Electric aerial - anyone fitted one?

M

MrDo

Member
 London
Has anyone fitted an electric aerial to their Z4? I have the standard 'horsewhip' aerial but would like better radio reception so a stubby is out. I'm keen on an electric that one pops 1 metre tall up as I turn the radio on, yet retracts when I turn the radio off, frustrating vandals etc :thumbsup:

Any advice?

Thanks :driving:
 
i havent seen an electric pop up aerial since the early 90's merc's!! :poke:

I have an S2000 aerial on mine.. reception is the same as stock.. yet its smaller and flexible.
 
Old Jag and Japanese cars have electrical aerial. I have not seen any BMW with aftermarket one. A silver aerial will look awful on Zed. :thumbsdown:
 
My memory of fitting them in the old days was that they needed a fair bit of room for the unit inside, looking at the position of the aerial on my roadster I don't think there is space to do it.

They were kind of cool but quite noisy often got stuck. I'm not a radio engineer but I always understood that position, materials, isolation from interference and aerial length optimised for wave length were more important than outright size anyway? (which is why I have shunned the stubby fad :fuelfire:).
 
Ewazix said:
aerial length .... (which is why I have shunned the stubby fad :fuelfire:).
Click to expand...

I put a stubby on, so I didnt have to listen to Radio 1 DJ's anymore, or any other self opinionated person that eventually gets round to playing tunes I wouldnt choose. The interference is soooo much better..
 
gookah said:
Ewazix said:
aerial length .... (which is why I have shunned the stubby fad :fuelfire:).
Click to expand...

I put a stubby on, so I didnt have to listen to Radio 1 DJ's anymore, or any other self opinionated person that eventually gets round to playing tunes I wouldnt choose. The interference is soooo much better..
Click to expand...

Seems the Zed is fitted with several kinds of wind-up aerial already :wink:
 
If you really want to fit one you have to check the under wing clearance because they need about 1 foot of room. The early Mazda MX5 had an electric aerial that is just about the most compact one you can get.
 
I had a Toyota Celica several years back with an electric aerial. After less than a year of use, it started to jam up - every time it retracted it sucked more dirt in with it, and got noisier and slower and eventually stopped working. I cleaned it up a couple of times to get a few more months out of it, but it the fix was always temporary at best, and it eventually quit - I think that's a major reason why you don't see them in widespread use any more.
 
There is no 'trigger' feed on the BMW radio set up to enable the aerial when you turn the radio on and off so you would, in the event of getting one to fit, probably need an additionally switched unit to take the on/off signal feed from the radio to trigger the power supply to the aerial. If not then and independent live feed to the aerial and a seperate raise/lower switch..... sounds like a lot of hassle to me.
 
s2000 aerial is BETTER than stock. Pick a fuzzy radio station with your stock antenna, keep the radio on. unscrew and screw in the s2000... picks up perfect. Tried it with a number of radio stations and am now picking up stations in the U.S. as well.

Make sure you get an OEM S2000 antenna. There are aftermarket S2000-style antennas designed for other cars but they don't fit the base properly (a little larger). The stock S2000 OEM antenna fits perfect. If you pick it up from eBay make sure you find out if it's Honda OEM and shipped in the OEM packaging.
 
ZED_NOT_ZEE said:
s2000 aerial is BETTER than stock. Pick a fuzzy radio station with your stock antenna, keep the radio on. unscrew and screw in the s2000... picks up perfect. Tried it with a number of radio stations and am now picking up stations in the U.S. as well.

Make sure you get an OEM S2000 antenna. There are aftermarket S2000-style antennas designed for other cars but they don't fit the base properly (a little larger). The stock S2000 OEM antenna fits perfect. If you pick it up from eBay make sure you find out if it's Honda OEM and shipped in the OEM packaging.
Click to expand...

That's strange as I have an oem s2k aerial ( I removed it from my old s2k before p/x it!) and it's slightly larger then the base!
 
aquazi said:
ZED_NOT_ZEE said:
s2000 aerial is BETTER than stock. Pick a fuzzy radio station with your stock antenna, keep the radio on. unscrew and screw in the s2000... picks up perfect. Tried it with a number of radio stations and am now picking up stations in the U.S. as well.

Make sure you get an OEM S2000 antenna. There are aftermarket S2000-style antennas designed for other cars but they don't fit the base properly (a little larger). The stock S2000 OEM antenna fits perfect. If you pick it up from eBay make sure you find out if it's Honda OEM and shipped in the OEM packaging.
Click to expand...

That's strange as I have an oem s2k aerial ( I removed it from my old s2k before p/x it!) and it's slightly larger then the base!
Click to expand...

I wonder if there are two models from the S2000? Mine came from Honda Parts Department P/N# 39151-S2H-E01

From what I understand there are aftermarket versions designed to fit a wider base? I'll take a pic of the Z4 aerial when I get home.
 
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