[Brent]

I have been reading a lot of posts here, and find myself a bit overwhelmed by all of the info.

I am not an audiophile, nor am I interested in putting a lot of money into an aftermarket setup. I have the BMW stock setup with 10 speakers, the lower end one.

I want to improve my sound a bit without spending a ton of money. In the past, with other cars, I have found that simply putting better speakers in will do the trick. I don't need bone-shaking base, or volume levels that set off alarms blocks away... just a bit better sound with cleaner bass in particular.

From what I have read, it sounds like the Earthquake SWS-8 are the closest thing to drop-ins that I can get for my 2008 328i for the underseat woofers. Is this correct?

What about the door & deck speakers - what would you guys recommend for me, given that I want to stick with the factory head unit and amplifier if at all possible? I don't play the system that loud, no bleeding ears for me, but I do wish to have a bit cleaner sound when I am cooking along at 80 mph or so. Right now I am a bit challenged by road noise - when I turn it up loud enough to compensate, I start hearing muddled base and the highs get a bit shrill.

I want something as close to plug & play as possible, and hopefully for under 300 bucks per pair for the door & deck speakers. I think the Earthquake SWS-8 is the correct choice for my under seats - am I thinking correctly?

If a new amp is absolutely needed, is there one that is plug & play? Or am I just dreaming here? Again, I don't need an award-winning system, just a moderate upgrade that is a bit cleaner than what I currently have in my stock unit. I usually listen to satellite radio, and sometimes my iPod or iPhone - rarely FM, and almost never a CD, and AM never, if that matters.

Thanks for any & all advice.

[BK-Diesel]

If you want the "no fuss no muss" speaker upgrade, I'd probably just install the BSW stage 1 and call it a day. I've only seen good reviews on the sound quality.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by BK-Diesel

If you want the "no fuss no muss" speaker upgrade, I'd probably just install the BSW stage 1 and call it a day. I've only seen good reviews on the sound quality.

I thought about that, but they specifically exclude the under seat woofers... which is to me the most important thing I am looking for - cleaner bass!

Maybe get that Stage 1 kit and add in the woofers I mentioned in my original post...

Thanks for the reply!

[ctuna]

"Audio upgrades start here".
There is extensive explanations of what you can do .
And there are reviews on almost everything.
Think about what you want carefully or what you are likely to want.
If you are not willing to do some homework don't be surprised
if you are not satisfied with your first attempts to change things.

If you want a real no fuss complete upgrade consider
a MusicarNW kit.

The BSW kit is optimized for the L7 system and currently won't
support very much power from aftermarket amps though I have heard they have new speakers out that will.
The amp in the Hi Fi system is at least half the problem .

[Brent]

Originally Posted by ctuna

"Audio upgrades start here".
There is extensive explanations of what you can do .
And there are reviews on almost everything.
Think about what you want carefully or what you are likely to want.
If you are not willing to do some homework don't be surprised
if you are not satisfied with your first attempts to change things.

Yes, I have been reading a LOT of posts. I am at the point where I am info saturated, I think, and a lot of it is above my level of knowledge (and interest, to be honest). Sometimes TMI is as bad as not enough. Also, when you read many posts, you find that a number of posters that seem like they know what they are talking about disagree on some things... and I am not sophisticated enough to tell who is right / wrong. And I never did figure out if any of the amps are plug & play...

So far the best I have heard is the woofers mentioned above with the BSW Stage 1 for the other speakers. Leaning that direction...

Thanks!

[taibanl]

I personally don't think the value is there for the BSW set (though it is a lot of speakers). They are however adding under seats to their lineup (probably shipping in 2025) as well as new ampable component sets.

[kmarei]

Sws-8 without an amp won't make much difference
I'd start with a small amp , and the sws-8
The biggest difference to the sound up front is to replace the tweeters
The HIFI ones suck.
If it were my car, and I don't want to spend too much
I'd get sws-8 with a good used amp (Rockford fosgate p300-2, or JL XD400/4)
And after that get the BSW kit, I've used them, they sound very good
Tweeters are much better than HIFI.

Maybe even pick up pair of used sws-8s and spend your money on the BSW
Make sure to pm halston@BSW and check of they have the 10% off coupon
So you pay a bit less than $500 for them

[ctuna]

1)The speakers capacity to handle power has to be matched
to the amps power output.
2) Power rating values of either can be highly skewed depending on the
distortion level that the power is measured at and weather it is peak or rms power .

Basicly both the amp and speakers in the Hi Fi suck so trying to do patches
on one and not the other doesn't get you very far.

What makes this stuff plug and play or as close to as possible is
an aftermarket harness . A no brainer kit that addresses all the
problems is the MusicarNw Kits.

[01bird]

Don't forget to pick up the harness that Technic sell's. You can power the under seat woofers with the p300-2 amp and the stock amp will just power the speakers.