Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 42

Thread: Antennae amplifier, where is it hiding?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS

    Antennae amplifier, where is it hiding?

    I have no, or virtually no, AM reception. I have the radio with the little TV screen and a cassette player in the dash. I read the post about the antennae cable and added drop of solder to mine where the cable goes in the back of the radio. I can now pick up three AM stations. My Haynes manual says the antennae amplifier is in the upper part of the tail gate. Mine is not. Can anyone shed some light on where the antennae amplifier resides before I start removing too many plastic panels and do some damage? Once I get this fixed I will be adding the six CD changer in back and then the Bav Auto stage 1 along with a rear sub per the Gear Grinder method. I also ordered a replacement cassette deck, I might as well try to make everything work.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Ca
    Posts
    6,981
    My Cars
    2001 525it
    I believe it is behind the d pillar trim drivers side.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    NW suburban Chicago
    Posts
    16,302
    My Cars
    hiss by my window
    Two amplifiers, one just above the hatch in the center under the headliner according to Bentley and the FZV amplifier in the left C pillar.
    If these are same as used in sedans I have spares and am local to you. PM if interested in the parts

    If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    OK, I found the amplifier in the left D pillar. It appears the AM antennae is in the left storage area side window. Seems like the amplifier is working. As I plug and unplug wires I lose and regain both the FM and AM signal. I am up to four AM stations now. With the trim cover off I got a very low powered FM station very clearly and with the trim cover back on it is less clear. I wonder if just putting an old fashioned mast antennae would be an improvement?

    - - - Updated - - -

    What is the FZV amplifier?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Indy
    Posts
    162
    My Cars
    1999 BMW 528i Touring
    This can be a difficult problem. Mine worked fine on both AM & FM then began cutting out on AM. Shortly thereafter my AM reception was all but gone (would only get 1 station but with lots of static) while FM is perfectly fine. I've messed with the connectors behind the dash and in the rear. Even bought a used amplifier module (D pillar one) and had no success. I even thought the in-glass antenna was open (there are gaps), but that is how it's supposed to be. I have yet to fix the issue. The fact that it was scratchy and noisy before cutting out, it really seems like a bad connection somewhere. I suspect it may be a bad connection in the coax cable but haven't pursued it because of a lack of motivation/importance.

  6. #6
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    Theres some good posts showing how bad antenna connector connections on the glass can cause these problems. On a padlet device so harder to post at moment but they are findable. Same principle across numerous bmw models. You basically clean up the connections st the glass with quality cleaner ... Search for the threads...
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    I saw the connections cleaner post from Bav Auto with a product called Deoxit or something close to that. It looks to be a bit tougher on our wagons than the sedans. I couldn't really get to the glass part of the connection to the antennae. I disconnected the antennae, lost reception then reconnected the antennae and regained it. I assume it is a working connection but I am not yet ready to rip apart the trim and possibly mess up my interior window trim to get better AM reception. I may look for a cheapo home stereo ring antennae and give it a try first and see what happens. It's hard to believe in the year 2000 a German car company can have such poor radio reception. Isn't this like basic 1940s technology?

  8. #8
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    Quote Originally Posted by rjbaren View Post
    . It's hard to believe in the year 2000 a German car company can have such poor radio reception. Isn't this like basic 1940s technology?
    Thats an invalid challenge.

    Your radio doesn't blow because in 2000 the Germans didn't specify a good radio. the radio is reasonably fine when working properly. Don't blame your cars deterioration on "engineers can't make AM radio work". Wah wah wah I don't want to take my trim off. Well then don't fix it.

    Your car is deteriorating as all of ours are. Figure it out and fix it. That's the answer.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    Your right, I'm lazy. But I have never had a car with poor AM reception before. I am going to try a cheapo home antennae first, if it works I'm going to tape it up in the D pillar.

  10. #10
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    Well. For various reasons... I doubt if it will work... And sounds like a classic hacker "wah! I don't wanna fix it properly cuz I'm mad, so I'll spend twice as much time doing a crappy fix, just to spite the world !" but hey - maybe it will, and ,maybe you'll have fun.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    paradise
    Posts
    298
    My Cars
    the shinny one
    please keep us updated..can't wait to see the install.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    No, I am not a hacker. I am just being careful. Lots of plastic parts break on our deteriorating cars. I don't want to take apart and risk breaking anything more than I have to. If the cheapo home antennae works, great. If not, I'll have to put on my big girl pants and go back and clean the contacts.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    I tried the cheapo antennae into the back of the radio. My radio resides under the floor in the rear so it would have been easy to put the wire up the D pillar if it worked. Unfortunately, I got the same four AM stations and FM reception was worse. Next, I tried a solid core wire which fit beautifully into the back of the radio and I got pretty good reception for FM but nothing on AM. So I reconnected my original antennae wire. Since I did do the drop of solder on the center wire in the cable I have noticed far better reception with the FM and now I receive 4 AM stations where I previously had none. I can get the Cubs, Sox, and traffic so I am in pretty good shape. I went through the dial and I received 31 FM stations.
    The next step is to clean the contacts at the AM antennae embedded in the window on the driver's side and see how that works. But that last piece of trim is the one that is worrisome about breaking. It's on the list, but not a high priority, yet.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Martinsville VA
    Posts
    2,545
    My Cars
    2003-525i BMW
    Drop of solder on the center wire,,what type of witchery is this?

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    It's from one of the posts on how to improve your reception. It really makes a nice, tight fit, when you push your antennae wire back in, which in turn makes a better connection. I tried it, and it seems to have made an improvement in my reception. Hearing is believing.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Orange County
    Posts
    50
    My Cars
    530i
    I used Deoxit on my rear window connections and my AM/FM reception is golden.

  17. #17
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    Deoxit is the bizniz. I put it on toast and rub it all over my junk.

    (well, my electrical junk at any rate...)
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    Which Deoxit did you use? I see it available at Parts Express but there are many different types.

  19. #19
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    http://store.caig.com/s.nl/it.I/id.5/.f

    I'm pretty sure the formulas are mostly the same just with varying proportions, I use 'Silver' or 'Gold' (now they seem to call it 'D' or 'G' series but it used to be silver/gold). I suppose by their guide, the 'Fader' stuff is theoretically what you want to use on these kinds of pots as you're trying to clean up metal wipers on carbon tracks, but all the audio guys use the Silver/Gold stuff on pots and swear by it.

    You can walk right in and buy the Silver (D5 I guess now?) retail at Radio Shack BTW.

    Supposedly the magic ingredient is oleic acid and there's homebrew recipes out there for it even. But the stuff is fantastic, and you hardly need any for any given job so its worth just buying the damn can IMO.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  20. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Martinsville VA
    Posts
    2,545
    My Cars
    2003-525i BMW
    I use it on all of the electrical hook ups under the hood. Cam sensors MAF connector and throttle body connector. Don't use it on the connectors to the 02 sensors, things will go wacky for 15 min or more afterwards. Good for the connectors on the coil packs though. I have to order the stuff on line, no stores around to sell the product, there are a couple of Radio shack stores, but they don't have the product. and have to order it.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Mundelein, IL
    Posts
    837
    My Cars
    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    I ordered some from Parts Express and it should arrive next week.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Sonoma Whine Country
    Posts
    1,767
    My Cars
    E12, E12, E36, E39
    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    Thats an invalid challenge.

    Your radio doesn't blow because in 2000 the Germans didn't specify a good radio. the radio is reasonably fine when working properly. Don't blame your cars deterioration on "engineers can't make AM radio work". Wah wah wah I don't want to take my trim off. Well then don't fix it.

    Your car is deteriorating as all of ours are. Figure it out and fix it. That's the answer.
    Eh, I'd say yes and no. It's an absurdly complex system with what, 8 different components or so? The radio, which is in the trunk. The controls in the dash, the cassette in the dash, the CD changer in the trunk, the DSP amp in the trunk which makes interchangeability difficult, the the Nav drive in the trunk, not one, but two different antenna amps, and the lot of it literally computer controlled and I don't even have the TV tuner! When it works, which is most of the time, it works fairly well, although reception has always been a problem on these cars. And there were probably arguments between the engineers and the beancounters about how good (read expensive/reliable) it should be. They shrunk many connectors, among other things, for both cost and packaging but which didn't help performance or reliability. It's a statement to the designers/engineers it works as well as it does but the overall design is pure madness.
    98 328is
    02 525ita
    80 528i
    81 528ia
    and decades of owning and driving BMWs

  23. #23
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    Mike A. please don't disseminate false information. B. that's not what OP was complaining about - he was complaining that the tuner guts functionality sucked, which it doesn't, C. c'mon bud you sound like waaah waaah waaah your old and you hate the future why can't it be like the good old days (which weren't). What you wanted the head unit and a 6/8 whatever CD changer and the power amps all in one monolithic box in the dashboard? Man that would be one sucky sound system I can tell you.

    Corrections to misinformation:

    • "ZOMG 8 different parts". 8 is hallucinating by any normal logical standard. Any normal car stereo config these days is going to have a number of components scattered around the car. In worst case you have (and all other car makers do something pretty much identical to this except maybe the MID outboard display bit):


    1. headunit/radio in front
    2. MID in front (unless NAV, in which case subtract another...)
    3. amp (DSP or otherwise) in rear
    4. CD changer in rear
    5. this is a stretch but... antenna amps in rear... (counting that would be like counting the antenna as an unnecessary extra outboard component in my book... but more on that later)


    • The radio is not in the trunk. I don't know why that keeps being thrown out there. The "radio" - and all the other main electronics/brains for source and control - are in the dash. What is often called the 'CD' (or tape) player is the radio / headunit / 'brains of the operation'.
    • The MID indeed functions as an outboard input & display device but is otherwise 'dumb'. Yes those are 2 separate pieces absolutely but that setup absolutely has both pros/cons as long as you're sticking to OEM parts. If the display craps out you don't have to replace the source / HU parts and vice versa. You can 'upgrade' within the OEM universe by just doing the 'radio' unit (i.e. tape-> CD or Bus CD to Professional etc.)
    • Yes being an oddball shape config up front makes putting generic 1972 aftermarket stereo units in the dash a PITA. Only: Most EVERY OTHER car maker does this these days with their wacko completely proprietary interfaces. Have you seen some of the weird shaped radio / entertainment / media / nav consoles in American and Japanese cars? Seldom is even single/double DIN standard without some aftermarket part to adapt it. Go back to 1972 if you want to put your 2-shaft stereo in every car on the market, its just how it is these days (aka for last 20 years)...
    • Changer in the trunk is somehow absurdly complex? Like every other car in the universe that puts the OPTIONAL changer in the trunk? That's bedrock standard practice, mate.
    • Yes DSP or no DSP - the amp is in the trunk. Like any "headunit in front, amp in the back" setup. No the brains of the operation are not in the trunk, excepting that in the case of DSP the front/rear balance is handled by the 'brains' in the front sending commands to the DSP to tell it how to fade. Again, what do you want, a HU/poweramp/CDchanger giant massive thing jammed in the console? That'd be great.
    • You want to complain about outboard antenna amps too. Well that's actually proper RF engineering that IMPROVES noise performance by raising the signal level at the source (near the antenna). So its actually very GOOD design to do it that way. Which is why again.. all the other car makers do that too. Two antenna amps is a problem? Well that's from it being 2000 era mobile phone technology where people still thought it was cool to have an actual phone integrated into the car. Sorry. That's just how everybody else did it in the late 90's when you still had to have on-board FM RF and Mobile phone RF systems. Not bad engineering, just the way it was in the day.
    • 'Shrunk connectors'? Ha. Bullcrap. There's no problems from 'shrunk connectors'. What do you mean, like you want the 1960 technology car radio antenna plugs back? Because you think they are better because they are stupidly crude and huge? The antenna plug design/engineering is fine. The connectors and coax used for RF in the car are of very high quality and proper RF engineering. Look at Ghz antenna coax and connectors - they are small and efficient, and the car uses similar coax & connectors for good reasons. Way better than your old ancient crude FM car antenna plug with a giant chunk of overly fat coax on it.


    Truths:

    • Yes if you have DSP, then it is proprietary and between PITA and impossible to upgrade either part individually. That more than anything comes down to having 10 (11/12 counting subwoofer) individual speakers scattered all around the car driven by individual factory amp channels make it hard to upgrade. Yep that's a PITA. (BTW, all the other car makers do that stuff too with DSP's and too many speaker channels and all that kinda junk...)
    • A slight faint sniff of legitimacy is the window glass antenna connection, which just deteriorates in now 20-year old cars because likely of heat cycles and oxidation. But honestly its not a massive engineering fail given that its lasted in the far majority of cases well into 20years, and a few minority of folks have had issues with it. Any way of connecting a glass bonded antenna strip to a wire, that then is getting baked and exposed to oxidizing elements was probably going to have similar issues.
    • If you want to crap on something crap on the amps that burn out. Those had some underengineering / beancounting problems for sure.
    • Crap on the beancounting for pixel displays in the MID. Yep BMW let the suppliers get away with crappy stuff in the cluster and MID display engineering -probably indeed beancounting to save on connectors.


    Now you're gonna get me wrong like I'm some massive fanboi for the factory setup. I'm not. I do hate stupid mischaracterization of stuff into crazy black and white extremes.

    The factory system was a decent but not exceptional / middle of the road / representative luxury car audio system in its day. The wiring is of very high quality. Most of the electronic components are of moderate quality for what they are, although the amps have a higher failure rate. The layout / scheme of the system is extremely unremarkable for any car produced post-mid-1990's. Like any other high end car with a more elaborate audio system, it creates hassles/challenges to back integrate, and it is mostly down to the number of speakers that are actively cross-overed in the factory setup.

    And in re: focus of this thread - radio reception: The factory tuner circuitry in the dash is perfectly adequate and while not exceptional, not substandard. The factory RF wiring is of very high quality although the antenna glass connectors are now aging as expected. The antenna amps are very 'normal' in function and reliability. The glass based antennas are indeed likely not ideal for reception vs a big old fashioned steel whip, but post 1990's glass antennas are standard and external antennas are obsolete in the mind of the consumer and industry, so ya got what ya got there, sorry.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  24. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Gardner MA
    Posts
    313
    My Cars
    2003 525iT, 2008 328xiT
    GG +1 not a bad system but not a great one either.

    Now back to our regularly scheduled topic - "Radio Reception"

    My biggest problem with radio reception AM or FM - DOG SNOT.

    Both my dogs love to smear the windows in the back with "snot and saliva". We take trips to SC to visit family and by the time we get there we have very little reception, maybe 1 or 2 stations close by. "Clean" the inside of the windows and WOW now we get 15-18 stations out in the middle of nowhere land.

    Up here in MA I find spring to be a really bad time of year for both my MINI Clubman and BMW Touring when the pollen hits heavy. Dirt on the outside of the windows can be just as bad a dog snot on the inside. Where I live with car parked in driveway and good CLEAN windows I can get 17 stations (15 FM - 2 AM) many of which are 60-70 miles away. Yet yesterday when I went out and the car was all "yellow" with pollen I could only get 1 station and that station is only about 20 miles away. Cleaned up the drivers side rear window and "bam" back to being able to hear again.

    "Clean" glass is the way to go not only to see out of but for good radio reception in "any" car with "in glass" antennas.
    2003 525iT Automatic, Topas Blue Exterior, Gray Leather Interior, Sports Suspension, Sports Seats, M 3 spoke Steering Wheel.
    2008 328xi E91 (wagon) Automatic, Barberatot Metallic Exterior, Terracotta Leather Interior.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Sonoma Whine Country
    Posts
    1,767
    My Cars
    E12, E12, E36, E39
    GG. Didn't mean to wind you up, you are one of the few here whose input I hold in high regard. But I disagree this time in general and especially on the trunk mounted radio. Now it may just be the Nav ones, but at least some do have it in the trunk, including my current touring. Here is a pic of where it mounts, circled, I had things apart at the time but the bracket is still there. The BM53 radio goes there.

    OP. Clean windows make a difference??? I would never have guessed. Guess I'll have to start paying more attention to them.
    98 328is
    02 525ita
    80 528i
    81 528ia
    and decades of owning and driving BMWs

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Antenna - where is it located?
    By linkey in forum Car Audio & Electronics sponsored by Bavsound
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 05-26-2006, 03:59 PM
  2. 1993 325i Amplifier (Where is it?)
    By amucci in forum Car Audio & Electronics sponsored by Bavsound
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-26-2004, 09:25 AM
  3. fuel pump realy, where is it? HELP!
    By djbit in forum 1991 - 1999 (E36)
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 06-07-2002, 05:36 PM
  4. Oil level sensor? Where is it?
    By JasonJ75 in forum 1992 - 1999 M3 (E36)
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 02-23-2002, 10:37 AM
  5. Where is it ?
    By AB540 in forum General BMW Mechanical Help sponsored by RM European Auto Parts
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 02-05-2002, 11:53 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •