Radio problem - help - the quiet is killing me

[TurnzSr]

My Touring had to sit outside in the rain for a couple of days. Today when I started the car, there was no sound coming from the radio or the Business CD. They both would turn on and off but no sound from the speakers. I shut the radio off and drove away. After about 15 minutes of driving, I turned the radio back on and the sound was back to normal. I turned the car off when I arrived at my destination. A couple of hours later when I started the car, the radio turned on but again no sound. Problem still exists the next day.

The fuse is OK. Are there any ideas where the sound went? My better half that hates car radios says she had nothing to do with it - hmmm.

[schatzy62]

Well a couple of questions for you.

1. Is the floor wet on the passenger side rear floor?
2. Is there any water in the trunk?
3. When you say the radio turns on are you able change staitons and modes?
4. When you turned the car off and on and the radio played did you notice anything else that did not work?
5. Is there anything elze in the car that does not work when the radio is not playing? Things like park distance or other sounds.
6. Do you have a bluetooth phone connected? If so does that work when the radio is not playing?
7. Do you have DSP? Top right button on radio would say DSP/AUDIO

Some of these questions may help in trying to figure out what is not working

[TurnzSr]

Well a couple of questions for you.

1. Is the floor wet on the passenger side rear floor? Inside of car is completely dry. Did not remove door panels to look.
2. Is there any water in the trunk? Dry as a bone
3. When you say the radio turns on are you able change staitons and modes? Yes everything but the sound functions normally.
4. When you turned the car off and on and the radio played did you notice anything else that did not work? No everything else is normal.
5. Is there anything elze in the car that does not work when the radio is not playing? Things like park distance or other sounds. Don't have park distance but other sounds appear correct.
6. Do you have a bluetooth phone connected? If so does that work when the radio is not playing? I don't use bluetooth at all.
7. Do you have DSP? No Top right button on radio would say DSP/AUDIO I don't have DSP

Some of these questions may help in trying to figure out what is not working

I've had car 12 years and drove it 115,000+ miles and no problems like this.

[cheapE46]

I had a similar problem when I bought mine earlier this year (2001 525iT). The only difference was that my radio *never* worked.

After looking thru a bunch of stuff, I ended up replacing the Amplifier with a used unit off of eBay and everything started working.

The amplifier is under the left trim cover in the rear cargo area. Number 1 in the pic below:

[TurnzSr]

Not ready to invest in an amplifier yet until I exhaust every other option. Found a fix on the internet that someone used that was having my exact problem and it fixed his problem. I wont be able to try it out until Friday. The process description goes as follows.:

1) Put key in ignition and turn to first click
2) Turn lights on
3) Pull out the 2 fues associated with the radio (#8 & #38)
4) Disconnect negative terminal of battery
5) Let car sit for 5 minutes before proceeding
6) Connect the battery
7) Reconnect the two fuses
8) Start the car
9) If only the radio's bass is working, turn the engine off for 5 minutes and restart

[cheapE46]

That's definitely worth a try, please post an update with your findings.

[TurnzSr]

NOPE - sound still dead as a door nail.
Guess it is time to invest in an amplifier. Was surprised to see that the Touring required a different amplifier than other models. The only one I have found so far is located in England. Maybe I will wait to find one closer.

[jclausen]

Den you ever check for the wet carpets or water in the back area since it happened after the car sat in the rain?

[cheapE46]

The only one I have found so far is located in England. Maybe I will wait to find one closer.

I got mine from England too. I looked for a while without luck

[TecNickal]

NOPE - sound still dead as a door nail.
Guess it is time to invest in an amplifier. Was surprised to see that the Touring required a different amplifier than other models. The only one I have found so far is located in England. Maybe I will wait to find one closer.

There is no difference between Touring and Sedan amps except the mounting points on the bracket. Just swap brackets from a sedan or adjust the metal tabs. I plugged in a sedan one and it works just fine.

[simmsled]

My Touring’s amp is toast, so I have been contemplating a 2-way setup in the front with an amp I already have.
It seems this plagues a great number of E39s these days.
I have seen the G.A.S. passive crossover solution, but looks like they aren’t doing them anymore.
Interested in seeing where this goes!

[geargrinder]

I have seen the G.A.S. passive crossover solution, but looks like they aren’t doing them anymore.

That was a crap overpriced product that sounded mediocre and required days of work to install and wasnt even vaguely ready for 'plug and play'.... Some guys installed those and had great results but oddly a good few folks installed them (ask me how I know) and had really mediocre to poor results. He took money for orders from lots of people who'd wait months and months to get their product wiht emails and calls not being returned etc. and then promised a 'fix' which then took like a year and then wasn't available consistently and was going to cost extra money ("OK so I implicitly admit my product wasn't so great so I made an add on fix for it however I'd like you to pay more for that now to add it on and fix the first product you bought").

I have heard he's still selling the same product for E38 I think just because he doesn't take as much crap for his terrible customer service and product quality/consistency from that community for whatever reason. And I've heard he's trying to stay low on the online radar so as not to call attention to hisself from the folks who had bad experiences and are happy to talk about it and/or feel like he owes them money still.

I lost a few hundred bux with that stupid POS rig - bought one early on, was a huge PITA to install taking me literally weeks worth of weekends, sounded only "OK" even after trying multiple configs and 'tweaks', eventually I ripped it out and completely redid the whole deal and sold it on to some other guy for $150 (with full disclaimers "here's this thing for $150 that sux dead monkey balls so its all on you if it doesn't sound great".) I was on the fence between selling it to him and just setting it on fire in my driveway in the end but sense got the best of me unfortunately.

Ultimately you could just as easily buy any decent 2-way front speaker setup that includes crossovers and you'd be ahead of the game. The trick is if your car is DSP or not - if it is it gets trickier trying to get Front/Rear fade to work unless you're OK with 'fixing' that via amp volume levels.

[TurnzSr]

[QUOTE=TurnzSr;29863058]NOPE - sound still dead as a door nail.
Guess it is time to invest in an amplifier. Was surprised to see that the Touring required a different amplifier than other models./QUOTE]

Radio is up and running again. Installed a Touring amp and problem was solved. Disassembled the bad amp and found signs of water intrusion and corrosion on the circuit boards. No water stains on the exterior of the amp or in the area that houses the amp. I did a little sealing of the new amp with rtv in the obvious access points for water intrusion.

[geargrinder]

There should be NO water in that compartment! RTVing the amp is like giving your wife a wetsuit instead of fixing the leaking roof... Yer gonna have plenny other issues if you don't find the root cause...

[simmsled]

That was a crap overpriced product that sounded mediocre and required days of work to install and wasnt even vaguely ready for 'plug and play'.... Some guys installed those and had great results but oddly a good few folks installed them (ask me how I know) and had really mediocre to poor results. He took money for orders from lots of people who'd wait months and months to get their product wiht emails and calls not being returned etc. and then promised a 'fix' which then took like a year and then wasn't available consistently and was going to cost extra money ("OK so I implicitly admit my product wasn't so great so I made an add on fix for it however I'd like you to pay more for that now to add it on and fix the first product you bought").

I have heard he's still selling the same product for E38 I think just because he doesn't take as much crap for his terrible customer service and product quality/consistency from that community for whatever reason. And I've heard he's trying to stay low on the online radar so as not to call attention to hisself from the folks who had bad experiences and are happy to talk about it and/or feel like he owes them money still.

I lost a few hundred bux with that stupid POS rig - bought one early on, was a huge PITA to install taking me literally weeks worth of weekends, sounded only "OK" even after trying multiple configs and 'tweaks', eventually I ripped it out and completely redid the whole deal and sold it on to some other guy for $150 (with full disclaimers "here's this thing for $150 that sux dead monkey balls so its all on you if it doesn't sound great".) I was on the fence between selling it to him and just setting it on fire in my driveway in the end but sense got the best of me unfortunately.

Ultimately you could just as easily buy any decent 2-way front speaker setup that includes crossovers and you'd be ahead of the game. The trick is if your car is DSP or not - if it is it gets trickier trying to get Front/Rear fade to work unless you're OK with 'fixing' that via amp volume levels.

Good call.

My touring had an aftermarket head unit in it when I purchased it.
I replaced the front tweeter and woofer with a set of the Morel Maximos, (5.25 component set) and the amp with an amplifier that I've had for about 18 years (PPI PC4800). It was amazing to find the recessed compartment between the rear air spring mounts as my amplifier fits PERFECTLY in that spot.
Pretty sure I'm going to have to use all 4 channels of the amp on the components so to attenuate the tweeters (active xover in amp for tweets) and then run the rear woofers off of the head unit's power for rear fill (kids love to jam with daddy).

[TurnzSr]

Agreed but I haven't been able to find any water in the compartment let alone the source. I have used the hose - no water. I have spent so much time in the car wash at the gas station, they are starting to watch me like a potential thief - no water. I have let it sit out in the heavy rain - no water. There are not any signs of old dried water stains in the area surrounding the amp or on the outside of the old amp for that matter - just inside the amp on the circuit board. Any suggestions?

[geargrinder]

Water can make it down a wire under the insulation and wick and travel down it like a pipe. That’s how the thermostat kills DMEs in these cars. Some wire is somehow getting water into it and carrying it to the innards. Which one and how I have no idea... but that’s whats likely happening in this mystery...

[TurnzSr]

Water can make it down a wire under the insulation and wick and travel down it like a pipe. That’s how the thermostat kills DMEs in these cars. Some wire is somehow getting water into it and carrying it to the innards. Which one and how I have no idea... but that’s whats likely happening in this mystery...

Hmmm - makes sense given everything I already said. Antenna on roof might be a logical place to start. It got broke in the summer and I had to replace it. Thanks for the idea of where to look.