Hifi audio upgrade guide

06-29-2025

Sorry to hijack this thread but this seemed like the most appropriate place to ask about unintended consequences of upgrading the amp.

I had my 2025 m60i x5 upgraded with the audiotec Fischer up10dsp. The install and programming was done in a shop (not a dyi). I’m very happy with the sound - great channel separation, more volume, and much better bass than I used to get. I did not upgrade the speakers (HK oem).

But, the seatbelt chime got way louder (very annoying), the turn signal clicker also increased in volume (not totally annoying but aggravating) and the nav seems to be locked at a certain volume. The installer said that’s a product of the more powerful amp but I’m wondering if he got tired of programming after working on it for 4 hours.

Is there a simple fix to this? I’ve looked through all the idrive buttons and can’t seem to adjust the chime down, and the clicker volume seems to not have an option. The nav volume is ok but I’d still like to be able to adjust it. Or, do I have to bring it back to the shop for a few more hours of programming? Or, is it simply an unintended consequence of the non oem amp?

Thanks

06-29-2025

skiboy Interesting post by you. It seems that with the LCI many mods have unintended consequences. So many electronics and high tech. Have you tried using CarPlay and Google Maps for Nav and if so, can you adjust the volume? I had a '21 Audi and randomly the turn signal clicker would increase volume for a day or two and then revert to normal. Finally have you done a iDrive reboot?

06-29-2025

skiboy wrote
Sorry to hijack this thread but this seemed like the most appropriate place to ask about unintended consequences of upgrading the amp.

I had my 2025 m60i x5 upgraded with the audiotec Fischer up10dsp. The install and programming was done in a shop (not a dyi). I’m very happy with the sound - great channel separation, more volume, and much better bass than I used to get. I did not upgrade the speakers (HK oem).

But, the seatbelt chime got way louder (very annoying), the turn signal clicker also increased in volume (not totally annoying but aggravating) and the nav seems to be locked at a certain volume. The installer said that’s a product of the more powerful amp but I’m wondering if he got tired of programming after working on it for 4 hours.

Is there a simple fix to this? I’ve looked through all the idrive buttons and can’t seem to adjust the chime down, and the clicker volume seems to not have an option. The nav volume is ok but I’d still like to be able to adjust it. Or, do I have to bring it back to the shop for a few more hours of programming? Or, is it simply an unintended consequence of the non oem amp?

Thanks

I have a pre lci 2023 45e w/ HK.

I have tuned with up10 DSP and have experienced such things (so I don't think it's lci related). The chimes / turn signal etc all come through the front left/right speaker channels, so the volume and quality of those sounds change accordingly. Perhaps there are some differences in the variety of sounds produced between pre/post lci, but I don't think the underlying cause is different.

My current tune doesn't make chimes etc obnoxiously loud, but I have had tunes that do. I have found that the volume of those sounds is tied to the levels set for front channels. Would you be okay sacrificing some level to fix it? It really only impacts your max volume.

There are ways to turn down the volume of chimes etc, but it sounds like you already tried that.

Others should feel free to chime in (no pun intended). There may be other ways to fix it that I'm not aware of.

06-29-2025

I think you can mess with chimes and volumes in Bimmercode.

06-29-2025

Not the same amp but i have a Bimmertech Lightwave amp and in there, you can adjust the gong/pdc volume settings, .

06-30-2025

skiboy wrote
Sorry to hijack this thread but this seemed like the most appropriate place to ask about unintended consequences of upgrading the amp.

I had my 2025 m60i x5 upgraded with the audiotec Fischer up10dsp. The install and programming was done in a shop (not a dyi). I’m very happy with the sound - great channel separation, more volume, and much better bass than I used to get. I did not upgrade the speakers (HK oem).

But, the seatbelt chime got way louder (very annoying), the turn signal clicker also increased in volume (not totally annoying but aggravating) and the nav seems to be locked at a certain volume. The installer said that’s a product of the more powerful amp but I’m wondering if he got tired of programming after working on it for 4 hours.

Is there a simple fix to this? I’ve looked through all the idrive buttons and can’t seem to adjust the chime down, and the clicker volume seems to not have an option. The nav volume is ok but I’d still like to be able to adjust it. Or, do I have to bring it back to the shop for a few more hours of programming? Or, is it simply an unintended consequence of the non oem amp?

Thanks

I am also on a pre LCI X5. With my first tune, I had this same issue. But as I got better with the tune, this became a non-issue.

Several things you can try:
- lower the gain on the Center channel -> this should be the easiest
- ask the tuner to modify the Center input routing... for the Center channel I use: 50% Front L + 50% Front R. And I also have Real Center activated in the DSP. This works great, and I didn't even have to lower the Center's output.

Good luck.

07-10-2025

dombi wrote
I am also on a pre LCI X5. With my first tune, I had this same issue. But as I got better with the tune, this became a non-issue.

Several things you can try:
- lower the gain on the Center channel -> this should be the easiest
- ask the tuner to modify the Center input routing... for the Center channel I use: 50% Front L + 50% Front R. And I also have Real Center activated in the DSP. This works great, and I didn't even have to lower the Center's output.

Good luck.

Exactly that, it´s just a 5 minute adjustment on the Match software. It's best done inside the car so you can hear the volume of all sounds and adjust as desired.

10-19-2025

elibol wrote
As someone who is sensitive to changes in air pressure, that totally makes sense to me. Glad you figured it out!

I hear nothing but good things about the Morels. Share your experience with them as you upgrade. Cheers!

First a big THANK YOU for all the helpful advice and friendly discussion to get me to this point! You guys are awesome.

I decided to go all in and just replace every speaker. Here in Alaska we have a thing called the PFD, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. It’s a yearly payout of the portion of oil and gas lease money that the state collects. Not arguing the merits - just saying I got $1,000 from the PFD Oct 2, so I decided to go ahead and use that to spring for the whole set up.

I opted for the IP line, not the IR line. My car (2023 x5 45e) isn’t quiet enough to warrant that, and our roads are loud. This is a consequence of Alaska again - all the cars with studded tires make the roads have a rough and loud texture with significant ruts, even on the highway. I’ll put my whole cost at the end, although I might return some of the extra parts I didn’t use. My car came with the HiFi setup from the factory, and I replaced the amp with a Match8.

I tried to order most items from Crutchfield, as they ship free to AK. But they did not carry the center speaker, and the component speakers were out of stock forever - I even called and they have been on order for a long time. I reached out to Morel on Facebook (suggested in another forum post) and they got right back to me with a local dealer (already tried, unresponsive) and an authorized mail order retailer in southern CA. I opted to go with the latter (Dynamic Autosound: dynamicautosound.net ). They had them in stock and shipped the next day. AK bites me again - $40 for shipping UPS. Not unreasonable, but would have avoided if I could. They came in perfect condition. I’ve never heard of them before, but they did exactly what I needed with no trouble.

I ordered a cheap heat gun (worked perfectly) and some sound deadening mat just in case - I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with this - I might line the trunk area, might not. The doors were surprisingly well insulated.

First Impressions - I just finished last night and haven’t gone on a real test drive yet -
HOLY COW these things are built nice. Aluminum basket, very nice fit and finish. The originals have a TINY magnet and plastic basket. I’m very impressed. I’ll attach some pictures of them side by side and the look after install but before closing the door panels.

Secondly - without changing anything setup wise - just redoing the time alignment and pink noise tests (I forgot what that’s called) - the soundstage is IMMENSE. I never heard the center channel with the old HiFi speakers. The sound FILLS the car like I never expected.

Last first impression - it’s a tiny bit BRIGHT for my taste - this might just be needing to get used to the sound (old tweeters were awful) and I was very very tired after 10 hours of install work (I’m 56, work a desk job and have been sick all last week). So the jury is still out on this part.

More to come later as I drive it a while.

I also thought I’d provide some notes that would be helpful to me, had I know beforehand. The videos online are great, but they don’t cover a few important things. I just thought they might be helpful for the next bloke that tries this. I’ll put that in another post.

Here’s my breakdown of cost:

Crutchfield: (Handy because they ship free to AK)
Match8 Amp and Wiring kits - May 2, 2025 - $1,159.99
Morel IP Sub x2 and wiring kit - Sept 8, 2025 - $783.00
Morel IP-BMW4C (coaxial - for rear door) kit and wiring - $394.00

Dynamic Autosound: (see above - recommended by Morel)
Morel IP-BMW42 (component - front doors) - $439.00
Morel IP-BMW42-CTR (component - single unit) $219.00
Shipping to AK: $40

Amazon:
Seekone heat gun - ASIN:B086WH19WH - $17.99
Amazon Basics Sound Deadening Mat (might send this back)x2 ASIN:B07XMF2V77 $37.72
Rollers to install mat ASIN: B07TV19PQF - $13.98

Grand total: $3104.68

When I get time tonight or tomorrow I’ll post my thoughts on the install process.

An image attached to this post, provided by the poster

10-20-2025

garryadkins wrote
Last first impression - it’s a tiny bit BRIGHT for my taste - this might just be needing to get used to the sound (old tweeters were awful) and I was very very tired after 10 hours of install work (I’m 56, work a desk job and have been sick all last week). So the jury is still out on this part.

The brightness is all in the tune.
You should be able to adjust it to your liking.

Awesome setup. Congrats!

11-05-2025

dombi wrote
The brightness is all in the tune.
You should be able to adjust it to your liking.

Awesome setup. Congrats!

Thank you! I've decided that I like the brighter tune, just took a little getting used to. The Morel speakers are very smooth, and provide a tremendously spacious sound stage. I'm very impressed.

The only thing potentially controversial - I did turn on the subwoofer setting that adds in "harmonics", (I can't remember exactly what it's called in the software) as I found it gives a bit more warmth and punch without sounding distorted.

I'm very happy with the setup.

Now she's at the dealership trying to figure out why I get TMPS system failure every few days. Most of the time she's fine. Very strange.

Thanks again for all your help. The next post will be my thoughts on the install, covering some things the videos didn't show.

Cheers!

11-05-2025

I thought I’d provide some notes that would be helpful to me, had I known beforehand. The videos online are great, but they don’t cover a few important things. I just thought they might be helpful for the next bloke that tries this.
Here’s my breakdown of cost:

Crutchfield: (Handy because they ship free to AK)
Match8 Amp and Wiring kits - May 2, 2025 - $1,159.99
Morel IP Sub x2 and wiring kit - Sept 8, 2025 - $783.00
Morel IP-BMW4C (coaxial - for rear door) kit and wiring - $394.00

Dynamic Autosound: (see above - recommended by Morel)
Morel IP-BMW42 (component - front doors) - $439.00
Morel IP-BMW42-CTR (component - single unit) $219.00
Shipping to AK: $40

Amazon:
Seekone heat gun - ASIN:B086WH19WH - $17.99
Amazon Basics Sound Deadening Mat (might send this back)x2 ASIN:B07XMF2V77 $37.72
Rollers to install mat ASIN: B07TV19PQF - $13.98

BMW:
Bracket to mount Match8 amp- ~$100.00

Grand total: $3204.68

When I get time tonight or tomorrow I’ll post my thoughts on the install process.

Notes for install:
Dash speaker:
The dash panel is TIGHT, has lots of clips, so just work slow, once you get one the rest come easier
you'll need a right angle or t20 socket to get the 4 front (toward the engine) screws out of the holder because of the windshield
Put a paper towel in the vent holes on each side so you don't drop a screw down there.
REMOVE the Morel cover off the tweeter before you install it. Otherwise it won't have any grip and will just fall out the back. The clip holds the cover and the cover has a very minor friction fit to the tweeter.

Don’t do like I did and tidy all the cables up before you put in back in. There is very little space behind the speaker, and you’ll have to squish the cables and the crossover in that space. You’ll have to just spread it around until you can get it to fit.

You need to run 3 of the small cables out of the slit at the bottom of the mid speaker housing. One is the splitter (has two cables) and the third to go to the tweeter. So be creative. I took a small piece of tape and put over the three so they wouldn’t fall out when I went to assemble. Wan’t hard but was shocking at first…. They give you a LOT of cable. FAR FAR too much, I’m talking about a much larger crossover, and probably 2 or 3 feet of extra cable you have to find some place to tuck.

Door replacements.
I replaced all 4 door speakers with the Morel IP line. The front two were component systems (separate tweeter and main) and the rear were coaxial.

On the tweeters, remove the Morel cover. It is just a friction fit, and will not properly hold the tweeter in place with the cover on. This is true for the center, and L/R front doors.

Carefully pry the front door tweeter box from the outside, it will pop apart easily.

I found having a long thin magnet (I had these left over from another project) made it super easy to get the screw out of the door lock (top) and the hole on the side.
Be careful removing the panel behind the door pull. I started from the right side (toward the hinge of the door pull) and it popped off and scratched my trim slightly. Use the pick from the front (forward facing end) and just carefully force the sharp tip in. It'll pop right out.

For the one under the door handle, the interior is squishy so you can force the pick between the soft material of the door and the little panel that needs to pop off. Super easy.

Originally I wasn’t going to remove the cable to the door handle, but did eventually find it pops off easy and makes the job of tidying up much easier.

Door mids need to have Adapter 1 installed. Adapter 2 is preinstalled. It’s an easy three screw procedure. Adapter 2 works for the center dash speaker. Thankfully they give you a few extra screws - they’re tiny and quite easy to drop and lose.

On the rear doors, I don’t see any possible way to remove the side panel without breaking it. It’s so firmly attached that no matter where you pry, you have to use unreasonable force to remove it. This panel covers one of the screws. So it has to be removed.

Last and most importantly - I wish I had bought a half dozen (or more) of the clips that hold the door panels in place. They’re brittle plastic, and the edge will shatter when it pops off - and it can no longer be reused. (see the pic) You’ll end up moving them around so you have decent coverage while skipping a few in the middle. Very annoying.

For the subwoofer, Tilt the seat BACKWARD, not forward. This wasn’t obvious from the video. I adjusted the seat back so it would stay in place. You could put something weighted on the headrest to help hold it in place if you needed to. (like a soft tool bag with some weight)

Getting the glue apart was not nearly as difficult as I thought. Get it plenty hot and then pry. Eventually it’ll pop up with a satisfying CRACK when the glue breaks loose.

I used screws I had on hand - and they work fine, just be aware that the self-tapping tip is sharp, and will be EXACTLY where you want to hold the unit when trying to get it back in under the seat.

I hope this helps someone on the next install!

11-05-2025

garryadkins Great job!

Question: do you have RAW response measurements for your speakers (without adjustments, just with Input signal)?

Would love to see what the response of the Morel IPs look like in an X5.
For both the Doors and the Woofers.

11-05-2025

agreed. it would be nice to see a frequency sweep, especially from 30hz to 300hz, on the Morel combo. be great to see how they handle the X5 null at ~140hz.

on a side note, if you do want to basically tame the brightness of the Morel speakers (even though you are getting used to it) then simply use the treble setting on the head unit. the Bass and Treble settings on the stock head unit don't boost a specific frequency but rather adjust slope in the bass and treble regions. if you pull the treble down a few notches you may get a result that's pleasing to your ears.

i'd have to look at the settings i landed on but it was a couple of notches down (from center) on treble and cuts at 2khz and 5khz. i am running stock HK speakers though with the only custom change being a 12" sub added, the woofers under the seats being amplified separately and DSP inserted into the sub and under seat woofer chain. i still have some work to do on it. (i'm basically DSP'ing from 20hz to 200hz which honestly is all i really care about DSP'ing - the bass region)

11-05-2025

You can just tweak the house curve you are tuning to. Its a lot more effective than the HU controls. You can download different one if you don’t like the default one.

11-05-2025

garryadkins wrote
I thought I’d provide some notes that would be helpful to me, had I known beforehand. The videos online are great, but they don’t cover a few important things. I just thought they might be helpful for the next bloke that tries this.
Here’s my breakdown of cost:

Crutchfield: (Handy because they ship free to AK)
Match8 Amp and Wiring kits - May 2, 2025 - $1,159.99
Morel IP Sub x2 and wiring kit - Sept 8, 2025 - $783.00
Morel IP-BMW4C (coaxial - for rear door) kit and wiring - $394.00

Dynamic Autosound: (see above - recommended by Morel)
Morel IP-BMW42 (component - front doors) - $439.00
Morel IP-BMW42-CTR (component - single unit) $219.00
Shipping to AK: $40

Amazon:
Seekone heat gun - ASIN:B086WH19WH - $17.99
Amazon Basics Sound Deadening Mat (might send this back)x2 ASIN:B07XMF2V77 $37.72
Rollers to install mat ASIN: B07TV19PQF - $13.98

BMW:
Bracket to mount Match8 amp- ~$100.00

Grand total: $3204.68

When I get time tonight or tomorrow I’ll post my thoughts on the install process.

Notes for install:
Dash speaker:
The dash panel is TIGHT, has lots of clips, so just work slow, once you get one the rest come easier
you'll need a right angle or t20 socket to get the 4 front (toward the engine) screws out of the holder because of the windshield
Put a paper towel in the vent holes on each side so you don't drop a screw down there.
REMOVE the Morel cover off the tweeter before you install it. Otherwise it won't have any grip and will just fall out the back. The clip holds the cover and the cover has a very minor friction fit [...]

Install looks great. Well done.

I’m intrigued with the x5 vents below the Morel underseats. Do you have any pics ?

11-06-2025

NealfromNZ wrote
Install looks great. Well done.

I’m intrigued with the x5 vents below the Morel underseats. Do you have any pics ?

Neal, are you looking for these?

An image attached to this post, provided by the poster

11-06-2025

dombi wrote
garryadkins Great job!

Question: do you have RAW response measurements for your speakers (without adjustments, just with Input signal)?

Would love to see what the response of the Morel IPs look like in an X5.
For both the Doors and the Woofers.

I'm new to all this - an happy to do it, but don't know how. Can you point me to instructions?

-G

11-06-2025

NealfromNZ wrote
Install looks great. Well done.

I’m intrigued with the x5 vents below the Morel underseats. Do you have any pics ?

If you're talking about the bottom side of the bracket where the green gasket is ... There isn't anything, just painted metal under it. That gasket is kind of a sticky silicone feeling thing (picks up a lot of debris when working on it), but just seals against the flat metal floor of the car.

I assume that it's to make it more like a sealed enclosure to support the subwoofer. It probably improves transient response a little as opposed to just flapping in the breeze.

11-07-2025

garryadkins wrote
I'm new to all this - an happy to do it, but don't know how. Can you point me to instructions?

-G

I am assuming that you didn't get the system tuned after the install, right?

If you are happy with how it sounds, I don't want to overcomplicate things for you... You know, big can of worms...

The Match UP DSP has some very powerful features, which can improve the overall sound of the system. A lot.

One of the first steps in tuning, is measuring the "raw response of the speakers". You feed it a pre-defined noise (usually Pink Noise). The by sitting in the driver's seat, using a calibrated Mic, you measure the response of the specific speaker.

That response graph shows what the speaker can do in that car, in that location.

- For that you would need a measuring Mic.
- Then feed Pink Noise to the system, and then measure the frequency response of the individual speakers, including the Woofers that I am interested in.

But again, if you are happy with the system + don't have a measuring Mic, then this task is not so simple to accomplish. So don't worry about it too much.

11-07-2025

dombi wrote
I am assuming that you didn't get the system tuned after the install, right?

If you are happy with how it sounds, I don't want to overcomplicate things for you... You know, big can of worms...

The Match UP DSP has some very powerful features, which can improve the overall sound of the system. A lot.

One of the first steps in tuning, is measuring the "raw response of the speakers". You feed it a pre-defined noise (usually Pink Noise). The by sitting in the driver's seat, using a calibrated Mic, you measure the response of the specific speaker.

That response graph shows what the speaker can do in that car, in that location.

- For that you would need a measuring Mic.
- Then feed Pink Noise to the system, and then measure the frequency response of the individual speakers, including the Woofers that I am interested in.

But again, if you are happy with the system + don't have a measuring Mic, then this task is not so simple to accomplish. So don't worry about it too much.

I did all the tune myself.
I took a bit of a shortcut when I first installed the amp, and loaded all the base tunes that were posted here and decided which one I liked best with the factory speakers. I then did a time alignment (with the click soundtrack) and an EQ with the pink noise. For the eq, I ran the test several times and moved the mic from ear to ear while I sat in the driver's seat. I then set and saved the config to the amp.

When I installed the Morel speakers I kept everything the same and redid the time alignment and EQ.

I used a UMIK-1 as the mic and loaded the calibration file into the dsp software.

I'm pretty sure it played out of every speaker while doing the EQ. I don't know how to show and capture individual speakers.

That's about the limit of my knowledge. If you can point me in the right direction I'm happy to provide whatever you'd like to see.

Might take a few days, my car's back in the shop troubleshooting persistent TPMS issues. (Dealership is stumped, they opened a ticket with BMW to try to resolve)

Happy to do it when I get it back.

11-07-2025

garryadkins wrote
For the eq, I ran the test several times and moved the mic from ear to ear while I sat in the driver's seat. I then set and saved the config to the amp.

When I installed the Morel speakers I kept everything the same and redid the time alignment and EQ.

I used a UMIK-1 as the mic and loaded the calibration file into the dsp software.

Garry: sorry to hear about the TPMS.
Hopefully they can solve it quickly for you.

The EQ you mentioned above, did you do all that in PC Tool?
Did you use the Pink Noise files that came with the Match UP DSP?

There is powerful software called REW.
https://www.roomeqwizard.com

Many use this for tuning.

With REW and PC Tool + the UMIK-1, it is possible to make measurements of your system, or the individual drivers.

It is great for measuring frequency responses and for EQing.
The comparing data within the same software.

RAW-CAt has a YouTube channel, with a lot of content on how to do tuning.

There are different types of measurements.
The most basic one is the frequency response of an individual driver.

The following video explains the basics of REW, and how to do measurements in it.

His setup, in the video is a bit more complex, because he is not using a USB Mic, but a loopback system. But the rest would be the same.

If you want to learn more about it, you can look at the video, then try to make your first measurements with REW.
Then, you would have the raw responses for the Woofers too.

But again... only do it, if you are comfortable with it and/or curious about it. Don't forget my warning about the can of worms.

Video:

11-23-2025

I had a chance to run a cheap sub. The immediate benefit was obvious. Found a great deal on an Audison APBX 10 AS2 Prima Series 10" that arrives Monday.

Now I am considering the Helix Ci5 upgrade to the under seat mentioned here for the mid bass. Thoughts on the benefit?

Garage

1 Series

2 Series

3/4 Series

5 Series

6/M6 Series

7 Series

8/M8 Series

M2

M3/M4

M5

X1/X2

X3/X4

X5/X6

X7/XM

Z4

BMWi

Hifi audio upgrade guide