Bavsound Review

[Tbonem3]

Installed some Bavsound in a coupe recently. The plug and play aspect (minus the rear 2") is very nice, and I see the appeal, making it easier to swallow the price of the kit. The speakers themselves are like any decent speakers - speaker technology has not really changed a whole lot like other electrified tech (perhaps more in the fitment of them due to neodynium versus ferrous magnets).

I say that not to disparage the speakers, but to calm people's expectations - they are not magic. You need an amplifier.

That said, they're good, and you may have at least some factory speakers in poor condition like this fellow member did:





Cone material looks to be kevlar or some sort of non paper but also non metallic construction. I prefer stiffer like carbon treated paper, for a crisper response (high guitar, vocal, top range of the snap of the drums). These seems like they'll have a warmer response, which isn't the end of the world - better than the too cold of metal or muddled response of the cheap poly/synthetics imo. Again though, nothing will improve the sound like a proper amplifier, esp class A/B if you can/want to fit it. I'm not sure if the factory amp, even HK, can power them enough to truly judge the fidelity of these drivers.



Install into the door panels and rear couldn't be easier.

I will say it sounded better when I listened to an MP3 file (not known for bass response as the compression is mostly the low end data) after insall, though I also installed an Avin 4 unit at the same time, so not sure how much was the speakers or source, but I defintly noticed more response on the lower end from the front woofers. I can't say for certain if the factory HK speakers were functioning properly though, they looked fine so I would assume so.

Owner also wanted to do what Gary (wolfn8tor) did with the HK subs, putting in RFs. The units were pretty nice, I can see the appeal here as well, but these were really disapointing. Could barely hear them (could be a ohms issue), and they didn't move any air. Then I realized why - have you seen the HK subs' amplifier? It's the size of a candy bar lol! The audacity to call these "subs" lol. Do yourself a favor and power them properly, or remove them to save weight, because they're only pulling your sound image backwards, and certainly not playing any non directional freq (sub 80hz). Put in a round 8" or square 10" into the ski pass in infinite baffle, or a 10/12" in a sealed/ported box in the boot imo.

Install's not bad if you're okay trimming the RF's plastic surround.




You can see the RF's should be capable of some good midbass with like 50-100watts. Maybe the amp was expecting 2ohm? These are 4 ohm.



The avin unit, at least in its fit/finish, was impressive. Looks at home. Can bus didn't work (steering wheel controls). Also put in the dynavin console/ashtray replacement/usb.




Owner got all new goodies, euro tray/arm rest delete, trim, boots. Looks fantastic imo, if you want this type of double dinn solution.

[GreyM340i]

Please follow up and let us know what they said. I might be interested in something like that.

technicpnp.com said they no longer support the E46. Someone messaged me and said the E90/92 Hi-Fi 676 harness should work. I cant find the PM so not sure.

[L0okitzRaj]

I do not. Sadly, the industry is all into Nav units. Well IMO a phone is a better Nav device and I’m interested in making the car stereo JUST a stereo. What a concept. I think that would be easier and better.

BUT I think a business CD with a DSP Amp that lets you “separate” the sub channel might get you to the same place. My car had HK Nav so I never went down that route. So I’ve had 2 Dynavin units where I almost never use the Nav function🙄.

As I think of it, I might soon be in the market for a factory Business CD. I wonder if Becker NJ refurbs these and adds BT.

GL

maw

Look at the Continental VDO bluetooth radio.

It's probably the closest you'll get to stock looking without a ridiculous big navi style screen.

https://www.amazon.com/VDO-Continent...84366838&psc=1




I'm currently running stock navi headunit to audio control DSP, amped with bav sound speakers. I then added an HK sub (my car is not factory HK) and amped that. It sounds really decent, but definitely lacking in the low frqz.

I recently ordered the RF speakers spoken about earlier in this thread. I'm hoping this would complete the OE- look, but decent sound system i'm going for. I'll report back on how well the RF speakers sound on an amp and DSP.

[sda2]

Your could get yourself a BlueBus for bluetooth and maybe a CD Professional. As for the DSP, I think its possible to retrofit either the E39 or E85 DSP unit. Or go completely aftermarket, but then you miss out the DSP option in the radio menu

[maw1124]

That has a screen.

I do not. Sadly, the industry is all into Nav units. Well IMO a phone is a better Nav device and I’m interested in making the car stereo JUST a stereo. What a concept. I think that would be easier and better.

BUT I think a business CD with a DSP Amp that lets you “separate” the sub channel might get you to the same place. My car had HK Nav so I never went down that route. So I’ve had 2 Dynavin units where I almost never use the Nav function🙄.

As I think of it, I might soon be in the market for a factory Business CD. I wonder if Becker NJ refurbs these and adds BT.

GL

maw

[GreyM340i]

Please follow up and let us know what they said. I might be interested in something like that.

Will do

[Shonky]

I have just the standard HiFi system and one of the rear speakers just went out. Anyone upgrade to these on the same system? I'm not familiar with the differences between HiFi and the HK but I'm assuming the amplifier in my system is weaker. Is it worth doing the upgrade to my system?

Are you sure it's a rear speaker? Not an amp channel? In a non HK car the BM54 radio includes the amp that drives the speakers directly (it still drives the HK amp in HK cars but the HK amp is what's really pushing the speakers). It's known to fail. There are upgrades you can do reasonably cheaply to improve/repair the BM54 amplification. People report great improvements to the sound.

I should clarify there seems to be 3 levels although I'm pretty sure I've only ever seen two variants here (basically HK or no HK). The mid level does have its own separate amp similar to HK.

[DoubleSidedTape]

https://avinusa.com/avant-4-multimed...es-e46-m3.html

That has a screen.

[jrgatfh]

Thanks email sent.

Please follow up and let us know what they said. I might be interested in something like that.

[9kracing]

maw1124

Is there a head unit that you know of that looks similar to the factory unit (no screen, buttons that fit with bmw style, etc) that has the capabilities that you mention?

https://avinusa.com/avant-4-multimedia-navigation-system-for-bmw-3-series-e46-m3.html

[DoubleSidedTape]

maw1124

Is there a head unit that you know of that looks similar to the factory unit (no screen, buttons that fit with bmw style, etc) that has the capabilities that you mention?

[GreyM340i]

Yes technicpnp makes one. They don't have it listed on their website anymore though, maybe send them a msg and see if they can still make them.

https://technicpnp.com/

Thanks email sent.

[toy4to]

Is there a aftermarket harness that will allow me to connect a new aftermarket amplifier using my factory speaker wires and not cut any of them?

Yes technicpnp makes one. They don't have it listed on their website anymore though, maybe send them a msg and see if they can still make them.

https://technicpnp.com/

[maw1124]

OP is in a convertible. He knows his next step is the ski pass sub and an amp, from this prior thread… https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...m3-convertible. The discussion of 6x9s and deck subwoofers does not apply.

EDIT… for a time, I ran the BavSound with ski-pass sub on the factory head unit and amps (HK Nav). It was plenty powerful (sub not in the trunk, so that helped) and sounded great actually. What was missing was control — no separate sub or crossover control from the head unit, so that made things tough. A modern (Dynavin) head unit with a dedicated sub channel solved that. The extra 4-way (4x75 Hertz) cabin amp was a bonus, and probably overkill for the BavSound speakers. As I’ve said before, I’m surprised I haven’t blown any yet.

maw

Sonically, I think the head unit is the weak link (no independent subwoofer control, crossover, EQ or time alignment). Once you change that, next is amps (a 5/6-channel is probably fine). From there, take your time selecting speakers. The factory HK setup goes through all kinds of machinations to make the head unit sound decent for the bell curve of listeners. If you’re reading this, you’re outside that bell curve and the above is how you can make changes to suit your style without going down a rabbit hole.

The JLAudio DSP amps are the best out these days, but they are expensive. With the right head unit, any multichannel amp with 5/6 channels will do (Alpine or Hertz are probably next). You can always do Mosconi or something exotic but I think that’s overkill. With any amplification, only the BavSound speakers are PnP anyway, and once you’re modifying speaker fitments for me you’re down the rabbit hole.

maw

[WOODOO]

No IMO. Just find a cheap hifi speaker on ebay or whatever. If you want to really make an impactful upgrade, you should get an aftermarket amplifier. That will make even the basic speakers shine.

Thanks for the input. That's pretty solid advice as the Bavsound website itself suggests doing an amp first, but unfortunately they don't offer one for the E46 hah. I guess I will just replace my speaker for $60 then. Do you recommend any amps? I dabbled in mono amps with subs about 20 years ago but not multi-channel amps for speakers. I'm not really sure how many channels I would need with this factory set up, there's technically 8 different speakers, so 8 channels? I don't imagine there are external crossovers here like with aftermarket component speakers where the tweeter and mid combine as 1 channel.