[SteveB_UK]

Hi - first post here. Bought an i8 in December and loving it!

Thought I would make this first post useful as I couldn't find much posted on stereo upgrades.

My car (UK spec) didn't have the HK stereo upgrade. That helped beat the seller down on price but left me needing to spend to get it sounding good!!

Just as I was buying the car an HK speaker and amp set removed from a US car came up on eBay. I checked with my dealer that it was possible to retro fit and also checked out the parts on realOEM.com. I also invested in a trim removal tool kit as I planned on doing the job myself as I like to tinker!!

After investigating I thought the job looked a bit tricky and called a local car audio place for a price to fit. They informed me that it wasn't possible to fit the amp!

Unimpressed, I decided to have a try anyway. The stereo shop was wrong. The amp was a direct swap and fairly easy to switch. All the plastic trim and boot carpet needed to be removed but once out, the old amp could be removed from its bracket, loom unplugged and then plugged into the HK amp. The new amp bolted straight into the mount. And it worked!!!

Next was the sub which has been covered in a thread on here. The only tricky part was separating the speaker from the plastic mount. But levering slowly a patiently lifted one from the other. The HK sub was a straight swap.

The rear speakers were a little more fiddly! The speaker trim covers, seat belt covers, rear seat backrests and the plastic "parcel shelf" trim needed to come out. Mostly held with plastic trim push in clips, and a few torx screws. All fairly easy with the trim tool kit. The speakers mount to plastic plates which were bolted in. Two bolts were sneakily hidden under the roof lining each side and the lining needed to be pulled down to get to them. This worried me in case I damaged the lining but it was fairly flexible. Once all screws were removed the plates came out with a bit of persuasion.

As the std install doesn't have rear tweeters the place where they fit needed to be cut out of the speaker mount plates. Easy enough with a pair of side cutters and a file. The mounting clips for the tweeters were already present so once the holes were cut the tweeters clicked straight in. The mid speakers were direct swaps.

Refitting was awkward for the four screws under the headlining. The rest was ok. Except that I left the parcel shelf until last and it needed to be installed first! So I had to remove the cover trim again to get the parcel back in. I got quite good at that job!

After getting this far, the biggest improvements were the sub and amp, followed by the rear speakers. The std fronts and dash speakers are better than the std rears but not quite as good as the HK rears. I've currently got the fade biased towards the rear and it sounds pretty good. Almost good enough not to bother working out how to remove the door cards, or paying a shop to do it for me. But I can tell it's not quite as good as a fully equipped HK car I test drove.

The good news is that the std stereo can be upgraded to the HK option if you can find the parts!!!

Here's my quandary: if I pay to have the HKs fitted should I spend a bit more and get Focals just for the doors? These are the speakers closest to me so the most important to have upgraded. Or just fit the HKs?

Alternatively spend that money on the rather good sounding Maxhaust system ?

[ElSpa]

the hk sounds like crap ! not worth it...

[SteveB_UK]

Originally Posted by ElSpa

even the hk sound like crap ! not worth it...

But better than std and "almost" good enough for me!!!

[ElSpa]

I was very disapoited with the hk sound in the i8...even the standard system in my F01 sounds a lot better.
Maybe you can research how to upgrade to aftermarket speakers, since you have the more "friendly" / upgradable setup.
The HK is pretty hard to upgrade

[SteveB_UK]

Originally Posted by ElSpa

I was very disapoited with the hk sound in the i8...even the standard system in my F01 sounds a lot better.
Maybe you can research how to upgrade to aftermarket speakers, since you have the more "friendly" / upgradable setup.
The HK is pretty hard to upgrade

From what I've found Bavsoubd and Focal both do speaker swaps and any decent audio shop will swap out the amp if needed.

There's a thread on upgrading the sub but I'm happy with the amount of bass, it's just the depth and brightness of the mid and treble at the front that could be a bit better.

I'm no audiophile so fairly easy to please!!

[skinrock]

"Sub" was the first thing I needed to swap. It was way too weak. I still want to do a BavSound package, but would much prefer to swap the amp as well. Not familiar with the effort that requires.

[JasH]

Welcome to the forum Steve, and a great useful initial post

[SteveB_UK]

Originally Posted by JasH

Welcome to the forum Steve, and a great useful initial post

Thanks Jas.

Still need to finish reading the manual you recommended as the first thing I do - too busy driving it ?

[JasH]

Originally Posted by SteveB_UK

Thanks Jas.

Still need to finish reading the manual you recommended as the first thing I do - too busy driving it ?

LOL, a classic case of not practicing what I preach ..... I've still not read mine fully.

[Aye-eight]

Wow. With all that panel removing and refitting, I hope you're not getting weird rattles and stuff now. For me personally, sound inside a car is not important enough to mess with it. I got the HK set, so I could be reasonably sure I have decent sound. That's all I need.

Incidentally, in Germany, BMW sound systems have always had a reputation of being inferior, to Porsche's Bose, for instance. And if you want real sound, you need to go with Burmester, or maybe Teufel, anyway.

[SteveB_UK]

Originally Posted by Aye-eight

Wow. With all that panel removing and refitting, I hope you're not getting weird rattles and stuff now. For me personally, sound inside a car is not important enough to mess with it. I got the HK set, so I could be reasonable sure I have decent sound. That's all I need.

Incidentally, in Germany, BMW sound systems have always had a reputation of being inferior, to Porsche's Bose, for instance. And if you want real sound, you need to go with Burmester, or maybe Teufel, anyway.

They are all back and in nicely. The trim is well designed and clips and screws in well.

As I bought the car second hand I had to accept the spec. At the price I paid I was prepared to sort the stereo afterwards!! Whether that meant taking it to a car audio shop and paying £1000 to sort or getting lucky and finding the HK speakers and amp on eBay

The demo car BMW lent me had the HK and that is good enough but when I was younger I was into hifi/separates/etc so might just spend a bit more on the door card speakers. There's a shop in the UK specialising in BMW and Land Rover and I'm talking to them about their door card upgrade option. That way the doors go back together rattle free too

[JasH]

Originally Posted by Aye-eight

if you want real sound, you need to go with Burmester, or maybe Teufel, anyway.

If you want the best possible sound in your car, the best, and cheapest option would be to simply wear a pair of audiophile headphones

Like you, I only care about sound quality inside a car up to a point, so HK is good enough for me, albeit only just good enough. For the price, it really should be better.

[JasH]

Steve, it made perfect sense in your car's case

And you do need a decent sound system in the i8, so that the piped in engine sound in Sport mode sounds right

[SteveB_UK]

Originally Posted by JasH

Steve, it made perfect sense in your car's case

And you do need a decent sound system in the i8, so that the piped in engine sound in Sport mode sounds right

Talking of the piped engine I've noticed it sounds a bit "tappy" when cold in sport mode but I think it's just the fake sound. Anyone else get the tappy noise - noticeable at about 3000rpm when the revs are held there on light throttle?

[JasH]

I've never switched to Sport mode whilst it was cold, so don't know about that. Not that 3k RPM would do it any harm.

[YaX!]

Thanks to Steve_UK, I have also done the amplifier upgrade from std to HK.
Just the amp alone is definitely louder, but with std speakers (esp. the dreadful sub) I will need to continue with sub+ETONs at the front.

I've just ordered the CDT-ES GOLD 6x9 subwoofer (and as they come in pairs), anyone (in the UK) keen to purchase the other one ?

BTW, audiofile quoted £650, so they have upped their price :/

[londonblackcab]

Very interested to read this. Any problems post upgrade to look out for? Rattles etc? And does the exhaust sound still come through? I'm thinking of going to Autoaudio in London and getting a recommendation, maybe just upgrade the amp for a straight swap and the sub between the rear seats. A bit nervous, maybe I should just live with the existing.