# Quote for upgrading my e60 stock audio...high?



## PRS Guy (Aug 24, 2007)

Just got a quote for upgrading my stock, non premium sound, 5 series BMW.

Increasing the watts heading to each speaker by 45 watts takes a couple of amps to get to every speaker in the car. Additionally, I'd be adding a box for the trunk with a single 10" sub.

For Boston Acoustics, 2 amps installed, monster cable to each stock speaker, and a custom box for the trunk with a Boston 10" sub I got quoted $3,000 for everything including tax.

For JBL, $2,600 same as above. 


I looked at Bavarian but according to them they are several months away from having the stage 1 upgrade ready for the e60. 

I'm not willing to do this myself, so DIY is not an option. 

The place I found has done installs for Overhaul'n and Rides and deals with iDrive BMW's, Bentley's and the like on a regular basis. 


Does this sound "in the ballpark" or am I getting punked?


What say you?


Thanks


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

PRS Guy said:


> *I'm not willing to do this myself, so DIY is not an option.*


I don't think that you have any other option then...

Probably you will be getting a GT-24 and a GT-42 amp and a G51044 10" sub, in the worst case $1200 retail. The rest is labor and the box... :eeps:


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## PRS Guy (Aug 24, 2007)

Technic said:


> I don't think that you have any other option then...
> 
> Probably you will be getting a GT-24 and a GT-42 amp and a G51044 10" sub, in the worst case $1200 retail. The rest is labor and the box... :eeps:


I think you are right on the components and pricing. Is 1:1 more reasonable in this industry?

$1,200 in parts and $1,200 for labor?


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

PRS Guy said:


> I think you are right on the components and pricing. Is 1:1 more reasonable in this industry?
> 
> $1,200 in parts and $1,200 for labor?


Not necessarily... I guess that a big portion of that estimate is building the custom sub box (unless the shop have one pre-made for the E60) and tuning everything.


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## PRS Guy (Aug 24, 2007)

Technic said:


> Not necessarily... I guess that a big portion of that estimate is building the custom sub box (unless the shop have one pre-made for the E60) and tuning everything.


Yes, custom box, amps, sub, crossover and remote subwoofer control plus tuning it all.

Info seems so hard to find on upgrading the e60 audio system.

Based on your knowledge, $2,000 would be more appropriate? $2,500?

Thanks for the assistance.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

PRS Guy said:


> Yes, custom box, amps, sub, crossover and remote subwoofer control plus tuning it all.
> 
> Info seems so hard to find on upgrading the e60 audio system.
> 
> ...


The great thing about any BMW OEM sound system with a separate amp is that all and each speaker terminals are centralized in the main amp connector. The OEM wire gauge on each speaker varies depending of the power requirements (i.e., woofers wires are thicker than tweeters') so there should not be any complete re-wiring of the OEM speaker system - much less any removal of door panels- unless you are getting some major upgrade in power and speaker load. And if you are using that GT-42 amp plus crossovers then you will not be demanding too much from the OEM speaker wiring.

So by interfacing that OEM amp connector with some custom harness all the OEM speakers can be connected to those two amps in no time. If the audio shop has done an E60 before then just supplying more power to the OEM speakers should not be like reinventing the wheel...

So with all that said, the only thing left is the custom sub box. Again, if the shop has done an E60 before they should have a nice, standard sub box template/blueprint for this car, so it should not be that much to just "cookie cut" one and just tune all this, reducing considerably the overall cost. If not then the cost will be really high because it will require a full custom sub box job from the ground up.

Because you are not replacing any speakers, no door panel is required to be removed/re-installed, and only two amps and a sub box are to be installed, then you should look for a shop that has done this job in an E60 before to get your cost more towards the $2000 level than the $2500-$3000.


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## PRS Guy (Aug 24, 2007)

Technic said:


> The great thing about any BMW OEM sound system with a separate amp is that all and each speaker terminals are centralized in the main amp connector. The OEM wire gauge on each speaker varies depending of the power requirements (i.e., woofers wires are thicker than tweeters') so there should not be any complete re-wiring of the OEM speaker system - much less any removal of door panels- unless you are getting some major upgrade in power and speaker load. And if you are using that GT-42 amp plus crossovers then you will not be demanding too much from the OEM speaker wiring.
> 
> So by interfacing that OEM amp connector with some custom harness all the OEM speakers can be connected to those two amps in no time. If the audio shop has done an E60 before then just supplying more power to the OEM speakers should not be like reinventing the wheel...
> 
> ...


Awesome post, thanks so much. :thumbup: I'll shop around and see if someone else can do it for $2k or so with the same equipment.

Thanks again!


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