2005 535D E61 Poor Audio ( No Bass )

[HDshiny]

I apologise in advance as im sure this has been asked alot

I recently purchased a 535D , ever since i have noticed that the audio is bad , like really bad , i got better audio from my 2005 E46 320D with a cig lighter Bluetooth dongle, the easiest way for me to explain is like the song either was produced with no bass or the sound is coming out of a phone 😡


i changed the old android auto box with a new Mr Volt 12 and the audio improved slightly . In short terms i have very little bass in the car even at high volumes , Iv checked all wires that are connected to the diversity antenna and iv made soldered them back together . I have also checked to make sure the under seats subs are working which they are. I cant seem to find an amp in the rear left wheel well inside the car and I have heard that the amplifier is actually in the CCC unit its self . Before i get a new CCC unit i wanted to make sure that this would fix the issue or if there is anywhere else i should be looking ?

Edited by HDshiny on Sunday 22 March 15:00

[Dannbodge]

First question.
Do you have tweeters in the front doors?

If not then you'll have no bass anyway as the "subwoofers" are 6" and unamplified.

[HDshiny]

In the actual door it's self or on the pillar near the side mirror?

[Notsofastfrank]

In between the door and side pillar. As standard there would not be a tweeter there, just a moulding that looks like a speaker grille.
The base stereo in any E60 is pretty poor as you have discovered.
I bought the professional speakers from someone who was upgrading to get a reasonable improvement for not much.

[HDshiny]

Iv just taken it apart and seen no seeker 🤣🤣🤣 at least I know I need a upgrade. What would you recomend?

[bigdom]

I had a similar setup in mine when I bought it.

I changed the front door speakers to JL Audio components, and added tweeters in the rear. That was better, but lacked any real bass.

I then added a JL amp, a 10" sub box into the left-handside boot recess. Powered all speakers, and made the 'underseat subs' as additional mids. Completely transformed the car.

Edited by bigdom on Monday 23 March 12:12

[HDshiny]

Looking at adding the tweeters now as they seem like a quick easy fix, will these make a noticeable difference realistily tho to the bass or is it worth changing all the speakers?

[AC43]

HDshiny said:

Looking at adding the tweeters now as they seem like a quick easy fix, will these make a noticeable difference realistily tho to the bass or is it worth changing all the speakers?

When I had the very weedy system done on my Merc I had a sub install done like the one above and also replaced the cheapo tweeters and cheapo front door speakers.

[Dannbodge]

Replace the subwoofers under the front seats and add a small ampliferi (Vibe Powerbox 65.4 for example)

[HDshiny]

How easy is it to to so ?

[bigdom]

It's not difficult per se. It really depends on what are planning to do? Change one bit, see if it achieves what you want and move on?

Personally I changed the speakers first, that didn't provide what I wanted, I then added the amp/subwoofer.

Plenty of videos on youtube how to take the door cards off/dismantle the dashboard/remove front seats

If adding an amp, this needs power from the battery in the boot, locating somewhere, then running new speaker cables up to the the headunit with a harness which are readily available.

[Dannbodge]

The vibe amp (powerbox 65.4) is plug and play.

Front seats out to swap the subs
Glovebox out and Idrive unit out and then the Vibe amp has a T harness that just plugs in (you have to swap a fibre optic line into the new plug but that's it).

Then put it all back together. No actual wiring as it takes all the signal and power etc from the factory loom.

[HDshiny]

Ah I might have a issue with a new amp that way as I have a Mr 12 volt already plugged into the harness