Urgent... Enhanced Sound- No Bass Sound! - Page 2

IrishCoffee · 01-30-2013, 12:51 AM

So, very interesting findings tonight after pulling the subwoofers out from under the seats.

Turns out my intuition on this was correct. The speakers are not blown. It is a connection issue. One of the leads that connects to the voice coil is broken off of BOTH speakers. If I connect my multimeter to the end of the lead that is still glued to the cone and the other good lead I get reasonable resistance readings. The cone moves freely as well so that's another sign that the speaker itself is fine.

So it looks like this is just a case of a defective part. In my case it looks like the same thing happened to both woofers over time. That would explain why I noticed no bass when I faded from one side to the other a while back. Then eventually both were disconnected.

The amp is fine and my aftermarket sub in the trunk is providing some extra fill in the mean time. I just turned the crossover off.

So, I'll take the subs to the dealership to show them what happened and hopefully they won't hassle me and just order the parts. I would fix it myself, but the woofers are so low profile that getting a soldering iron in there is risking damaging the cone.

Here's a pic of the lead that has basically disconnected from the glued portion of the wire on the cone. You can see the other lead that is still connected fine in the background.
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Name: 2013-01-29_21-35-12_282 (1024x577).jpg
Views: 253
Size: 273.2 KB

IrishCoffee · 01-30-2013, 06:51 PM

Went by the dealership and showed them the speakers. The tech agreed that they just needed new ones because they were defective. The SA is ordering them. Sweet.

two+2 · 02-01-2013, 12:56 PM

This is helpful thank you.

Jch99 · 02-02-2013, 02:27 AM

Hmmm can you check this without removing the sub?

Thanks

IrishCoffee · 02-07-2013, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jchan99

Hmmm can you check this without removing the sub?

Thanks

The only thing I can think to do without pulling the woofers out is to check the resistance with a multimeter at the harness for the amp. This is probably harder than just removing the speaker though.

IrishCoffee · 03-12-2013, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishCoffee

Went by the dealership and showed them the speakers. The tech agreed that they just needed new ones because they were defective. The SA is ordering them. Sweet.

Update:

After 4-5 trips to the dealership and an enormous hassle, the dealer (BMW of San Diego) is now telling me that they won't fix it.

They are telling me that because I tapped the subwoofer wires they won't cover it. They seem to be stuck on assuming that I was powering the stock subs with an external amplifier. I'm clearly just tapping the wires for high-level source for an external sub, but they must not understand what that means. To make it more annoying they told me they would cover it if I returned my car to stock, so I uninstalled all my equipment as well. Sure glad I did that.

Why on earth would anyone power stock speakers with an aftermarket amplifier? That doesn't even make sense. Even if that were the case, I'm not sure how exactly that would cause the speaker leads to snap. If I melted the voice coil maybe I would understand... kinda.

I think this is just a case of not enough mobile electronic knowledge to make an informed decision. I understand that I made a modification and that there are always warranty risks involved, but this just doesn't make any sense. The parts are defective as the photos above show.

djseto · 03-14-2013, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serge

Yep! "Enhanced" my a**! This is the only thing I dislike in my M3. Absolutely no bass! I recently rented a '11 Dodge Avenger, and the system blew away the M3's. The Avenger's bass was just amazing... go figure

Good/Loud Bass and quality sound are different things. It's really a personal preference but I'm a bit of an audio snob and so many people think the measure of a good sound system (home or car) is how hard the bass hits. I'm not saying this system is stellar, but the high and mid range are respectable for a factory system. Is there better? Yes. Can you do better aftermarket? Absolutely. While I've never been in an Avenger, I've found most premium sound systems in American made cars are very tailored towards playing loud with lots of bass, but I always find the ability to clearly do vocals is usually pretty weak. Again...it's a personal preference.

IrishCoffee · 03-14-2013, 11:14 AM

Another Update:

I pulled the speakers out, peeled the spider back carefully, replaced both leads on both speakers, reglued the spider, and reinstalled. Everything is working again.

If I knew the hassle that the dealer would have put me through I would have just done this to begin with.

BTW, this is not a very easy procedure. If you have the same problem that I did and you aren't comfortable with a soldering iron and a multimeter then I'd recommend dropping your woofers at a speaker repair shop. It certainly would be cheaper than going through BMW.

SpeedyM3 · 04-03-2013, 06:49 PM

Just happened to me today. Have an appointment set tomorrow

///M3THOD · 04-03-2013, 09:03 PM

Ive had my door speaks replaced as well as my amp... the whole thing took 4/5 trips to BMW.

NOW i am getting DSC malfunction lights that come on erratically ad well as reduced power. I've paid nearly 1k for replacement work/sensors and the problem is still evident.

Those of you who had error lights after the replacement of speakers, what was the fix for them?

Thanks,

Colin

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01-30-2013, 12:51 AM	#23
IrishCoffee Second Lieutenant Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: May 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 270 iTrader: (0)	So, very interesting findings tonight after pulling the subwoofers out from under the seats. Turns out my intuition on this was correct. The speakers are not blown. It is a connection issue. One of the leads that connects to the voice coil is broken off of BOTH speakers. If I connect my multimeter to the end of the lead that is still glued to the cone and the other good lead I get reasonable resistance readings. The cone moves freely as well so that's another sign that the speaker itself is fine. So it looks like this is just a case of a defective part. In my case it looks like the same thing happened to both woofers over time. That would explain why I noticed no bass when I faded from one side to the other a while back. Then eventually both were disconnected. The amp is fine and my aftermarket sub in the trunk is providing some extra fill in the mean time. I just turned the crossover off. So, I'll take the subs to the dealership to show them what happened and hopefully they won't hassle me and just order the parts. I would fix it myself, but the woofers are so low profile that getting a soldering iron in there is risking damaging the cone. Here's a pic of the lead that has basically disconnected from the glued portion of the wire on the cone. You can see the other lead that is still connected fine in the background.

01-30-2013, 06:51 PM	#24
IrishCoffee Second Lieutenant Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: May 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 270 iTrader: (0)	Went by the dealership and showed them the speakers. The tech agreed that they just needed new ones because they were defective. The SA is ordering them. Sweet.

02-01-2013, 12:56 PM	#25
two+2 Private Drives: //M3 E92 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Canada Posts: 52 iTrader: (0)	This is helpful thank you.

02-02-2013, 02:27 AM	#26
Jch99 Private Drives: Bmw Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Seattle Posts: 92 iTrader: (0)	Hmmm can you check this without removing the sub? Thanks

03-14-2013, 11:14 AM	#30
IrishCoffee Second Lieutenant Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: May 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 270 iTrader: (0)	Another Update: I pulled the speakers out, peeled the spider back carefully, replaced both leads on both speakers, reglued the spider, and reinstalled. Everything is working again. If I knew the hassle that the dealer would have put me through I would have just done this to begin with. BTW, this is not a very easy procedure. If you have the same problem that I did and you aren't comfortable with a soldering iron and a multimeter then I'd recommend dropping your woofers at a speaker repair shop. It certainly would be cheaper than going through BMW.

04-03-2013, 06:49 PM	#31
SpeedyM3 Second Lieutenant Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Earth Posts: 244 iTrader: (0)	Just happened to me today. Have an appointment set tomorrow

04-03-2013, 09:03 PM	#32
///M3THOD Major Drives: e93 AW M3, CLS63 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: ATL/Buckhead Posts: 1,180 iTrader: (25)	Ive had my door speaks replaced as well as my amp... the whole thing took 4/5 trips to BMW. NOW i am getting DSC malfunction lights that come on erratically ad well as reduced power. I've paid nearly 1k for replacement work/sensors and the problem is still evident. Those of you who had error lights after the replacement of speakers, what was the fix for them? Thanks, Colin