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Thread: 1999 M3 Aftermarket HeadUnit and BavSound

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    34
    My Cars
    1999 Dinan S3 M3

    1999 M3 Aftermarket HeadUnit and BavSound

    I have a 1999 M3 with HK sound system, tape deck, and cd changer. I would like to upgrade the headunit with an alpine or kenwood, etc. I prefer to keep the HK sound system. Which head units are recommended and what plug and play wiring harness for the HK system. In the future I want to install the Stage 1 BavSound speakers so I want to ensure everything works well together. I am okay paying a bit more for ease of install and operation.

    Thanks
    1999 Dinan 3 Supercharged M3 Alpine White (Open to Selling)
    2017 Tesla Model X
    2018 Land Rovery Discovery Diesel Off-Road
    1995 M3 5 Speed Cosmos Black (SOLD)
    2008 550i M-Sport (SOLD)
    2011 335i 6 Speed Alpine White (SOLD)
    2004 ZHP 6 Speed Grey (SOLD)
    Mercedes GL550 (SOLD)
    Formula 252SS with 502 Mag/B1 (SOLD)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Port Moody, Canada
    Posts
    5
    My Cars
    99 BMW M3
    Hi there,

    I just wanted to share my experience with the BavSound Stage 1 speaker system for my e36 m3 which was originally equipped with Harman Kardon speakers. I went with bavsound because it is a true plug and play system, no cutting/splicing wires, running new wires, modifying speaker housings, having incorrect electrical configuration for the stock amp output. I knew that it wasn’t going to be a night and day difference in sound quality based on previous forum member feedback, but I at least expected it to be as good or a little better than stock. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The BavSound Stage 1 system is worse than stock.

    Here are the reason I am not satisfied :

    1. Rear 6x9 speakers are garbage. They do not come with enclosures like the original HKs (not a big deal, but doesn’t look as clean from the trunk). They do not come with any type of sound deadening or gasket to isolate the speaker’s mounting surface from the rear deck mounting surface. The wiring harness does not have any type of wire chase or wiring clip to fasten and route the loose wires - they just hang visibly in the trunk. The cone material was paper rather than some type of synthetic material. The sound was even more disappointing. They sounded overwhelmed at moderate volumes especially in with regard to bass response. My stock HKs went back in shortly after.

    2. Front door mid 3.5” (iirc) - magnet was significantly smaller and weighed less than stock). Sound is ok but not satisfactory.

    3. Front door tweeter 2” (iirc) Seemed to be decent quality with good sound.

    4. Front door tweeter and mid sound can be fatiguing to listen. I also feel that there is a significant gap in the sound frequency range between the door mid and kick panel woofer. There seems to be a lot of detail missing in music.

    5. Front kickpanel 5.25” woofer seemed to be of good quality using synthetic materials. I can’t comment on sound because I can nearly hear them.

    6. I paid approx $800 CAD, plus 4 hours of my time for the install. The money back guarantee is great but not practical in this case because the tweeters are glued into the stock holder/grille assembly per the installation instructions. It would be a major pita to remove and reinstall the original tweeters.

    I’m very disappointed with this setup and wouldn’t recommend it. I’m not an audiophile by any stretch - to put that into perspective, I was 100% satisfied with the HK system in my E46 330ci. Point is that I’m not holding the system to unreasonable standard.

    Good luck with finding the right system.
    Last edited by Zeida; 12-09-2019 at 01:11 AM. Reason: Grammar

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    34
    My Cars
    1999 Dinan S3 M3
    Wow. I was not expecting to get that feedback. I did buy a headunit with bluetooth that I installed. The difference in sound was night and day, literally. I actually like my HK system now compared to the stock tape cassette radio I had. I don't think I need any speaker upgrades anymore.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeida View Post
    Hi there,

    I just wanted to share my experience with the BavSound Stage 1 speaker system for my e36 m3 which was originally equipped with Harman Kardon speakers. I went with bavsound because it is a true plug and play system, no cutting/splicing wires, running new wires, modifying speaker housings, having incorrect electrical configuration for the stock amp output. I knew that it wasn’t going to be a night and day difference in sound quality based on previous forum member feedback, but I at least expected it to be as good or a little better than stock. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The BavSound Stage 1 system is worse than stock.

    Here are the reason I am not satisfied :

    1. Rear 6x9 speakers are garbage. They do not come with enclosures like the original HKs (not a big deal, but doesn’t look as clean from the trunk). They do not come with any type of sound deadening or gasket to isolate the speaker’s mounting surface from the rear deck mounting surface. The wiring harness does not have any type of wire chase or wiring clip to fasten and route the loose wires - they just hang visibly in the trunk. The cone material was paper rather than some type of synthetic material. The sound was even more disappointing. They sounded overwhelmed at moderate volumes especially in with regard to bass response. My stock HKs went back in shortly after.

    2. Front door mid 3.5” (iirc) - magnet was significantly smaller and weighed less than stock). Sound is ok but not satisfactory.

    3. Front door tweeter 2” (iirc) Seemed to be decent quality with good sound.

    4. Front door tweeter and mid sound can be fatiguing to listen. I also feel that there is a significant gap in the sound frequency range between the door mid and kick panel woofer. There seems to be a lot of detail missing in music.

    5. Front kickpanel 5.25” woofer seemed to be of good quality using synthetic materials. I can’t comment on sound because I can nearly hear them.

    6. I paid approx $800 CAD, plus 4 hours of my time for the install. The money back guarantee is great but not practical in this case because the tweeters are glued into the stock holder/grille assembly per the installation instructions. It would be a major pita to remove and reinstall the original tweeters.

    I’m very disappointed with this setup and wouldn’t recommend it. I’m not an audiophile by any stretch - to put that into perspective, I was 100% satisfied with the HK system in my E46 330ci. Point is that I’m not holding the system to unreasonable standard.

    Good luck with finding the right system.
    1999 Dinan 3 Supercharged M3 Alpine White (Open to Selling)
    2017 Tesla Model X
    2018 Land Rovery Discovery Diesel Off-Road
    1995 M3 5 Speed Cosmos Black (SOLD)
    2008 550i M-Sport (SOLD)
    2011 335i 6 Speed Alpine White (SOLD)
    2004 ZHP 6 Speed Grey (SOLD)
    Mercedes GL550 (SOLD)
    Formula 252SS with 502 Mag/B1 (SOLD)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Posts
    9,933
    My Cars
    2018 BMW M240i
    I bet the system will actually sound even better with some new speakers.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Peoria, AZ
    Posts
    7,696
    My Cars
    03 zhp, 97 e36m3, 04 zhp
    Quote Originally Posted by lafuerza View Post
    Wow. I was not expecting to get that feedback. I did buy a headunit with bluetooth that I installed. The difference in sound was night and day, literally. I actually like my HK system now compared to the stock tape cassette radio I had. I don't think I need any speaker upgrades anymore.
    Because original head unit and amplifier are bottlenecks of the system, in that order.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Port Moody, Canada
    Posts
    5
    My Cars
    99 BMW M3
    Quote Originally Posted by Mless5 View Post
    Because original head unit and amplifier are bottlenecks of the system, in that order.
    Maybe I’ll get the CD43 upgrade. Not much I can do about the amp as I’m not interested in a Frankenstein solution and BavSound has not followed through on previous promises to provide an amp for the e36.

    In hindsight it would have been better to replace the one blown HK tweeter I had and upgrade the head unit to a CD43.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    34
    My Cars
    1999 Dinan S3 M3
    I installed an Alpine CDE 172BT head unit. 4x32amp system. No sub. I had a pioneer head unit in my 1995 M3 with custom amp, speakers, and sub from previous owner and it did not sound good. This head-unit with HK speakers sounds very good. Not audiophile level but bass is adequate but not crisp, mids and hi's are good. You can't push too hard on volume or there is distortion. For normal to medium high sound level listening its pretty good. I am sure speakers could make a difference but its needs to be significant to make sense for my needs.

    Can anyone else advise on bavsound stage 1 if it will actually be beneficial since I don't want to spend 4 hours messing with install to get same or worse potentially.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeida View Post
    Maybe I’ll get the CD43 upgrade. Not much I can do about the amp as I’m not interested in a Frankenstein solution and BavSound has not followed through on previous promises to provide an amp for the e36.

    In hindsight it would have been better to replace the one blown HK tweeter I had and upgrade the head unit to a CD43.
    1999 Dinan 3 Supercharged M3 Alpine White (Open to Selling)
    2017 Tesla Model X
    2018 Land Rovery Discovery Diesel Off-Road
    1995 M3 5 Speed Cosmos Black (SOLD)
    2008 550i M-Sport (SOLD)
    2011 335i 6 Speed Alpine White (SOLD)
    2004 ZHP 6 Speed Grey (SOLD)
    Mercedes GL550 (SOLD)
    Formula 252SS with 502 Mag/B1 (SOLD)

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