[zstokes]

Hi there. Last March I bought a 2017 M240i and love the car.

My VIN report states:

S645A BMW US Radio
S655A Satellite tuner
S663A Radio BMW Professional
S676A HiFi speaker system

My car, however, does NOT have the tweeters in the A pillars. This website has diagrams/descriptions of the different stereo systems in F22s:

https://musicarnw.com/bmw-factory-audio-explained/

So, does this mean that I got a parts bin car where maybe they ran out of tweeters for the A pillars or something? Does anyone have any insight into this? I'm looking to do a full Audison upgrade on the system, and I'd like to speak intelligently to the installers.

Thanks.
Z

[freakystyly]

As far as I know there were 2 audio options for these cars in North America.

the 676A hifi and the 674A Harmon Kardon

Welcome to the hifi club, it sucks.

The A pillar "pods" from the Harmon Kardon package can be retrofitted. If you're overhauling it anyways, you can buy just the housing.
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[zstokes]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

The A pillar "pods" from the Harmon Kardon package can be retrofitted. If you're overhauling it anyways, you can buy just the housing.
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Ohhhh part numbers! Thank you very much.

This system sounds *terrible* so I'm assuming the full Audison upgrade will be a huge improvement.

A Bimmer-tech head unit upgrade - https://www.bimmer-tech.net/category...y-mmi-retrofit and Audison stuff - https://us.audison.eu/spc-kit/?kit=5...s=8&y=7&type=4

Gonna be expensive, but I'm keeping this car for the long haul.

[Toddbmw]

Originally Posted by zstokes

Ohhhh part numbers! Thank you very much.

This system sounds *terrible* so I'm assuming the full Audison upgrade will be a huge improvement.

A Bimmer-tech head unit upgrade - https://www.bimmer-tech.net/category...y-mmi-retrofit and Audison stuff - https://us.audison.eu/spc-kit/?kit=5...s=8&y=7&type=4

Gonna be expensive, but I'm keeping this car for the long haul.

The HK system does not sound very good in my car to me, and I am not an audiophile. Purchased the car used, and the HK was one of the packages, would have been disappointed if I had paid retail for the HK option.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by zstokes

S676A HiFi speaker system

My car, however, does NOT have the tweeters in the A pillars.

S676A HiFi speaker system = no tweeters in the A-pillars

[harma24]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

Welcome to the hifi club, it sucks.

I love music as much as the next guy (I much prefer working from home because I can have my tunes going all day long), but I still don't understand this mentality. Do people really sit in their cars with the engine off and listen to music???

When I'm driving with lots of road, wind and engine noise, I could care less if the stereo system is better than the one I have in my house. Although I always listen to music when I'm driving (or skiing), I'd rather be able to hear feedback from the car and my surroundings. The music is just background noise; the hifi system is more than good enough for that.

[zstokes]

Originally Posted by harma24

I love music as much as the next guy (I much prefer working from home because I can have my tunes going all day long), but I still don't understand this mentality. Do people really sit in their cars with the engine off and listen to music???

When I'm driving with lots of road, wind and engine noise, I could care less if the stereo system is better than the one I have in my house. Although I always listen to music when I'm driving (or skiing), I'd rather be able to hear feedback from the car and my surroundings. The music is just background noise; the hifi system is more than good enough for that.

Having clear, detailed and phase/time-aligned stereo in the car when having a spirited drive in the Angeles Forest is something I really want. It adds to the experience way more than an engine note in the 240i.

Now if I had a Porsche flat 6, we could have a different discussion.

EDIT: I have a very nice audio setup in my house as well. It seems that music is just a little more important to me than it is you. And that's a-okay.
EDIT EDIT: When I'm skiing, I only want to hear the wind and the sound of my skis interact with the mountain.

[dradernh]

My impression is that the S676A HiFi speaker system is a throw-back to the average, non-German cars of the 1970s. The system's principal redeeming quality seems to be that its not brighter than it already is.

To me, it's just another on the long list of ways in which BMW created a vehicle that helped ensure it would be the world's most profitable automobile manufacturer. I'm not against profits (in fact, I'm a huge fan of profits); what I'm against is the lack of value in a number of our cars' aspects.

What's annoyed me about shortcuts like the music system is that the cost to a major manufacturer like BMW for a quality music system is dramatically less than it is when we owners have to install one after purchasing our cars.

It's the same with the lack of a factory-installed LSD, the non-SS exhaust system, the plastic cooling system components, the interior leather barely worthy of the name, et al.

I get that BMW is a just moderately-sized manufacturer that has to accumulate enough resources to pay for an extremely expensive transition to EVs, but I'm also an old guy who remembers when things were..."better".

[zstokes]

Originally Posted by dradernh

My impression is that the S676A HiFi speaker system is a throw-back to the average, non-German cars of the 1970s. The system's principal redeeming quality seems to be that its not brighter than it already is.

To me, it's just another on the long list of ways in which BMW created a vehicle that helped ensure it would be the world's most profitable automobile manufacturer. I'm not against profits (in fact, I'm a huge fan of profits); what I'm against is the lack of value in a number of our cars' aspects.

What's annoyed me about shortcuts like the music system is that the cost to a major manufacturer like BMW for a quality music system is dramatically less than it is when we owners have to install one after purchasing our cars.

It's the same with the lack of a factory-installed LSD, the non-SS exhaust system, the plastic cooling system components, the interior leather barely worthy of the name, et al.

I get that BMW is a just moderately-sized manufacturer that has to accumulate enough resources to pay for an extremely expensive transition to EVs, but I'm also an old guy who remembers when things were..."better".

HERE HERE!!!!

My Wavetrac LSD gets installed in another week or so. Well before the sound system. And the complete Ohlins setup shortly after that.

My last car - a seriously deficient Ford Focus in nearly every way - served me well as a commuter for 11 years. Well, I don't have to commute any more. A sound system is a pure indulgence, and one I'm willing to spend hard earned money on.

This car, although bought used, was purpose built. A stripper but with the B58, ZedF, and room for improvement. In roughly 12 years I'll be retiring in Europe, and who knows what I can buy there that far out.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by zstokes

This car...a stripper

Before I found my car (thanks to another member here), I'd gone to a local dealer to order what I wanted (6-cylinder, 6-speed, RWD, no sunroof).

I told the salesman that I wanted "a stripper" (i.e., 6-spd, RWD, no sunroof, white, plastic seats, and none of the useless-to-me frou-frou that cost $$$). He had no idea what the word "stripper" meant. Briefly, that was funny; it was also my first clue that we weren't in Kansas anymore. Where do these dealers find these guys, anyway.

As it turned out, the salesman had no allocation (which he'd told me) and couldn't get one anyway (which he'd promised me he could – shocking, I know), so the whole exercise didn't amount to anything.

[MarcoZandrini]

OP, you should consider replacing the amp with either the Adison amp or an amp from Audiotec-Fischer such as the MATCH 7UP BMW. I have the MATCH amp and it's great. It's also plug and play with our cars.

[zstokes]

Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini

OP, you should consider replacing the amp with either the Adison amp...

That's the plan. An Audison AP8.9 bit is part of the "package".

[instalher]

Audio Frog makes a fantastic drop in tweeter for the oem sail pods, They have THE BEST drop in 4 inch door speaker, for underseat 8s, the earthquake sws 8s are unfortunately the best drop in... I know i know, earthquake but after using over 10 shallow 8s in that crazy small enclosure, i can saftly tell you save your money and get the sws.. if you want to customize then go with something eles... i like the drop in dsp amp from helix, If you want to keep the center channel, replace with Audio Frog 2.5 and matching tweeter from the sail pods.. Good luck..