# 330i Harman Kardon audio system



## My_Tranny_Slips (Apr 6, 2004)

*also a bit off topic but pertinent*



Terry Kennedy said:


> Everybody has their fingers in this pie. The NAV head unit is by Alpine, the radio tuner (in the trunk) is by Becker, the NAV computer is by VDO, and the amp and speakers are by HK.


You are again correct my good man! :thumbup:

Realized this weekend after having split seats down from carrying re-elect Bush/Cheney signs all over gods creation the bass was booming.

Suggestion: 
Try leaving the split fold down rear seats unlatched and open several inches. The seat build is snug enough to prevent seats from flopping down while braking.


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## DrMooCow (May 31, 2004)

If you think the harman kardon is a rip off just try bose. My last car has bose and it was the world's biggest rip off. In the maxima, bose was a $1000 option. Way overpriced.


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## stylinexpat (May 23, 2004)

*System Sucks worst thing I payed extra for!*

If you want really nice tunes, don't spend your money on this system. Get a nice Amp and nice speakers and either hook it up to your stock stereo or get a better one. You would be amazed at the difference. BMW does not make nice systems. System by Bose in my Brothers Z is much better then the Harmon system that came in my car. If you are an old lady or old man, this system will do fine for you but if you have a passion for music like some have for driving then the stock system does not fit. BMW make excellent cars but they could use some help on their sound systems!  :thumbdwn:


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## Jim H (Feb 9, 2004)

jarelj said:


> Same with my '04 330xi, I can't think of any way to describe it other than "muffled" either. I wonder if our differences in opinion with others is the type of music we're listening to?? I listen to mostly modern rock/classic rock/vocal pop....... I'm not listening to "thumper" music, it's all instrumental/vocal stuff and I'm not listening to it loud, just a "normal" volume. And the exact same CD's sound absolutely incredible on the Bose system in my ML500 compared to the HK. :dunno:


I have sound enginnering experience, and I believe that the "muffled" feeling that you get comes from a lack of crisp, clear high frequencies. The tweeters in the BMW system leave something to be desired. In addition, I noticed that mids seems to have some strange "bumps" at certain frequencies, maybe in the mid-low range, but not sure. All that said, I've noticed that the HK does not sound consistent from car-to-car. I've been test-driving 2004s, and they each sound different (even the same body style). Some sounded much better than others, with the same exact settings.


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## ff (Dec 19, 2001)

bing330i said:


> Now that the car is close to expiration of its warranty, I'd like to have it checked / fixed. TIA.


I went through a bout of trying to get the system on my previous 330 fixed by the dealer. They replaced the head unit, and made no difference. They were unwilling to pursue the issue further because it's just my opinion that it sounds bad. They thought it sounded fine.

The first thing I would check is that all the speaker wires in the system are hooked to the proper terminals. This is going to require a wiring diagram, so you can match up the wires and the plugs.

The muddy-lack-of-bass sound that we get on these systems is very characteristic of a system that has the wires reversed on one speaker (reversed polarity). Basically, the signal from one speaker partially cancels out the signal from another one, leaving you with a muffled, unlively sound.

I'm not interested in ripping apart the interior of my car in order to inspect the polarity of every terminal. For all we know, it could very well a misplaced wire in one of the crossovers. Or the improper crossover points for these speakers. Who knows.


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## photo2000a (Mar 9, 2004)

*stereo issues*

this was a interesting thread.

I thought my hk was sounding pretty bad (recent delivery) and after reading about it being known as not great i sorta accepted it, particularly the low end....

after trying a same loaner car wow big diff turns out (which dealer couldnt determine) the rear subs are not working at all. scheduled for repair. it was pretty good in the lot car. cant wait till they fix it

if the rear 2 subs totally fail (or their amp) it might not be apparent at first those mids also on the rear deck mixed me up a bit

of course thats not to say the hk is 'as good as we'd all like it to be'

read alot about how people change out the amp/speakers (while leaving the head) and i've considered it, but forget the exact technology/terminology the signal it puts out unbal Differential ... wouldn't be that easy to do it 'correctly'' you'd have to find a amp that handled it built in or a converter box

sure someone might make it but i dunno

:dunno:


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## 330soon2b (May 30, 2004)

I am trading in a 04 TL for an 04 330. The TL has a great system, IMO, but I'll trade the radio for performance. I rented a g35 on my last bus. trip. It had a Bose that was not as good as my TL's system. However, it was certainly good enough for my needs and I think that is how I feel about the bimmer's system. I intend to install xmradio so the sound should be good enough for my requirements. Admittedly, I am not an audiophile.


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## photo2000a (Mar 9, 2004)

*bose*



330soon2b said:


> I am trading in a 04 TL for an 04 330. The TL has a great system, IMO, but I'll trade the radio for performance. I rented a g35 on my last bus. trip. It had a Bose that was not as good as my TL's system. However, it was certainly good enough for my needs and I think that is how I feel about the bimmer's system. I intend to install xmradio so the sound should be good enough for my requirements. Admittedly, I am not an audiophile.


it's kinda funny i guess, a friend in the office has a new acura, it has a dolby 5.3? system w/center channel highpower sounded cool played the new dvd dolby audio disks

the interesting part is how 'advanced' they are radio wise but i love my bimmer wouldn't trade it


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## DrMooCow (May 31, 2004)

330soon2b said:


> I am trading in a 04 TL for an 04 330. The TL has a great system, IMO, but I'll trade the radio for performance. I rented a g35 on my last bus. trip. It had a Bose that was not as good as my TL's system. However, it was certainly good enough for my needs and I think that is how I feel about the bimmer's system. I intend to install xmradio so the sound should be good enough for my requirements. Admittedly, I am not an audiophile.


If you think the new 5.1 is great in the acura; check out mark levingson. I used to have mark levingson in my gs430 and it r0xed!!! I thought it was better sounding then the els that they put in the tl's. 
Just curious too, how much is your 04 tl worth when you trade it in? I was thinking about the tl and it was like 3500 cheaper then the 330 I bought but went for the 330 instead lol.


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## st_o_p (Sep 30, 2003)

Jim H said:


> I have sound enginnering experience, and I believe that the "muffled" feeling that you get comes from a lack of crisp, clear high frequencies. The tweeters in the BMW system leave something to be desired. In addition, I noticed that mids seems to have some strange "bumps" at certain frequencies, maybe in the mid-low range, but not sure. All that said, I've noticed that the HK does not sound consistent from car-to-car. I've been test-driving 2004s, and they each sound different (even the same body style). Some sounded much better than others, with the same exact settings.


 :stupid:

That's exactly what I think. Although not an expert, I was very dissapointed with my HK system and not so much with the bass but with the high range - it's almost non-existent. HK sucks :thumbdwn: . First couple of weeks I almost couldn't listen to it, but then I guess I kind of got used to it. I'm still considering replacing the entire audio system after the head unit - can't really decide if it's worth it


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## chasestewart (May 18, 2016)

*2003 330xi Harmon Kardon*

Hey All,
I have a 2003 330xi with the Harmon Kardon stereo. When playing any audio, the sound if very muffled and just does not sound right. I previously had a 330i zhp with the same audio setup and it sounded much better (higher degree of clarity at all volumes and additional bass).

My first thought it that maybe the amplifier is not working properly. All speakers produce sound and there are no issues with the radio that I can see. Has anyone replaced the amplifier with a used one and the sound quality has been restored to its original state? Any suggestions?

As far as replacing the amplifier, I was talking about replacing the amplifier in the rear trunk/side, not the subwoofer amplifier.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Chase


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