Can you upgrade existing Harman Kardon sound system to B&O on an M6 gran coupe?

[S18adeli]

Can you swap out the OEM Harmon Kardon sounds sound system with the OEM Bang & Olefson (B&O) sound system on a M6 gran coupe? Is it a matter of simply unplugging/replacing the speakers and amp, and maybe a reprogram? Or can this not be done?

[MelbourneFinn]

Not sure why you would want to do this... All speakers are different, the amp/dsp, and wiring harness... Most likely for a lot less money you can get a significantly better sound than B&O ever can deliver... Find a good car audio specialist, if they know what they are doing, they’ll be able to build from after market parts something that will sound out of this world - our cars actually have very good acoustic characteristics.

I did this, and nothing sounds like it... When using quality elements you don’t need 16 or20 channels, that’s just trickery that is trying to mask otherwise rubbish setup. Here is a summary of what I did:
- Front and rear door speakers: Focal splits (+sound deadening in door panels)
- Under seat woofers: Focal (replacement for factory woofers)
- Focal 12” sub in custom enclosure
- Mosconi 6-channel amp/dsp
- SoundStream monoblock amp (sub)
- mObridge CAN BUS controller/adapter (you can’t use the original head unit digital outputs without this)

It looks all OEM bar the sub enclosure, but you can achieve great outcomes with even an 8” sub that can be side/corner mounted in the trunk...

Total cost of all of this was appr $5k AUD - Best upgrade to otherwise near perfect car making it perfect...

[mastatikle]

Yeah they’re absolutely right ^* the B&O system isn’t that great at all. The components (speakers and amp) are mediocre and are crap quality from third world countries. It’s a marketing scheme to sell the “executive package” with the flashy bezels and motorized center. Plus if you do a custom system you can get it tuned to your ears and listening style perfectly. Any incredible sound quality car audio system usually only has two speakers in each door. One for mids, one for highs. Anything else is pointless and a way for car companies to use lesser quality products and increasing quantity to ignorant buyers. In fact the aluminum grills on the B&O ystem muffle much of the sound with the little holes and thick aluminum. One car audio store did an f10 m5 and got a major sound improvement by just getting rid of the salt shaker holes in the speaker grills of B&O system. They said it’d be pointless to upgrade speakers without first removing the grills that muffle much of the sound.

[Taheemr]

agreed the B&O is not worth the £4k asking price, like others have said you can better it for alot less, I paid for it and would'nt bother next time

[brad850csi]

Originally Posted by MelbourneFinn

Not sure why you would want to do this... All speakers are different, the amp/dsp, and wiring harness... Most likely for a lot less money you can get a significantly better sound than B&O ever can deliver... Find a good car audio specialist, if they know what they are doing, they’ll be able to build from after market parts something that will sound out of this world - our cars actually have very good acoustic characteristics.

I did this, and nothing sounds like it... When using quality elements you don’t need 16 or20 channels, that’s just trickery that is trying to mask otherwise rubbish setup. Here is a summary of what I did:
- Front and rear door speakers: Focal splits (+sound deadening in door panels)
- Under seat woofers: Focal (replacement for factory woofers)
- Focal 12” sub in custom enclosure
- Mosconi 6-channel amp/dsp
- SoundStream monoblock amp (sub)
- mObridge CAN BUS controller/adapter (you can’t use the original head unit digital outputs without this)

It looks all OEM bar the sub enclosure, but you can achieve great outcomes with even an 8” sub that can be side/corner mounted in the trunk...

Total cost of all of this was appr $5k AUD - Best upgrade to otherwise near perfect car making it perfect...

Question for you Jukka, I saw tour sub in your boot of course - I was wondering if it can be removed in a few minutes or potentially if you think that a pair of 8" subs, one on either side would provide any advantage over just a single 8"?

You had H/K stock didn't you?

[MelbourneFinn]

Originally Posted by brad850csi

Question for you Jukka, I saw tour sub in your boot of course - I was wondering if it can be removed in a few minutes or potentially if you think that a pair of 8" subs, one on either side would provide any advantage over just a single 8"?

You had H/K stock didn't you?

Yes, stock H/K. When building a custom setup, you can pretty much design based on what your needs are. The size of the sub has a direct correlation to bass quality and volume - depends what you prefer. I wouldn’t personally go for 2 smaller elements, one bigger (assuming the quality of the elements is similar) produces likely better sound quality. A bigger element produces lower frequency sounds, but typically also requires a bit more powerful amp.

I’m not a car audio professional, but after having had several custom systems in my cars, I know a good sound system when I hear one 😎 If you decide to go down that path, suggest you select a good installer and work with them - if they don’t ask any questions, that’s a sure sign of you having to run...

The setup I have in my GC is amazing, by any standards, could recommend to anyone who really wants to enjoy music sound quality, but there are alternative components that can deliver very good outcomes.

Hope this helps?