E39 Speakers stopped working

[krisbob]

So I was driving and suddenly all the speakers stopper working, the radio looks ok (I have the business rds radio with the cassette player), I can do everything there but speakers wont play.
Can anybody help me with this problem?

[shogun]

You might want to suspect a stereo amplifier. Look in the trunk on the left hand side. You will find your radio amplifier back there. It will have about a 3in connector with a bunch of twisted pair wiring. Remove the connector and make sure there is no water contamination. All sound processing takes place in the amp.

[krisbob]

Hi, I have looked everywhere and my car doesnt have the radio amplifier. Could there be some other common issues with the stereo?

[MarcoZandrini]

Your head unit contains the amp. Why year and model do you own?

[shogun]

profile says: My Cars 2000 BMW E39 Touring. and as he is from Estonia, it is a EURO model.

[krisbob]

Hello, my radio unit with the cassette player looks like this. If the amplifier is in the radio unit, how can I check if its not broken?

[krisbob]

Hello, does anybody know how to fix the issue?

[DennisCooper]

Hi Krisbob,

The electronics in these cars are now between 20-26 years old and they're failing more often. You can,

1. Try to find a specialist near to you/in your country/in Europe or worldwide that can attempt to overhaul/repair your unit
2. Find the same type of OEM unit from a used/breaking E39 and hope that it lasts a fair bit of time and won't just fail 3 weeks after you fit it
3. Find another OEM setup that is compatible with your build date car and fit that in, so perhaps change to a CD player at the top, or fit the MID type setup

Each above have some advantages, but nowadays, value for money is much lower as functionality is reduced to what's needed today, so you may have to spend again to get things like Bluetooth

Lots and lots of OEM audio threads on this and many many other BMW forums, so you'll need to research the options out there, then compare with your car's build date and look for compatible part numbers and revision numbers for the audio modules themselves before you buy to ensure you get the right ones.


Or, you can forget going through all that, and fit a high quality and performing car audio brands aftermarket unit to have the modern features and functionality.

Cheers, Dennis!