[SpiralOut]

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Hi everyone, this could be a long thread but I wanted to highlight my HK upgrade experience. There is some good info on the forum, but it’s kinda hard to find all the info and piece it together to make sense of it so here’s my experience from start to finish.

So I got a 2022 X5M Comp back in the June with the Harman Kardon sound system. I wanted the B&W, but as folks know it wasn’t available for a while due to part/chip shortages. So I decided to upgrade it all myself.

I did it in 3 separate steps, which I’ll explain.

Step 1: B&W lighted speaker grills to replace all the HK covers and replace speakers with Focal Inside PnPs.

Step 2: Upgrade the stock subs with Earthquakes.

Step 3: Upgrade the HK Amp to the Match UP 10DSP.

[SpiralOut]

Step 1 - B&W Grills and Focal Inside PnP Speakers:

I followed the thread on the forum about replacing the speaker grills with the B&W grills from AliExpress. These grills are amazing, quality is spot on and they look great. The lights on the mids are maybe not as bright as the real thing, but still looks great. Installation is not too hard, but certainly takes time and patience. It involves taking the door panels off, and then almost disassembling the door panel to replace the grills with the B&W ones. There are lots of light strips and wires in there so you do have to be careful not to break stuff. The tweeter housings are a little tricky because the clips are pretty fragile and I had to trim the foam in the housings quite a bit to get the new ones to fit properly. Installing these B&W covers took me the better part of 2 days, but I was really taking my time with these and end was result was great. Center cover was fairly easy to change, but hooking the light up required taking some dash/gauge cluster trim off and fishing the wire through the dash which is doable, but a pretty frustrating process.

Pretty sure this is the set I ordered:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...d=NGiXINhMye0t

Here's a good thread with tons of good info on the covers and how to change them:
https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1794420

While I had the door panels off, I also changed the speakers in the 4 doors and the center with the Focal Inside speakers. I looked at Bavsound and Bimmer-tech, but decided on the Focals. I had Bavsound replacements in my old 2020 X3M Comp and was not impressed with those at all, so that’s really what led me to just move up to the Focals.

Front and Rear Doors: IS-BMW-100L https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Center: ICC-BMW-100 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I did not change the speakers in the rear hatch area.

After Step 1, sound was better, but not great. The sound quality was better, speakers were clearer and not so muddy sounding, but the overall volume was lower. Going up over about 2/3’s volume created a lot of distortion and bass was still bad due to still having the stock subs. You could really tell the HK was lacking and just couldn’t push enough power to properly feed the system.

[SpiralOut]

Step 2 - Upgrading Stock Subs to Earthquakes:

I upgraded the underseat Subs to the Earthquake SWS-8Xi 2-Ohm subs. Install on these was pretty straightforward, lot’s of good youtube videos on this process. Stock ones are glued in which is a pain, but with a heat gun or a hairdryer you can pry them out pretty easily. I ordered a pair of subs through Amazon and they came with the adapter rings so you don’t need to by those separately. You will need to cut those OEM wires though to connect them..... or you could use some type of wire connecter to connect them. If you cut them, just make sure you don't cut them too short.

I ordered these: https://www.amazon.com/Earthquake-So...f5a4e2f90&th=1

And here's a Vid on getting the sub's out:

After Step 2, bass sound is definitely better….. it’s actually a bit too strong since there’s still not enough power going to the main speakers from the HK amp. It does allow you to turn the bass down on the whole system which helps overall sound clarity a bit, but it’s still not great and missing some midrange. If you always listen to music at low volume levels this may be good enough for you, but I still wanted to take it further and add an amp.

[SpiralOut]

Step 3 - Upgrade the HK Amp with the Match UP DSP:

I added the Match UP 10DSP Amplifier. This gets a bit confusing, because you need more than the Amp. You need the Amp, the additional MEC Card because we need 1 extra input channel for our system, and the BMW specific wiring harness to wire it into the HK Amp and RAM module. This is what I ordered:

Match UP 10 DSP: https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...fiers/up-10dsp
Match PP-BMW 1.9RAM-HK: https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...-bmw-1-9ram-hk
Match MEC Analog In for UP 10DSP: https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m.../mec-analog-in

The MEC Card install into the AMP is pretty straightforward, remove 3 screws from the side and then you can remove the side panel and slide out the bottom panel of the amp, then pop in the MEC card, slide bottom back on, and install new side plate that came with the MEC with the same 3 screws. DO NOT change the jumpers on the MEC card, there is some verbiage on it in the instructions with warnings but the default settings are what we need, so don’t change anything.

The wiring harness is very easy, plugs to the amp only fit in one spot so easy enough. The main HK Amp plug and RAM Module plug are labeled so you can tell what is what. In the pic, what you see is the HK Amp, but stacked behind the amp there are 2 other things…. The RAM module is the one at the back of the stack….. hard to see it in pictures. Both Plugs are on the left hand side so they are easy to get to. The access panel seems small, but that’s really all you need.

Power wires do not come with the Amp so you need those. I purchased this kit below, even though I only needed the power and ground wires. I actually ordered the 4 Gauge kit, but 4 gauge doesn’t really fit the inputs on the amp, so I would recommend the 8 gauge kit. Battery is in the back under the floor, power wire doesn’t hook directly to the battery, it goes to the little red box beside the battery. Plenty of youtube videos out there showing how to wire these…. Easy peasy. This kit comes with an inline 50 Amp fuse which is what the Amp manual states we need.
https://www.amazon.com/SCOSCHE-ICAK8...47&sr=8-3&th=1

So that was the install of everything, next is the setup and tuning of the integrated DSP in the Match Amp. This is not a hard process, but there is a lot to learn. I knew nothing, and after a few days of research while I was waiting on the Amp I felt comfortable enough to do it myself. This tuning involves setting the amp inputs and outputs, setting crossover points, setting speaker delays, and tuning the sound curves for each output, and some other things.

You can download a basic setup from the link below to install as your starting point, but this basically only sets the inputs and outputs which is nice, but that’s just the starting point.
https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...ase/soundIndex

I would not run this amp without tuning it, so either tune yourself or you can find a place that does DSP tuning and they can do it for you. Before I tuned I had peaks and valleys all over the place, so without tuning it will be louder for sure, but it probably won’t sound very good.

Lot’s of good docs and youtube videos about dsp tuning out there and there is no right or wrong way, but here’s what I used. Windows laptop running the DSP PC-Tool from Audiotec Fischer to tune the amp/DSP, an iPad Air running AudioContol MobileTools App hooked to a minidsp UMIK-1 microphone to read the sound generated from the pink noise, and I played the pink noise from my iphone over carplay. Used a few pink noise files, but mainly used this 20 min one.
https://www.kicker.com/test-tones

I’m no expert on tuning, but I can try to answer any questions you have. I still need to finish my tuning, so I’ll try to get some pics of the process when I do it and add them to this thread. So far though, the difference is night and day between the Match and stock HK amp. In my limited testing time, it gets extremely loud and overall sound quality is very very good. Subs are still very loud, but you can tune those down in the SW. I love the fact that you can tune each speaker to sound exactly the way you want it to and set the sound stage to be centered to exactly where you're sitting. I currently have a fairly flat curve, but I like a little more treble so I need to tune in just a little bit more and adjust the levels of each speaker.

So overall, very happy with this mod so far. All together I'm probably in about $3000 which is a lot (add another $700 for the B&W grills), but if you're a crazy music person like me I feel it's money well spent... the stock HK system pissed me off every time I turned it on.

NOTES:

If you get a message in the SW about the MEC card voltage, you need to adjust the Voltage setting in the DSP PC-Tool to be "max. 11 / 3,5 Volts". Screenshot below of that setting. This MEC card input maps to the center channel, you can adjust the gain slider up some if you want more volume out of the center channel.

In the last screenshot, the box labeled #4 is where the amp power cable goes. For ground, there's a few good choices over to the left side of the battery pretty close to the amp.

[elite-fusion]

This is great, SpiralOut !!!
Thanks for taking the time!

I will hopefully be getting mine in soon and will be tinkering with it.

To confirm, Laptop with software, Tablet with the testing of pink, Phone with playing the pink... are those the only three additional hardware bits that I would need? If so, fairly easy I think... Did you have to adjust each channel yourself to your liking, or did the tablet/laptop do that for you to sound the best?

I've never tuned before, so not sure how all of this is done

[Wanderer73]

Impressive, congrats! Looks great. I love the B&W in my X7!

[curtdragon]

Never heard of B and W. Are they actually good quality stuff?

[njdangelo]

Literally in the proccess of doing this exact same thing except I went with bavsound speakers and subs and am in between the Match up amp and buying the B&W OEM amp from BMW. Just can't find any literature or pictures to confirm the HK and B&W share the same connectors, sans the 4pin outs for the headliner speakers. IMO that would be the best and easiest way to mimic the original system. Anyone have any info regarding different connectors for the amps?

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by curtdragon

Never heard of B and W. Are they actually good quality stuff?

lol... in the audio world Bowers and Wilkins is like a Rolls Royce... whearas Bang and Olufsen and Harmon Kardon are at best BMW 3 series.

[curtdragon]

Originally Posted by ASAP

lol... in the audio world Bowers and Wilkins is like a Rolls Royce... whearas Bang and Olufsen and Harmon Kardon are at best BMW 3 series.

I don't have Rolls Royce money so that's probably why I've never heard of it. 😆

[cfm56d7b]

Any DIY project involving more than 10 wires gets sincere appreciation from me (I leave all work work with wires to professionals or neighbors like you). Very nice work!

[jBwFellow]

Thanks SpiralOut!

Would you happen to have specific guidance on how to tune/adjust for the annoyingly amplified turn-signal and iDrive sounds that come with the Match UP install? The person who installed my UP8DSP claimed to know nothing about tuning those

[Mastakko]

I'm curious about this since I'm a bit of a noob and not an audiophile. Is this Bowers and Wilkins hardware and speakers you put in or just Bowers and Wilkins speaker covers with aftermarket speakers to replace H&k? Why not just have dealer replace system with Bowers and Wilkins OEM setup?

[adc]

The reason your subs sounded so loud is because you used the 2 Ohm versions of the subs, and the 4 Ohms versions of the door speakers. The Earthquake subs come in both 2 Ohm and 4 Ohm versions. Anyway, you equalized it in the software.

I still don’t understand why you installed the B&W grilles when there is not one B&W component in the car.

[werdn]

Nice, I skimmed your guide, but did you also attempt the speakers on the ceiling?

[Panscan340]

Originally Posted by Mastakko

I'm curious about this since I'm a bit of a noob and not an audiophile. Is this Bowers and Wilkins hardware and speakers you put in or just Bowers and Wilkins speaker covers with aftermarket speakers to replace H&k? Why not just have dealer replace system with Bowers and Wilkins OEM setup?

This should sound better

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by adc

I still don’t understand why you installed the B&W grilles when there is not one B&W component in the car.

+1
There’s no B&W sound system in this car, but the grilles claim it. This is like putting a Ferrari badge on a modified Supra.

AliExpress often has these knockoff grilles without the branding on them. I’ve considered the B&O style grilles for my 5-Series, specifically because they do not say B&O on them. They just look better. I haven’t done it because $6-700 is spendy for a purely cosmetic upgrade.

[Green_Power]

Congrats on the upgrade!!! Looks like a fantastic setup. I am considering going the same route.

Could you elaborate on the step 3: „the additional MEC Card because we need 1 extra input channel for our system, and the BMW specific wiring harness to wire it into the HK Amp and RAM module.“

I thought the HK amp was a 9 channel and the Match UP is a 10 channel. Could you explain what the additional MEC Card is for? Is this only for X5 or for all upgrades from HK to Match UP10?

Thanks!

[Quadruple VANOS]

[QUOTE=ASAP;29660897]lol... in the audio world Bowers and Wilkins is like a Rolls Royce... whearas Bang and Olufsen and Harmon Kardon are at best BMW 3 series.

This audio engineer/professional audiophile would take issue with suggesting B&O is akin to a 3 Series. B&O’s home products, while heavily biased towards cutting edge aesthetic design, hold very serious performance capabilities. Besides, B&O is much more rare and fashionable than something as common as a 3 Series. I’d say B&O is more like a Pagani. Their $3000 Beosound 2 is a great example. Kicks just about everything else’s butt (audio performace wise) in the tabletop all-in-one category… even B&W’s offerings.

All this being said, I’d rather have B&W towers than B&O. Just don’t be mistaken… B&O is serious performance product once you’re past the portable Bluetooth speakers.

[ASAP]

[QUOTE=Quadruple VANOS;29661386]

Originally Posted by ASAP

lol... in the audio world Bowers and Wilkins is like a Rolls Royce... whearas Bang and Olufsen and Harmon Kardon are at best BMW 3 series.

This audio engineer/professional audiophile would take issue with suggesting B&O is akin to a 3 Series. B&O’s home products, while heavily biased towards cutting edge aesthetic design, hold very serious performance capabilities. Besides, B&O is much more rare and fashionable than something as common as a 3 Series. I’d say B&O is more like a Pagani. Their $3000 Beosound 2 is a great example. Kicks just about everything else’s butt (audio performace wise) in the tabletop all-in-one category… even B&W’s offerings.

All this being said, I’d rather have B&W towers than B&O. Just don’t be mistaken… B&O is serious performance product once you’re past the portable Bluetooth speakers.

As someone that doesn't know much about anything, I do know a 3 series is still a good car... but I know i'd prefer to have the RR.

Again, as someone that doesn't know much about audio, I don't think I'd want anything from B&O over say a pair of B&W Nautilus Towers

[timmahh]

Originally Posted by ASAP

lol... in the audio world Bowers and Wilkins is like a Rolls Royce... whearas Bang and Olufsen and Harmon Kardon are at best BMW 3 series.

Meh. B&W, B&O, HK. Don't make a fuss, in the automotive world, these are all incremental upgrades from Harman international across various brands.

... and Harman was bought by Samsung several years ago.

So, Harman-Samsung owns/controls the following car audio brands/systems, as well as several underlying technologies in the automotive world:

AKG
Harman/Kardon
Infinity
JBL
Lexicon
Mark Levinson
Revel
Bang & Olufsen (licensed)
Bowers & Wilkins (licensed)

I see no point in ranking "3 series equivalents" when they're all being manufactured by the same company.

At each level, there are incremental improvements and better audio of course. No doubt if I had a B&W or B&O system over my HK, I would love it, but that doesn't immediately mean the HK system is "suited for a Civic" or something.

With others though, I wouldn't toss B&O or B&W grilles into my car when there are no relevant components. The blanks would be OK in my humble opinion because they look cool. Suppose it's equivalent to badging your car as an M320i. Not my car though so my thoughts don't really matter for OP.

Btw, this is not to knock Harman-Samsung at all. I previously had a great HK home theatre system, but it eventually died. I went to Vizio surround-sound bars, and they all bugged out after a year. This time I bit the expense and did a Samsung atmos system and it's fucking amazing (probably because they're using Harman components ).

[SpiralOut]

Originally Posted by elite-fusion

This is great, SpiralOut !!!
Thanks for taking the time!

I will hopefully be getting mine in soon and will be tinkering with it.

To confirm, Laptop with software, Tablet with the testing of pink, Phone with playing the pink... are those the only three additional hardware bits that I would need? If so, fairly easy I think... Did you have to adjust each channel yourself to your liking, or did the tablet/laptop do that for you to sound the best?

I've never tuned before, so not sure how all of this is done

All that with the RTA Mic is what I used. But I'm a total noob at this, I've done my tuning 3 times now and each time it sounds a bit better, but each time I see something I did wrong. One thing I was doing wrong was the pink noise. When tuning each speaker you should be using mono pink noise, and then when checking for instance Left and Right Fronts together, you should use the stereo pink noise.

I'm also digging into how to use REW, but there's a learning curve for that as well. Much respect to the pro tuners out there.... very unique skill to be able to do this properly.