Is an upgraded Hifi equal or better than EPS?

[ES BMW]

So I'm looking at a few cars and some have EPS and others just the plain Hifi. I had a '13 E92 M3 with EPS and was pretty happy with the SQ.

Would installing something like the Bavsound suite (amp, speakers, subs) bring it up to EPS quality or better?

For basically plug-n-play kits, is Bavsound the one to go with or is something like the Audison a little better? https://www.audison.eu/spc-kit/?kit=...15&y=10&type=4

Thanks!

[chocstraw]

Simply put, no, despite what anyone says, HiFi, even with upgrades, isn't that good. I owned an E93 with Logic 7, and my E92 M3 came with HiFi. I've been in a Bavsound HiFi car as well.

I own like 5 pairs of very nice headphones and a ton of nice audio gear, and I couldn't stand the HiFi. My main issue with the HiFi, and any upgrades to it, is that it lacks the center channel and the rear shelf speakers, which are VERY important to the projection and soundstage. The actual HiFi speakers are not good either.

What I ended up doing was finding a wrecked E92 with EPS, and paid $600 for all of the speakers and the amp, and the cable for the MOST (basically fiber optic) bus. Logic 7 and EPS are digital signals, where HiFi is analog.

I pulled the rear shelf, and found a hole saw that fit the diameter of the speakers, drilled holes, and installed the rear shelf speakers and added wiring. I also added a new vent with the center channel, and ran a wire down behind the iDrive, through the transmission tunnel, and back to the amp. Then I had to wire up all 20 wires, and add a large pair of speaker wires to provide power to the amp from the battery. Then, it turned out that the EPS amp was fried, and a Logic 7 amp was compatible enough that I was able to code that in. I had to change the 'vehicle order' and code a few features after updating the VO.

It was a huge hassle but I still think it was completely worth it, and just goes to show that I don't think you should compromise on something like this. The center channel and rear shelves and rear tweeters are too important to go without, if you mind audio quality.

I've also handled all of the speaker, and the EPS speakers are legitimately impressive speakers, with integrated tweeters on the rear deck and center channel. It's literally stacked on top of the midrange cone. The magnets are big, and the cones are kevlar weave.

HiFi speakers are some sort of paper(?) cone, with much smaller magnets. Logic 7 has better magnets.

Probably more information than you were looking for, but my advice is to go with at least Logic 7. HiFi <<<<<<< Logic 7 << EPS. The difference between L7 and EPS is marginal, but HiFi is frankly insulting for a car of this price range. I prioritized getting a carmax car (warranty is amazing) that was a ZCP with a carbon roof, and the 2009+ iDrive, and had to make a sacrifice with HiFi, and had to go to great lengths to be satisfied with the sound.

[chocstraw]

dug up these pics, it was a ~lot~ of work. If you owned EPS before, you won't like going back to HiFi of any variety. The speaker with the green label is an EPS speaker, the HiFi is blue.

Logic 7 amp is about half the wattage of the EPS amp too. ~450 vs ~800. But wattage is such that to be twice as loud, you need 10x the wattage, i.e. a 100 watt amp is only 2x as loud as a 10 watt. The L7 is very good IMO.

[ES BMW]

chocstraw Thank you!! That is exactly what I wanted to hear and didn't want to hear, if you know what I mean.

Question on the Bavsound car that you've heard - were they the full upgrade (speakers, under seat, amp) kit of theirs or just the speakers?

I'm going after the car with just the Hifi option and I know I'll be disappointed with the sound quality and already mentally prepared to upgrade but the question is how much will it cost. I'm comfortable with the Bavsound price and can do the installs myself but a stereo shop would be needed for anything outside of that.

I don't have a problem sourcing a rear deck with speaker holes and a center vent with a speaker mount if that's really the missing piece to getting a HiFi upgrade to match or exceed the EPS. I want to avoid poking new holes but if an OEM piece can be used, I'm good with that.

Thanks again for your input. I do appreciate it!

[Z K]

The EPS sounds great. Unfortunately the amps are hard to find. Two of my channels are out on my factory EPS amp. There's a lot of people who fix L7 amps, but none for EPS.

[ES BMW]

It's a really decent setup from factory. Wish this car was spec'd with it but willing to try to make the upgrade work. Just not sure which direction to go in yet.

[chocstraw]

Originally Posted by Z K

The EPS sounds great. Unfortunately the amps are hard to find. Two of my channels are out on my factory EPS amp. There's a lot of people who fix L7 amps, but none for EPS.

an L7 amp will almost directly sub in with minimal (arguably better) difference, you just need to add two power cables to the 20 pin connector. If you know anyone with INPA, it actually has a feature that lets you test out each channel, it'll play a sine wave at any frequency you choose on the channel.

I think the subs might be the biggest issue, as they're like 7-8 ohms in the EPS but the Logic is setup for 4? I'd have to check. Other than that, I haven't had trouble with the L7 and all EPS speakers. All of it was fixed with the EQ. I think I might actually have logic 7 subs in my wonky little system. The M3 that I pulled the speakers from was completely dead, so I couldn't lift the seats for the subs. If you used the L7 with EPS subs, I think you'd have less bass because of the ohm difference. You could get the ghost subs or an L7 sub set for pretty cheap. I find the stock EQ a little too bass heavy anyways and have a bass cut in my EQ.

Those EPS amps are very hard to find, you're right, and they're expensive as all hell. I pulled apart mine when it was fried and DAMN is that a complicated circuitboard.

Originally Posted by My F87

It's a really decent setup from factory. Wish this car was spec'd with it but willing to try to make the upgrade work. Just not sure which direction to go in yet.

I called Bavsound and a few other companies and asked if they had a decent solution to a center channel, and none did unfortunately. I think it was the basic speaker upgrade. Sounded better for sure but if you like vocal based anything, center channel, center channel, center channel. Projects podcasts and vocal heavy stuff much better.