions to remove the door cards but can't find an option to message you, any chance you can message me and I will give you an email address?

 

Hi, I am interested in hearing what you done and the info you, sorry could not see the PM option to send yo my email address for your info, thanks Nick

 

I also can’t find where to send a personal message?

 

To send a message move your mouse over the large coloured initial on the left of the target's post. You should see a popup item that includes "Message". Click on that.