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      11-07-2016, 09:45 AM   #1
davis449
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New Car and First installs

New to the BMW Z4, definitely not new to BMW or Bimmerpost. Just traded in my 2012 135i M Sport DCT for this gorgeous new beauty:











First "must haves" done:

Radar Detector





Kuda Mount





JL Audio 10TW3





Tune and springs are coming within the next two weeks.
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      11-07-2016, 11:58 AM   #2
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congrats and welcome!
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      11-07-2016, 01:41 PM   #3
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Very nice! Enjoy it.
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      11-07-2016, 04:38 PM   #4
mrkoven
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nice nice!
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Mineral White FBO MHD Stage 2+
Focal & ARC Audio
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      11-07-2016, 07:07 PM   #5
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Here is an idea for your radar controller:

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      11-08-2016, 08:26 AM   #6
davis449
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NoQuarter View Post
Here is an idea for your radar controller:

I dig that. Thanks for the idea!
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      11-08-2016, 10:28 AM   #7
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Very cool option, but I prefer to be able to easily reverse back to stock.
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      11-08-2016, 12:05 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by porshah View Post
Very cool option, but I prefer to be able to easily reverse back to stock.
$35 part - pretty easy!
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      11-08-2016, 01:55 PM   #9
davis449
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Quote:
Originally Posted by porshah View Post
Very cool option, but I prefer to be able to easily reverse back to stock.
Where I have it mounted currently doesn't really bother me and doesn't look too out of place.
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      11-21-2016, 08:23 PM   #10
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My Escort 8500 isn't loud enough with the top down. I don't always know it's going off.

Btw, your new car looks good. Not sure I'd buy off on the sub woofer box in the trunk though. It's small enough as it is without that taking up even more room. With your upgraded sound system/idrive, I wouldn't think you'd need it to begin with.
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      11-22-2016, 09:54 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Herkypilot View Post
My Escort 8500 isn't loud enough with the top down. I don't always know it's going off.

Btw, your new car looks good. Not sure I'd buy off on the sub woofer box in the trunk though. It's small enough as it is without that taking up even more room. With your upgraded sound system/idrive, I wouldn't think you'd need it to begin with.
Thank you for the compliment. My 9500xi is definitely loud enough with the top down and the music on...then again, the detector has always been in my brain's drive monitoring sequence (mirrors, general surroundings, speedometer, tachometer).

The sub was definitely a welcome addition and the sound system definitely needed it. Top down, 100 MPH I feel it hit and it makes all the difference in the world. Top up, it really fills in where the premium sound lacks (and it DOES lack, IMO). In surround mode, the bass goes to shit and the overall sound isn't great. I always had it turned off in my previous car with HK for the same reason. At least that car continued to fully use the rest of the speakers in it. This one will not. You can fade it or whatever, but it really doesn't help anything. The sub throws the bass at your back and the front speakers can handle the rest once the EQ is set to how you like it.

If I really need the cargo room, you should be able to see from the install, I can yank it in 10 seconds. It's lying flat right now, I can't stand it straight up against the back wall and have the top down, but the margin is so narrow, I just need to work on positioning to get that situation sorted out to free up more room. I don't really need cargo room in this car anyway. If it was a must for me and I wasn't leasing this car, I would've put the effort in to replacing the subs behind the seats with 8" JL's to preserve the room in the trunk.
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      11-22-2016, 10:22 AM   #12
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Can you provide details on how the sub is wired? I have a sub box from a previous car that could work very well in the Z as well.
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      11-22-2016, 11:16 AM   #13
davis449
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Quote:
Originally Posted by porshah View Post
Can you provide details on how the sub is wired? I have a sub box from a previous car that could work very well in the Z as well.
Sure. It was dirt easy. I am not sure about the other sound system options, but for mine this was the harness from Technic:

Yes, it says HK, but that's what works for the top tier, 14 speaker system in the e89 (same harness I used in my previous 135i with HK). If you're not sure because you don't have the 14 speaker system, just contact Technic on the site, he is VERY helpful, and will tell you which one you need. It takes him 1-2 business days to ship and he only ships First Class USPS (so, once shipped, it arrives pretty quickly). Cost is ~$85 and worth every penny not to have to cut one single wire belonging to the car.

The harness is pretty self explanatory just looking at it. One end goes into the OEM amp, the other into the connector coming off the loom. You plug in the included LOC to the harness that has RCA's and a remote trigger wire (no need to hunt for a 12V switched wire to tap). That or you can use the other adapter to wire in one of your choosing. Amplifier is mounted with a custom bracket Custom Sounds had (can't imagine it'd be hard to fashion one yourself, if you wanted to, out of the blank mount already there on the driver's side) right next to the OEM amplifier. Then you just run the speaker wire to the box, power, and ground to the battery however you want. It's really easy to do in this car because you can position the top anyway you like during install. I had them do it because I am lazy, not because I don't know how.
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      03-20-2017, 11:55 AM   #14
davis449
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Wheels and tires finally on. Had the stupid wheels since mid Dec. 2016 and it took until 3/1 to get the damn tires.



STO N SHO install done, finally. Took me over a month to get around to doing it. Pics for anyone who wants to see it:














Last edited by davis449; 03-20-2017 at 12:07 PM..
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