OT: Last Leg of I-15 Finally Opens!!!

[scaredyclassic]

Charles Mingus for stereo testing.

[paramount]

[quote=AN] I haven’t seen any stock system that can do that, BMW include. I haven’t tried the latest one, so maybe they’ve improved, but somehow, I doubt it.[/quote]

I’ll try that Eagles test, specs on a 328i HiFi:

6 channels
10 loudspeakers
• 2 treble loudspeakers, front 26 mm
• 2 mid-range loudspeakers, front 100 mm
• 2 bass loudspeakers, 217 mm
• 2 mid-range loudspeakers, rear, 100 mm
• 2 treble loudspeakers, rear 26 mm
Bandwidth: 40 Hz to 20.000 Hz
Max. acoustic pressure: 104 dB
Amplifier power:
2 x 40 W (2 Ω) Bass
4 x 25 W (2 Ω)

[temeculaguy]

I think it’s relative and it it could be my ears. My daughter repeatedly tells me I need to get my ears checked. I researched my stereo and it turns out I have the hifi, but not the logic7. I guess my last car had a great stereo because it feels like something is missing, it’s excellent quality, but at max volume, I keep turning the knob wanting for more. It’s like having an old girlfriend with DD’s and then having a new one with C’s, they are great….but where’s the rest, something is missing?

I just read some model specific audiophole blogs and there some really easy and cheap fixes to take it up a few notches without a complete overhaul. I want to keep the actual unit since it is part of the lcd monitor, integrates the phone, has speed sensitive volume and has the ipod plug in the center console, so upgrading speakers and amps is not that big of a deal. I could also go to the doctor and see if it’s me and not the car.

Do you guys ever feel slightly immature because we are probably all in our 40’s and devoting time and energy to splitting hairs about horsepower and subwoofers. I feel it on occasion, but I’m positive my issues come from spending some of my formitive and poorer years without a stereo at all and a 2 digit horsepower engine (or close to it). No wonder women think we are nuts, we are.

[paramount]

[quote=temeculaguy]
Do you guys ever feel slightly immature because we are probably all in our 40’s and devoting time and energy to splitting hairs about horsepower and subwoofers. I feel it on occasion, but I’m positive my issues come from spending some of my formitive and poorer years without a stereo at all and a 2 digit horsepower engine (or close to it). No wonder women think we are nuts, we are.[/quote]

Personally, I think it’s a coping mechanism (the car talk).

Now, back to car talk…

TG: Did you know there’s an app for Bimmerfest?

[an]

[quote=temeculaguy]I think it’s relative and it it could be my ears. My daughter repeatedly tells me I need to get my ears checked. I researched my stereo and it turns out I have the hifi, but not the logic7. I guess my last car had a great stereo because it feels like something is missing, it’s excellent quality, but at max volume, I keep turning the knob wanting for more. It’s like having an old girlfriend with DD’s and then having a new one with C’s, they are great….but where’s the rest, something is missing?[/quote]
Nicely put and I would say most stock stereos barely pass as B’s, not C’s :-D.

[quote=temeculaguy]I just read some model specific audiophole blogs and there some really easy and cheap fixes to take it up a few notches without a complete overhaul. I want to keep the actual unit since it is part of the lcd monitor, integrates the phone, has speed sensitive volume and has the ipod plug in the center console, so upgrading speakers and amps is not that big of a deal. I could also go to the doctor and see if it’s me and not the car.[/quote]
Yeah, upgrading speakers and amps will get you 2/3 of the way there. Unfortunately, most (if not all) stock head unit do not have line out, so you have to connect aftermarket amps to speaker level, which also reduces some clarity. However, it’s still much much better stock.

[quote=temeculaguy]Do you guys ever feel slightly immature because we are probably all in our 40’s and devoting time and energy to splitting hairs about horsepower and subwoofers. I feel it on occasion, but I’m positive my issues come from spending some of my formitive and poorer years without a stereo at all and a 2 digit horsepower engine (or close to it). No wonder women think we are nuts, we are.[/quote]Sorry, but I’m no where near 40’s :-D. No, we’re not nuts. It’s a guy’s version of purses and shoes.

[an]

[quote=paramount]
6 channels
10 loudspeakers
• 2 treble loudspeakers, front 26 mm
• 2 mid-range loudspeakers, front 100 mm
• 2 bass loudspeakers, 217 mm
• 2 mid-range loudspeakers, rear, 100 mm
• 2 treble loudspeakers, rear 26 mm
Bandwidth: 40 Hz to 20.000 Hz
Max. acoustic pressure: 104 dB
Amplifier power:
2 x 40 W (2 Ω) Bass
4 x 25 W (2 Ω)[/quote]
Those are the kinds of number I was expecting. Although the mid drivers at only 4″ is a little lacking. The amps are driving those speakers at 2 Ω, like all stock amps I’ve seen. If you look into amps, you’ll notice the Wattage output increases as the impedance decreases (i.e. the output will be higher at 2 Ω vs 4 Ω). The higher the impedance, the cleaner the power, which would create cleaner sounds. Especially at higher dB.

A standard aftermarket 5 channel amps like this one: http://www.bostonacoustics.com/GTA-1005-P613.aspx out puts 4 x 50W (at 4 Ω) or 4 x 80W (at 2 Ω). The subwoofer channel outputs at 2 x 160W or 1 x 250W (at 4 Ω).

Here’s a decent aftermarket subwoofer: http://www.bostonacoustics.com/G310-P566.aspx
It’s rated at 350W RMS, which means it can be driven constantly at 350W. RMS power rating is always lower than peak power. It wouldn’t surprise me if these subs can handle 500W peak. If you look at the magnets on these subwoofers vs the stock 8″, you’ll see what I mean. To drive a tight deep sound, you need big magnets. There’s no way around it.

Here’s a decent set of aftermarket components: http://www.bostonacoustics.com/Pro60SE-P601.aspx
Although they’re rated at 50Hz-22kHz frequency response, I wouldn’t want to drive these much lower than 120Hz. I keep the <120Hz dedicated to the subwoofers.

My point is, 2 x 40W for the 8" sub and 4 x 25W for mids/highs are quite lacking in my book. If you have a chance, take that Eagle CD to a store that sell aftermarket stereos (like Best Buy) and listen to Hotel California with a high end systems and let me know if you can tell the difference between the stock BMW's sound system and the aftermarket one.

[Coronita]

[quote=temeculaguy]On the stereo discussion, my sled didn’t come with the upgraded stereo, it’s decent but not great. I see that as a needed upgrade. The cnet reviewer says my particular year and model has too many speakers and too little power. As soon as I figure out what I am going to do with the headlights, I’m going to address the sound system.

can any of you guys help me with my headlight dillema. Seems the previous owner didn;t want to spend the 1k for the xenons (can’t blame them) but they put aftermarket ones in. The ballast and wiring takes up so much space that they got rid of the rear cover to the light housing. Well, that is there for a reason, it keeps water out. I ordered new back covers and plan on drilling a hole and running the wires through, then waterproofing the igniter and wires that need to live outside the cover because of space restrictions. But something is wonky about it, every time I move it, I get one of the angel lights going out, I reposition it and it comes back on, I’m assuming the connection is bad and I need to cut and reattach clean ends. The dealer of course says that I should remove the whole thing and go back to halogens. The technician said that using anything other than oem electronics is bad for bmw’s. I know damn well that even oem electronics are bad for bmw’s, but aftermarket electronics are bad for bmw dealers. I was going to do that but after driving twice at night with the xenons, I’m in love. Has anyone ever dealt with aftermarket xenons? I can’t even find a brand name on them. It will be cheap to switch back to halogens, but now I don’t want to, yet I’m tired of having to switch the lights on and off or jiggle the wires to make the angels work. It’s a good thing I don’t have a lot of hobbies and can take apart my headlights and read bimmerfest blogs to fill my empty life. I was warned, these things are like women, they are beautiful, you will love them and they are a pain in the ass all at the same time.[/quote]

TG… Regarding your headlight issues. Here’s the thing.
Most aftermarket HID conversion kits are crap because, well most of them just consist of a bulb and ballast…Sticking a bulb in an existing halogen housing might not yield the correct beam pattern nor the appropriate cutoff, and almost all aftermarket kits do not offer any sort of auto-leveling… It’s for this reason why almost all HID aftermarket kits are illegal for normal road use….

That said, here’s a few links if you’re interested get BMW stuff.

1. Stealth Auto: They are up in L.A. Have a bunch of lighting/accesories/etc at reasonable prices. Sign up for their email, they give a coupon for 20% every so often.

http://www.stealthauto.com/

2. BMW of silver springs… They stock OEM parts at much cheaper rates than any stealership in San Diego or L.A.

http://getbmwparts.com/

If you ever need a OEM BMW parts/accessories, these are one of the places that are the cheapest. Nice dudes oo..

3. BMW of concord: They sell a lot of OEM parts at nice discounts, but you need to pay for sales tax. They have an ebay store

4. Real OEM… This isn’t a store. It’s an online parts catalog for BMW… Might come in handy if you are doing any work on it.

http://realoem.com/bmw/

5. Europarts SD: This place in in Rancho Bernardo… Will get you setup with parts if you need it fast locally. Steve is a great guy

http://europarts-sd.com/

[paramount]

flu: Do you happen to know if the brakes on BMW’s are realistically do-it-yourself-able? I always do my own brake jobs, but that’s only been on Ford’s and Toyota’s for the most part.

[Coronita]

[quote=paramount]flu: Do you happen to know if the brakes on BMW’s are realistically do-it-yourself-able? I always do my own brake jobs, but that’s only been on Ford’s and Toyota’s for the most part.[/quote]

Actually, that’s one thing the german car companies do better than Honda. The discs are really easy to take off. If you’ve worked on a honda disc brake, you’d know what I mean..

Audi, Mercedes, and BMW are pretty easy to take off.

If you can’t do brakes on these cars, don’t even bother to try anything else…

Here. E90… E92 should be similar
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76418

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246116

[an]

[quote=flu][quote=paramount]flu: Do you happen to know if the brakes on BMW’s are realistically do-it-yourself-able? I always do my own brake jobs, but that’s only been on Ford’s and Toyota’s for the most part.[/quote]

Actually, that’s one thing the german car companies do better than Honda. The discs are really easy to take off. If you’ve worked on a honda disc brake, you’d know what I mean..

Audi, Mercedes, and BMW are pretty easy to take off.

If you can’t do brakes on these cars, don’t even bother to try anything else…

Here. E90… E92 should be similar
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76418

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246116%5B/quote%5D
Looks pretty easy to me. However, I still think my Brembo brakes are easier, at least to change the pads :-). It’s the same for changing the disk. One big bolt and it’s off. Floating discs rocks. It takes me longer to take off the wheels than change the pads.

It wasn’t that bad to change pads/rotors on my Integra. Is Honda that different?

[Coronita]

[quote=AN][quote=flu][quote=paramount]flu: Do you happen to know if the brakes on BMW’s are realistically do-it-yourself-able? I always do my own brake jobs, but that’s only been on Ford’s and Toyota’s for the most part.[/quote]

Actually, that’s one thing the german car companies do better than Honda. The discs are really easy to take off. If you’ve worked on a honda disc brake, you’d know what I mean..

Audi, Mercedes, and BMW are pretty easy to take off.

If you can’t do brakes on these cars, don’t even bother to try anything else…

Here. E90… E92 should be similar
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76418

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246116%5B/quote%5D
Looks pretty easy to me. However, I still think my Brembo brakes are easier, at least to change the pads :-). It’s the same for changing the disk. One big bolt and it’s off. Floating discs rocks. It takes me longer to take off the wheels than change the pads.

It wasn’t that bad to change pads/rotors on my Integra. Is Honda that different?[/quote]

Repack the wheel bearing or did you just ignore that part? 🙂

[an]

What wheel bearing? I don’t remember changing the wheel bearing when changing the pads and rotor.

[Coronita]

[quote=AN]What wheel bearing? I don’t remember changing the wheel bearing when changing the pads and rotor.[/quote]

Honda rotors if I recall are pressed onto the axle.
Then again they might have changed this on later years.

Apparently this was the case for
90 honda’s. I don’t recall what was the case for my first generation integra..

In any case, honda was notorious for sticking a phillips screw to hold the rotor in place that I recall was almost impossible to remove… I recall I inevitably ended up drilling them out a few times…

I hated doing rotors on the hondas my buddy had or I had.

Here’s a refresher… If you didn’t have to deal with this, you were lucky..

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/f13/front-brake-rotor-replacement-procedure-95-accord-331025/

Ah, yes…a trip down memory lane…

Ring a bell?

But I have to say, at least for hondas it doesn’t require you to drop have a fuel tank to replace a fuel filter like *cough* a B5 Audi A4…. (I lucked out because I have small hands)…

Surprising the Mercedes w203 C class isn’t that bad to work on…. I pretty much replaced the front end recently…

[an]

[quote=flu]
But I have to say, at least for hondas it doesn’t require you to drop have a fuel tank to replace a fuel filter like *cough* a B5 Audi A4…. (I lucked out because I have small hands)…

Surprising the Mercedes w203 C class isn’t that bad to work on…. I pretty much replaced the front end recently…[/quote]
I’m very impressed flu. I wouldn’t dare attempt replacing the front end. I would only try DIY if I can finish w/in a couple hours. The rest, I’ll just buy the parts and take it to the shop :-). Maybe it might be different if it’s a 2nd/spare car. I don’t dare do that on my main commuter.

Honda might designed hard to replace rotor, their engine is quite easy to work on. I remember changing spark plugs in 10 minutes and changing valve cover in a snap. Same with intake and exhaust. There were so much room to work with.

[Coronita]

[quote=AN][quote=flu]
But I have to say, at least for hondas it doesn’t require you to drop have a fuel tank to replace a fuel filter like *cough* a B5 Audi A4…. (I lucked out because I have small hands)…

Surprising the Mercedes w203 C class isn’t that bad to work on…. I pretty much replaced the front end recently…[/quote]
I’m very impressed flu. I wouldn’t dare attempt replacing the front end. I would only try DIY if I can finish w/in a couple hours. The rest, I’ll just buy the parts and take it to the shop :-). Maybe it might be different if it’s a 2nd/spare car. I don’t dare do that on my main commuter.

[/quote]

Well, it was out of necessity… Morale of the story… don’t let your collision coverage lapse accidentally. And no, I wasn’t driving…

[img_assist|nid=15802|title=oops|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400]

Err, that will buff right out…NOT! Things dont look that bad from the outside, until you take it apart….

Everything in front up to the absorber has shifted about 5-7 degrees to the right and the bumper, hood, front end don’t line up anymore….. So everything in front pretty much had to go…Bumper, absorber, frame components, radiator brackets, radiator, auxiliary water pump,etc,etc,etc,etc… Nice huh?

[img_assist|nid=15803|title=ouch|desc=|link=url|align=left|width=384|height=512]

I learned that Mercedes runs some of your coolant through the headlight washer system just to keep it warm… Yeah, that’s why when you crash the front and snap a plastic auxilary water pump you get coolant all over the floor, making your car undriveable…

[img_assist|nid=15805|title=whereiseverything|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400]

Also, a bunch of the wiring was ripped apart on the passenger side…This is why I was asking you about if you had your c series still, so if you could help me figure were everything routed to..I found out later with a neighbor’s car.

It’s all put back together. Parts came out to be about $1200. Still needs to be repainted, which I think I can do for about $500, including getting a new air compressor specifically for it… Yeah, get to add more to my tool collection….
I should mention, everything was taken apart and put back together with hand tools and a torque wrench. No power tools, no air compressor, etc…Wasnt home when I was doing this but at my relative’s house…

Insurance probably would have totaled it. Not because its not repairable, because it just would have cost way too much labor. Moral of the story, don’t let your collision lapse.

Well, the good news is that if I ever want a career change, I can run an Audi, Mercedes, and now BMW repair shop…

Flu: aka grease monkey

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