E82 Sound Issue w/ Aux Port

[Z3SpdDmn]

Hi folks, I'm wondering if anyone may have seen this issue before and be able to guide me on what to chase first.

2008 E82 128i with S663A "BMW Professional Radio" and S676A "HiFi Speaker System". The S codes are the option codes, for reference.

Since there's no streaming bluetooth, I use the aux cable. When plugged in, it's extremely fuzzy and the sound level is low. Sometimes the sound is only coming through on one side. This has gotten progressively worse over the past few months to where it's pretty much useless to use now.

I have used a variety of cables to confirm that the aux cable is not the issue. My first thought is the aux port could have a connection going bad. My concern is that it could be something downstream, possibly in the head unit.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue and could provide ideas or suggestions for diagnosis and repair?
Thanks!

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

At the best of times, an Aux in isn't good quality, it's just 'convenient'. Whichever source of music is used - phone output from headphone jack/cassette player/portable CD player/MP3 player etc etc, the signal coming out of it has already been converted to an analogue signal and then amplified with a basic electronic component, i.e what's known as a low signal to noise ratio or 'noisy' output. Noisy is a 'clipped' signal which is called 'distortion'. You then feed that 'noisy' signal into your car's head unit and it then steps that output back down to a low level signal internally, before it's then amplified again in order to be output to the car's speakers. There's a little more to it but that's the gist.

The aux in jacks and audio output jacks on the device you are connectiong wear over time and become loose etc. This can result in loss of signal on one channel like you are having. It might be a simple case of opening up the car head unit and replacing the Aux In circuitry, or the device being used. It depends on how much you wish to spend on this and find a car audio repair specialist who can and is willing to do the job. The reason I say that is there are other interfaces which are much better and offer Bluetooth Audio streaming and more people go for those than keep plugging in Aux cables etc, so the money you might've spent fixing the low quality Aux in connector etc you might as well put towards a GROM interface.

The choice is yours of course!

Cheers, Dennis!

[Z3SpdDmn]

Hi,
The choice is yours of course!

Cheers, Dennis!

Dennis, thank you for the most detailed response to explain that my aux cable connection might be worn out I will likely try to simply replace it to restore original AUX input functionality. It looks like the PN I need is 84109237655.

You also note the GROM interface, which I looked into a bit. The only feature I'd really be interested in adding is BT Audio streaming (my car came with BT functionality for phone calls). Is there a GROM-like unit that you know of that can add this functionality, without all the others? I don't need all the other line inputs. If there was something less expensive that could provide me BT streaming ability, that would be awesome. I know BT receivers are available for stupid cheap that you can plug into AUX ports, but your point about digital-analog-digital conversions is a good one

THANKS!

[jameslloyd285]

I had the same problem. Seemed like aux cable connection might be worn out. I replaced it and everything was was working well

[Z3SpdDmn]

I had the same problem. Seemed like aux cable connection might be worn out. I replaced it and everything was was working well

Thanks for the reply! I ordered one from the dealer and will grab it on Monday.