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DeaDLocK 
Newbie
Joined: 13-July-2005
Location: Bristol
Status: Offline
Points: 3
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 Topic: ’95 E34 Audio Upgrade - advice please!
Posted: 13-July-2005 at 05:56 |
Hi folks,
This is my first post on these board. I just did a deal on an E34 525TDS SE Auto Saloon yesterday. Very high mileage (200k), but the miles are genuine and the car is in surprisingly good condition for the age. The dealer had another 525TDS there with only 150k, but the condition was scabby inside and out. So I bought based on condition and not mileage - hope I made the right choice!
Anyway, I am taking delivery of the car on Friday, but I thought I'd do some research on it first. An important part of the experience to me is the quality of the audio system - I'm not after hardcore Hi-Fi with amps and huge subs and all the rest of it - all I want is a good clean sound with a touch of punch. I've been happy with aftermarket HUs mated to aftermarket coax speakers in the past with no amp in between.
The sound in the E34 during my short test drive was dire - it wasn't horrible, but it could definitely do with some improvement. I hope to make some purchases today so that I'll have items with me to do an immediate upgrade when the car comes.
Some specific questions:
1) Our American brethren speak of complicated stereo setups in their E34s with everything bridging in a factory amp in the boot with built in crossovers, which makes seeing results from simple upgrades a royal pain in the behind. I take it from the total lack of mention of this from any UK folks that our cars don't have this "problem"? Is the wiring a straight 4-channel HU to speaker jobby, and if so, how is the signal split between the midrange cones and the tweeters (or between the 6/8 speakers in the car for that matter)?
2) I didn't have a chance to examine the speakers the car had, but I could only hear sound coming from two holes in the dash and from the rear parcel shelf. From what I gather there are supposed to be tweeters in the doors and speakers in the front footwells...? I certainly didn't see any anywhere, but I'm not familiar with E34s. My car is a 1995 SE - can anyone confirm with some certainty that I definitely have speakers (or at least holes for speakers) in the front footwells, and whether there are tweeters in the doors?
3) The head unit in the car is a Kenwood single-CD jobby. My guess is that this isn't standard and is an upgrade, so I'm assuming that there is a BMW-to-ISO loom behind it, or that cables were spliced. Correct?
4) To upgrade the speakers will all I need is a straight swap? I understand the speaker sizes of the front footwells and rear parcel shelf are 13cm. What about the dash speakers and tweeters (assuming of course I have all of these!)?
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but any quick advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Rudi
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Lazarus
Newbie
Joined: 21-June-2005
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 8
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Posted: 13-July-2005 at 07:14 |
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Hi,
I've got a '95 520i touring (E34 facelift model). When I got the
car it had (I believe) a factory Kenwood cassette head unit, which I
swapped out for a single disc Kenwood CD player.
In terms of wiring, the Kenwood unit has a proprietary to ISO
connector, which was connected to ISO connectors in the BMW loom,
this is where the speakers are connected. As for speakers,
in the front, I have a pair of tweeters in the top part of the dash, a
pair of larger bass cones in the footwells and a midrange in the
doors. In the back, two larger cones in the rear headlining and
(I think) a pair in the rear doors.
From a sound quality perspective, the system sounds pretty good without
external amplification, and is running on the standard wiring. My
only complaint is (as noted in another post) that I occasionally loose
radio signal when driving along due to the aerial being built into the
rear hatch window.
Hope this helps.
Jason
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bavariancruiser
Newbie
Joined: 30-June-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 15
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Posted: 13-July-2005 at 11:28 |
Lazarus,
I think that sounds like the factory upgrade 10 speaker system. My E34 520i SE has 2 midrange on dash, 2 biggish cones in footwell and 2 biggish cones on parcel shelf. It was fitted with a Blaupunkt removable radio / cassette deck which I replaced with a radio / cd / usb mp3 unit last night.
It didn't require a harness adapter, despite Halford's saying otherwise. The new unit was a bargain 80 quid new! Matches the dash nicely with reddish display and buttons. Only bit I don't like is the shiny volume dial, black plastic would have been better in-keeping, but for 80 notes new, I ain't complaining. Sounds a lot nicer as well.
The standard speakers aren't too shoddy, but I may upgrade further in the future. I'm a bit confused about how they are powered though - bmw34.net claims I should have an amp in the boot, but I peeled back some of the carpet and couldn't see one. Bit confused over the wiring :S
Can anyone provide some detail on the E34 sound systems?
Edited by bavariancruiser
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fingerman
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 31-May-2005
Location: Stockport
Status: Offline
Points: 564
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 08:43 |
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I personally think the sound system sounds pretty good in mine - meaty bass and all sounds pretty clear.
I still have the factory fitted Pioneer radio/cassette and was looking
to replace - got to figure out how to remove the bloody thing first !!
Anyway bavariancruiser, where did you get your replacement from for
£80? - I had a look on Halfords web site and can't see any that match
your description?
And apparently when you fit a different stereo the radio signal won't
be as good due to it only using 1 bar from the rear windscreen - can
anyone confirm this?
Thanks
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Current: E34 1996 525tds 113-125k
Previous: 9xE34s, 5xE30s, 2xE39s, 1xE32, 1xE36.... phew!
My Ebay bits: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZseany69ukQQhtZ-1
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bavariancruiser
Newbie
Joined: 30-June-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 15
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 13:59 |
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Fingerman,
I purchased the unit from overclockers.co.uk. It is mainly a computer
shop (I use them to buy most of my pc stuff), but they also have a
'digital lifesetyle' section as well:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Digital_Lifestyle.h tml
I live within 10 minutes drive so I bought mine over the counter, but
they have a load of people manning the phones and do most of their
business by post.
H&B CA-5555 is the model number
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bavariancruiser
Newbie
Joined: 30-June-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 15
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 14:04 |
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P.S.
I went to two Halfords stores looking for car stereos and they weren't
in the least bit helpful. I think their stuff is overpriced too. The
main appeal is their fitting service, but I'm not sure I'd let one of
them near my car since they tried to sell me stuff I didn't need.
You could try Car Audio Direct for branded stuff, but I ain't bought
anything off them before so can't recommend them or anything. Prices
seem reasonable though.
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bavariancruiser
Newbie
Joined: 30-June-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 15
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 14:15 |
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P.P.S.
Fingerman, I'm guessing you will need the 'keys' to remove your
existing unit from the cage in the dash. Usually they slide down either
side of the unit and unclamp the stereo from the cage, then you pull
out.
'And apparently when you fit a different stereo the radio signal won't
be as good due to it only using 1 bar from the rear windscreen - can
anyone confirm this?'
My car had a single coaxal cable so I'm not sure what the
problem would be there. Reception is pretty dire, but that was the case
with the old unit as well. If your car has the coaxal cable, you will
probably need to buy an adaptor from Halfords(!) or Maplins so that it
can connect up to a more modern headunit style socket.
I don't listen to the radio much anyway, so wasn't too bothered: 99% of
the airwaves are filled with UPVC window adverts, trip and fall
insurance commercials and crap music. Radio Two is bearable I suppose :D
Much better to burn a CD full of the best Fleetwood Mac, Boston, The Cult mp3s etc, and forget about it.
Rant over. /me off the pub. :D
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fingerman
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 31-May-2005
Location: Stockport
Status: Offline
Points: 564
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 14:41 |
Cool, thanks for the info - I would have never thought to look at
overclockers.co.uk - I had a quick look at unbeatable.co.uk and they
have an mp3 cd player for £90 so may compare.
I'm gonna get me mate to remove the stereo as my attempt has wrecked it !  So now the face doesn't stay on and now it's broke!
Oh well, he'll sort it out tomorrow - he needs to look at the front
suspension as it's a bit hard, front os strut is leaking and the ns is
cracked!.
Thanks - can't be bothered goin to pub - beer at home 
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Current: E34 1996 525tds 113-125k
Previous: 9xE34s, 5xE30s, 2xE39s, 1xE32, 1xE36.... phew!
My Ebay bits: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZseany69ukQQhtZ-1
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fingerman
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 31-May-2005
Location: Stockport
Status: Offline
Points: 564
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 15:06 |
It's this one http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_28554.html
I can't see the one on overclockers, but if it's any good then Stoke is only down the road 
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Current: E34 1996 525tds 113-125k
Previous: 9xE34s, 5xE30s, 2xE39s, 1xE32, 1xE36.... phew!
My Ebay bits: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZseany69ukQQhtZ-1
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speedy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 04-April-2005
Location: Chesham, buckinghamshire
Status: Offline
Points: 534
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Posted: 15-July-2005 at 17:46 |
I have a front loading sony cd player, using the standard rear speakers
and a pair of boschmann speakers in the footwells (see below). It
sounds very good. Not massively bassy but just right.
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1995 520i se auto 24v saloon
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shapetoshoot
Newbie
Joined: 26-June-2005
Location: suffolk
Status: Offline
Points: 28
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Posted: 16-July-2005 at 19:37 |
 DeaDLocK wrote:
Hi folks,
This is my first post on these board. I just did a deal on an E34 525TDS SE Auto Saloon yesterday. Very high mileage (200k), but the miles are genuine and the car is in surprisingly good condition for the age. The dealer had another 525TDS there with only 150k, but the condition was scabby inside and out. So I bought based on condition and not mileage - hope I made the right choice!
Anyway, I am taking delivery of the car on Friday, but I thought I'd do some research on it first. An important part of the experience to me is the quality of the audio system - I'm not after hardcore Hi-Fi with amps and huge subs and all the rest of it - all I want is a good clean sound with a touch of punch. I've been happy with aftermarket HUs mated to aftermarket coax speakers in the past with no amp in between.
The sound in the E34 during my short test drive was dire - it wasn't horrible, but it could definitely do with some improvement. I hope to make some purchases today so that I'll have items with me to do an immediate upgrade when the car comes.
Some specific questions:
1) Our American brethren speak of complicated stereo setups in their E34s with everything bridging in a factory amp in the boot with built in crossovers, which makes seeing results from simple upgrades a royal pain in the behind. I take it from the total lack of mention of this from any UK folks that our cars don't have this "problem"? Is the wiring a straight 4-channel HU to speaker jobby, and if so, how is the signal split between the midrange cones and the tweeters (or between the 6/8 speakers in the car for that matter)?
2) I didn't have a chance to examine the speakers the car had, but I could only hear sound coming from two holes in the dash and from the rear parcel shelf. From what I gather there are supposed to be tweeters in the doors and speakers in the front footwells...? I certainly didn't see any anywhere, but I'm not familiar with E34s. My car is a 1995 SE - can anyone confirm with some certainty that I definitely have speakers (or at least holes for speakers) in the front footwells, and whether there are tweeters in the doors?
3) The head unit in the car is a Kenwood single-CD jobby. My guess is that this isn't standard and is an upgrade, so I'm assuming that there is a BMW-to-ISO loom behind it, or that cables were spliced. Correct?
4) To upgrade the speakers will all I need is a straight swap? I understand the speaker sizes of the front footwells and rear parcel shelf are 13cm. What about the dash speakers and tweeters (assuming of course I have all of these!)?
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but any quick advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Rudi
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You should have a pair of footwell speakers(that do most of the work) tweeters on top of the dash that look like air vents and a pair of speakers fitted to the rear parcel shelf. American specced cars also came with a seperate amp in the boot. I haven't seen this on a UK car though. The original speakers are very good and although its tempting to replace the because they are all accesible and shiny replacements are cheap(ish). I wouldn't bother ,they really are good!! Fit a new, good quality head unit, I prefer pioneer but everyone has a favourite. Trying to find a good one with an orange fascia is probably the hardest part. Then try it out if its well fitted and everything else is working you should get a very good sound.
Good Luck
Ian
good , good = 10 is that a record
Edited by shapetoshoot
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’95 E34 Audio Upgrade - advice please!