Upgraded to Bavsound Stage 1 from HK stereo

[acechardukian]

Hey guys

I just wanted to do a brief review of my Bavsound experience from start to finish while upgrading from the HK stereo system. In the past, I'd been a huge fan of HK but in this car, I am not sure why, but had a lot of little complaints about the system. Part of it, I'm sure wasn't related to the speakers, but more to the rattles and creaking the F8x chassis is notorious for. The other big issues were clarity of voices and the range of bass it could provide without a muffling/distorted sound.

Because of those issues, I decided to give Bavsound a try. I reached out to them and have nothing but positive things to say while working with Jeremy. He explained everything over the phone to me and was in constant communication if I had any follow up questions. Being a novice when it comes to DIY, I figured this would be too much of a task for me, until I found out everything is as simple as plug and play. I guessed between my helpless ass and a little help from a friend that I could tackle this no problem.

When I received the Bavsound upgrade package, all speaker sets were clearly labeled and individually packaged so that I couldn't mess up and they even included a tool kit which provided everything except I believe it was a T50 socket which was needed for under the seats to install the ghost subwoofer... Nonetheless, off to a great start. I opened all the boxes and got to work. Immediately I could tell the quality difference between the OE HK speakers and the Bavsound speakers, one from an aesthetic standpoint, but also in magnet size, weight, and overall feel. I used the Bavsound install YouTube video and it helped immensely, I'm sure it's pretty straightforward for some to do a simple install like this, but as I mentioned, I am not the DIY guy.

The install took all of about 3 hours and I was even able to fix some other things I had been putting off. I've done a lot of work on the interior including a custom alcantara headliner, completely restitched the interior from silverstone stitching to a blue stitch, and full LED conversion from Amber everything with white ambient to everything white (matches the dash perfectly) with blue ambient. All of that work led to a few broken tabs on panels, etc and while installing the rear speakers, I was able to replace everything I needed to with new parts, two for one jobs are the best. Not only that, but a lot of the rattling I was getting before is now gone, so I'm not sure if it was some of the sound deadening material I installed or if it was just coincidence from removing and reinstalling the door panels, either way, I'm ecstatic. We could've finished the install most likely in 2.5 hours but I forgot to reinstall a couple pieces each time I did the ghost subwoofer...nothing new for me

My overall thoughts of the speakers after having them installed for about a month and a half are definitely those of positive praises. Immediately when I turned the car on with the Bavsound stage 1 installed, I could tell an increase in clarity without a doubt. The highs coming from the tweeter were sooo much better than in the HK speakers. The second thing I started to play around with was the equalizer to tune in the bass...immediate difference as well and it's only gotten better as it's broken in. I listen to mainly house/EDM/trance with some Hip-Hop thrown in from time to time, I did grow up in Chicago area afterall
My suggestion to you if you're not happy with your "upgraded" HK system, or even if you are happy, give these a go and test them out. I believe Bavsound offers a 100 day in car trial to test them out. I believe they'll even cover the costs of install and uninstall if you decide against them, clearly a company that stands behind their brand which is great in this automotive industry where so many companies cannot make that claim. I'll attach some images later as my internet is quite poor on this plane, but I hope everyone who reads this gets something out of it.

[omegatlc]

Great review! I'm going to order when I get my M4 next week.

When you take the pics, would you mind taking one of your EQ settings? It would be a good starting point for me considering similarities in music taste.

Thanks!

[acechardukian]

Originally Posted by omegatlc

Great review! I'm going to order when I get my M4 next week.

When you take the pics, would you mind taking one of your EQ settings? It would be a good starting point for me considering similarities in music taste.

Thanks!

Sure thing man, I'll get them posted up later today!

[Sedan_Clan]

I'd love to see your interior OP.

[acechardukian]

Few photos from the install. The one of the OEM speaker and the upgraded Bavsound speaker is not mine, it was a friend who showed me how big of a difference it was between the two and I thought it was worth sharing.

[acechardukian]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I'd love to see your interior OP.

Here are a few at night to show the lighting and headliner, I'll post again below for higher quality since I can't edit into this post

[acechardukian]

Sorry, on my iPad and didn't realize low quality images being uploaded, here are the install photos I meant to post above

[acechardukian]

Interior shots

[F82K2S0]

love the alcantara headliner

[Sedan_Clan]

I want an alcantara headliner.

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I want an alcantara headliner.

How actually long is your list

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Gabe@TAG

How actually long is your list

It keeps growing because you dudes keep coming up with fly shit. LOL!


P.S. IND is almost done with my custom knob/boot. A true one-off piece.

[acechardukian]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

It keeps growing because you dudes keep coming up with fly shit. LOL!


P.S. IND is almost done with my custom knob/boot. A true one-off piece.

Hahaha, that's how I was when I first got my car. Nonstop list of things I absolutely had to have. Sadly I put of the stereo for quite a while and now I wish it was one of the first things I had done instead of maybe the headliner right away.

[2SNAILS]

Does this upgrade require a new amp as well?? Pls advise as this may be my next mod for x mas

[acechardukian]

Originally Posted by 2SNAILS

Does this upgrade require a new amp as well?? Pls advise as this may be my next mod for x mas

It is not a necessity, you'll hear much better output than the HK system with just the speaker upgrade alone. I did not purchase the amp yet and I can notice a big difference already.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by acechardukian

Hahaha, that's how I was when I first got my car. Nonstop list of things I absolutely had to have. Sadly I put of the stereo for quite a while and now I wish it was one of the first things I had done instead of maybe the headliner right away.

Funny thing is that I should know better. Lol! I've ridden this BMW rodeo 14 times over, and the mods always get the best of me.