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Thread: Radio Options

  1. #1
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    Radio Options

    Been very busy this past week with my E30. Finally got all the mechanicals sorted out so now it's time to work on the electronics. First up is trying to get the radio working again.

    Yesterday I went to a German car radio specialist to figure out what the problem was. He checked the fuses first (I told him I already did that and they were fine but he did it anyways). Then he couldn't figure out how to take out the radio. At first he told me it was an aftermarket unit, I told him "No, this is how it was equipped for the Japanese market, with a Sony head unit." Then he said it was made in China or Malaysia. I told him "No, it was made in Japan." Finally, he started to pry it out with force and ended up cracking a part of my center console (near the hazard light). I immediately told him to "STOP! What are you doing?" The head unit simply needed to be removed by first taking out both tabs on either side, then pulling out the radio GENTLY while pressing in the tabs. I guessed I learned my lesson here, when I decided this was a DIY project, that means EVERYTHING. I have decided I don't trust "mechanics" or these "experts" anymore, so I am learning as I go along and realizing it just takes a little bit of competence to not screw up like this. Very pissed, at least it wasn't any worse...


    I did that myself and finally got the head unit out. One of the plugs was not plugged in (the one closest to the fuse, weird, as it didn't look like the radio had ever been pulled out before.


    We put that back in and finally we got the antenna working again, and the CD changer in the trunk was able to be ejected. However, display is dead, and the only speaker that was working was the passenger front side.


    The radio is a JDM model, so it works on a different frequency.


    Still, I was able to get a few radio stations to work on the AM band. He then told me it would cost $200 to fix this head unit, and another $100 to fix the rear speakers- so $300 total (only the tweeters are working on them according to him). He told me the other option was to put a new Alpine unit for $275.

    All these prices seemed pretty high to me. Anyways, I'm at a dilemma here. On one hand, I want to keep the car as stock as possible, I hate the look of classic cars with new head units in them- ruins the whole interior, IMO. I wouldn't mind an aftermarket unit if it was period correct, though. At $200 it seems pretty steep to fix a radio that isn't even going to pick up most stations, on the other hand, I'll probably be using mostly my CDs and cassette tapes.

    I did try opening up the radio and locating the bad capacitors, but I have no soldering skills and don't think this is the right project to learn it all.

    Any suggestions on what to do?



    Last edited by E34 5er; 03-28-2019 at 03:23 AM.
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  2. #2
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    No e30s, again :(
    that sucks!!

    but, now you can do the euro hvac panel swap and move the clock to the other side. just to change it up.
    No e30s again.

  3. #3
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    If the radio expert can't figure out how to get the head unit out I would not trust them to repair the radio. An extra $100 to fix the speaker when they don't know what is wrong yet seems shady.

    The display and speaker problems may all be due to bad components / circuits in the head unit.

    Just take the unit, now that is out, to a different electronics repair shop.

    For a diy: Test the wires to the speakers with a simple tester to make sure they are ok.

    There are lots of OEM or period correct aftermarket units you could get on eBay for less money than that. They would also have the correct FM frequencies.

    That's terrible about the dash...


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by superj View Post
    that sucks!!

    but, now you can do the euro hvac panel swap and move the clock to the other side. just to change it up.
    What do you mean by that? My car is a Euro-spec model actually. I think I'm probably going to leave it the way it is. It's not too noticeable, I'll leave it as a battle scar to remind me to always have people be careful around my car.

    @Gasman: I'm going to actually give this guy the benefit of the doubt. At first he tried opening up the speakers like a typical BMW radio of this era, in which the tabs move to a side and then you use an alan wrench to pry them out. I also wasn't sure how to open them at first, which was why I let him try his hand at it. After I saw the brute force, I told him to stop, as I saw there were inserts for something like a small flat head to go in the side, and completely eject the two covers. After that you can press in the tabs to eject.

    I've called multiple electronics/car radio repair shops. These are the typical answers.
    1. They say they can't repair the unit and send it out instead. They then try to sell me a fancy new unit, which I don't want. I decided I want my Sony head unit back as it matches the interior and is also correct for it's Japanese market style.
    2. If it's a regular electronics shop they won't even look at it, say they don't mess with car radios.
    3. They charge an arm and a leg to repair the unit, I mean ridiculous pricing.

    So I'm going to give the guy I originally went to one more shot. He was recommended to me by a reputable shop owner I know, and he did have hundreds of old Benz, Porsche, and other radios he was working on... It also seems impossible to find another person in this terrible city who can fix an old radio. If someone has any recommendations in the L.A area, I'm all ears!
    Last edited by E34 5er; 03-28-2019 at 03:30 PM.
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  5. #5
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    No e30s, again :(
    there is an hvac panel that puts the radio on the other side of the clock. I always had to order it from Europe instead of here in America when I did my swaps.

    but, my euro mtech2 had it on the same side as yours too so maybe that's how they come in most euro countries?

    I know you can get one without a spot for the clock too
    No e30s again.

  6. #6
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    Superj, thanks for the heads up on that.

    Update on the radio situation: The guy I gave the stereo to said it cannot be fixed, unfortunately... He said a lot of water got inside it and damaged the board- it is now all corroded. It also ruined all the filters. I actually did notice there was some oxidation on top of the radio when I took it out, but didn't know it was this bad. Any ideas on how water could have gotten in there? Everything else in the interior is bone dry, all other electronics are perfect as well. Such a weird situation!

    So my options are as follows:
    1. We can put in a new unit as was told before. I still don't like this idea, as it ruins the whole look of the interior in my opinion.
    2. He can refurbish one of the old Pioneer BMW units he has on hand. Then he would need to get the code. Or I can bring him a unit myself and cut on costs that way. He said it needs to be 4 channel connection and have a CD player plug in it. Should I just go to a junk yard and pull one out? Or is it better buying off eBay or something?

    Advice would be appreciated!
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  7. #7
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    Also, if anyone has any radio with this 4-channel setup that they would be interested in selling, please PM me, I'm all ears!

    Edit: Here's a picture of the back and front of the unit again:

    Last edited by E34 5er; 03-29-2019 at 03:54 PM.
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  8. #8
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    No e30s, again :(
    Dang man. Thats a bummer. I don't have any stock radios anymore. We got rid of them because they didn't work properly.

  9. #9
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    I actually found someone online that is selling his old stereos and he's not too far from me. Actually has some similar Sony head units. I'm still waiting for him to send me pics of the back of the unit to see if it matches, hopefully he has something that I can just plug and play with.

    I'm also really regretting getting rid of my E34 head unit when I sold my 525i about 7 years ago. That car had a modified radio, but I through in the old one for the new owner as well. Should have just kept it if I knew how hard it would be to get my hands on another!
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  10. #10
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    No e30s, again :(
    Thata cool someone is close. I throw stuff and always regret it also
    No e30s again.

  11. #11
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    So that person I mentioned previously that wasn't too far had a cool radio that will fit my car. I tried to negotiate a little, but he was pretty firm. So I said, "Alright, I'll just cough up the extra dough and go with him already."

    Well, I guess I offended this person or something, as he is now ignoring my calls and texts. I mean, I'm agreeing to his price, but some people think they have gold on their hands. This guy is like the "Radio Nazi." No Radio for you!!
    F it, I'll just drive my E30 with no radio then. Ruins the whole look of the interior, but if everyone is going to act like an a-hole, I don't need this crap in my life right now.
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  12. #12
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    Ok, the radio odyssey continues. I found a fellow forum member who I may be buying his old OEM unit from, but just in case, I purchased an aftermarket unit.
    Here is what is going on in the back of this new unit:



    So standard looking wiring harness, but this radio is only a two channel using the standard RCA cable input. My radio is 4-channel and the cables look like this:


    And the wiring harness cable looks like this:


    And here are pics of the actual wiring:



    apter
    So what the heck do I need to do to get this new radio working with my car? I'm guessing first to get this wiring harness adapter. I'm probably going to need some adapter for the speakers as well, but the closest I found was this.
    Do I also need an antenna adapter? How do I get the actual speaker cables wired up? Will I need to splice all the wires together?

    Help is very appreciated here!
    Last edited by E34 5er; 04-08-2019 at 04:47 PM.
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  13. #13
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    No e30s, again :(
    that's the normal e30 harness, you have to cut and splice or maybe crutchfield (or someone else) makes a plug in adapter. I don't know, I always cut and spliced in. but the car is probably wired where you won't need to use your new radio's speaker ground wires. for some reason, I remember e30s being odd in that way. either that, or you will have to run your own wires for the speakers
    No e30s again.

  14. #14
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    Alright, so this process has been pretty frustrating. I have a few people offering to sell me their radios, then all communication ceased with them. This legit happened to me 4 times.

    So I went ahead, bought a new stereo. In terms of installing it, I wasn't sure on what to do, after looking up online and asking for help here, I still wasn't getting the proper info so I went ahead and paid a professional $60 to wire in the new unit. He also proceeded to further damage my center console. Whatever, I'm so pissed at this whole situation I no longer cared (I mean I did, but there wasn't anything I could do about it).

    Anyways, so I took out the two rear speakers because they were fried. Looks like 5 1/4 inch speakers. Anyone recommend some good replacements and where I can buy them?
    20190410_230203.jpg20190410_230320.jpg20190410_230303.jpg
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

    Current cars: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E, 1991 BMW 320i M-Tech II, 1991 Mitsubish Galant AMG Type II, 1992 Nissan Figaro, 1993 Toyota Chaser Tourer V

  15. #15
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    No e30s, again :(
    I normally run pioneer, kenwood, sony, etc, as long as its a brand name. you can buy them from Walmart, best buy, anywhere. just don't get any weird Walmart or kmart brand stuff and it will be ok. Walmart has a brand, dual. don't get those
    No e30s again.

  16. #16
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    I usually run Yamaha, Sony, and Polk speakers in my own home TV/theater setups, so I'll probably go with one of those. Would like to get replacement Sony's but it's hard to find the right size for some reason.
    My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7l...rJvxZHr_00nuhA

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  17. #17
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    No e30s, again :(
    I like all those brands too. all are great choices but I think it hard to find Yamaha for automotive stuff. I know you can get the polks very easily. we have them in our e30s

    - - - Updated - - -

    you saying the brand popped it into my head.

    oddly, we found them in some junkyard cars and got them for 5 bucks a speaker.
    No e30s again.

  18. #18
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    Boston Acoustics ftw!

  19. #19
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    I refurbish CM5908 sliders. Great radios for the E30, 4 channel with CD changer support. Doubt it will work with a JDM changer though..

    Drop me a PM if interested..

  20. #20
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    Bradnic, do you have any e30 radios available?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Sorry can’t PM yet

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