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Thread: 6 Disc CD Changer Fix

  1. #26
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    98 740iL
    It might be the changer getting stuck while moving the discs around....

    FWIW: I did the laser fix, and turned up the potentiometer, and even with a tight and hard ride from bilsteins and eibachs, there is....drum roll please....NO MORE SKIPPING!!!!

  2. #27
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    e38 97 740il
    Which way do you turn it and how much? Anyone have a better picture of this?
    1994 325ic - 5spd - Dinan Stage II - CF Intake - Exhaust - Throttle Body - Software - Suspension - M Bumper and Door Trim - Smoked Lights


  3. #28
    Join Date
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    98 740iL, 01 Suzuki TL10
    This is a great thread. I sold my old changer to my buddy to put in his 750iL...I don't remember it skipping that badly I'm going to do this tonight and get her all cleaned up...crossing my fingers!

    Quote Originally Posted by Edwin NL View Post
    Great info I will see to it that it ends up on E38.org
    Who "owns" that site anyways? I always refer people to that site, as you can see in my sig, so we don't have to regurgitate the same posts over and over again....it hasn't worked though
    Last edited by m5james; 07-18-2009 at 07:43 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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  4. #29
    Join Date
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    2000 740 il, 2004 R1
    Quote Originally Posted by maharaj1 View Post
    Alright so i still have the stock CD changer in the 740iL. Not to long ago it started to skip really bad, give me CD ERROR messages and would freeze up when i would skip tracks. I finally decided I had three options
    1) Leave it as it is and deal with it
    2) Scrap my stock tape player and put in an aftermarket
    3) Try and fix it myself

    As you would guess i did the third one (Sorry i did not take pics)
    Materials:
    1) 2 Philips screwrrivers one medium size one small size
    2) Rubbing Alcohol
    3) Cotton Swabs
    4) Responsibility for your actions as this is a DIY Solution.

    Alright step by step

    1) Remove the cd magazine. Remove the trim panel that surrounds the CD Changer and Amp. There are two (push pins/locks). To remove them hold the back side of them and just screw it off.

    2) Remove the four screws mounting the changer to the brackets. Two in the front and two in the left side.

    3) Carefully pull the changer out and disconnect the three wires coming out of it.

    4) Alright there are 8-10 black screws that secure a cover onto the changer remove all of them. They are on the left right and back side.

    5) Lift the cover off from all sides DO NOT try and lift from front to back or you will bend the back piece out of place. Once removed set it aside.

    6) Delicate Part Here: From the back lift the assembly out so that the previously exposed side is face down.

    7) Now you should see the laser and the gear mechanism that moves it in and out. There is a little silver bar that it moves on. On each side there is a small screw and bracket that hold it down (You might want to manually wheel out the assembly so its easier to remove and later replace). Remove on of these in order to lift out the laser assembly (Dont completely remove the braket leave it in there a little bit so putting the bar back in is easier.

    8) Carefully lift the laser assembly out and clean the laser head and area around it with the alcohol and cotton swabs. Chances are it was pretty dirty with dust and what not,(mine was) you might also want to get a can of compressed air to blow out any more dust.

    9) Notice that the bottom of the laser assembly has a gap and the piece of metal beneath it has to fit in there for smooth operation and to keep the laser in position.

    10) Put the laser assembly rod under the bracket and tighten down the clamp.

    11) Flip the assembly back in the changer case. And put all the black screws back. It may take a little while because you have to get the hole in the cd changer aligned woth the holes in the case. Be sure the ejection button and assembly are locked in properly. Tighten all down.

    12) To put the changer back in the bracket put in the mounting screw that goes in on the top left side and slide it and. After that put the remaining three in and replace the trim panel.

    13) Replace the magazine and go for a test drive.

    This worked for me i tested all my discs and workder like a charm no CD ERROR messages or freezing up on me. Now I can rock out to all my CD's.


    GOOD LUCK

    Decided to give this a shot, got tired of the error message.

    I seem to be stuck on step #6. It doesnt lift out. Theres a bunch of springs and these rubber mounts holding it down. Do i unscrew all that stuff? thats not in the write up???

  5. #30
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    M62 on steroids yeah!
    Quote Originally Posted by bmerd View Post
    I took mine apart and cleaned the laser but still getting CD error. I just am not sure about going any further. Need some help here please.
    Mine stops playing when I hit bumps too, and right now it won't play at all...it just gives me the error message. I would try the cleaning but it seems like Alot of steps.
    "Secondly, there are plenty of realistic BMW owners in here posting that they lost. I don't see you asking asinine questions in their threads. What about the Ferrari kills Ingenere posts?"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTLr...e_gdata_player

  6. #31
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    It actually wasn't that hard to do...took me maybe 30 minutes total w/ an ohm reader and all.
    650hp 10 X5///M5
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    190hp 97 328ci
    PERFORMANCE:Single mass flywheel, ///M3 clutch
    EXTERIOR:Z4///M staggered 18's, rolled fenders, tinted markers

  7. #32
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    lewiston, ID
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    97 328is & 94 530i
    YOU MUST HAVE A MULTIMETER....lol Its like puttin yer pecker in a dark hole in a mens bathroom without it. the potentiometer has three legs on it holding to the laser assembly. two legs on one side and one on the other. Put one lead, doesnt really matter which one, on the single leg side and try both legs on the other side. you will get very close to 0 ohms on one leg and anywhere from 800-2k ohms on the other. Once you have the correct leg and are reading a number of ohms, just turn the potentiometer one way or the other until you see the amount of ohms decrease. More ohms = less power to laser. our goal is more power to the laser. do it in small increments and retry it until it works. If you over shoot it, it will not work. start small and work your way down. I swear on my momma that this will work if you are simply having read issues.....the bump in the road deal is totally different issue


    BTW sorry for long delay on this thread, been busy with a new baby girl!
    Last edited by disabledfuture; 01-06-2010 at 10:41 AM.

  8. #33
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    Mar 2009
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    Loveland Colorado
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    98 740il
    Quote Originally Posted by disabledfuture View Post
    YOU MUST HAVE A MULTIMETER....lol Its like puttin yer pecker in a dark hole in a mens bathroom without it. the potentiometer has three legs on it holding to the laser assembly. two legs on one side and one on the other. Put one lead, doesnt really matter which one, on the single leg side and try both legs on the other side. you will get very close to 0 ohms on one leg and anywhere from 800-2k ohms on the other. Once you have the correct leg and are reading a number of ohms, just turn the potentiometer one way or the other until you see the amount of ohms decrease. More ohms = less power to laser. our goal is more power to the laser. do it in small increments and retry it until it works. If you over shoot it, it will not work. start small and work your way down. I swear on my momma that this will work if you are simply having read issues.....the bump in the road deal is totally different issue















    BTW sorry for long delay on this thread, been busy with a new baby girl!
    Have to take your word on the dark hole in a men's room as i Have no experience with that.
    But did want to say congratulations on the new baby girl. I do have experience with that. Smedley

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by 740R1 View Post
    Decided to give this a shot, got tired of the error message.

    I seem to be stuck on step #6. It doesnt lift out. Theres a bunch of springs and these rubber mounts holding it down. Do i unscrew all that stuff? thats not in the write up???
    If I recall there are four rubber mounts/shock absorbers held down by screws and if that is what you are talking about then I believe you must remove them.

    -Fully Rebuilt M52-Ported & Polished Head-3 Angle Valve Job-S52 Cams-540 MAF-24lb Injectors-BBTB-Longtube Headers-TRM Tune-ZF 5 Speed Swap-M50 Manifold-AFE Stage II 3.5" CAI-Remus Exhaust-Rokkor Coilovers-Polyurethane Bushings-ZHP Shift Knob-Sport Seats-M-Technic Body-EBC Cross Drilled & Slotted Rotors-EBC Red Stuff Pads-Euro Foglights-DJ Auto-Clear Lights-M Tech Side Moldings-VDO Gauge Pod-BBS RC-M Tech 1 Steering Wheel-BSW D210-Motion Motorsport Under Panel
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  10. #35
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    i don't remember any shock mounts or rubber things. I just had to wraaastle it a bit to get it apart.
    I believe I turned the screw CLOCKWISE, and it was just a 1/4 or 1/2 of a turn. I was comfortable taking it apart, and felt like I could put it back together again.
    This is from a guy terrified of working on his own car.
    '98 BMW 740iL. Oxford Green Metallic/Tan leather, Bilstein B6s', Eibach Springs, 130,000 miles

  11. #36
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    Yea trust me i was to considering the changer is a pretty expensive piece of equipment, but I figured its either try and fix it myself or fork out some bucks and buy a new one.

    -Fully Rebuilt M52-Ported & Polished Head-3 Angle Valve Job-S52 Cams-540 MAF-24lb Injectors-BBTB-Longtube Headers-TRM Tune-ZF 5 Speed Swap-M50 Manifold-AFE Stage II 3.5" CAI-Remus Exhaust-Rokkor Coilovers-Polyurethane Bushings-ZHP Shift Knob-Sport Seats-M-Technic Body-EBC Cross Drilled & Slotted Rotors-EBC Red Stuff Pads-Euro Foglights-DJ Auto-Clear Lights-M Tech Side Moldings-VDO Gauge Pod-BBS RC-M Tech 1 Steering Wheel-BSW D210-Motion Motorsport Under Panel
    Cars: 2005 BMW 545i-2004 BMW X5 4.4i-2004 BMW 645ci-1999 BMW 528i-1995 BMW 325is-1994 BMW 840i-1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SL-2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Turbo Diesel

  12. #37
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    Jun 2010
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    1998 740iL
    Hey guys, here it is 2010 and I look up this thread and wholla, my friend and I try the laser clean and it worked. Thank you and thank you again Maharail you've got skills and I got your back!!!!!!! I can appreciate genuine help. joerand.

  13. #38
    Join Date
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    I need to do this to a customers 750iL, but I can't remember if I'm supposed to spin it clockwise (sounds the most logical) or counter-clockwise to increase the lasers signal strength. Since you just did it, do you remember?
    650hp 10 X5///M5
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    325hp 98 BMW 740iL6
    PERFORMANCE:///M5 6spd swap, iron sleeves, L/W Teflon coated & silicone impregnated pistons, Sealed Power rings, 3 angle valvejob, P&P head, perf cams, electric fan, CF intake tube w/aluminium heatshield/wrapped MAF tubing, Magnaflow 14816'd, Eaton M112 in-work
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  14. #39
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    Cool

    I have two dead cd players to play with. I'll let you know. It's "potentiometer turn" time.

    Saludos,

    Pedro

  15. #40
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    It was my turn to try this. My player started skipping or not reading when during long road trips when it was hot. Slowly it quit working and just said no CD's when the pack was full. This was actually a very simple procedure.

    I removed the CD player from the truck. Removed the small screws from the side and back of the case, 6 total I believe. As has been stated before, lift from the back first so the front clips will pull away from the face plate, which does not need to be removed. You now have access to the potentiometer. I, foolishly, removed the assembly to check the laser eye. Not a hint of dust/dirt on the q-tip I used with alcohol. There were 3 leads as disablefeature stated there would be. I put one lead on the lead that is by itself on one side and the other, one at a time, on the other two. Once I determined which to use, #'s 1 and 2 in the pic, I rotated clockwise as suggested earlier. This was the wrong way. I went from 400 ohm to 450 with a 1/3 turn. I went back to what would be 1/3 counter clockwise and brought me to around 325ohms. My meter is not really designed for this but it is close enough. From previous measurements I have seen on here, I wonder if this has been done already on mine. I put it back together and put it back in the car. It works!

    Much appreciation to all the contributors.

    Sorry I don't have better pics.

    View with cover off. You can adjust the potentiometer without going any further.




    I went ahead and removed the mechanism to check the laser since I was unable to run a cleaning disc.

    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Mayorchuck; 02-25-2011 at 03:29 PM. Reason: Correct pictures

  16. #41
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    I just wanted to take the time to say that my CD Changer would NOT play ANYTHING. Just gave me a CD ERROR message.

    I adjusted the potentiometer to 899ohms. and it started playing INSTANTLY!

  17. #42
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    Good work!

  18. #43
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    I really need to do this diy ASAP but before stumbling accross this thread I was planning on just getting one of those laser cleaning CDs that have the bristles on it but was concerned about how that would work in our 6disc cd changers. I'm probably going to try this diy first because it's free. I know this is an old thread but I'm sure it will be useful to a lot of people because it seems fairly simple solution to a common problem.

  19. #44
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    So I tried this yesterday. I took apart the unit, cleaned the lens and turned up the potentiometer and now it's working even worse than before. The CD player keeps reading error, or no cd, and when a cd does get read and starts playing there is a static sound coming from the speakers as well. I will be buying a new unit Monday. I was super psyched to try this and was pretty downed when it didn't work. Why is it that whenever I try a "easy fix" that it doesn't work and I end up breaking something else? Just my luck I guess. On a side note to remove the lens assembly which is attached to the underside of the peice the potentiometer is on in the pics above you must loosen the two screws that hold down two metal clips that pin down the rod that the lens assembly slides up and down on. Just loosen the two clips, slide them to the side then remove the lens assembly. KIt should be fairly easy to figure this out but I was worried if I started taking too much apart to look for it that I might not be able to put it back together again. Good luck to anybody who wants to try this. From the posts above it does work, just not for everyone I guess. Good thing replacement units are only about $40.
    Last edited by Don corns; 04-18-2015 at 09:29 AM.

  20. #45
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    Did you rotate clockwise or counter? As noted in my post, I found it to be the opposite of the original instructions of clockwise.

  21. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mayorchuck View Post
    Did you rotate clockwise or counter? As noted in my post, I found it to be the opposite of the original instructions of clockwise.
    Immade sure to rotate counter clockwise as noted in your post.

  22. #47
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    E38 740iL
    Hi friends. Sry for my bad english,but i want to ask about cd changer) i have a problem,like a cd error. When i put the magazine with 4 cds,my obc shows,that all cds a good(on cd 5 and 6 shows no cd,thats good) but when i select cd 1 or 2,its try to play,and show me cd error.. Now i want to try clear the laser in cd changer,and adjust the pontentiometer,but i hawe a question,wich side i must adjust the pontentiometer? clockwise or counter the clockwise? And how much oms must be when I adjust it. For example,if i hawe 800 oms,and it must more or less for(beter is more or less in this adjustable ) Thaks for answers

  23. #48
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    Working CD changer from 2001 E38 with cartridge and mounting screws for sale: $40, free US shipping. Send PM if interested.

    Frankie
    Texas, USA
    frankies-bmw.com

  24. #49
    Join Date
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    '97 540i Dinan, 98 740iL
    That Pioneer CD changer in the E38 is the biggest POS I've ever seen!
    I don't think there's any good way to replace it with one that actually works consistently, and still be able to use the integrated controls (dash & steering wheel). The stock stereo with DSP is decent once you replace the invariably blown-out midranges in the doors, and a single 10" subwoofer in a small trunk box. It doesn't take up much of that huge trunk, either.

    I had my changer worked on by a well-reviewed repair place and it still doesn't always work especially in extremes of temperature.
    '98 740iL E38 201k, TCG at 190k, 5HP24 at 195k
    '97 540i/6 E39 Dinan blower & stage 1 suspension 114k
    '93 525i E34 "Golf Ball" (hail damaged) 334k

  25. #50
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    Anyone can help?

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