Harman Kardon in a CSL?

[KentChris]

Mike I think where Shim is coming from is the Sound system is the last thing you need to worry about if buying a CSL In other words have a test drive or sit in as a passanger and you will understand. With the reduced sound protection etc it does not matter what music system you put in, you are not going to get the quality you want just stick with what ever it comes with to be honest. The car was not built with listening music in mind.

I use mine as a Daily driver to work and back and the sound system is fine.

If anything that I have learnt that you get upgraded first on these cars are the B.Hoses and AP Brakes

PS you do not need to do 7000 to hear the sweet noise from the CSL

[///Mike]

I accept what you are both saying and you might all be correct. After driving one I might not need better sounds. Just trying to justify the purcashe to myself at the moment and the sounds is the one thing I don't think I could live without for now.

Just didn't appreciate the "You'll probably buy some Nangkangs for it next as you spent all the £££ on 'sounds'"

Agree with you on the brakes front. We recently upgraded to new set of AP's on our track M3 and the difference was brilliant. Ideally I would be looking for a car with a BBK conversion done if possible. I have 6 pots on my current road car so its another thing on the list with the sounds

[KentChris]

If you are really intrested in buying a CSL then my strongest recommendation would be to visit www.CSLRegister.com and ask away the people (not me!) are all know their stuff in mods etc and also the history of the cars. They are very helpful it was through that site and PH I managed to get the CSL I have now and it was worth every sec of the research.

Also there is a Buy/Sell section so you can get some good guides etc as it seems most CSL are stripped of Mods before reselling etc.

PS you do have to mind some of the tongue in cheek replys but all seem to be good chaps (and ladies)

[///Mike]

KentChris said:

If you are really intrested in buying a CSL then my strongest recommendation would be to visit www.CSLRegister.com and ask away the people (not me!) are all know their stuff in mods etc and also the history of the cars. They are very helpful it was through that site and PH I managed to get the CSL I have now and it was worth every sec of the research.

Also there is a Buy/Sell section so you can get some good guides etc as it seems most CSL are stripped of Mods before reselling etc.

PS you do have to mind some of the tongue in cheek replys but all seem to be good chaps (and ladies)

Thanks Chris, already registered and already talking about specific examples where members have PM'd me with useful information about said examples.

Thanks for the heads up though

[manand38]

Many times, the 1st thing to do is upgrade the unit and see if that improves the sound. BMWs tend to come with cr*p headunits, the speakers are usualy good.

On the subject of HK, I have it installed on my Z3M Coupe and it sounds great.

[Great Pretender]

manand38 said:

Many times, the 1st thing to do is upgrade the unit and see if that improves the sound. BMWs tend to come with cr*p headunits, the speakers are usualy good.

But then you have to make do with a (usually) trashy looking headunit. Best to keep it visibly OE and hide an amp under the rear seat base. A decent amp will boost the signal over the factory setup far more than any head unit could.

BMW speakers are IME no better than the usual manufacture fit crap, so there's also room for imporovement there.

Personally, I wouldn't bother at all, but if needs must, this is the option I'd take.

[shim]

Woops

[///Mike]

manand38 said:

Many times, the 1st thing to do is upgrade the unit and see if that improves the sound. BMWs tend to come with cr*p headunits, the speakers are usualy good.

On the subject of HK, I have it installed on my Z3M Coupe and it sounds great.

I guess this is a very subjective point isn't it. What one person thinks sounds great another thinks is truly awful. I would say that the HK system in my E36s was truly aweful in comparison to the current LOGIC7/HK systems in the modern cars.

I also subscribe to the view that keeping the OEM HU in place and changing the speakers for better ones that don't require any modding to the car is my prefered route. I always thought the standard paper cone speakers that BMW put in were absolute tosh tbh

[///Mike]

shim said:

Woops

[wheelsmith]

shim said:

As keen as you seem to be to buy a CSL I have to say maybe it's not the right choice if the only thing you are worried about before you even buy it is "the quality of the music system"

You'll probably buy some Nangkangs for it next as you spent all the £££ on 'sounds'

Who said he was only worried about the sound system?

[chris56]

I have had a CSL since new and used to use it as a daily driver. As such one is not always switching the car into Sport mode and listening to the great sound it makes.
Having had previous E46 M3s with HK sound system, I think (and know) that you can get a better sound by going aftermarket. I ended up taking out the BMW Business Radio CD in mine and fitting a single DIN Kenwood system which also has Nav. I then fitted Focal component speakers to the front doors which exactly match the dimensions of the useless Haes speakers that BMW fitted. For the rear, I first fitted Infinity speakers but ended up using a smaller Pioneer speaker.
I documented all this on a thread on the old website bm3w.co.uk.

[///Mike]

Thanks Chris, no amp and no additional bass components then?

Does it sound an awful lot better for the money you spent?

I agree that whilst there would be many more times in a CSL where you would be happy to switch of the radio and listen to that glorious intake noise than most other cars, there are still going to be long journeys where you might not feel like driving and just want some music to help the journey pass.

[chris56]

No I don't have an amp nor do I have any additional bass components.
I did actually buy a couple of Phoenix Gold amps but never fitted them as I was happy with the sound. The Kenwood headunit produces 45W per channel and has a very good sound customisation feature which allows you to tailor the response to the car and speakers fitted. The Focal 165CV Slimfits fitted in the front doors are components and provide punchy (if light bass) I put some Dynamat behind the front door panels as the carbon fibre reinforced plastic is pretty thin. The sound system in the CSL compares very well to other sound systems I have in some of my other cars e.g. BOSE, Becker,Harman Kardon.
I did try at first just replacing the speakers and keeping the standard BMW Business Radio CD unit but the results were not great. The unit does not have much output which is why BMW fit cheap Haes paper cone speakers of 4ohm impedance. Adding an amp to the BMW Business headunit is not straighforward either as it does not have line level output.
Judging cost benefit for sound versus cost spent is always subjective. My main home system is Naim equipment and I have not been unhappy with the sound in the CSL

Edited by chris56 on Wednesday 19th September 14:38

[chris56]

///Mike said:

I agree that whilst there would be many more times in a CSL where you would be happy to switch of the radio and listen to that glorious intake noise than most other cars, there are still going to be long journeys where you might not feel like driving and just want some music to help the journey pass.

This is particularly true if you use your CSL as a daily driver. I used to use mine everyday to commute in and out of London and a lot of the time you just want to chill and listen to music rather than the engine/intake noise. The same applies on long motorway journeys.

[Great Pretender]

chris56 said:

///Mike said:

I agree that whilst there would be many more times in a CSL where you would be happy to switch of the radio and listen to that glorious intake noise than most other cars, there are still going to be long journeys where you might not feel like driving and just want some music to help the journey pass.

This is particularly true if you use your CSL as a daily driver. I used to use mine everyday to commute in and out of London and a lot of the time you just want to chill and listen to music rather than the engine/intake noise. The same applies on long motorway journeys.

Agree, but in this instance, plugging in the old iPhone worked for me. Helped to eradicate the drone on long journeys too.