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29K views 46 replies 25 participants last post by  Viffermike 
#1 · (Edited)
BMW 2 Series Harmon Kardon

We bring you the official word on the Harmon Kardon issue on the 2 series. As members have reported the HK system comes with less then what they were expecting. The issue stems from incorrect marketing materials put out by BMW that lead buyers to think they were getting a 16 speaker, 600 watt system with a graphical equalizer. This information was incorrect, the official Harmon Kardon package for the 2 series includes -
Harman Kardon® Surround Sound Audio System with 360-watts. This 12-speaker sound system includes 5 tweeters (2 tweeters with "Harman Kardon" designation in the mirror triangles), 5 midrange speakers and 2 central bass speakers located under the front seats
It does not appear that BMW will be adjusting the HK pricing as the 12 speaker offering was intended the entire time. It was simply an error on the marketing side that lead some buyers to think they were getting more. If you ordered a 2 series based on the incorrect previous information you should contact BMW Customer Relations at 800-831-1117 for a case-by-case consultation.

Who ordered their 2 Series expecting the 16 speaker, 600 watt system with graphic equalizer? If you haven't ordered a 2 series yet will this make you change your mind about the Harmon Kardon upgrade?
 
#3 ·
Does anyone know if this will change for MY2015 or will price/lack of speakers/ge remain the same?
 
#4 ·
I can't imagine they're going to change it. This wasn't a mistake on the production side, it was what they intended to produce. The error was on the marketing side. Maybe at LCI they might change it but after a short production run for the first year I don't see them making any changes.

Tim
 
#10 · (Edited)
My 2012 128 with HK has 10 speakers, a 300 watt amp and was a $875 option when I bought it. My 2014 228I will have 12 speakers, a 360 watt amp and also cost $875. I'm OK with this

Speakers for the BMW 1 Series Coupé
10 high-performance loudspeakers with optimum position in the car.

4 x 26 mm metal-matrix dome tweeters, front & rear
2 x 217 mm woofers (central bass), below the front seats
4 x 100 mm metal-matrix midrange speakers, front & rear


Amplifier
Harman Kardon® Logic 7® DSP amplifier with a total output of 300 watts
 
#33 ·
Amplifier
Harman Kardon® Logic 7® DSP amplifier with a total output of 300 watts
Again incorrect - the system lacks Logic 7.

But at the flip-side: how much (in the US configurator) is the full-blown HK with 600W, equalizer and Logic 7? Isn't it more expensive?

Because here in Poland it is (in both 3 and 4 series).
 
#15 ·
It won't go down very much. You are paying for 60% of $875 over typically 36 months, which is around $15 plus tax a month. It's more about value for me, and that I know what the higher spec'd H/K system sounds like, since I have it in my current e92. And while that system is nice, it isn't spectacular. I wouldn't mind spending double for a good system. I would prefer to roll it into the lease, but BMW doesn't seem to think this audience would want a better system.
 
#18 ·
Depends on how far you are willing to go but drop-in is definitely an option as I have dropped JL-Audio C2-400x speakers in to the front and rear. Anything else remains the same and keeps the OEM look.

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#19 ·
3 and 4 series, 600 watt, 16 speakers , 2 series, 360 watt 12 speakers so not twice the system certainly. My 2012 128 had a 10 speaker, 300 watt HK system and also cost $875. Had my 228 for 6 weeks now and I'm happy with the HK system.


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#20 ·
I just saw a BMW commercial praising the HK system. Of course it was in the three series. IMO, if they are going to use that system in the 2 series, then the price should be lower. I would have gladly ordered it, but just heard too many negatives about it. Main negative was that it wasn't worth the price, not that it was necessarily bad. So list it for $500 instead of $875. They'll probably make more money just due to more volume being sold.
 
#23 ·
I've ordered a new 218d (you guys in the US probably don't have these kind of engines, we poor European have to pay a lot more for the fuel... hehe) with HK sound.
Really hope I will be happy with it! Haven't heard the 3-series HK sound, so I hope I won't be disappointed :)

Also, I want my BMW to be as original as possible without any modifications. That only lowers the value of the car!

100% BMW for me !
 
#24 ·
Hi all

New to the forum, having just picked up my 8sp M235i a few weeks ago.

My advice to anyone considering the HK system upgrade is DO IT!!!!. Having had plenty of cars with expensive aftermarket systems, I would say it would cost you a lot more than the HK to get similar quality audio.

As a musician, producer and DJ my opinion is it is easily the best balanced system I've heard in a stock car, you can turn it right up with no harsh treble, and the bass drops low and deep, not "hoodrat window shaking levels", but its balanced with the rest of the audio spectrum - it doesn't drown out the actual music

I can confirm it doesn't need EQ unless your source material is crap, apart from upping the bass by +1 which makes a big difference
 
#34 ·
New to the forum, having just picked up my 8sp M235i a few weeks ago.

My advice to anyone considering the HK system upgrade is DO IT!!!!. Having had plenty of cars with expensive aftermarket systems, I would say it would cost you a lot more than the HK to get similar quality audio.

As a musician, producer and DJ my opinion is it is easily the best balanced system I've heard in a stock car, you can turn it right up with no harsh treble, and the bass drops low and deep, not "hoodrat window shaking levels", but its balanced with the rest of the audio spectrum - it doesn't drown out the actual music

I can confirm it doesn't need EQ unless your source material is crap, apart from upping the bass by +1 which makes a big difference
+1. I consider myself a "reasonable" audiophile (meaning I adapt my expectations and needs to the listening environment). And believe me: since I drive long distances alone, I have no problems cranking the system up quite high; provided the source material is good quality (an mine of course is), I have nothing to complain about: springy bass not obscuring the mids, crisp highs, and above all: not a single resonance (yet - my car has jsut 12,000 km on the clock so everything is still tight).

If I was to compare my M235i HK stereo, it's very similar to the higher of the two systems available in the F10 in 2013 when I had my 528xi, available without paying for the marque.
 
#25 ·
I know this post is old but I just got my 2 series with Harmon Kardon and returned my 135i . For the person who was asking about the 1 Harmon Kardon system I can tell you it has 12 speakers and it had a graphic equalizer and a Logic 7 off or on and a sub woofer volume control . It also sounded great ! Am I a little disappointed , Yes a little . I remember asking the dealer who was showing me around the car about were is the graphic equalizer and other controls ? He said oh they did away with it . I said oh nice of them to tell me after I spend nearly a grand and your pamphlet described a whole different system ! Does it sound good ? Yes it sounds good but does it sound as good as my 135I system that I paid the same price for ! I will give it a 7 1/2 vs a 9 1/2 for the 1 series . I will be calling BMW of North America in the morning and let you guys know what they have to say about this as I clearly believe this is a misrepresentation of the option in question be it BMWs fault or not they still put it in their automobile and I was still lead to believe I was getting a product that in fact I was not !
 
#27 ·
Correction! 12 speakers on 135i ... you forgot the best ones, those on the left side of your rear bumper :)

Between upgraded stereo and upgraded exhaust with a 6 cylinder BMW engine, I'm choosing the second one every day and ten times on Sunday when, in this season, you can drive on early mornings with windows down and without other cars around. What a sound!
 
#28 ·
Not bad, but not great. Weaknesses really appear when I switch to Satellite Radio; otherwise, better than most.
 
#30 ·
Not so in my 991 C4. Much better sound...base, not the Burmeister.
 
#31 ·
Two questions:

1. Does the HK system in the M235i have "surround sound"?

2. I don't like this feature on cars - I like the sound as flat as possible - so my second question is: if the HK system has "surround sound" can it be defeated through the software options or by any other means?

Thanks.
 
#32 ·
I'm pretty happy with the Karman Hardon system in my car. It is far and away the biggest sound system I've ever had in a car. There's so many speakers, I can't even tell where the sound is coming from. It seems to be everywhere.

Having said that, I only use the Karman Hardon system about 20% of the time. I enjoy the engine sounds much more. :D
 
#36 ·
I knew from my test drive that the sound quality was not going to be good. My two most recent vehicles were an Acura TL Type S with a Bose system and a Honda Ridgeline in the upgraded trim line. Both make my HK BMW system sound awful. Hopefully, the BAV subwoofers will help. If not, I may go for the system upgrade.

My ears and expectations adapt to the BMW over time, but when I go back to the Ridgeline I remember how good a factory system can sound. What a shame.
 
#37 ·
As many of you on this and "that other" forum know, I am actually a multi-discipline audiophile.

I'm not going to pass judgment on the 2-series HK, other than to point out what I've seen regarding hardware and system specs.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the system is tuned for the car, for the HU (which is identical in either Hi-Fi and HK form) and to a price point. That means it is balanced to handle programming that the rest of the system produces. So what does the rest of the system produce?:
- A CD transport and output with a flat-out poor DAC and, in my car's case, suspected jitter issues
- Bluetooth streaming of no better than 360Mbps
- On the Tech Package: Music-transfer software that downsamples anything loaded to it to 256Mbps
- On the Tech Package: BMW Apps interfaces that limit streaming rates (at least in Spotify's case)
- No more than 30 WPC (300 Watts / 12) for the HK amp, with no idea if that reading is RMS or peak -- and with the stock subs being 2ohms each, they likely get more than that amount fed to them (probably @ 40 WPC)
- THE worst radio tuner -- HD, terrestrial, or otherwise -- I have personally ever heard in a car

What does all that say? That the system is tuned to maximize the perceived efficacy of mid-quality digital source material, which the majority of buyers would now be used to hearing in this digital age. What does that mean? That means it is tuned to hide deficiencies -- and lemme tell ya, judging from the appearance of the HK speakers, even those are deficient and likely part of the tuning.

That said, contrary to conventional knowledge, it doesn't take much power to make a car system sound good. What it takes it clean power, balanced appropriately -- and good drivers to produce the sounds such power can provide. While the HK amp and drivers are definite upgrades over Hi-Fi, they come nowhere close to providing a cost-effective and value-added improvement because of the baked-in DSP and the subpar sources -- again, part of the tuning.

IMHO, the design goal of the 2-series sound systems was to effect acceptable quality to the majority of ears, but -- and this is the really important point -- without adjustments that would easily reveal the system to be inherently poor: equalization, integrated and nondefeatable ASD, etc.
 
#38 · (Edited)
Thanks to Mike for an extremely helpful, if disheartening, post describing the technical limitations of the HK system.

I'd be interested in hearing what steps HK owners have taken to remedy the situation.

It'd be especially helpful if people could say something about their listening preferences along with their particular upgrades.

Some people prefer thumping bass, others flat sound, etc. Some people listen primarily to pop or jazz or symphonic music. And what source do upgraders use most often: CD? Tuner? Satellite? Particular kinds of files?

For example, my system at home is oriented toward flat, clear sound with an open soundstage. I listen to a lot of jazz, instrumental and vocal, on CDs. So I'd be interested in upgrades that would favor those preferences. Other readers might be after a different kind of setup.
 
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