F32 440i - how important is HK audio?

[d_a_n1979]

rottenegg said:

d_a_n1979 said:

The blue Brembo 370/355mm brakes are easy enough to source and retrofit; all the F3X use the same braking system throughout as far as I recall; just different calipers depending on what was spec'd etc

Factory fitted M Sport brakes also got the bigger master cylinder from the F80

Cars with unpainted front 4 pots and steel rear calipers should have it also, but worth checking on RealOEM.

Fitting M sport brakes to a car with steel front and rear brakes with the smaller master cylinder won't work as well.

As for HK. Don't give a toss about it personally. Mine came with it but it sounds a bit crap really. I'd sooner have good brakes and suspension than a radio.

That I didn't know, thanks! From my reading on Bimmerfest forums it looked like they all shared the same master cylinder. Good to know the bigger brakes got the right parts connected to them!

[toon10]

I've got the 340i with HK and it's a large improvement over the standard setup I had on my old M135i. HK isn't great but it's acceptable. It's also one of the more important options for resale.

[rottenegg]

d_a_n1979 said:

rottenegg said:

d_a_n1979 said:

The blue Brembo 370/355mm brakes are easy enough to source and retrofit; all the F3X use the same braking system throughout as far as I recall; just different calipers depending on what was spec'd etc

Factory fitted M Sport brakes also got the bigger master cylinder from the F80

Cars with unpainted front 4 pots and steel rear calipers should have it also, but worth checking on RealOEM.

Fitting M sport brakes to a car with steel front and rear brakes with the smaller master cylinder won't work as well.

As for HK. Don't give a toss about it personally. Mine came with it but it sounds a bit crap really. I'd sooner have good brakes and suspension than a radio.

That I didn't know, thanks! From my reading on Bimmerfest forums it looked like they all shared the same master cylinder. Good to know the bigger brakes got the right parts connected to them!

I know VW/Audi were quite happy to fit bigger calipers to the same base spec master cylinder, but it appears BMW do things properly

[rottenegg]

toon10 said:

I've got the 340i with HK and it's a large improvement over the standard setup I had on my old M135i. HK isn't great but it's acceptable. It's also one of the more important options for resale.

The trouble with the HK, imo, is the auto loudness which you can't turn off (bass power drops markedly as the volume increases) and the EQ is terrible. I don't mean the graphic equaliser, but rather how the amplifier's sound signature was configured by HK. It's too bass heavy, and not in a nice deep bass way either. Just lots of 100hz boxy thumping.

[Stillstand]

If the HK option is S688A, then it has the 600W amplifier with Logic 7 and EQ settings which is actually a good, powerful amplifier.

The speakers are the real let down for the HK system, the mids (100mm, 8ohm) especially are pretty rubbish quality. The good news is that you can upgrade them to some pretty great ones (4ohm) and the amp is powerful enough for them. I replaced all the mids in my F31 with Eton B100W and with a bit of messing with the EQ settings, got it pretty nice.

Have the same in my G31 (speaker fitment is the same) and no complaints - sound is fantastic.

[rottenegg]

Stillstand said:

If the HK option is S688A, then it has the 600W amplifier with Logic 7 and EQ settings which is actually a good, powerful amplifier.

The speakers are the real let down for the HK system, the mids (100mm, 8ohm) especially are pretty rubbish quality. The good news is that you can upgrade them to some pretty great ones (4ohm) and the amp is powerful enough for them. I replaced all the mids in my F31 with Eton B100W and with a bit of messing with the EQ settings, got it pretty nice.

Have the same in my G31 (speaker fitment is the same) and no complaints - sound is fantastic.

That is what I was slagging off above

You're right about the speakers though, very poor. HK used to make some decent domestic HiFi back in the day, but their car stuff is way off that standard, imo.

The 8 inchers under the seats are another weakness as their cabinet volume microscopic, so you get no bass extension below 50hz. What little there is is completely drowned out by tyre roar on the move.

[bigdom]

rottenegg said:

HK used to make some decent domestic HiFi back in the day, but their car stuff is way off that standard, imo.

Samsung bought them in 2017, whether it's that, or value engineering for a price point, who knows?

[Stillstand]

rottenegg said:

Stillstand said:

If the HK option is S688A, then it has the 600W amplifier with Logic 7 and EQ settings which is actually a good, powerful amplifier.

The speakers are the real let down for the HK system, the mids (100mm, 8ohm) especially are pretty rubbish quality. The good news is that you can upgrade them to some pretty great ones (4ohm) and the amp is powerful enough for them. I replaced all the mids in my F31 with Eton B100W and with a bit of messing with the EQ settings, got it pretty nice.

Have the same in my G31 (speaker fitment is the same) and no complaints - sound is fantastic.

That is what I was slagging off above

You're right about the speakers though, very poor. HK used to make some decent domestic HiFi back in the day, but their car stuff is way off that standard, imo.

The 8 inchers under the seats are another weakness as their cabinet volume microscopic, so you get no bass extension below 50hz. What little there is is completely drowned out by tyre roar on the move.

There is another version of the HK system (can't remember the code) that only has 50% more power than the standard system - from memory the base system is 200W and the other HK system is 310W. That is genuinely rubbish.

With the S688A system, you get a decent amp and cabling, with mid-low end speakers but with a bit of (relatively) inexpensive upgrading can be turned into a nice sounding system, for a car at least.

[rottenegg]

Stillstand said:

rottenegg said:

Stillstand said:

If the HK option is S688A, then it has the 600W amplifier with Logic 7 and EQ settings which is actually a good, powerful amplifier.

The speakers are the real let down for the HK system, the mids (100mm, 8ohm) especially are pretty rubbish quality. The good news is that you can upgrade them to some pretty great ones (4ohm) and the amp is powerful enough for them. I replaced all the mids in my F31 with Eton B100W and with a bit of messing with the EQ settings, got it pretty nice.

Have the same in my G31 (speaker fitment is the same) and no complaints - sound is fantastic.

That is what I was slagging off above

You're right about the speakers though, very poor. HK used to make some decent domestic HiFi back in the day, but their car stuff is way off that standard, imo.

The 8 inchers under the seats are another weakness as their cabinet volume microscopic, so you get no bass extension below 50hz. What little there is is completely drowned out by tyre roar on the move.

There is another version of the HK system (can't remember the code) that only has 50% more power than the standard system - from memory the base system is 200W and the other HK system is 310W. That is genuinely rubbish.

With the S688A system, you get a decent amp and cabling, with mid-low end speakers but with a bit of (relatively) inexpensive upgrading can be turned into a nice sounding system, for a car at least.

Ah OK, wasn't aware of the lower powered version. Just looked up my VIN sheet again to be sure, and it definitely has the S0688A in it.

I'll look into some better speakers then. So the Eton ones you mentioned are an improvement over the HK ones?

[Stillstand]

rottenegg said:

Stillstand said:

rottenegg said:

Stillstand said:

If the HK option is S688A, then it has the 600W amplifier with Logic 7 and EQ settings which is actually a good, powerful amplifier.

The speakers are the real let down for the HK system, the mids (100mm, 8ohm) especially are pretty rubbish quality. The good news is that you can upgrade them to some pretty great ones (4ohm) and the amp is powerful enough for them. I replaced all the mids in my F31 with Eton B100W and with a bit of messing with the EQ settings, got it pretty nice.

Have the same in my G31 (speaker fitment is the same) and no complaints - sound is fantastic.

That is what I was slagging off above

You're right about the speakers though, very poor. HK used to make some decent domestic HiFi back in the day, but their car stuff is way off that standard, imo.

The 8 inchers under the seats are another weakness as their cabinet volume microscopic, so you get no bass extension below 50hz. What little there is is completely drowned out by tyre roar on the move.

There is another version of the HK system (can't remember the code) that only has 50% more power than the standard system - from memory the base system is 200W and the other HK system is 310W. That is genuinely rubbish.

With the S688A system, you get a decent amp and cabling, with mid-low end speakers but with a bit of (relatively) inexpensive upgrading can be turned into a nice sounding system, for a car at least.

Ah OK, wasn't aware of the lower powered version. Just looked up my VIN sheet again to be sure, and it definitely has the S0688A in it.

I'll look into some better speakers then. So the Eton ones you mentioned are an improvement over the HK ones?

Yes, much better. You can feel/see the quality difference before you even hear them. Other options are available, but Eton are a highly regarded manufacturer (German too) - check out some reviews.

They're plug and play and come with the tweeters. Really easy to install.

These are the ones I have for the front and rear doors - https://audiovisualworld.co.uk/eton-ug-b100-w-10cm...

(if you keep an eye out on eBay, they sometimes come for up for sale used)

Edited by Stillstand on Monday 15th April 15:54

[rottenegg]

Stillstand said:

Yes, much better. You can feel/see the quality difference before you even hear them. Other options are available, but Eton are a highly regarded manufacturer (German too) - check out some reviews.

They're plug and play and come with the tweeters. Really easy to install.

These are the ones I have for the front and rear doors - https://audiovisualworld.co.uk/eton-ug-b100-w-10cm...

(if you keep an eye out on eBay, they sometimes come for up for sale used)

Edited by Stillstand on Monday 15th April 15:54

Thanks for that. I haven't heard of Eton but they do look good and better value than the usual Audison / BavSound / Bimmertech upgrades. They do the under bum woofers as well, which is nice.

[Tea Pot One]

I had the base BMW stereo in a 320d years back and it was awful ... HK in all of mine since apart from a Z4 35iS which had a massive BMW surround sound multi speaker system in a different league to anything else ... ever !

Fast forward and I now have a G42 M240i xdrive which came with no HK ... shock horror ... but had BMW 'Hifi' one up from base and below HK. Well, it actually seems about the same as the HK in my old M240i !!! Having read above and looked online it seems the HK amp in the 2 series is not much different to the Hifi one so maybe I haven't missed out on much !

• I prefer the sound of the engine to the stereo anyway

[Magnum 475]

A couple of random thoughts from someone who doesn't have M Sport Plus / HK.

1. The standard sound system is carp. Utter carp. I really should have waited for an HK-equiped car, but when i bought mine there were precisely 4 F30 330is for sale as approved used cars in the UK. None had HK.

2. The standard brakes are fine, without the 'Big Blue' upgrade, unless you're planning to track the car. I can brake to the point that the ABS is kicking in on a dry road at 70mph with premium tyres fitted. The most extreme braking we're likely to do on 99% of road driving is a hard stop from 70ish, so unless you're planning regular "spirited" driving, this isn't such a big thing. Pads / discs are also a lot cheaper without the upgraded brakes

[carbonblack]

HK won’t be that great.

I’d suggest to buy the 440 and upgrade the audio if it bothers you.

Haven’t you spent the last decade agonising about a 440i? It’s not a 2.7RS.

[Nezquick]

I'm currently looking at X5 45e models and am astounded by the amount of people who bought these and seemingly went for "HK deletion" - why would you want to delete it? It's a great system and sounds much better than stock. I'm immediately discounting over half of the cars I see as they don't have HK.

I've had HK in an M240i and an X3 35d and it was superb in both - I wouldn't buy another BMW without it now I don't think.

[bobthemonkey]

Nezquick said:

I'm currently looking at X5 45e models and am astounded by the amount of people who bought these and seemingly went for "HK deletion" - why would you want to delete it? It's a great system and sounds much better than stock. I'm immediately discounting over half of the cars I see as they don't have HK.

I've had HK in an M240i and an X3 35d and it was superb in both - I wouldn't buy another BMW without it now I don't think.

Will be a combination of a lot them having been corporate lease, so goal is to make the monthly as cheap as possible, and parts availability for COVID era cars.

[SteBrown91]

bobthemonkey said:

Nezquick said:

I'm currently looking at X5 45e models and am astounded by the amount of people who bought these and seemingly went for "HK deletion" - why would you want to delete it? It's a great system and sounds much better than stock. I'm immediately discounting over half of the cars I see as they don't have HK.

I've had HK in an M240i and an X3 35d and it was superb in both - I wouldn't buy another BMW without it now I don't think.

Will be a combination of a lot them having been corporate lease, so goal is to make the monthly as cheap as possible, and parts availability for COVID era cars.

Its purely covid supply chain - it would have come with HK but the spec was deleted to keep production rolling.

Alot of late 20/21 BMWs are also missing wireless chargers that previously were fitted.

[MitchT]

carbonblack said:

Haven’t you spent the last decade agonising about a 440i? It’s not a 2.7RS.

No, I stared scoping them out in summer 2022 but I couldn't afford one at that point and was waiting for the promised used car price crash anyway. I've since given up on the price crash but have only seen a couple that I really wanted sicne I had the money in place in Q1 of 2023 and both of those sold before I could get to them. The purpose of this thread was to see if it's worth lowering my expectations a bit rather than wait for the perfect example.

[topaz]

I had the Bose system in a Porsche Macan (now sold thanks to a leaky sunroof and ste dealers) which to my ears was better than the HK in my 530d. Mate had a 530e with the Bowers and Wilkins diamond set up which was other worldy. Mind you, my ears are shot thanks to too many concerts and road trips so I may just be guessing

[rottenegg]

topaz said:

I had the Bose system in a Porsche Macan (now sold thanks to a leaky sunroof and ste dealers) which to my ears was better than the HK in my 530d. Mate had a 530e with the Bowers and Wilkins diamond set up which was other worldy. Mind you, my ears are shot thanks to too many concerts and road trips so I may just be guessing

Agreed. The OEM factory fit Bose, B&O, B&W, Mark Levinson et al I've heard are all better than the HK system, imo. Years ago a friend ticked the Dynaudio option on his MK6 Golf and that sounded briliant. Tight and punchy.

I do like the under seat woofer location though as you get far less panel vibrations. Good move BMW. Just a shame they couldn't get more cabinet volume under there for some beefier <40Hz action.