Stereo not loud enough

[asbachnate]

Hello all,

I'm a BMW sales rep for Pentagon Car Sales in Germany, and I'm having an issue with the sound system on the 2009 Z4 I'm hoping somebody can help me with.

I have noticed on our Demo's as well as my customers cars that the stereo on the 2009 Z4 is not loud enough.

When you are parked it's just fine, but once up to speed it's hardly audible, and with the top down you can forget about hearing anything.

I have a client that is really unhappy right now, and I can't blame him. I have the German dealership checking with Munich, but they seem to take forever to respond to our issues.

Anybody else noticed the low output on the new Z-4 Stereo, or does anybody know of a computer override that will allow us to increase the top volume?

Thanks in advance.

Nathan Barnes
BMW/MINI Sales Consultant
01149 6134 5678 11

[Z4luvr]

Interesting. The true joy of driving a Z is top down, music blaring, at high speed. If true, that's a problem, although it can be easily solved with an aftermarket addition.

[stlmco]

I noticed the same thing while driving my 2009 Z4 30 after taking European delivery. It was particularly bad when driving 90+ mph with the top down, which I concede I will not be doing very often in the US. I take redelivery of the car next week at the Performance Center. I plan to ask them about this. Let me know If you get any answers on your end.

[asbachnate]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that has noticed this problem.

Still no answer from Munich, but as soon as I hear from them I'll let you know.

BTW, what did you think of the European Delivery? I try and encourage as many of my clients as possible to take advantage of the BMW Welt delivery, and those that have taken my advice have nothing but great things to say about it.

Cheers,

Nate

[blinn79]

Great experience. Did it once before in 1991, and what a difference. The Welt and how we were treated by BMW fantastic, plus being able to spend a week driving my new car in the Alps was unforgettable. Even with the extended wait for redelivery I'm sure I will be back.

[mosserluvuk]

I took delivery of a Z4 35i this week and I totally agree, the stereo does not have enough power/volume. Please let me know if anything can be done. Its terrible. For some reason, I never thought to crank the stereo at the dealership.:cry:

[teagueAMX]

Hello all,

I'm a BMW sales rep for Pentagon Car Sales in Germany, and I'm having an issue with the sound system on the 2009 Z4 I'm hoping somebody can help me with.

I have noticed on our Demo's as well as my customers cars that the stereo on the 2009 Z4 is not loud enough.

When you are parked it's just fine, but once up to speed it's hardly audible, and with the top down you can forget about hearing anything.

I have a client that is really unhappy right now, and I can't blame him. I have the German dealership checking with Munich, but they seem to take forever to respond to our issues.

Anybody else noticed the low output on the new Z-4 Stereo, or does anybody know of a computer override that will allow us to increase the top volume?

Thanks in advance.

Nathan Barnes
BMW/MINI Sales Consultant
01149 6134 5678 11


Maybe I didn't catch it in your post, and if I did I apologize, but is that the base level stereo or the premium package unit?

[asbachnate]

It is a base Stereo.

$1,950 for the Premium Sound Package is just too expensive to justify.

[teagueAMX]

I asked your question on another BMW forum and so far, people with the premium sound aren't having that issue - hence my question.

Sounds (no pun intended;)) like that may be an unfortunate symptom of the base stereo system.

If true, shame on BMW.:tsk:

[stlmco]

Does anyone know if the base system can be upgraded to the 11 speaker system? Is it prewired?

[MoPro]

Just took delivery of 3.5 with premimum sound. You do have to turn it up when the top is down, but it does get pretty loud....

[stlmco]

Just added a JL Audio amp and Hertz speakers... front components (bass, mid & tweet) and rear mids. Massive improvement to the base radio. Expensive (all high end components), but less than the $2000 BMW wanted for the upgrade. Not sure yet if I will add subs.

[BlueZ4AZ]

Does anyone know - What is the minimal we can do to get the volume level a little higher and eliminate at least some distortion? Would adding an amp or equalizer do any good?

[teagueAMX]

Does anyone know - What is the minimal we can do to get the volume level a little higher and eliminate at least some distortion? Would adding an amp or equalizer do any good?

The distortion your experiencing is your in-dash radio's built-in amplifiers max'ing out. The harder you push them the more distortion you'll get because they're exceeding their capacity.

A true equalizer normally doesn't have a amplification circuit (although some do) so it's only attenuating certain frequencies based on the volume coming out of your in-dash radio's overloaded amplifiers. The old saying "garbage-in = garbage-out"

You need to run your in-dash radio at lower volume levels to avoid the distortion and then boost the signal with an external amp.

[cruisingdog]

Here's the kind of thing you need if you want a cheap upgrade:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500MRPF300/Alpine-MRP-F300.html?tp=115

Looks like you can just wire your speaker cables (from your radio/CD) to the speaker inputs on the Amplifier and then wire the outputs from the amplifier to the speakers. Simple!

Saying that, shame on BMW for cheaping out on the base model. Especially when you spend that kind of money.

[BlueZ4AZ]

The distortion your experiencing is your in-dash radio's built-in amplifiers max'ing out. The harder you push them the more distortion you'll get because they're exceeding their capacity.

A true equalizer normally doesn't have a amplification circuit (although some do) so it's only attenuating certain frequencies based on the volume coming out of your in-dash radio's overloaded amplifiers. The old saying "garbage-in = garbage-out"

You need to run your in-dash radio at lower volume levels to avoid the distortion and then boost the signal with an external amp.

Thanks. That would best be installed somewhere in the trunk, correct?

[teagueAMX]

Thanks. That would best be installed somewhere in the trunk, correct?

Yes, that's often the bet location.