Is the HiFi system that bad?

[SeCsTaC]

Hello all I'm considering a 135i, the only problem is that it doesn't have the HK option. I looked upt he VIN and it has the HiFi option, which from my research tells me it's not the base of the base.

So from what I gather 08-10 had the Hifi system standard, and after that they started making an even cheaper system that doesn't have tweeters.

The 135i I'm looking at is 2012. Does this mean it has 8 inch subs underneath the seats? Or is it 6 inches?

Lastly... for those that have HiFi how do you like it? What are your main complains about the system. Is it decent or does it suck? I realize it's all subjective and it also matters where you're coming from, but I'd appreciate all feedback.

Thank you guys! Hopefully I'll get to join the club soon

[135iam]

I have a 2010 with the hifi system and it sucks. I bought a off lease 135i last fall and the car had every option I wanted except HK. It is truely an unimpressive system. No subs at all, just tweeters. If there are subs, mine dont work!

My wife has a 2014 GMC Acadia Denali with 10 speakers including sub. My kids can rock out listening to "Brother Bear" in surround sound. It is 100X better than anything my car can do! It's sad

[TheSt|G]

Yup, if you even the mildest ear for audio you can hear that it is complete garbage. Barely good enough to listen to the news on.

[Zombie1]

I've been to busy listening to that beautiful N54

[MDRex]

Try coming from a Subaru WRX, that had truly terrible sound. Although the system in my 135i is not great either, it is noticably better.

[ejm3]

I have a 2012 convertible and the sound is horrible out of the base stereo.

[Rob Daman]

Originally Posted by ejm3

I have a 2012 convertible and the sound is horrible out of the base stereo.

I have a 2011 and to me it sounds great. I don't have HK either.

My Evo X had a sucky sound system vs this one which i enjoy. Guess my ears aren't as keen as they used to be.

[CGMike]

My Evo X had the rockford fosgate system, I loved it! My BMW has the HiFi option, its ok. Most of my cars, I turn the treble up and the bass down, I had to do the opposite on the 135. I dont think its a deal killer if the car has everything else you want.

[suspenceful]

I have an 08 with HiFi Professional. Is that different than just HiFi?

I'd have to say the sound is great. Nice bass too.

[Allencic]

I find the audio system in my 128i just fine as long as the car is stopped. Unless I want to play rap crap at ear bleeding levels the sound is so often overwhelmed by road noise that it's hardly worth the trouble to listen to anything.

[JeffyD]

I'm honestly a very picky when it comes to audio quality. My 135is has the HiFi system, and, next week, I'm making an over 2k mile round trip to MusicarNW to spend an ungodly amount of cash for them to install their level 3 + trunk sub system into the car.

That said, the average person shouldn't be that frightened by the HiFi system in the car. There is major distortion at higher volumes, a lot of the bass ranges aren't replicated, and the highs can be ultra harsh on some tracks. But the settings can be fiddled with to compensate for much of these short comings. Granted that there are very few settings to actually use to adjust.

The HiFi system is more than good enough for most people, and, if I didn't spend most of my life in my car, would've been fine for me as well. There's not a lot that these cars lack in most areas, but the system is not top notch.

But the HK system is by no means great. Seriously, it's a waste to skip a car for lacking the upgraded system if you want great sound quality - the HK system is going to leave you wanting to upgrade anyway. In such a case, the HiFi system is preferable because, in my understanding of things, it is easier to upgrade to stellar results than the HK system is.

[sparky1_2007]

Originally Posted by suspenceful

I have an 08 with HiFi Professional. Is that different than just HiFi?

I'd have to say the sound is great. Nice bass too.

Im with you on this, got the full logic 7 system in mine, sounds great except for the door speaker that I need to replace.

[the1andonly]

BMW must have different audio systems in different cars. I have 2012 128i with standard HiFi and I always thought it was quite good! (I think it says "BMW Professional" on the radio) Not a ton of bass but sound is rich, clear, and warm even at high volumes. My girlfriend has a Meridian sound system in her range Rover and I think mine sounds noticeably better.

[suspenceful]

Originally Posted by sparky1_2007

Im with you on this, got the full logic 7 system in mine, sounds great except for the door speaker that I need to replace.

Ahh Logic7, that's what it says in some of my menus. I'm assuming that is different than the standard HiFi system everyone else is talking about here.

[Dackelone]

The 2010 cars got a downgraded audio system. Early cars and 2011 and later cars had a MUCH better sound system as a base(called HiFi). I think Logic7 is basically the early HK system(with the EQ setting in the head unit).

HK equipped cars have the HK badge tweeters in the mirror pods on the doors.

You can retrofit the Alpine Amp kit that comes with better speakers and you can use the HK door tweeter pods. This kit runs about $500 plus install, plus then you must have the HU coded.


OP - if you are really into audio you might want to find a car with HK. Then again, you might just want to spend 1K to 2K on a decent upgraded system. NW Audio (here on 1Addicts) was selling a wiring harnesses to make an amp upgrade plug and play for our cars.

[nunka]

Ehhh... s'ok. The overall sound is pretty muddy, which is problematic considering I listen to a lot of progressive metal. I keep my music low during city driving and enjoy the sound of the engine. On the freeway I turn the music up and it's at least, y'know, listenable.

[Suhb]

Originally Posted by 135iam

I have a 2010 with the hifi system and it sucks. I bought a off lease 135i last fall and the car had every option I wanted except HK. It is truely an unimpressive system. No subs at all, just tweeters. If there are subs, mine dont work!

Weird. I have a 2010 128i and mine has subs in there. It's not the best system but it gets the job done for me.

[Billup]

The Bose system in my old Rsx-S sounded much more crisp than the HiFi in the BMW, but in all honesty, it serves its purpose. I'm not one for blasting music, but I do enjoy having it turned up when all the windows are rolled down, and it does just fine.

I can say, I have been in cars with much much much worse sound systems compared to HiFi, so I don't really think its THAT bad.

[cmcdonald]

I think the hi-fi system isn't bad. Are there better systems out there, sure. I must say though that it is the best factory radio I have had thus far in a car. It blows away the horrible Bose systems I had in my Cadillac DTS and Altima SE-R. There is some distortion at high volumes but overall with the right settings it is fairly crisp and the bass isn't bad.

[sparky1_2007]

Originally Posted by suspenceful

Ahh Logic7, that's what it says in some of my menus. I'm assuming that is different than the standard HiFi system everyone else is talking about here.

possibly, I think its labelled as the top hifi system in the build sheet

[cheshirecat79]

Originally Posted by JeffyD

That said, the average person shouldn't be that frightened by the HiFi system in the car. There is major distortion at higher volumes, a lot of the bass ranges aren't replicated, and the highs can be ultra harsh on some tracks. But the settings can be fiddled with to compensate for much of these short comings. Granted that there are very few settings to actually use to adjust.

This is exactly my impression. For what it's worth, if you're streaming something from a device and can pump out some extra bass via the software on the device, it'll help wake the subs up a bit.

Other than that, the system is pretty mediocre... but I think the majority is because the power going to the speakers just isn't enough.

[Horigan]

Having upgraded from the base system to the HiFi system, I think the HiFi system sounds pretty good. This is with retaining the 6" subs. I think all production HiFi Systems have 8" subs.