Factory look head unit with aftermarket amps and/or steering wheel controls

[TBmas1]

Hi all-
I have an E39 that I've replaced the entire stereo in- New Kenwood dual-DIN nav head unit with backup cam, handsfree, etc., 2 alpine 200w amps (1 for sub and rear deck, the other for front doors), new active crossover for the door speakers, new speakers in doors, deck and sub, and axxess steering wheel controller. I have 3 questions.

1- I ended up with this head unit because the aftermarket units with a factory fit seemed to all be made to keep the original BMW amp and wiring intact. I've rewired everything to eliminate the small gauge speaker wires and any potential brittle, broken wires, etc, so it seemed like these weren't very compatible. They also are all brands which are unknown to me, and alot of them look like Chinese crap. Is there a good aftermarket head unit that looks factory-ish, or at least fills the full slot without a trim kit, which offers the performance and features of a high-end unit? Is there one that doesn't rely on the BMW wiring and harness? I'd love a more factory look!

2- I don't love the look of the dual-DIN with trim kit, but may be able to live with it. If only the steering wheel controls would work. I bought an AXXESS unit to program steering wheel controls, but have had trouble getting it to "read" the car and sync up. Has anyone experienced this on an E39 with M steering wheel, and been able to resolve it?

3- I have the touring. It seems like there really cannot be a balance between sound quality in the front seats and the rear. I've spent a fair amount of time tuning, but when I have it sounding great in the front seats, its sooo bass heavy in the back. I have an 8" RF sub, nothing major, pushing ±120w from the amp. Not too sure how to tune up the highs in the rear. I've seem someone on here with custom rear pillars to hold sound mids. Not a bad idea, but probably not something I'd actually ever get around to. I've been thinking about putting tweets in the rear doors, but I'm afraid that'll be ab earfull for me in the front seat. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance! These forums are great. I've just gotten tired of trolling around for answers that don't seem to be easy to find. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

To answer your questions;

1. There's no premium brand head unit that fills the OEM audio aperture in the E39. Any that you see are indeed Chinese units. Some years back, with my contacts in the Automotive audio industry, I did ask brands like Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood, JVC, Sony etc if they'd consider making one. Unless I committed to funding the development and also a rarther high number of unit production numbers, they'd not do it as the E39 was too old.

2. There's lots of aftermarket steering wheel control interfaces, also, the main premium brands all will have their own units as well. You could either try a Kenwood unit or double check your wiring at setup of the Axxess and/or try an option from Connects2/PAC/Paser.

3. I have a Touring as well! You do need to setup amplifiers properly and use your ears as well of course! Your configuration is unusual in that most setups would be a single subwoofer amplifier (Mono) and another amplifier to drive the four channels inisde the cabin of the car. I'd suggest that when out driving, 120W if that's RMS power output from the amp, is too little and more of the sub bass will be 'cancelled' out due to road/wind/drivetrain noise. I run 300W RMS for instance and I find at highway speeds 60-80MPH, I wish there was more power. I'm most probably going to install/fit sound deadening as a remedy and then re-test and if I decide I want perhaps another 100W RMS of sub bass power, I'll choose another sub amp after. I'd advise not to put tweeters in the rear doors as it'll just mess up any stereo separation, imaging, soundstage from the fronts. In case you haven't seen it, here's my writeup on the install I carefully devised and installed https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-Audio-Upgrade

I know you aren't keen on the rear D pillar builds, but if you do want some good rear fill, it's the way to go about things. Else, don't have any rear audio and concentrate on the front's where all the detail and quality will be audio wise.

Lastly, I do have something I'm about to announce - http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/132726...or-e39-owners/

Just eagerly awaiting a final aspect to fall into place

Cheers, Dennis!

[TBmas1]

Hi,

To answer your questions;

1. There's no premium brand head unit that fills the OEM audio aperture in the E39. Any that you see are indeed Chinese units. Some years back, with my contacts in the Automotive audio industry, I did ask brands like Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood, JVC, Sony etc if they'd consider making one. Unless I committed to funding the development and also a rarther high number of unit production numbers, they'd not do it as the E39 was too old.

2. There's lots of aftermarket steering wheel control interfaces, also, the main premium brands all will have their own units as well. You could either try a Kenwood unit or double check your wiring at setup of the Axxess and/or try an option from Connects2/PAC/Paser.

3. I have a Touring as well! You do need to setup amplifiers properly and use your ears as well of course! Your configuration is unusual in that most setups would be a single subwoofer amplifier (Mono) and another amplifier to drive the four channels inisde the cabin of the car. I'd suggest that when out driving, 120W if that's RMS power output from the amp, is too little and more of the sub bass will be 'cancelled' out due to road/wind/drivetrain noise. I run 300W RMS for instance and I find at highway speeds 60-80MPH, I wish there was more power. I'm most probably going to install/fit sound deadening as a remedy and then re-test and if I decide I want perhaps another 100W RMS of sub bass power, I'll choose another sub amp after. I'd advise not to put tweeters in the rear doors as it'll just mess up any stereo separation, imaging, soundstage from the fronts. In case you haven't seen it, here's my writeup on the install I carefully devised and installed https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-Audio-Upgrade

I know you aren't keen on the rear D pillar builds, but if you do want some good rear fill, it's the way to go about things. Else, don't have any rear audio and concentrate on the front's where all the detail and quality will be audio wise.

Lastly, I do have something I'm about to announce - http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/132726...or-e39-owners/

Just eagerly awaiting a final aspect to fall into place

Cheers, Dennis!

Thanks Dennis- thats helpful. Your fascia piece looks good!! Thats an interesting idea.

I've seen pieces of your writeup before and was inspired by it- I love the door panels. Regarding the rear pillars- you know, I'm not against them, its more taking the time to fab them to look close to stock, and the fiberglass or plastic molding is a bit outside of my wheelhouse. I love the idea- it just looks like the type of thing I'd get 80% complete on and never finish.

The bass from the sub is a bit light at times, but generally, its enough for me. I agree that I need to spend some time tuning, but it seems unavoidable that the rear will continue to feel a bit unbalanced. Its usually just my kids back there, so I'm not too sure why I care- it sounds pretty good up front! The (2) 4/3/2-channel amps felt a bit unorthodox when I was wiring it up, but its been a pretty good setup so far. I've thought about just putting some mids in the front and rear doors, running off of the head unit outputs (they're unused right now), but agree that putting anything in the rear doors feels like it would ruin the sound stage.

Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated