Another satisfied Bavsound Ghost Subwoofer owner

[dparm]

Now that my M3 is out of winter storage, I could finally install the Bavsound Ghost Subwoofers!


Why?

Disclaimer: sound is highly subjective so this is MY OPINION. Your mileage may vary, and your expectations may vary. I will try to share my perspective on audio and my background so you can see if your goals are similar to mine.

First and foremost, I think the factory EPS setup isn't that bad when you put it in perspective. Compared to some of the other "upgraded" stereos in competitor cars, I prefer the sound of the EPS. The Audi S4 B&O system is okay, but it doesn't give you much control over EQ and processing. The Lexus IS F Mark Levinson system is incredible but costs a lot more and is controlled with a clunky interface.

I had been using Malek's EQ settings as posted here. I prefer a flatter sound, which I feel his settings provide. At home, my computer has JBL Professional monitors and the matching subwoofer, so I am very used to a flat response. The only thing truly missing from the EPS system, no matter how I adjusted it, was proper bass response. To be more specific, it's not that the factory system wasn't hitting low enough, but rather, it lacked the clarity and tighter punch that I prefer. Turning up the bass control or bumping the lower EQ bands up tended to muddy things up.

However, I was worried that Malek's settings would no longer be valid with the Ghost subs. I actually emailed Bavsound to find out if they had any recommendations for EQ and other audio settings (their guide only talks about the Logic7/HK config, not EPS). Jeremy got back to me that same day and said that EPS owners can largely use the same recommended configuration as Logic7/HK, but he did suggest tuning to personal preference.

For those curious, Bavsound recommends this as a baseline:

1. Set the "bass" control to 0
2. Disable "surround"
3. Disable EQ/processing on any iPods or other connected devices, and set AUX input volume to the middle
4. Reduce the "treble" control to 0 or even below that
5. Reduce your CURRENT EQ settings as follows:
80Hz / 100Hz +1 click
200Hz -2 clicks
500Hz (none)
1KHz -1 click
2 KHz -4 clicks
5 KHz -4 clicks
10 KHz -1-3 clicks

(I interpreted this as, "you can finally turn up the bass because now you have some!")






Install overview

Installation is fairly straightforward with basic hand tools and basic mechanical knowledge. Although I got their toolkit for free as part of a promo, you will still need a few other items, namely a ratcheting wrench and T50 driver to remove the rails. The other item that will make this job much easier is a small flashlight you can stash under the seat as you work. You will want to have a friend help (explained below)

Although there are no detailed E90 instructions, you can still figure it out by taking a minute to survey things and going slowly. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that E90 installation is a tad easier than E92/E93 since you can easily access the backseat. Why is this important? I will explain further down.

Allow me to share a few tips along with photos that should save future buyers some aggravation:

1. As other buyers mentioned, unbolt the seat brackets and just rock the seats out of the way. This is far easier in the E90 as you can just lean them against the backseat for most of the process:








2. Have a friend help you rock and hold them FORWARD for accessing some of the rear screws. It's easier for the sedan since you can open the rear doors and just reach into the footwell while they stand at the front door to hold the seat.


3. The Torx T15 screws that hold the actual woofers down aren't visible at first glance, so grab the carpet and yank it a bit to get access. There are four total. As I mentioned above, if you have the Bavsound toolkit and some basic hand tools, you can easily get the extensions necessary. Caution: the T15 screws are very soft and due to the awkward placement, it is very easy to strip them. Make sure you have enough leverage to push down and twist your wrenches firmly!





4. Once you remove all of those bolts, the woofer can be wiggled free. There is some slack in the wiring, but you will need a small flathead screwdriver to pop the clip before unplugging:





5. Just reverse the process and that's it! Be sure to test briefly before completely reassembling everything just in case you ordered the wrong ones or the connector isn't fully seated.



For those wondering, I did not use the included gasket material. My car has the EPS/Individual/DIRAC setup and when I compared the stock woofer's gasket to the Bavsound one, they looked the same both in thickness and firmness. A few other posters on here have said they didn't use it either.




Initial impressions

Bavsound says you need up to 10 hours of break-in, so this will just be my opinion on the first hour or so of usage. If the sound changes considerably over the next few weeks, I'll be sure to report back. Next time I have a long drive, I might try some of my movie soundtracks or other genres

For the first 30 or so minutes, I left my audio settings exactly the same (Malek's, as posted above) and listened to some of my favorite tracks on my iPod. These were all songs that I have listened to countless times and could utilize to identify deficiencies in speakers or configurations. For the nerds out there, they're 16/48 lossless with wide dynamic range whenever available. This is how I do the bulk of my listening.

I did try Bavsound's recommendations too, and commented on that below.


Alternative/rock
As I am a predominantly alternative and rock listener, I queued up some of my favorites from Pearl Jam, Linkin Park, Staind, Van Halen, and Scorpions. I wouldn't classify rock as an inherently "bassy" genre, but I have always felt that inadequate or inaccurate bass really ruins the listening experience since it sounds like they forgot a bass drum during recording. Although the EPS system has bass, it just isn't terribly accurate so you can't really pick out that bass drum. Another symptom of poor bass in rock playback seems to be poorly defined bass guitar notes.

Scorpions' "Big City Nights" really had a new punchiness to it, something that was missing before (dare I say it was "tinny" before?). Pearl Jam's "Why Go" finally had a bass track that did just sound like the same note played over and over. Pretty much every track from Linkin Park's self-titled album didn't hit any deeper than before, but the accuracy of faster sections was definitely improved.

I feel that the Bavsound recommended configuration is slightly better suited to this style of music, but Malek's configuration was still excellent if you don't want to be fiddling with it all the time.


Electronic
A genre I listen to occasionally, and one that I think really exposes flaws in audio setups, is electronic (house, glitch, EDM, or whatever subgenre you want to pick). Not only does this genre really reach deep for woofer excursion, but the bass hits can be very fast. A weak system will cause the faster sections to blend together and get washed out, and those deep hits just won't have the "wow" factor you want. You know when you walk past a bar or club and the bass is just overpowering everything? That's the sound I hate.

Krewella's "Alive", despite having a poor dynamic range in the original recording, transitions from soft to loud several times and has a strong bass line during those busy parts -- it's quite demanding on woofers. With the factory subs, those fast sections sounded really bad: not very dynamic and fatiguing at times. With the Bavsound Ghost Subwoofers, they finally hit like I was used to on my home setup. You could really feel the seats rumbling on each bass hit, something I had never experienced with the original subwoofers!

Avicii's "Edom", the closing track on the album True, is purely instrumental and has a deep and subtle, but complex, bass line. Whereas Krewella's "Alive" tended to be more in-your-face with the bass, this track is quite the opposite. The factory subs really made this song sound bizarre, as if they were simply unable to produce certain frequencies (poor crossovers?) or something. Now that the Ghost Subwoofers were in place, new bass detail was immediately apparent. The sections that I thought were quieter before were actually revealed to have a subtle bass track.

Lastly, I turned to an old Tiesto album, Just Be. I played the "Traffic" track purely because I love the unique bass line it has. The bass varies in intensity and speed...so could the Ghost Subwoofers keep up? The answer is a resounding yes. As the bass intensity ramped up, the sub response ramped up smoothly. The EPS subs struggled with this, again acting like their frequency response was not linear or they had crossover problems.

For this genre, I would stick with Malek's configuration. It's a bit more fun since the seats will actually shake, and you'll really make the amps use all of their juice.



Final thoughts

I am always skeptical of anything that claims to be an "OEM replacement" or "direct fit" or that "drops right in", but Bavsound Ghost Subwoofers really are all three of those things.

The Ghost Subwoofers take the existing EPS setup that extra bit further and turn it into the system it should've been when it left the factory. Why BMW decided to fit those mediocre subs into an otherwise decent system is beyond me. Hell, I would've paid a few hundred bucks more for something like the Ghost Subwoofers to be factory equipment.

I'm satisfied with my purchase. If you're on the fence, just buy them and know that you can use the no-questions-asked return policy.



PS, here is a comparison of the factory units to the Ghost Subwoofers:

[Ingenio]

Great review!

I must say mine have broken in a lot since I first installed them. Initially I thought the bass was inadequate but the responsiveness has definitely improved after more use. Glad I bought them now!

[Amirsm3]

Bavsound has really epic customer service, lol. They overnighted me a replacement sub and "yasssss gurl" the bass in my car is much cleaner and "punchier"

5/7 would recommend.

[dparm]

By the way, does anyone know what the torque specs are for the factory seat rails? They were fairly snug when I broke them loose, and I tried to go as tight as I could with my ratchet when reinstalling.

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by dparm

By the way, does anyone know what the torque specs are for the factory seat rails? They were fairly snug when I broke them loose, and I tried to go as tight as I could with my ratchet when reinstalling.

Güdentight is what I went for.

[nycplumber]

What's a competitor to this woofer and what's considered better?

[ijnoj09]

Still very satifisied with these speakers. I have these matched with a 10" JL W6 woofer in the trunk and the EPS system just sounds a lot more balanced now.

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by ijnoj09

Still very satifisied with these speakers. I have these matched with a 10" JL W6 woofer in the trunk and the EPS system just sounds a lot more balanced now.

God damn. You trying to rattle the car apart? All about that bass.....

[Malek@MRF]

Nice job on the review!

[ijnoj09]

Originally Posted by Amirsm3

God damn. You trying to rattle the car apart? All about that bass.....

[335m]

Originally Posted by ijnoj09

Still very satifisied with these speakers. I have these matched with a 10" JL W6 woofer in the trunk and the EPS system just sounds a lot more balanced now.

What box did you toss the W6 in? I was thinking of getting a cubby/stealth box to save trunk space but I don't see many affordable options anymore.

[ijnoj09]

Originally Posted by 335m

What box did you toss the W6 in? I was thinking of getting a cubby/stealth box to save trunk space but I don't see many affordable options anymore.

I'm using a box from Wicked CAS.

http://www.wickedcas.com/product.php...&cat=10&page=1

[BPMSport]

Finished installation tonight of the Stage I system and ghost subs. Going to give some time to let everything break-in. Install was very easy for the subs themselves.. I still need to set up the EQ settings.. And I'm toying with the idea of amp replacement.

Mine used t20 screws instead of t15, and I did have the head of the last one I screwed in break off -- right as I was telling my friend in the passenger seat how I read on the forums that these screws were weak. It was an epic fail... I wound up drilling a hole next to the original one and screwing the speaker down into that one.

[0-60Motorsports]

Nice review.

[kb9uwu]

can you add some large photos? I can barely see those

[roastbeef]

would these be an upgrade to the premium sound subs?

[Ingenio]

Yep... Ghost subs are the Bavsound-branded underseat sub upgrades...

[dparm]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

would these be an upgrade to the premium sound subs?

Yes.

[Hujan]

Just picked up a set myself. Going to get them installed in short order when we throw in my Recaros. Pretty stoked.

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Just picked up a set myself. Going to get them installed in short order when we throw in my Recaros. Pretty stoked.

Seriously took more time for my pizza to get here than to install these bad boys. Which recaros did you get?

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by Amirsm3

Seriously took more time for my pizza to get here than to install these bad boys. Which recaros did you get?

Sportster CS. Black vinyl, grey logos. I will probably eventually get them re-upholstered in black nappa leather.

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Sportster CS. Black vinyl, grey logos. I will probably eventually get them re-upholstered in black nappa leather.

I'm peanut butter and jealous