Hey guys.
I finally got to installing the system in my car(New HU, amp, components, subs, crossovers).
Everything works and sounds excellent. However, I now have almost no radio reception( AM and FM)
Does the stock amp have some kind of reception amplification built in? Thats the only thing I can think of.
Thanks.
Hi,
Most likely yes, there'll be an FM/AM amplifier to boost signals as BMW do like to use the screen mounted wire type antenna's. I'm having the same issue on my E39 touring. For me though, a simple solution will be to get a small stubby external mount antenna, that will cover FM/AM/GPS/Digital TV reception and the UK's (Europe too) DAB+ standard so I get an all in one unit. One's I've seen are from high end manufacturers and include an amplifier. If you are wanting to keep the smooth lines and no antenna look, then perhaps either find the current oem amplifier and get a switched 12V supply to it or get an aftermarket amplifier and wire that in to bypass the oem one
Cheers, Dennis!
Did your old radio have 2 antenna connectors? the normal one and a little brass one? If they switched in the 3 series like they did in the 5, you might be able to fix the problem by switching to the newer antenna. Just guessing. Even without power to the antenna, if you live near a city or somewhere else with good strong signals, you should be able to pick them up.
You might have a bad connection at the antenna adapter for your new HU, the bmw connectors are notorious for not seating and connecting correctly.
I still have my stock amp laying around. Tried hooking it up again and made no difference.
The old radio( ALPINE) had the same fat connector as the new one so I don't see what else could be going on.
I'll try to move the connector around and see if it's has a bad contact or something.
97 M3 lux, aftermarket head unit, weak to little AM/FM reception. Antenna booster/amp in the drivers C-pillar, white wire, is being powered by head unit, verified 12v at the antenna amp in C-pillar, reception still sucks. Any other ideas?
When I verified my antenna amplifier was powered with 12v, I also verified that 12v was coming from the HU.
Did some probing and found the cheesy Chinese antenna adapter wire between the HU and car antenna wire was at fault. Fixed that and radio reception is now normal.
Hello Just have seen this thread and have seen this works for aftermarket head units but is there a fix for the original radio? It appears I have the same issue but dont know how to get it fixed without having the power antenna cable in the OEM HU.
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