[aerof16]

I’ve searched a bit but the one thing that I really am disappointed with in this car (540i) is the sound. I’ve messed with the equalizer a bit but overall it’s very disappointing. My other (non BMW) vehicles, one with a factory HK system and one with a factory McIntosh system, sounds significantly better using the same audio sources.

Starting to wonder if maybe something is wrong with my stereo or if this is just how the G30 HK is. I’d say my overall complaint is it just lacks fullness to the sound, not sure how to describe it. If I didn’t know better I’d just assume it was the base stereo in the car.

[540iSUP]

I don't know about your issue with the G30, but the car with the McIntosh system must sound like a dream!

[Gautam]

What audio source are you using?

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by Gautam

What audio source are you using?

Mostly Spotify or XM radio. However, all use wireless CarPlay in all my vehicles and have XM in all my vehicles, and both sources sound great in the other two.

I’m not much of an audiophile but I’m wondering if maybe the amp isn’t power a sub or speaker or something? I don’t know anything about the HK system in the car but I assume there is a multi channel amp running some of these speakers.

[fly@night]

I haven’t heard how the Bowers system sounds in the 550, but personally, the HK system is the best that I’ve had. Can’t complain…

[ezaircon4jc]

Our F10 has the HiFi and our G30, HK. The difference is night and day; the HK is light years better than the HiFi.

[Gautam]

Originally Posted by aerof16

Mostly Spotify or XM radio. However, all use wireless CarPlay in all my vehicles and have XM in all my vehicles, and both sources sound great in the other two.

I’m not much of an audiophile but I’m wondering if maybe the amp isn’t power a sub or speaker or something? I don’t know anything about the HK system in the car but I assume there is a multi channel amp running some of these speakers.

Wireless carplay of Spotify sounds leaps and bounds worse than Apple Music over usb on my b&w. But something else might be wrong in your case. I’ve had all 3 systems over 3 BMW’s, and found HK to be pretty solid. Base is not very good.

[choppedliver]

That's how it is. I added a sub and amp to the underseat woofers and it's a bit better but with all the fiddling in the world it's still worse than my Bose in my wifes Macan. I've given up and figure it's as good as it gets.

[ezaircon4jc]

A vehicle is a TERRIBLE soundstage, especially when moving.

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

A vehicle is a TERRIBLE soundstage, especially when moving.

Well putting wheels and a motor on my house to get around was too expensive for my blood so I had to settle for a car with a stereo in it.

[tjohnson]

If you can code the B&W system (even if you have HK), it gives you access to the full EQ system. From there you can make giant improvements to the sound... there are many EQ examples on this forum. The most interesting part is the "Bass" and "Treble" settings actually effect lower and higher frequencies than the full EQ.

Even so, I have the B&W system and still had to add two subwoofers to get it how I like it. Not boomy or obnoxious, but much fuller sound.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by aerof16

I’ve searched a bit but the one thing that I really am disappointed with in this car (540i) is the sound. I’ve messed with the equalizer a bit but overall it’s very disappointing. My other (non BMW) vehicles, one with a factory HK system and one with a factory McIntosh system, sounds significantly better using the same audio sources.

Starting to wonder if maybe something is wrong with my stereo or if this is just how the G30 HK is. I’d say my overall complaint is it just lacks fullness to the sound, not sure how to describe it. If I didn’t know better I’d just assume it was the base stereo in the car.

What year is your 540i?

XM is only one step better than AM stereo as far as sound quality is concerned. In other words it's highly compressed and overall poor for music. Spotify is one step better but still poor (even if your Spotify account is set to highest quality audio). Try Amazon Music or YouTube Music or probably Apple Music for better streaming quality. If your car has iDrive7 you can code it to add the Bowers and Wilkens sound profiles. This may help you feel better about HK. Also, cars built between March 2020 and November 2020 (some 2020 and 2021 models) may have a bad HK amplifier. If this applies to your car, get it checked by your dealer.

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by claykin

What year is your 540i?

XM is only one step better than AM stereo as far as sound quality is concerned. In other words it's highly compressed and overall poor for music. Spotify is one step better but still poor (even if your Spotify account is set to highest quality audio). Try Amazon Music or YouTube Music or probably Apple Music for better streaming quality. If your car has iDrive7 you can code it to add the Bowers and Wilkens sound profiles. This may help you feel better about HK. Also, cars built between March 2020 and November 2020 (some 2020 and 2021 models) may have a bad HK amplifier. If this applies to your car, get it checked by your dealer.

It’s a 2017.

The source of the music is a red herring, as both sources sound pretty dang good in my other two cars. So while I understand the concern with quality, it’s not relevant to this specific conversation because it’s a constant across 3 different vehicles.

I drove it on a 6 hour trip yesterday and spent the entire time going through my play lists listening to all sorts of music and, while I could get the equalizer set to something acceptable, I am still not convinced the subwoofers under the seats are doing anything. Either they really suck or mine aren’t firing.

I’ll just have to tear it apart and see what’s happening. I’ve got the luxury seats (or whatever the heated/cooled/massaging seats are called) and there’s a ton of crap under them haha, so I’ll need to remove a seat and seat what I find when I have access to the sub.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by aerof16

It’s a 2017.

The source of the music is a red herring, as both sources sound pretty dang good in my other two cars. So while I understand the concern with quality, it’s not relevant to this specific conversation because it’s a constant across 3 different vehicles.

I drove it on a 6 hour trip yesterday and spent the entire time going through my play lists listening to all sorts of music and, while I could get the equalizer set to something acceptable, I am still not convinced the subwoofers under the seats are doing anything. Either they really suck or mine aren’t firing.

I’ll just have to tear it apart and see what’s happening. I’ve got the luxury seats (or whatever the heated/cooled/massaging seats are called) and there’s a ton of crap under them haha, so I’ll need to remove a seat and seat what I find when I have access to the sub.

The red herring is comparing audio systems between vehicles. There's far too many variables that can come into play when doing this type of comparison.

Since you have an iDrive 6 car, you can't enable the Bowers and Wilkens sound profiles. However you should check to make certain all drivers are playing. And, as I previously suggested try a better source because as the saying goes, garbage in - garbage out.

Your next option is to purchase drivers from BavSound and replace your factory driver's for what should be somewhat improved sound quality.

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by claykin

The red herring is comparing audio systems between vehicles. There's far too many variables that can come into play when doing this type of comparison.

Since you have an iDrive 6 car, you can't enable the Bowers and Wilkens sound profiles. However you should check to make certain all drivers are playing. And, as I previously suggested try a better source because as the saying goes, garbage in - garbage out.

Your next option is to purchase drivers from BavSound and replace your factory driver's for what should be somewhat improved sound quality.

How else would you objectively rate the performance of the stereo if you didn’t compare it to others? Spend time switching everything out and figure out which one sucks the least?

Fact of the matter is, if sound quality is of high importance to you, the G30 might not be the right car. Doesn’t matter to me that much because I bought the car to put a ton of miles on, would just be nice if the audio was as good as many other cars out there.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by aerof16

How else would you objectively rate the performance of the stereo if you didn’t compare it to others? Spend time switching everything out and figure out which one sucks the least?

Fact of the matter is, if sound quality is of high importance to you, the G30 might not be the right car. Doesn’t matter to me that much because I bought the car to put a ton of miles on, would just be nice if the audio was as good as many other cars out there.

Fact is you already own the G30 and it's a driver's car when compared to other similar sedans. While some of the other sedans might have an arguably better stereo than the G30 HK, they comparably likely drive poorly compared to the G30.

That said, unless you're prepared to trade the G30 in your quest for better audio, my suggestion would be to rate the stereo system sound quality using source material that doesn't in and of itself sound like crap (XM). Try an HD streaming service such as Amazon music, etc instead of Spotify which sounds compressed like XM.

If the source is crap, the output will be too. Garbage in, garbage out.

Also, try turning off logic 7 setting in the audio settings. Also try setting the bass/treble to flat and in the EQ do as follows

100hz +3
200hz -2 or -3
10K +2

See if this helps.

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by claykin

Fact is you already own the G30 and it's a driver's car when compared to other similar sedans. While some of the other sedans might have an arguably better stereo than the G30 HK, they comparably likely drive poorly compared to the G30.

That said, unless you're prepared to trade the G30 in your quest for better audio, my suggestion would be to rate the stereo system sound quality using source material that doesn't in and of itself sound like crap (XM). Try an HD streaming service such as Amazon music, etc instead of Spotify which sounds compressed like XM.

If the source is crap, the output will be too. Garbage in, garbage out.

Also, try turning off logic 7 setting in the audio settings. Also try setting the bass/treble to flat and in the EQ do as follows

100hz +3
200hz -2 or -3
10K +2

See if this helps.

The G30 is far from a driver’s car. Is it a nice, comfy car to drive? Yes! Is it a Driver’s car? Not even close. My guess would be that this is the biggest complaint about the G30.

If the audio just sucks, that’s fine with me, as this is my “beater car”. Not that it isn’t nice, it’s just the car I bought to put 20k miles a year on. The point of the thread is to figure out if the HK system sucks or if maybe my subs aren’t firing due to some kind of failure.

The fact that people keep commenting on the source is strange. The source sounds perfectly fine in all my other cars. Sounds like shit in my BMW. Same source, just turns out BMW screwed the pooch on this one.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by aerof16

The G30 is far from a driver’s car. Is it a nice, comfy car to drive? Yes! Is it a Driver’s car? Not even close. My guess would be that this is the biggest complaint about the G30.

If the audio just sucks, that’s fine with me, as this is my “beater car”. Not that it isn’t nice, it’s just the car I bought to put 20k miles a year on. The point of the thread is to figure out if the HK system sucks or if maybe my subs aren’t firing due to some kind of failure.

The fact that people keep commenting on the source is strange. The source sounds perfectly fine in all my other cars. Sounds like shit in my BMW. Same source, just turns out BMW screwed the pooch on this one.

No one on this forum can tell you if your "subs aren't firing". Figure it out. Take it to a shop and ask them if you can't figure it out.

The G30 is very much a driver's sedan in its class of car.

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by claykin

No one on this forum can tell you if your "subs aren't firing". Figure it out. Take it to a shop and ask them if you can't figure it out.

The G30 is very much a driver's sedan in its class of car.

Haha whatever you need to tell yourself dude. I don’t need to take it to a shop, I’m capable of doing the work myself. The point was to see if anyone had found an issue or if the community agreed it just sucks.

Seems the community agrees it just sucks.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by aerof16

Haha whatever you need to tell yourself dude. I don’t need to take it to a shop, I’m capable of doing the work myself. The point was to see if anyone had found an issue or if the community agreed it just sucks.

Seems the community agrees it just sucks.

If you're capable of doing the work yourself, then do it and stop asking people virtually about your subs firing or not.

The HK system doesn't suck. It's decent and competitive. Maybe not world class, but competitive. BMW builds driver's cars. Buy a crappy driving Lexus if you want a music machine.

#donewiththisnonsense

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by claykin

If you're capable of doing the work yourself, then do it and stop asking people virtually about your subs firing or not.

The HK system doesn't suck. It's decent and competitive. Maybe not world class, but competitive. BMW builds driver's cars. Buy a crappy driving Lexus if you want a music machine.

#donewiththisnonsense

Why wouldn’t I check with the community first before I start ripping my car apart? Isn’t that the point of this forum?

If you’re happy with the HK system, great. But, it sucks compared to others.

And the G30 isn’t much of a driver’s car. If you’ve driven a driver’s car, you’d understand.

[EneS52]

I also have a 2023 540 with the Harmon Kardon option and it's terrible. I actually think a BMW without the Harmon Kardon option sounds better than the Harmon Kardon in the new 540! Really disappointed.