Bavsound BMW E38 User manual

BMW E38 Subwoofer System Installation Guide:
d110.e38 for BMW 7 Series, ʼ95-ʼ01
Youʼll need:
•Bavsound tool kit (or some variety thereof - the video highlights the tools needed for
this particular installation) - http://www.bavsound.com/product/414/361/BSW-Interior-
Disassembly-Tool-Kit/
•Wire Crimpers
•Metric Wrench / Socket Set
•Tunes in the garage (your choice)
Before you Begin
•Please review and familiarize yourself completely with these instructions before
starting work on your vehicle!
•Ensure that your bass and treble settings are set to their default middle positions
before installing your new speaker upgrade. Once youʼve installed your Stage 1,
you can reset the bass and treble settings to taste. Keep in mind that we
generally recommend keeping them both very close to center as large
adjustments introduce distortion into the audio signal and will lower performance
of your system.
•Be sure and watch this video, which covers the amplifier connections on your
new Bavsound amplifier: http://vimeo.com/28744796
•And, once completed with the install, be sure and watch this video which covers
tuning the amplifier in your E38: http://vimeo.com/28722047
The Process
Weʼre going to proceed as follows:
1. Removal of factory subwoofer enclosure
2. Mounting the new amplifier
3. Power connections for the new amplifier
4. Audio inputs for the new amplifier
5. Connecting the new amplifier to the new subwoofer enclosure
6. Installing the new subwoofer enclosure

7. Tuning/testing the new amplifier
Rear Deck and Factory Subwoofer Removal:
Keep in mind this takes an experienced installer about 15 minutes. It should take you
between 30-45 minutes, depending on your experience with vehicle disassembly.
We wonʼt be reinstalling the subwoofer enclosure, so put it away in the garage
somewhere.
First remove the bottom of the rear seat by pulling upward on the front of the cushion.
There are two hooks on either side that need to be disengaged. This is super easy to
remove. (See arrows)
1. Youʼll next want to remove the back portion of the backseat. First remove the
three headrests from the seat cushion. Do this by lifting upward on each
headrest. You may find it easier to pull up on one side at a time. This seems
to work best if you donʼt want bust a vein in your forehead while trying to
remove those headrests.
2. Now locate the 10mm bolts that line the underside of the seat which secure
the cushion to the rear firewall. There are bolts on either outer side of the
cushions where the cushion meets the sides of the car. Two nuts will also
secure the arm rest portion toward the center of the seat. There is also a nut
underneath the center of each side cushion. Remove all of these.
3. Youʼll want to remove the back seat in three pieces. Start with the outer sides,
and remove the center portion lastly. Lift each piece upward and outward
towards the front of the car.
4. The seatbelts can be removed as well on the passenger side just to make
your life a bit easier. A 17mm bolt secures the seatbelt assembly. Remove
this.
Removing Interior Pieces:

Youʼll also need to remove the C-Pillars on either side of the rear windshield.
1. Using a panel removal tool or flathead screwdriver, carefully pry outward on
the top of the lighting assembly, freeing the top portion. The bottom will simply
fold out toward you once the top is free.
2. Unplug the harness going into the light by gently pulling it outward from the
assembly.
3. There are three 8mm bolts behind the light. Remove these.
4. Now, pull the actual C-Pillar toward the front of the car, being careful not to
scratch your rear window tint. You have tinted your windows, havenʼt you?

Before you get much further, go ahead and pop out the speaker grilles located on either
side of the rear deck. You can use you fingers here. Be careful and donʼt force anything.
1. Work your way around from the front of the grille (side closest to you) and around
to the sides, being careful not to break the grille. Lift upward, and then toward
you. The rear of the grille is simply slid underneath the deck.
2. Remove the two 2mm Allen bolts located underneath each grille.
Now, some E38ʼs are equipped with baby seat tie downs on the rear deck. There will be
three of them across the rear deck. If your E38 doesnʼt have these, the bolts mentioned
below will be underneath the rear deck once youʼve removed it. They will still need to be
removed.
1. To remove the tie downs, youʼll first pop off the plastic cover that sits atop the
circular rear portion of the hook. Simply use your panel removal tool or your
fingers if youʼre really tough.

2. 13mm bolts will be revealed, and youʼll need to remove them using a ratchet or
wrench.
3. Notice the four black plastic anchors that run along the width of the bottom edge
of the rear deck. (See arrows) These need to be removed. Now the rear deck is
free. Simply pull it toward you and out of the vehicle.
Factory Subwoofer Removal:
Now we just need to remove the subwoofer assembly. Can you believe that thing is so
huge? Where was the bass?
1. Remove the two 8mm bolts on either outer side of the enclosure toward the
front of the car.

2. Remove the black plastic anchor in the center of the enclosure using your
panel removal tool or flat head screwdriver.
3. On vehicles equipped with the factory baby seat tie downs, youʼll also need to
remove an additional 3 13mm bolts on the backside of the enclosure.
4. Now, lift the enclosure upward and pull it towards you. Weʼll need to unplug it
before we can remove it. The plug is on the driverʼs side underneath the
enclosure. Remove the enclosure.
Hereʼs what youʼll see with the factory subwoofer removed:
Tip: Donʼt put the deck back in just yet. We recommend installing the entire
subwoofer system and testing it out before doing so. Trust us on this one.

Trunk Disassembly and Wiring Connections:
Weʼll first need to remove the Navigation Unit and itʼs trim ring before we can remove
the side panel from the car. So, letʼs get started.
1. Using a radio removal tool (available at any auto parts store) insert one tool
into each side of the navigation unit. Pry each tool outward and slide the
navigation unit out. Unplug the harnesses and navigation antenna.
2. Now, weʼll need to remove the trim ring from around the navigation unit. Youʼll
see how itʼs hooked into the metal frame. Just pry it out from around the
frame and pull it towards you.

3. Now weʼll need to remove the top portion of the carpeted panel that was
covering the CD changer and navigation unit. Simply pry the panel from
around the navigation cage and CD changer outward. Weʼll need to unscrew
the two black plastic fasteners at this point.
4. Lift up the carpeted liner on the floor of the trunk and youʼll notice two black
plastic fasteners attaching the bottom part of the panel to the floor. Remove
these and the panel will be free to remove from the car.
Mounting your new Amplifier
Youʼll want to start by first deciding exactly where you want to mount your new amplifier.
From there, youʼll decide on appropriate paths to run your wiring.
The ideal location for the amplifier in our subwoofer system is directly in front of the
factory amplifier, where the CD Changer is located. Most vehicles do not have CD
Changers, and if you do well then itʼs time for a SoundPlicity iPhone/Android Interface!
We secure the amplifier either by Velcro strips or if you want to get creative, you can
fabricate a couple of brackets and attach it to the factory brass bracket assembly.
Conversely, you can also use zip ties to secure the amplifier to the brackets that secure
the amplifier/navigation computer.
Donʼt mount the new Bavsound amplifier until youʼve made all wiring connections and
tuned the amplifier.
Since the majority of our wiring connections take place in this same area, the install is a
breeze!

Power Connections to your New Amplifier:
*Before you make any connections, we recommend disconnecting the negative battery
terminal from the battery. This will eliminate any chance electrical damage to the
vehicle.
Power Wire (Red Wire included in your amplifier wiring kit)
•Youʼll want to run the large red wire to the positive terminal of the battery. The
battery is located on the passenger side of the trunk behind the down panel.
Loosen and remove the 10mm nut on top of the terminal that secures the actual
terminal to the battery. Put the amplifier power wire ring over the bolt, and tighten
the nut back down with the terminal on the battery. This wire will be connected to
the +12 terminal on the amplifier. Do NOT put the fuse into the fuseholder until
you have connected the other end of the wire to the amplifier. Once youʼve made
this connection, it is safe to install the included fuse into the fuse holder.
Ground Wire (Black Wire included in your amplifier wiring kit)
•The large black wire goes to a chassis ground. This essentially means metal.
In the E38, the ideal location is one of the 8mm bolts that secures the tail light
housings to the chassis on the driverʼs side. In other words, weʼll want to use an
existing factory grounding point, which will look something like this:

•Once connected at the location above, the ground wire will connect to the GND
terminal on the amplifier.
Remote Turn-On Wire: (Blue Wire included in your amplifier wiring kit)
Locate the small gauge white wire going into the factory amplifier in the largest plug.
Tap into the remote turn on wire with the included blue wire and red butt connector. Run
this to the “Turn On” input terminal of your new amplifier.
Below is a visual of how weʼll make the connections. Basically, weʼre just “Tʼing” into the
factory wire, so youʼll want to cut the wire directly in half, at a minimum of 3” away from
the factory plug.

1. After stripping back approximately ¼ʼ of the insulation from the wires, exposing
the copper wiring itself, twist one side of the white wire that you cut in half
together with the included blue remote turn on wire.
2. Insert these two wires into one side of the butt connector, and crimp tightly.
3. Insert the remaining half of the white wire into the unused side of the butt
connector and again crimp down tightly.
Getting the music to your new amplifier (Audio Input Connections)
1. Carefully observe the factory amplifier. You will see two large bundles of wires
going into the amplifier. Weʼll be using the same harness that contained the
remote turn on lead.
The harness contains several wires, but donʼt be overwhelmed. We will be using
only four of them, and they are easy to locate.
The input wires will be twisted together, and each twisted pair represents a
speaker or input to the new amplifier.
2. Youʼll need to isolate the following four (4) wires. They will be twisted together in
pairs in the large harness in the photo on the previous page. You can also find
these same wires in the plug that attaches to the factory DSP subwoofer
enclosure.
Blue/White Stripe (+) twisted with Blue/Brown Stripe (-)
Yellow/Black Stripe (+) twisted with Yellow/Grey Stripe (-)
Now, orient yourself with the LOC (Line Output Converter) that you received with
your order. Itʼs a small black box with four individual wires coming out of one of the
ends. If you see smaller gauge brown or black wires, in conjunction with the wires
listed below, please ignore these as we wonʼt be using them. Note that the LOC has
adjustment dials on it. See the tuning section for tips on adjustment.
Grey (+) White (+)
Grey/Black Stripe (-) White/Black Stripe (-)
The connections will be made in the same manner as the remote turn on wire which we
explain on the previous page.

So, the connections will essentially be as follows, and can be made at either the factory
DSP amplifier or at the plug that you disconnected from the factory subwoofer
enclosure.
Wire Color on Input Harness Wire Color at Factory Amplifier
Grey(+)
Blue w/White Stripe
Grey/Black Stripe (-)
Blue w/Brown Stripe
White (+)
Yellow w/Black Stripe
White/Black Stripe (-)
Yellow w/Grey Stripe
Speaker Wiring Connections (connecting the amplifier to the subwoofer
enclosure)
From the new amplifier weʼll need to route the included 12 gauge speaker wire to the
subwoofer enclosure. Weʼll use the following guide to highlight your connections.
Subwoofer Terminal
Connects
to:
Connection at Amplifier
Red
Connects
to:
L (+) Output
Black
Connects
to:
R (-) Output
Deck Mounted Enclosure Installation:
Now, keep the following in mind and the install of the enclosure will go along as smooth
as silk:
The enclosure hooks into the existing holes on the front of the rear deck (closest
to the trunk opening), and the rear of the enclosure then lifts upward onto bolts
that weʼll drop down through the existing holes in the back (closest to the front of
the car) of the rear deck.
It helps immensely here to have a friend help you secure the enclosure the first
time. See step two.
1. First, weʼll need to remove the black plastic inserts on the underside of the
rear deck where the enclosure will mount. Using your panel removal tool,
simply pry them out and put them aside. Weʼve shown all four mounting
points in the photo below. Weʼll only need to pry out the two front plastic
inserts.

2. Weʼll now need to drop the included bolt/bracket combination through the top
of the rear deck to secure the rear of the enclosure. There are several holes
in the rear deck where the rear brackets mount, and instead of confusing you
with which ones to use, itʼs easiest to “mock” install the enclosure.
3. Go ahead and attach the four strips of sound deadening material to the
topside of the enclosure. We recommend placing two strips towards the front
and two strips toward the rear.
4. So, weʼll go ahead and slide the front brackets into the front holes, and lift up
the rear of the enclosure to where the rear brackets sit up against the deck.
While one person does this, the other person can drop the bracket/bolt combo
down through the appropriate holes. This will ensure that the enclosure will
mount correctly the first time. See below:

5. From the trunk, weʼll go ahead and attach the quick release bolts to bolts, of
course assuming that the enclosure brackets are lined up correctly.
6. Make sure that the bolts are nice and tight and that the enclosure isnʼt able to
move. Go ahead and plug it into the speaker wire coming from the amplifier,
and we can now begin tuning the amplifier.

Hereʼs a completed photo of the enclosure installed:
Amplifier Tuning - Remember, watch this video - http://vimeo.com/28748190
Testing the Actual Installation Prior to Tuning
First things first, after physically completing the installation, make sure your amplifier is
powered up properly. It needs to turn off and on with the key. The power light should
turn off when you take the key out of the ignition. Test this out a couple of times to make
sure. If it does not, and you are having trouble figuring out why, give us a call or drop us
a line. Trust us, it wonʼt be anything major. Go back over the above connections, and
youʼll undoubtedly find a small, silly mistake.
Now, go to the front of the car, and turn on the stereo. Put in your favorite CD (not a
burned CD, but one that was professionally mastered and recorded), and tune in to your
favorite track. We recommend using a very dynamic type of music, with many types of
musical variations within the CD. Make sure that your bass settings on your radio are
set in the middle or slightly lower. This will decrease distortion and increase the overall
sound quality in the vehicle.
General Tuning Tips - Baseline Settings
Use very light pressure when adjusting the dials on the amplifier. Use a small, jewelerʼs
type flat-head screwdriver to make your adjustments.
Make sure all bass and treble settings on your radio or EQ are flat, or in the middle.
1. Preliminarily set the gains, crossovers, and crossover frequencies as follows:
Gains: Both gains, ¼of a turn clockwise, or roughly 9 oʼclock.
Crossovers: Set the crossover to LOW.
Crossover Frequency: Start with ~80hz.

Boost approximately 1/4 turn clockwise
2. LOC gains - Set these approximately 1/4 turn, or roughly 10 oʼclock
Gain Adjustments:
-Begin turning up the volume until you hear the music at a reasonable level and
increase the volume slightly up to the point that you begin to hear distortion coming from
your interior speakers. Now, back down the volume until the distortion disappears and
stop there. Head back to the trunk and slowly begin adjusting the gain(s) of the amplifier
until you are content with the amount of bass being produced by the subwoofer without
any audible distortion of the woofer. Make sure that this blends in with the rest of the
music, and youʼre on your way to a rich, full sound.
When adjusting the amplifier gains, do everything in very small increments.
We recommend 1/8th turn adjustments of the gain to find that sweet spot where there is
no distortion and plenty of volume.
Everyone listens to music differently, so the tuning process make take some of us days,
while others can do it in a matter of minutes, whether theyʼre a beginner or not.
The tuning is the most important aspect of the installation. Donʼt rush any aspect of the
tuning. You may ride around a few days and find that you need to make some
adjustments. Donʼt worry, this is perfectly normal.
Crossover Adjustments:
This can be tricky, but if you keep your ears open, it shouldnʼt take long at all.
Here are some tricks to finding that sweet spot.
Try turning up the crossover a bit to around 90hz. If you donʼt hear distortion, this may a
good spot for you. Keep your ears open!
-You can also readjust the bass on the radio down a notch or two to compensate for the
distortion, but again, keep your ears open.
Boost Adjustments:
You can adjust this as much as youʼd like, but youʼve got to keep your ears open for
distortion. This is essentially an artificial boost at 45hz, so if you like boomier bass youʼll
likely adjust this slightly higher.
Keep a fine ear out for any distortion, and once youʼve found that sweet spot where the
volume and the fullness you desire is ideal, you shouldnʼt ever need to adjust the
amplifier again.
Troubleshooting Guide
Invariably youʼll come across one or two things in your install that didnʼt quite match up
or werenʼt perfectly clear to you. Weʼve put together several common things that may
come up during an install, and how to isolate and troubleshoot them if they do. It is very

advantageous to have a digital multi-meter on hand to troubleshoot anything electrical in
your BMW. They can be found at any hardware store for around $20-$30.
No Sound from subwoofer:
•The fuse wasnʼt installed inline on the red 8 gauge power wire at the battery. This
is very often overlooked. Pop in the fuse, and youʼll be good to go.
•There isnʼt a connection between the amplifier and the subwoofer. Did you route
the included speaker wire from the amplifier to the subwoofer enclosure?
•Amplifier isnʼt turning on properly. See next section.
Amplifier isnʼt Powering Up:
•The fuse wasnʼt installed inline on the red 8 gauge power wire at the battery. This
is very often overlooked. Pop in the fuse, and youʼll be good to go.
•Check to make sure youʼve found the correct remote turn-on wire. This is a very
common oversight. Set your DMM to direct current and place one lead on the
ground terminal of your amplifier and one on the remote turn on terminal. Turn
the car and the radio on. If you donʼt have 12-14 volts on the remote turn on
terminal, your connection may be the issue.
•Make sure your power and ground connections are correct. Using your DMM,
again check each terminal to make sure that a connection has been established.
-Ground Connection: Set the DMM to its continuity section. Place one lead of the
DMM on the amplifiers ground location where you screwed into the chassis, and
the other lead on the negative battery terminal. If you donʼt see any continuity,
move your ground wire until you do.
-Power Connection: Set the DMM to direct current again, and place one lead on
the amplifiers power terminal and the other on the amplifiers ground terminal.
You should see 12-14 volts. If not, check your inline fuse.
Subwoofer sounds muffled or quiet:
•Check to make sure your phasing is correct between the amplifier and the
subwoofer. Positive should go to positive, and negative to negative.
•Your input signals are out of phase. Check to make sure that your input
connections are exactly as outlined in the guide. An easy test is to simply cut one
of the input wires and see if the sound output increases exponentially.