Finally lifetime BMW fan becomes 1st time owner (220i M Sport - F22)

[_G_2_]

Hi All & thanks for letting me join

Always been a fan of BMWs since early school years and enjoyed many school breaktimes arguing about which were better between BMW, Merc or Audi. It didn't matter whether I won or lost the debates, BMWs were still my favourite cars. Fast forward a couple of decades and I've finally allowed myself to go from fan to owner with this gorgeous 220i M Sport (F22) that I bought and I couldn't be happier. The glowing reviews of this car on youtube were spot on when describing the driving experience as one of the best you'll ever have.

So obviously one of the first things I had to do was seek out this forum and join the beemer community to share in all the ideas and inspiration for a 1st time owner of a BMW. Enough with the long-winded intro already and I'm guessing it is customary to post some pictures of my car so here are some from the first week of ownership.

https://flic.kr/p/2rBHcyz

https://flic.kr/p/2rBBtAQ

https://flic.kr/p/2rBH4Au

https://flic.kr/p/2rBHqKa

https://flic.kr/p/2rBBuXc

 

[Urban963]

Brother it appears you have stolen my car. Please give it back. I need it.


Also, congrats dude!

 

[_G_2_]

Brother it appears you have stolen my car. Please give it back. I need it.


Also, congrats dude!

Thanks brother.

Unfortunately possession is 9/10th of the law so she is mine now and I can't give her back.

 

[modocrat]

Congrats and welcome.

 

[AshG108]

Congrats on your purchase, looks super neat!
Welcome to the Fanatics, you will love the brand and have some great fun with like minded guys here too!

 

[_G_2_]

Congrats and welcome.

Thanks bro

 

[_G_2_]

Congrats on your purchase, looks super neat!
Welcome to the Fanatics, you will love the brand and have some great fun with like minded guys here too!

Thank you and I'm sure I will!

 

[_G_2_]

The itch to make minor visual tweaks has already kicked in but after the first 2 small updates the itch has only gotten much worse. I've changed my side mirror covers to the gloss black M2 style mirrors and also swapped the kidney grill out for an all blacked out one.

What do you guys think?

https://flic.kr/p/2rBHsvP

https://flic.kr/p/2rBHswf

https://flic.kr/p/2rBHsw5

https://flic.kr/p/2rBGdyj

 

[_G_2_]

I have 2 items left on my shortlist for immediate visual improvements and I'm hoping someone has some good recommendations for me for the JHB area (live and work in the greater randburg area). Initially the priority was wrapping my roof black to match the rest of the 2 tone look but after using ai to show me what my car will look like with blacked out rims that immediately became the priority.

This is where I need a bit of advise and then recommendations for who I should go to to have it done. I am hesitant to just spray my OEM rims (which I do like) black just on the off chance that I don't like the look then I can't just go back easily which is why I'm wondering if it is firstly possible and then is it advisable to wrapped your rims?

If it is possible and no one advising strongly against wrapping my rims then does anyone have a recommendation of where I can go to have it done & approx what will it cost to have it wrapped? Then I also want to wrap the roof for which I'm also looking for a recommendation of who to go to and an idea of what it will likely cost.

Here is the picture I got from ai showing me what my rims would look like blacked out:

https://flic.kr/p/2rBZEoc

 

[modocrat]

Don't. ruin. it.

 

[_G_2_]

Don't. ruin. it.

By wrapping the roof or wrapping the rims or both?

Here is where I got my inspiration for wrapping the roof and it looks super clean.

 

[Urban963]

By wrapping the roof or wrapping the rims or both?

Here is where I got my inspiration for wrapping the roof and it looks super clean.

Mine is black. It looks good. however I think there are better areas to spend money on the car, if that's what you feel like doing.

Stock sound is super crap in my opinion, I'd start there. Updating the infotainment was also a must for me, but maybe it's okay for you.

 

[modocrat]

By wrapping the roof or wrapping the rims or both?

Here is where I got my inspiration for wrapping the roof and it looks super clean.

Both.

 

[_G_2_]

Mine is black. It looks good. however I think there are better areas to spend money on the car, if that's what you feel like doing.

Stock sound is super crap in my opinion, I'd start there. Updating the infotainment was also a must for me, but maybe it's okay for you.

I've already got the wires tapped from the amp & battery in the boot and I was gonna put in an old 12" sub and amp that I had but discovered that the rubber on my old sub had perished in a couple of spots so it sounds terrible. So I have to get a new sub and will get a new amp at the same time because the one I have is unnecessarily large.

Mine didn't come fitted with the HK sound system unfortunately and those tiny 8" subs under the seats try their best but the sound is definitely high on my list as well. What are your recommendations? Would you replace the factory fitted speakers before putting in more sound?

 

[Urban963]

I've already got the wires tapped from the amp & battery in the boot and I was gonna put in an old 12" sub and amp that I had but discovered that the rubber on my old sub had perished in a couple of spots so it sounds terrible. So I have to get a new sub and will get a new amp at the same time because the one I have is unnecessarily large.

Mine didn't come fitted with the HK sound system unfortunately and those tiny 8" subs under the seats try their best but the sound is definitely high on my list as well. What are your recommendations? Would you replace the factory fitted speakers before putting in more sound?

I'm sure there are people here who could give better advice on the sound. I was looking at something like this, as I'd prefer to keep things in their factory locations without eating into my boot space.

Gladen ONE 201 BMW ALPHA Combo - Speakers, Underseat Subwoofers & Tweeters - Autostyle Motorsport South Africa

Gladen ONE 201 BMW ALPHA Combo - Speakers, Underseat Subwoofers & Tweeters - Autostyle Motorsport South Africa %

www.autostyle.co.za

 

[_G_2_]

Both.

I am definitely concerned about ruining it which is why I thought going with a wrap at least gives me an easy why to revert back but obviously just at the loss of everything it cost to have it done in the first place.

What did you think of the look of that guy's wrapped roof in the youtube link I posted or you not get a chance to check it yet?

 

[_G_2_]

I'm sure there are people here who could give better advice on the sound. I was looking at something like this, as I'd prefer to keep things in their factory locations without eating into my boot space.

Gladen ONE 201 BMW ALPHA Combo - Speakers, Underseat Subwoofers & Tweeters - Autostyle Motorsport South Africa

Gladen ONE 201 BMW ALPHA Combo - Speakers, Underseat Subwoofers & Tweeters - Autostyle Motorsport South Africa %

www.autostyle.co.za

Yeah I get that but the boots in these 2 series coupes are massive so a 10" or 12" sub in a box that isn't excessively large will barely take up 20% of my boot space and I can get a small mono block amp that can fit in the same "hidden" compartment where the factory amp is installed. I don't want to overdo it and I don't want to open up my doors to get to those speakers to replace them. The 2x 8" subs, rear speakers and front center speaker seems to be quite easy to get to so I'm less resistant to swapping them out for better ones.

Any serious car sound guys wanna weigh in here and give me so suggestions/advise?

 

[PsyCLown]

Congrats on the car, the F22's are awesome!

It's your car so end of the day, do what will make you happy.
Personally, I am not a fan of the black wrap on the roof. My friend recently purchased a mineral grey M240i, he wants to spray the rims gloss black. Initially I was agains't it but after him showing me some pics I kinda like it actually.

Regarding the sound, why not consider an Infinite Baffle (IB) subwoofer install? No enclosure required. From what I recall, the F22 has 40/20/40 folding rear seats?
I'd look at replacing the speakers first and possibly adding an amp later if needed. I'd look at replacing the front speakers (in the doors) and the woofers under the seats at least. I would not worry about removing the door cards, its quite easy and if you do damage a clip you can purchase replacement clips.
Not sure on your budget, but there are many options. If you want something higher end consider Audio Frog, they have some direct fit speakers or perhaps a more DIY route with Scan Speak or similar driver. Otherwise you could look at the kits from Focal, Gladen, Blam etc.

 

[_G_2_]

Congrats on the car, the F22's are awesome!

It's your car so end of the day, do what will make you happy.
Personally, I am not a fan of the black wrap on the roof. My friend recently purchased a mineral grey M240i, he wants to spray the rims gloss black. Initially I was agains't it but after him showing me some pics I kinda like it actually.

Regarding the sound, why not consider an Infinite Baffle (IB) subwoofer install? No enclosure required. From what I recall, the F22 has 40/20/40 folding rear seats?
I'd look at replacing the speakers first and possibly adding an amp later if needed. I'd look at replacing the front speakers (in the doors) and the woofers under the seats at least. I would not worry about removing the door cards, its quite easy and if you do damage a clip you can purchase replacement clips.
Not sure on your budget, but there are many options. If you want something higher end consider Audio Frog, they have some direct fit speakers or perhaps a more DIY route with Scan Speak or similar driver. Otherwise you could look at the kits from Focal, Gladen, Blam etc.

Thanks for the ideas. I've been going hard down the rabbit hole and it does seem like you should either go big and swap out everything with one of those kits from focal, gladen or a couple others and then you have to put in a pretty decent (and expensive) amp to drive all of that. I'll see what black friday specials there are and I might end up just biting the bullet and forking out a decent amount of cash if one of those systems are on a decent special.

Regarding the black wrap, I was initially very keen on the black wrapped roof but when I saw the ai generated version of my car with the blacked out rims I instantly loved it. I can see how blacking out the roof with my rims blacked out will probably be too much. Do you know whether you can even wrap rims and if so where in JHB would I be able to get it done?