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      02-26-2019, 09:08 PM   #1
Wally1552
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Need help identifying my sound system in my 2011 e90 M3

Hi
New to bmw. Picked up a used 2011 e90 m3 zcp. I noticed my front mid range speakers are gold colored behind the grill. Has separate tweeters by the mirrors. The car also has equalizer settings. Is this the base sound package or is this an upgraded audio package?

I'll get a pic later but hoping this was enough clues to determine. Reason I'm asking is the bass is a bit lacking and wanted to explore my options on adding a sub?
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      02-26-2019, 10:34 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wally1552 View Post
Hi
New to bmw. Picked up a used 2011 e90 m3 zcp. I noticed my front mid range speakers are gold colored behind the grill. Has separate tweeters by the mirrors. The car also has equalizer settings. Is this the base sound package or is this an upgraded audio package?

I'll get a pic later but hoping this was enough clues to determine. Reason I'm asking is the bass is a bit lacking and wanted to explore my options on adding a sub?
You've got the Individual Audio / DIRAC / Enhanced Premium Sound which is the highest audio level BMW made as an option from the factory.
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      02-27-2019, 07:59 AM   #3
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Congrats Wally, its a$2k+ option.

Congrats again to the E90 ZCP, pretty rare find (https://bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=50). Been in love with mine for 5y now.

BTW, did we see a proper introduction incl pics from you yet mate..?

Cheers
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      02-27-2019, 12:44 PM   #4
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Thanks Helmsman! I will do an intro when I've got some proper pics!
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      02-28-2019, 04:36 AM   #5
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Thanks Helmsman! I will do an intro when I've got some proper pics!
Looking forward!
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      02-28-2019, 05:30 AM   #6
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Welcome.
FYI, see this post regarding equalizer settings, it's worth playing around because it made a big difference for me
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=428114
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      02-28-2019, 05:35 AM   #7
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This sound system is absolutely awesome.
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      02-28-2019, 04:14 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommysalami View Post
Welcome.
FYI, see this post regarding equalizer settings, it's worth playing around because it made a big difference for me
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=428114
Tryed this but the bass then goes away completely. Listeing at fairly modest volume require the opposite, plenty bass turned up on the EQ. Mayne my ears or something.
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      03-01-2019, 09:21 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Helmsman View Post
Tryed this but the bass then goes away completely. Listeing at fairly modest volume require the opposite, plenty bass turned up on the EQ. Mayne my ears or something.
Check your tone controls, not just the EQ.

(Audio primer for anyone who needs it: While EQ controls typically go on or near octave points (20Hz, 40Hz, 80Hz, and so on), bass/treble controls (tone controls) grab a bunch of points at either end of the normal listening frequencies and then add a boost slope that increases as you move towards the extremes. You may start at 0 dB +/- at all your octaves between 20Hz and 10KHz (normal listening range), and then by adding bass tone control you may add +6dB at the first octave, +4.5dB at the next, etc. If you cut using the same amount of control adjustment you'll end up cutting those octaves by similar increments.)

If you're maxed out or close to it on bass EQ, you either have an error in the tone setup or you have some issue with the sub. The previous owner may have done something goofy like pulling all the bass out via the tone controls and then adding it back in via the EQ, for whatever reason. Or they may have cut the wires for a previous install and then put the stock system back in but missed something. Perhaps a disconnected wire, reversed wires, or a bad amp channel. Not anything that is obvious on a casual listen, but it means that you'll be turning your bass up enough that it starts coming up through your midrange speakers. You can hear the bass detail but still not get the punch that should be behind it, so you turn it up louder, and louder. And then your mids start to blow from trying to reproduce bass as you overpower the crossover slope...

So zero your EQ, zero your tone controls, then turn the volume up to a comfortable level and listen to some tracks that you're familiar with for a little while and get used to the system at "flat". Then listen to it for a while. And I mean, like for a few days, maybe a week. Flat response does not sound good to ears that have been listening to the screwed up curves added to modern recordings. Once you're used to that, go check out the link given above for setting the system up. Its not perfect but it does a good job of fixing some response issues. Listen to it that way for a while, then go tweak the thing to where you're comfortable with it. When all that is done, you can play with the bass/treble controls depending on the source material and it should all come together.

I really wish BMW had put the tone controls in a physical location instead of in iDrive. Those controls are commonly used and should be available by touch, without looking, not buried in a menu.

Last edited by Freiheit; 03-11-2019 at 09:48 PM..
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      03-01-2019, 09:26 PM   #10
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is it just me or is the quality of the bass on the premium sound system absolutely incredible? I've had many cars, but this is the only one that literally has no vibration, very crisp, etc. Everyday the sound quality sticks out to me as exceptional.
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      03-01-2019, 09:30 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wfdeacon88 View Post
is it just me or is the quality of the bass on the premium sound system absolutely incredible? I've had many cars, but this is the only one that literally has no vibration, very crisp, etc. Everyday the sound quality sticks out to me as exceptional.
It is pretty doggone good. I busted out some of my old test CDs and had a great time with it when I was setting it up. I noticed that the system sounds different depending on whether the windows are up or down. With the windows down the soundstage and the bass improve. Thats not a rare thing in the aftermarket with systems that produce bass waves that don't "fit" in the car, but its just about unheard of in factory systems.

Since I was completely unimpressed by previous HK systems in my M3s, I am very happy with EPS/752 sound.
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      03-01-2019, 09:36 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freiheit View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by wfdeacon88 View Post
is it just me or is the quality of the bass on the premium sound system absolutely incredible? I've had many cars, but this is the only one that literally has no vibration, very crisp, etc. Everyday the sound quality sticks out to me as exceptional.
It is pretty doggone good. I busted out some of my old test CDs and had a great time with it when I was setting it up. I noticed that the system sounds different depending on whether the windows are up or down. With the windows down the soundstage and the bass improve. Thats not a rare thing in the aftermarket with systems that produce bass waves that don't "fit" in the car, but its just about unheard of in factory systems.

Since I was completely unimpressed by previous HK systems in my M3s, I am very happy with EPS/752 sound.
That's a great point, I have noticed that also.. I have been using the Tune2Air Bluetooth adapter mostly, which I wasn't expecting to be great, but it's insanely good streaming via Spotify. I'm sure some of it has to do with the overall build quality, but its Just so damn crisp and clear... but I've never dabbled in the settings, so curious if mine are neutral or able to be improved even more.
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      03-01-2019, 10:39 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wfdeacon88 View Post
That's a great point, I have noticed that also.. I have been using the Tune2Air Bluetooth adapter mostly, which I wasn't expecting to be great, but it's insanely good streaming via Spotify. I'm sure some of it has to do with the overall build quality, but its Just so damn crisp and clear... but I've never dabbled in the settings, so curious if mine are neutral or able to be improved even more.
The hard thing to work with is that even when the slider says "0" on the EQ display, that doesn't mean zero according to the vehicle response, generally. All it means is that there is no boost/cut to that particular frequency. If you're not familiar with this stuff its very easy to make the sound worse before you make it better. You can't do it by listening to a recording and adjusting to it, unless you're very familiar with what that recording sounds like on a system thats been recurved to flatten the space it occupies.

The best way to do this is with an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) and sound check CD. At a minimum, a good one will have 30 tracks containing 1/3 octave tones running from 20Hz to 20Khz. That takes the intervals I described above and splits them into thirds. Each octave is double the one previous, and the first third will be +5hz and double at every octave above it. The second third will be +11.5Hz and double every octave after. That means your first 7 tracks will be thusly:

1. 20Hz
2. 25Hz
3. 31.5Hz
4. 40Hz (double track 1)
5. 50Hz
6. 63Hz
7. 80Hz (double track 4)

Your test CD should also have a reference tone meant to be played at a particular volume, increasing until you get a standard dB level. My CD has a 1kHz reference tone, which I believe has to be run at around 95dB. Its not comfortable and I wear ear protection.

When you have the volume on your BMW radio turned up to the reference level, change to your EQ screen, choose the lowest frequency on the EQ and pick the test tone on the CD that is closest to it. Then adjust the EQ up or down until you achieve the reference dB level on the RTA. Move on to the next one and continue till you're done.

Curving the car like this takes about 10-20 minutes, and its worth the time. Once you're done just adjust the bass and trouble per the source material as I said earlier.

Last edited by Freiheit; 03-11-2019 at 09:50 PM..
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      03-23-2019, 07:37 PM   #14
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FWIW you can drop your vin into a decoder to see what options the vehicle came with. One I’ve used is https://www.mdecoder.com/
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