CD Changer Woes

[m3avrck]

Hey all! So over Thanksgiving I put some cd's in the changer and off I go no problems whatsoever. Come home to find out the CDs won't come out, no problem I'll get them later. Go off to school and come back, damn CDs won't come out. Ok something is wrong, still playing around with it when I noticed the green light isn't lit... ok so the unit has no power. So I check to see if the power adapter has power and it measures 12 volts. I plug in the changer and test that and BAMN, blow 2 fuses, one for the right side break lights and the one on the CD changer. Interesting, so I fix that and just test the changer itself for continuity and it's fine. Plug in the cd changer again, no problems. Then I test the unit by itself, and BAMN, another fuse.

So I take the CD changer out and now it's on my floor. It doesn't want to take any power and my CDs are stuck.

Any idea how I can get the CDs out? Is the changer easy enough to fix (sounds like maybe a lose wire causing a short)? If not, anyone interested in that and the head unit for CHEAP?

[revenant]

Hmmm... I had to get a cartrige out of a Sony CD changer whith no power... I had to take the face plate off, then push on a little lever with a tiny screw driver and the cart popped out enough so I could pull the rest of the way... I dunno about yours, but there should be a similar way to get the cart out. Good luck!!

[Jx2]

There's a thread over in the E36 boards which talks about problems with the wiring harness located in the trunk. Maybe that's the culprit of the blown fuses/electrical problems?

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...threadid=79896

[Uj2]

You didn't mention what type of changer it was but if it is a stock BMW or Alpine changer, take a credit card (or the like) and slide it in under the cartridge (near the center) as though you were at an ATM machine. It may take a few tries to get it but this works.

[m3avrck]

Yeah I did look for a wiring problem in the trunk under the carpet and rubber trim, but those were all fine. Pretty sure it is the unit, unfort.

And Uj2, thanks!!!!!! That worked, just popped in a credit card underneath and out popped the cartridge. Sweet! Now if I can only fix the changer or maybe just sell it... hmm. Thanks all! :-D

[Don Nguyen]

mine did the same thing and i used a flat head screwdriver to push under the cd magazine and push up and it came out. When you tried to press place CD did it say no cd or something like that? Because mine went out a few months ago for no reason, it just says no cd when i try to psuh the buttons in the car.

[m3avrck]

Well all I was getting was "Disc Error" and apparently no power to the unit. Also I am using the factory unit.

Did you ever get yours to work?