[M5ddox]

Curious anyone’s thoughts/experience on the new G90 BW sound system?

I had a rental 25’ 7 series with the new iDrive/ BW system and it seemed way off compared to my F90. I imagine the G90 with new iDrive/BW is probably very similar to the 7 series I had though. I noticed right away the difference. I Love music and first thing I did was hook up Spotify and start jamming when pulling off the lot.

Kind of upsetting, wonder if it’s the new car or digital system or iDrive. But it was definitely no where near as good as my F90 BW sound system.

[masd79]

Originally Posted by M5ddox

Curious anyone’s thoughts/experience on the new G90 BW sound system?

I had a rental 25’ 7 series with the new iDrive/ BW system and it seemed way off compared to my F90. I imagine the G90 with new iDrive/BW is probably very similar to the 7 series I had though. I noticed right away the difference. I Love music and first thing I did was hook up Spotify and start jamming when pulling off the lot.

Kind of upsetting, wonder if it’s the new car or digital system or iDrive. But it was definitely no where near as good as my F90 BW sound system.

It’s definitely not the same level but it’s pretty good, and maybe even better at lower volume, but peak is definitely not as good as i remember the f90 bw

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by M5ddox

Curious anyone’s thoughts/experience on the new G90 BW sound system?

I had a rental 25’ 7 series with the new iDrive/ BW system and it seemed way off compared to my F90. I imagine the G90 with new iDrive/BW is probably very similar to the 7 series I had though. I noticed right away the difference. I Love music and first thing I did was hook up Spotify and start jamming when pulling off the lot.

Kind of upsetting, wonder if it’s the new car or digital system or iDrive. But it was definitely no where near as good as my F90 BW sound system.

Won't be old F90 system has more power, more speakers which are better qualit, and was a Diamond system.


Hopefully Bmw will bring back the Diamond B&W option on the 5 series lineup.

[subterFUSE]

F90 B&W system was not very good anyway, so it's disappointing to go backwards from a poor starting point as a reference. The B&O Advanced in my 2023 S8 is not very good, either. I was also not very impressed with the Burmester on the 2023 S580 I drove for a couple of months. I think car stereos are going down in quality across all brands these days. Aftermarket is the only hope at this point.

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by subterFUSE

F90 B&W system was not very good anyway, so it's disappointing to go backwards from a poor starting point as a reference. The B&O Advanced in my 2023 S8 is not very good, either. I was also not very impressed with the Burmester on the 2023 S580 I drove for a couple of months. I think car stereos are going down in quality across all brands these days. Aftermarket is the only hope at this point.

Audio like pizza is very subjective

[iifymbro]

Originally Posted by subterFUSE

F90 B&W system was not very good anyway, so it's disappointing to go backwards from a poor starting point as a reference. The B&O Advanced in my 2023 S8 is not very good, either. I was also not very impressed with the Burmester on the 2023 S580 I drove for a couple of months. I think car stereos are going down in quality across all brands these days. Aftermarket is the only hope at this point.

maybe you're losing your hearing, if every system is sounding worse you're the common denominator

[subterFUSE]

Originally Posted by iifymbro

maybe you're losing your hearing, if every system is sounding worse you're the common denominator

My hearing is pretty good for my age. I'm surprised it's as good as it is, given how much loud music I have listened to over the years. One thing I did do about 20 years ago was buy custom molded musicians earplugs for when I go to concerts or clubs, etc...

Anyway, I'm a former car audio sound quality competitor with a national championship win, plus I have tuned multiple other cars that won national championships. I have a pretty good handle on what good car audio sounds like, and can safely say that factory systems in German cars these days are not impressive.

[iifymbro]

Originally Posted by subterFUSE

My hearing is pretty good for my age. I'm surprised it's as good as it is, given how much loud music I have listened to over the years. One thing I did do about 20 years ago was buy custom molded musicians earplugs for when I go to concerts or clubs, etc...

Anyway, I'm a former car audio sound quality competitor with a national championship win, plus I have tuned multiple other cars that won national championships. I have a pretty good handle on what good car audio sounds like, and can safely say that factory systems in German cars these days are not impressive.

so are you adjusting the systems to get the best out of them and then judging or just hopping in the car and blasting it with whatever settings it's on? I only ask cause the HK systems in my G20 then G87 can sound either garbage or pretty decent depending on how they're setup

[subterFUSE]

Originally Posted by iifymbro

so are you adjusting the systems to get the best out of them and then judging or just hopping in the car and blasting it with whatever settings it's on? I only ask cause the HK systems in my G20 then G87 can sound either garbage or pretty decent depending on how they're setup

The B&W only offers a very basic, stereo graphic EQ. The DSP settings are just reverb effects and nothing more. There is no adjustable delay, or individual speaker EQ. BMW speaker locations are very poor, the midbass in particular being under the seats. So there is very little that can be done to improve the factory audio through settings. Only minor tweaks to the general tonality. Nothing can be done to achieve a proper soundstage or imaging unless you add aftermarket processing.

That said, the B&W does offer superior adjustability to the B&O and Burmester because of the EQ. There is no EQ on the B&O or Burmester. Only Treble, Bass, subwoofer tone controls.

[iifymbro]

Originally Posted by subterFUSE

The B&W only offers a very basic, stereo graphic EQ. The DSP settings are just reverb effects and nothing more. There is no adjustable delay, or individual speaker EQ. BMW speaker locations are very poor, the midbass in particular being under the seats. So there is very little that can be done to improve the factory audio through settings. Only minor tweaks to the general tonality. Nothing can be done to achieve a proper soundstage or imaging unless you add aftermarket processing.

That said, the B&W does offer superior adjustability to the B&O and Burmester because of the EQ. There is no EQ on the B&O or Burmester. Only Treble, Bass, subwoofer tone controls.

I only ask cause this is the kinda settings a G20 owner who's a sound engineer posted, people who don't know any better leave it around midline and it's a significantly different end result. I know I would've never thought to adjust it like this but I'll be damned if it doesn't make the hK sound better. Now we gotta wait for a sound engineer to buy a G90 for us lol

[subterFUSE]

Yes, I have tweaked my own EQ settings in my F90 B&W. Like I said, it can help the tonality some. But it does nothing to correct for imaging or soundstage, or imbalances between speakers.

When I am tuning cars for shows, the DSPs we use offer a minimum 30 bands of EQ per individual speaker. And the bands are switchable graphic or parametric. We also have full control over the electronic crossovers and, most importantly, delays for each speaker.

[nordmanmg]

IMO G90 B&W sound system sounds noticeably better than B&W in F90, I Don't get all the hype over it in a F90, but compared to it, in the G90 it sounds better. again, it's all subjective off course. but in my opinion, it does sound way better

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by subterFUSE

Yes, I have tweaked my own EQ settings in my F90 B&W. Like I said, it can help the tonality some. But it does nothing to correct for imaging or soundstage, or imbalances between speakers.

When I am tuning cars for shows, the DSPs we use offer a minimum 30 bands of EQ per individual speaker. And the bands are switchable graphic or parametric. We also have full control over the electronic crossovers and, most importantly, delays for each speaker.

Bmw or any manufacturer will never launch a system that complex ...only aftermarket will fix that.

You should design and sell an aftermarket kit with tuning

[EUPremier]

Originally Posted by subterFUSE

Yes, I have tweaked my own EQ settings in my F90 B&W. Like I said, it can help the tonality some. But it does nothing to correct for imaging or soundstage, or imbalances between speakers.

When I am tuning cars for shows, the DSPs we use offer a minimum 30 bands of EQ per individual speaker. And the bands are switchable graphic or parametric. We also have full control over the electronic crossovers and, most importantly, delays for each speaker.

I love music and really appreciate quality HiFi. I have an Arcam AVR 31 at home which is an excellent multi-channel Amp which, rather uniquely amongst AVR
amps, is highly regarded for its stereo competence. I run B&W 702 S2s on it and it sounds great.
I would love to be able to replicate this in my car but despite having decent experience in home HiFi and in fitting electrical mods to vehicles, I have never had a good experience in aftermarket vehicle Hi-Fi.
My last effort was on an E60 535d.
It required a formidable loom to be run from the site of the amp in the boot /trunk to the back of the iDrive module in the dash where the audio connections were intercepted.
After that, there were door card alterations and changes needed for underseat subs.
Finally, we had to make changes via OBD to turn-off the BMW amp (or make it line-out or similar, can’t recall.

Despite all the effort, it sounded terrible.

I swore I would never again do it but would pay the premium to get a proper system from the factory.

Was disappointed when I learned that BMW wasn’t offering as an upgrade path and had opted to give everyone middle of the road stuff.

Who makes these decisions?

[subterFUSE]

Aftermarket in BMW can be done, it's just going to be expensive to do correctly because of all the custom fabrication needed for proper speaker sizes and placements.
BMW speaker locations are among the worst in the auto industry.

The underseat midbass are the biggest fail. Those need to be relocated to the doors or kick panels, neither of which can be done without cutting metal.

Midrange and tweeters can be done with custom A pillars.



Mercedes has the best factory speaker locations. Midbass are installed in the firewall under the dash, near the kick panels. Mids and tweeters are located high in the doors/sail panels. The W222 S Class in particular has excellent factory locations that can easily be swapped for better speakers without needing a ton of fabrication.