Bavsound Review

[Shonky]

Not sure why I get the feeling you're trying to discredit the work done when you in fact stated you're doing the same thing.

The symptoms you're experiencing with your car, sound on one side going out doesn't' really cloud your memory does it? If memory serves me, there's still the other side playing sound.

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Not trying to discredit, but trying to understand where this apparent improvement in sound quality comes from and then some kind extra improvement for paying for "Stage 2" which is essentially the same thing as a "Stage 1" really. Audio is very subjective and as such people often report improvements that aren't really there.

Yes I am fixing my unit because it's absolutely broken. That doesn't necessarily make it sound better than it did before it failed. What I was going to do will actually allow an A-B (your memory is excellent) and I'll be sure to report here any difference in sound. I'm not expecting anything signficant apart from the right side working again.

[WestBankM4]

This is said TechnicPnP harness I purchased in 2020. It's a replacement for the HK amp in the trunk. No cutting or splicing, it allows you to run an aftermarket amp.

The maker of said harness can be found here posting about what it's capabilities are.

https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/t...arness.486152/

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[WestBankM4]

If you went from a faulty unit to a working one, of course it's going to sound better - your memory will always be clouded by the most recent experience.

BTW: HK is completely separate from BM53

Not sure why I get the feeling you're trying to discredit the work done when you in fact stated you're doing the same thing.

The symptoms you're experiencing with your car, sound on one side going out doesn't' really cloud your memory does it? If memory serves me, there's still the other side playing sound.

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[Shonky]

If you went from a faulty unit to a working one, of course it's going to sound better - your memory will always be clouded by the most recent experience.

BTW: HK is completely separate from BM53

[WestBankM4]

I went from an OEM HK unit which had started getting the symptoms of a bad BM53. Screeching/squealing from all speakers, bumps in the road would cut out one full side of sound, the other side worked perfect. Eventually it would just screech when turned on.

I ended up sending it to Baris and went straight for the Stage-2, from OEM to his upgrade it's 100% noticeable, at least for me. Made the 21 year old speakers actually sound semi decent.

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[Shonky]

You could tell from the non modified to "Stage 2" or the "Stage 1" to "Stage 2"?

Can you see the part number on the amplifier IC at all?

The wiring is fairly simple to hook up I have that worked out. Basically: ground, power, mute, 4 input signals and 8 speaker outputs (4 x +/-).

Kinda light duty speaker wiring for 50W RMS if you ask me.

[WestBankM4]

This is a Baris modified BM53. I could tell a difference after the stage-2 upgrade, for me it was worth it.

I have another unit and looked inside, doesn't look like this.

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[Shonky]

https://carphonics.co.uk/shop/shop-by-car/bmw/bmw-x5-series/e53-x5-2001-2006/bmw-and-range-rover-bm54-bm53-repair-service/

Here is the link. Looks like there are two options for the BM53 upgrades: Stage 1 are 40W RMS and Stage 2 are 50W RMS. Not much more detail than that.

It's very vague and to be honest I don't particularly believe some of the "waffle". They say "Stage 2 is started from fresh" but "taken a step further". What's that even mean?

Stage 1 is 40W RMS and 2 is 50W RMS? Just sounds like an upsell really. Ultimately power is limited by the nominal 12V supply as there's not going to be any voltage step up internally.

They are likely fairly standard TDAxxxx AB amplifiers (TDA7560 seems to be used elsewhere but there's a hundred variants that do basically the same thing). There are also variants claiming a "Pioneer" part is an upgrade.

However (big one for me), in a HK system the HK amps drive the speakers. From my understanding the BM53/54 amp is simply driving the HK amp inputs. It's the HK amp doing the heavy lifting.

That's not to say the BM53/54 amps do nothing. My right channels (with HK) have both failed and I'm in the process of adding my own "upgrade" once I validate it's the BM53 amps that have failed. I intend to wire the right channels first to do a live A-B difference using a TDA7560.

Also I don't really see how this "upgrades" the sound particularly in the HK system, unless the hybrid amp circuits in the BM53/54 are significantly distorting. One of my channels sometimes works and when it does it sometimes distorts.

[Tbonem3]

https://carphonics.co.uk/shop/shop-by-car/bmw/bmw-x5-series/e53-x5-2001-2006/bmw-and-range-rover-bm54-bm53-repair-service/

Here is the link. Looks like there are two options for the BM53 upgrades: Stage 1 are 40W RMS and Stage 2 are 50W RMS. Not much more detail than that.

Oh it's a headunit. No headunit internal amp is going to power lower frequencies sufficiently. Maybe you could use it for the tweeters and mids, but then get a mono or 2 channel class D for a sub.

[WestBankM4]

If you are looking to sell that upgraded BM53 unit I'd be interested!

I was actually planning on keeping it in case I decide to go back to my OEM HK Nav unit in the future. I'm keeping all my OEM parts actually, including the full lifeless grey interior.

maw1124 I'm going to post some pictures on this thread later and ask for your advice because I've come a long way and I want to do this now since everything is stripped interior wise.

[maw1124]

https://carphonics.co.uk/shop/shop-by-car/bmw/bmw-x5-series/e53-x5-2001-2006/bmw-and-range-rover-bm54-bm53-repair-service/

Here is the link. Looks like there are two options for the BM53 upgrades: Stage 1 are 40W RMS and Stage 2 are 50W RMS. Not much more detail than that.

If you're in a vert those wattages aren't going to cut it. In my vert I'm running a Hertz 4x95 to the BavSound cabin + a 200x1 Rockford for the sub. That sounds proper and I can hardly get the BavSound speakers to distort.

I run a 50x4 in the cabin of my Benz 500E sedan with the thick glass (about the same size as this car) and it's barely adequate.

For this discussion, vert v coupe is basically all the difference in the world. You almost need separate threads.

FWIW...

maw

[maw1124]

Just installed this set up tonight in my Vert. Completely underwhelmed and disappointed. Running off a dynavin N7, these distort like crazy around 2/3 to 3/4 volume with a flat EQ. I might actually put the stock HK speakers back in. To me, definitely not worth the cost, and I also bought at 20% off

Did you upgrade the sub? N7 in a vert more or less requires an upgraded sub. The distortion you're hearing is probably the sub and not the speakers. That ski pass sub is trash. I have the same setup, but the sub is what makes it go. No sub upgrade, no go.

maw

[duracellttu]

I don't know it, but if you give me the specs, I can give my opinion.

Some basics:

Class a/b are larger and hotter, but sound better.
Class D has come on leaps and bounds in recent times. If you get a high quality one (like my ARC audio 850), it can be very musical like class a/b. Most cheap ones sound like shit though, and buzz often.

You're not going to hurt a driver with too much available amperage. You'll hurt it by asking it to play (low) frequencies it's mechanically shouldn't.
So go for a good amount of power, but be sure to have active or passive crossovers to slope the frequencies down and protect the drivers.

The fewer the drivers, the better. The most perfect sound system ever would have just one speaker, but that's not physcially possible. For our cars, you'll need a pair of woofers (5.25-6.5") and a pair of tweeters (.75"-1.xx"). Then, you'd need a 8" in IB (ski pass/rear shelf) at a minimum, but truly, more like a 10" in an enclosure in the truck or in IB in the rear shelf.

So the amp would need to be at least 3 channel, but how you get there can depend on wiring. It could be 4 channel, use the the front 2 with passive crossovers to power the front 4 drivers, then you could bridge the rear 2 channels (sum) for a single subwoofer.

Less is more. Have ample amperage, but protect the drivers, and create the right sound with correct filters.

https://carphonics.co.uk/shop/shop-by-car/bmw/bmw-x5-series/e53-x5-2001-2006/bmw-and-range-rover-bm54-bm53-repair-service/

Here is the link. Looks like there are two options for the BM53 upgrades: Stage 1 are 40W RMS and Stage 2 are 50W RMS. Not much more detail than that.

[duracellttu]

My BavSound upgrades are due in next week, but I was running my HK system with Baris' BM53 update, I did his Stage-2 upgrade with the amps. It is a very noticeable difference and pushed those 21 year old speakers to decent sound, use to be muffled but after the upgrade much clearer. I could only imagine if I had the BavSound upgrade already installed.

Now I've shifted to a Dynavin 9 and I'll be running an aftermarket amp using the TechnicPnP harness I've had for years, probably a 4 channel for the two decklid HK subs and have options for a sub box in the future.

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If you are looking to sell that upgraded BM53 unit I'd be interested!

[K-Dawg]

Just installed this set up tonight in my Vert. Completely underwhelmed and disappointed. Running off a dynavin N7, these distort like crazy around 2/3 to 3/4 volume with a flat EQ. I might actually put the stock HK speakers back in. To me, definitely not worth the cost, and I also bought at 20% off

Are you using the N7 internal amplifier to power the speakers directly? If not, go into the Audio Settings menu, ensure Factory Amplifier HiFi is selected and set the level appropriately.