Well I decided that I'd like a little more bass in the 7 so I purchased a Basslink off eBay. It showed up yesterday, so I installed it. It's installed in the trunk directly behind the passenger side seat. It faces rearward and hangs from the rear deck. I played with it in a number of positions and that seemed to produce the most bass. I'm driving it with the speaker level inputs that are spliced into the rear deck "subs".

Now that it's installed, I'd like to start messing with the various settings. How have you all dialed your Basslink in? There are five new variables on the Basslink alone. Factor in the headunit's adjustments, and I'm not sure where to start:

Basslink: Phase, Gain, Remote Gain, Crossover, Bass Boost
Stereo: DSP, Tone-->Bass

Also, the trunk is sealed pretty tight. What sort of difference did removing the ski-hole knock out make for any of you? How about removing two of the rear deck subs to create a passageway into the trunk?

Any help would be appreciated.

Sounds like you mounted yours exactly where I did, but on the opposite side (mines on the drivers side).

What I did was to "neutralize" the bass from the head unit and adjust the sound on the unit. I didn't install the remote, so this required a lot of back and forth between the "cockpit" and the trunk to turn some more dials. I have a ski sack, so I tried opening up the little door to see if this made a big difference - not enough IMHO to keep the thing open all the time...

I wish I could tell you exactly what settings I used, but after I did the install, I realized that the knobs were on the "wrong side" and that I had to twist them by feel since they were so close to the trunk wall....

Cheers,

Basslink: Phase, Gain, Remote Gain, Crossover, Bass Boost
Stereo: DSP, Tone-->Bass
Any help would be appreciated.

BAsed on my limited knowledge... I installed one of these in my 540 and in my current 740il. Took it out of my 740 to get back golf club space.

Phase - controls (kind-of) controls when and which direction the woffer fires. You want the basslink and your other woofers to be 'exhaling' a the same time. Meaning, all woofer cones moving out/in at the same time. Phase controls this. s/b a switch, not a variable knob. if you hear a lot of rumble, you may be 'out of phase' with your other speakers, flip the switch. I set this at about "2 O'clock"

Gain - kind of like volume. more gain means the Basslinks amp will add more power to the incoming signal. more gain = LOUDER I set this at about "12 O'clock"

Remote Gain - no clue. is this the place to hook up the remote?

Crossover - This adjusts the frequency cuttoff for the amp. Lower = lower bass. Higher gets into mid-bass frequencies. Too high and you will notice 'shadow' midrange from the woofer. Ideally, set the crossover at the low end of the existing mid-bass drivers in the car. around 50HZ, I would guess. Also, you want to focus the power of the amp on low frequencies (bass) where you need the most help, right. I set this at about "11 O'clock"

Bass Boost is like the 'loudness' on a cheap stereo. When the volume is low, it adds bass. I don't like ot and didn;t use it. Sounds too boomy at low volumes

DSP won;t affect your basslink unless you used the rear speaker leads to send a signal to the basslink. If you did, you will get a delayed signal to the basslink with DSP on (DSP is a digitally created surround signal, usually delays the rear speaker signal to create a sense of space). It will sond much tighter with DSP off, if you used the rear speaker leads for Basslink signal

Tone-> Bass I would leave this 'flat' (or right smack in the middle) and use the knobs on basslink to control the bass. You'll get a cleaner sound IMHO

Hope this helps

Bear

Well hot damn if that wasn't a kick-ass answer!!! Thanks!! I think the key to all of this is a midget. A trunk-midget to be exact. Well, a deaf trunk-midget. That way he can get in the trunk and mess with all this stuff and I can somehow provide feedback to have him adjust the various things. Crap, where the hell am I going to get a deaf trunk-midget? I guess my wife will have to do!


Phase - controls (kind-of) controls when and which direction the woffer fires. You want the basslink and your other woofers to be 'exhaling' a the same time. Meaning, all woofer cones moving out/in at the same time. Phase controls this. s/b a switch, not a variable knob. if you hear a lot of rumble, you may be 'out of phase' with your other speakers, flip the switch. I set this at about "2 O'clock"

It's a switch: 0° or 180°. Sounds like I'll have to F with it. Or my wife will when she's in the trunk.

Remote Gain - no clue. is this the place to hook up the remote?

Yeah, there is a remote control for the gain in addition to the gain control on the Basslink itself. I'm not sure how these interact.

Bass Boost is like the 'loudness' on a cheap stereo. When the volume is low, it adds bass. I don't like ot and didn;t use it. Sounds too boomy at low volumes?

I think this might be the key. It seems very bassy at low volumes. Where's my wife at?

DSP won;t affect your basslink unless you used the rear speaker leads to send a signal to the basslink. If you did, you will get a delayed signal to the basslink with DSP on (DSP is a digitally created surround signal, usually delays the rear speaker signal to create a sense of space). It will sond much tighter with DSP off, if you used the rear speaker leads for Basslink signal

I wired it to all four of the rear deck subwoofers. I'm not sure if this is correct, but is sure seams logical.

Thanks for the info!

Gain - kind of like volume. more gain means the Basslinks amp will add more power to the incoming signal. more gain = LOUDER I set this at about "12 O'clock"



Bear

gain is NOT used for VOLUME. the gain is used to match the voltage coming from the pre outs (rca's) on the head unit to the amp. if u crank it up the sub will run hot and could fail.

Just found this site. I wish I had seen this thread earlier.

I recently purchased a Basslink. I was thinking of installing it in the left rear corner of the trunk, on the floor. However, there is a cover/plate under the carpet that I'm afraid to put a mounting screw into. It's just behind the spare tire well. Does anyone know what it is?

The location described in previous posts just may be the ticket. Just hang from the rear deck facing forward. It seems that distance between the brackets will work better on the passenger side. Is everyone still happy with the sound from that location? Any other safe mounting locations to consider?

My car is a 325i, but maybe you guys can help.

I used some short screws, a couple went into the metal under the carpet, and couple went into the plastic liner around the spare well. Screws were short enough not to be a problem, but I would stick to short screws.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/2/web/206000-206999/206524_206_full.jpg
(Yes, it's a milk crate. Color matches the trunk carpet tho... :) )


I don't have the ski bag, but I removed the panel and replaced it with speaker grille. Kept the trunk carpet intact but removed some of the insulation in front of it. Made only a slight improvement, and I likely would not take the time to do it if I had to do it again.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/2/web/206000-206999/206524_184_full.jpg


Unlike Jack, I decided to run the remote wire. I am very happy with it, as I do make adjustments once in a while.
A few more pics here (http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/206524/5)

Thanks for the advice and the pics. Very nicely done install. Instead of the 1 1/4 inch screws Infinity gives you, I'll try 1 inch if you think that's about right.

Yes, I think that was about the right size...1"

Good luck!