I have a 2008 MCS on order. I added hi-fi for $500. I am thinking of calling the dealer, dropping the hi-fi, and replacing it w/ Sirius ($599 with 1 year of service).

I have read bad things about the hi-fi. To impove the stock system, is it as simple as putting 2 new speakers in each door? If it's that simple, I'd rather pay the money on the integrated Sirius unit.

Thanks.

 

Hmmm, I don't know if it's as easy as putting 2 new speakers in each door. The 6 speakers of the base sound system are powered solely by the headunit. So the best of speakers won't be able to make up for a lack of wattage. Also you miss out on dedicated tweeters by foregoing HiFi.

My suggestion would be to try it out at your dealer. Some love it while others hate it, but at the end of the day it's your MINI so you'll have to decide if the HiFi (or even base sound for that matter) suffices. Some also despise Sirius and say really bad things about it. Everyone has an opinion...

Best of luck

 

And people are saying bad thing about Sirius too! As M said, You have to try the stereos at the dealer. All ears are different.

 

I have the audio package with my 07. It comes with both. However I am not impressed with the sound quality of Sirius. I've never used Sat radio before the Mini so I don't have any reference for it but FM sounds clearer to me than the Sat radio stuff. HD radio quality is much clearer than sat radio too.

I would go with the hi-fi system without sat radio if I had to choose between those.

 

I went with Sirius. I love it! I plan to change the speakers soon, so the HiFi was not for me. I've already added a Infinity Basslink that really improved things.

 

Sat. radio has what I like to call ".mp3" sound. The compression level used gives off an echo-ish, tinny sound...kind of like internet radio.

Having said that..I listen to it more than regular radio or CD as I really love the variety and lack of commercials.

It's a trade off that I find to be worth it.

Now I'm looking at that Infinity Basslink to round things out! I'm just so frustrated right now because I'm sitting on a JL 8w3v2, and Eclipse 12 Titanium and a new, still in the box Alpine mono amp. I want to use the amp with one of those subs but I'm digging the Basslink removable design. I suppose I could just do a quick disconnect on the sub box and have the same thing.

I wish I could trade both these subs in for a good 10" W6 or W7 though

 

I would suggest just getting the regular radio and then getting an after market
deck that has Sirius. You will save alot and get better sound by going this rout. Use that 599 for something like rims or power adders.

 

NO Hi-fi! It is the by far the worst factory stereo I've ever had. Swapping it all out tomorrow (speakers, amp)...

Unless you like your music quiet since thats the best the sound gets. If you turn it up loud it distorts :(

My vote would be for the standard system with an aftermarket upgrade!

 

I vote for neither. The hi-fi system is not worth $500. I have it in mine because I got the premium package, but after hearing it, I'm very disappointed. I wouldn't get Sirius either though. I'm still waiting for an integrated XM solution. Until then, I've got my Xpress RC and my 8 GB USB flash drive.

 

I think the hi-fi option is O.K., nothing more. You get more speakers and added power, but no real base. I had about the same opinion about the H/K on my 2002 BMW wagon. It was O.K., but no way was it worth the extra money. As for satellite radio, it's not CD quality, but I love XM (I use a portable setup). You'll hear a range of music on satellite radio you just can't get anywhere else. It's often reminiscent of late 60's freeform FM, when they played anything and everything, and had no commercials, because they had no sponsors!

 

I have "The works". I poured a bunch of money into a high quality amp and very high quality speakers (front and rear) to upgrade my standard system. I also had the dealer install Sirius after doing without it for a few weeks and missing it too much (have one in the other car). With all the options, I find myself listening to Sirius more than anything else because of the variety even though you lose some quality due to compression. This is just the nature of the beast when it comes to satellite. Lousy interface unless you have the NAV. My IPod is loaded with most of my music but how do you get exposed to something new if you don't use your FM or have satellite?

HD option? . . . HD in my area is pretty limited so be sure to check what is being broadcast locally before shelling out for this option. Often it is the same stuff as regular FM, just higher quality sound complete with all the commercials.

HiFi or Standard? . . . tough question. You WILL be replacing speakers either way. Get the HiFi if your okay with a mediocre amp and just want to replace the God-awful front speakers. This is a fairly easy upgrade. Get the standard system if you're going "all the way" and will be putting in a much better amp and possibly a signal processor when you replace the front and rear speakers. This upgrade is considerably more complex and expensive.

Good luck,
poyzin

 

After market decks are not really an option with 2007-2008 MINIs. The integration with the speedo and optic bus makes it pretty much impossible.

poyzin

 

I just came home with my '08 MCS. Got the HiFi because I was hoping it would stack up to my previous MCS-JCW '06 Harmon-Kardon speakers. What a disappointment - not even close. I am headed back to the dealership or MINI to get my $500 back.

 

The hifi is not the greatest, but it is not the worst either. At lower volumes the stereo sounds great. It colors the sound a little too much but not in a really bad way. The distortion that occurs from turning the radio up only occurs on some songs, and by some i mean most. It seems that if the song was mastered pre 2003 there are issues in distortion.
That being said these are just my opinions, and i don't listen to real bass heavy music.

 

Having the Hi-Fi option gives you the tweeters in the front pillar. I know that a few people here have replaced out their stock HI-FI speakers with aftermarket speakers with great results. In L.A. there are lots of HD radio choices and I enjoy it. As far as Sirius goes, some stations are compressed differently than others. The talk stations are more heavily compressed than some of the music ones. I enjoy my lifetime sirius as well as the HD radio.

Best advice, go to the dealer and listen to both standard and HIFI and let your ears be the judge.

 

I have to say, I am quite happy with my Premium Hi-Fi package. The sounds is very solid, and I get deep bass enough that I am reconsidering buying the subwoofer that I chose prior to taking delivery of the car!
It really has some thump to it! I'm listening to Apple Lossless encoded music from my various iPods and I can honestly tell you that I can hear the difference quite clearly between an Apple Lossless file and a 320kbps MP3 in my car.
I would suggest that some of you iPod/MP3 users are actually hearing more detail than you are used to. The rule of "garbage in, garbage out" is golden in audio.
Just think - you may never have noticed a sound difference between your various music files before - especially if you use the crappy white ear buds that came with your iPod. Now that you've got a (arguably) high quality system you like to crank your music on, you're hearing "distorted" bass and all kinds of things that the insensitive iPod earbuds are built to avoid.
Anyone who really hates their Premium Hi Fi should follow these two steps if you ask me...
1) Allow 1000k before passing judgement and in the meantime give yourself some time to get to know the difference in sources/audio formats.
2) Put a audio CD (not MP3) in the CD player of the same music you have tried on your iPod. That is the best true measure of what the deck and speakers can do.

As an aside - my dealer told me that the service guy who drove my car to the dealer for me to pickup actually called the dealer to check if some kind of subwoofer had been installed!? He told the dealer he'd never heard such solid bass from the factory Premium Hi Fi. They may have made some recent changes to the factory install - I think so especially after reading these posts!