Dr. Don's radio repair 95 525i

[Russellc]

The stock radio in my 95 BMW 525i died. Believe it was the power supply As I did not want to replace it with a new flashy radio, I just sent it to Dr. Dons in Huntsville Texas and he restored it completely. He replaced power supply, belts, bulbs and lubed everything etc. for $195 including shipping. Shipped it and had it back in my hands in less than 10 days. Works perfectly. Understand he is a legend to the Corvette people.


Here is the link to his web site. http://www.doctordons.com/ He was also mentioned in the Roundel and Bimmer magazines. by Mike Miller in Tech Talk.

[e34fan80]

I bought a "flashy" new Kenwood deck a few days ago for $99, plus the adapter - I think I was around $120. Considering that it includes HD radio, CD player, USB connectivity and other modern functionality, it seems like the better way to go.

I would have preferred to have the original deck repaired, but for $195 I have to question why (aside from the purist approach of keeping things completely factory and/or wanting cassette playback).

Not dissing your information, I'm saving the link in case I want to get my factory deck fixed. It has the dreaded static and popping speaker noise problems, which I know is probably due to worn solder joints since I can touch the heatsink on the back and the popping noise is consistent with touch.

[Russellc]

Believe me, I thought long and hard about it. I did find a few "not so flashy" looking head units that looked good from Crutchfield in the $150 to $200 price range that looked plug and play. I just wanted to keep the stock look and use my CD changer. I also have a replacement Cd changer. That said, I very seldom use it though. Also, I cannot prove it, but I heard the 95 e34s had an improved audio system over earlier models?? I also believe the CD changers were specific to that year. Who knows, it it fails again, I go with something different.

[me78569]

I found this after a bit of searching for $60 open box, but new.

http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab360/me78569/20140718_145726_zpslnvvhsrr.jpg (http://s879.photobucket.com/user/me78569/media/20140718_145726_zpslnvvhsrr.jpg.html)

Knob is now painted black and I don't think it looks flashy. Bluetooth enabled with all the bells and whistles of a newer radio. When I turn the car on the radio automatically connects to my phone and I can play music without touching the phone. It links to pandora etc. seeing as I rarely listen to the radio anymore it didn't make sense to find or fix the 24 year old radio.

don't get me wrong I liked the oem radio, but I couldn't justify the cost of getting one.

[Russellc]

Nice, Looks like one I considered. I just wanted, at this time, to keep the car stock.

[SW530]

I like the stock radio. If you actually listen to off the air broadcasts you can't beat it, it receives and filters better than the much cheaper built $100-$400 range of radios.

With that said, I didn't like the crappy radio Ford put in my Mustang Cobra (Shaker 600 I think) so I tore it and the speakers, amps, etc.. out of it.. over 90lbs of stuff. Unbelievable. I replaced it with $800 and 45lbs worth of Crutchfield magic and it sounds a lot better..