BMW E39 C43 radio AUX input doesn't work

[Mechoon]

Hey all


I just bought my beautiful 2001 BMW E39 530d!


The car comes with 6CD changer and C43 radio unit with tape slot.


I noticed under the arm rest a male 3.5mm mni-jack plug. I didnt find any microphone inside so I suppose this was made as an AUX input for playing music from MP3 player.
There is small mount next to the plug looking like made for some kind of iPod maybe....


Anyway, I couldn't make it to work


I connected my Samsung S3, played the music and was trying to change the mode in the radio unit but there is no AUX mode! I have only radio tuner, CD (which plays just fine) and TAPE which said NO TAPE at the beginning so I inserted some random tape but the unit started playing the music from that tape, not from the phone.


Unfortunatelly previous owner bought the car with this setup and didn't even tried to make it work so he couldn't help me.


The car is in very good condition and everything else work so I suppose this should work as well and I just cannot figure it out Please help.

[MarcoZandrini]

First option is to contact the previous owner. Second would be to trace the wires in the armrest and see if they go to the head unit. The head unit most likely doesn't have an aux input. So I think the wires may "hijack" the tape player's input to the amp. As the car is wired for a CD changer you can install an adapter that uses the changer's 2 cables to connect to an MP3 player or smartfone.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

Take a picture of the 'C43' unit, as those I believe are ones meant as oem fitment in E36 cars, not the E39. A quick images search on search engines shows those single DIN head units.

It's also not possible to tell you what's wrong over the internet like this. You need to do some testing and fault finding first - trace the 3.5mm jack lead back and see where it's connected (or not connected!) to. I don't think it's connected to the head unit as it doesn't have an aux in capability, but you'll need to check to see if your unit might have been modified to have it etc,

Once you know what you have, or don't have - you can then decide on how you wish to go about getting what you want.

Cheers, Dennis!

[JNooney628]

If you want the AUX to work you have to replace the BMW Business CD player in dash above your MID (Multi Information Display). ON the Business CD player unit is the build date that alpine built the CD player. If you want AUX to work you need to find one with a build date after September 02 and a SW#40 or SW#50. How do I know..... I just did mine yesterday lol
I got mine out of a 2003 X5.

[divineazn716]

Hey bro I have a cd53 and it's sw#50 but it doesn't work, can you please help me please!!!!

[DennisCooper]

Hi Divineazn716,

There's not enough information to help you. Confirm 100% you have a working unit, the CD53 has different versions for different cars, have you got one that fits the presumably E39 530i that you have? check your car's wiring loom to see if it's working and power/speakers/ground are all functional etc etc....

Cheers, Dennis!