Quick Radio Question

H

Half Colin

Senior member
Just thought I would ask a quick question as it might save me a lot of time in investigating the problem myself.

I've got the standard business radio, 6 speaker set up and on the way home yesterday the in-dash part of the radio worked fine but no sound came out of any of the speakers. I'm guessing (hoping) that there might be a separate fuse for an amp. If not I suppose something is wrong with the head unit itself. :cry:

I haven't had time to check the fuses yet but I thought someone might have come across this before.
 
The same for all sources?

Does the satnav produce sound? And the phone?
 
pvr said:
The same for all sources?

Does the satnav produce sound? And the phone?
Click to expand...
I haven't got satnav, but yes it's the same for all sources radio, CD and AUX - the head unit works fine but no sound from the speakers either by using the volume knob or the MF steering wheel buttons. I'm hoping there's a separate fuse for an amp otherwise it could be something in the head unit.
 
Do you have anything that makes a sound other than the radio? PDC or phone?
 
The base system has no separate amp. It does have 2 fuses to the head unit, presumably one for electronics and one for power. The power fuse is 30A, number 50 in the fuse block behind the glove box.
 
I've got an ipod connected via a DICE and that was the same. I'm not in the Z4 today and haven't got home yet to investigate it. When I get home I'll try connecting the ipod direct the to the AUX socket and see if that's the same.
 
Ah - DICE, you may have found the culprit then ... That would be the first thing I would remove to prove the system.

As said - you don't have an amp and the head unit is the only thing you have, hence my question re phone / satnav etc.
 
Thanks guys, the 2 fuses sound encouraging because there's obviously power to the head unit itself. I'll check the fuse 50 first tonight when I get home.
 
This happens to me sometimes - switch car on, satnav works (different end unit) but no amount of button pushing produces noise. I have to stop, switch off the engine and start again, then it all works fine. Weird, no idea what the problem is :?

Be interested to hear if you solve it...
 
Bing said:
This happens to me sometimes - switch car on, satnav works (different end unit) but no amount of button pushing produces noise. I have to stop, switch off the engine and start again, then it all works fine. Weird, no idea what the problem is :?

Be interested to hear if you solve it...
Click to expand...
Interesting - I hadn't switched the engine off but as you say switched radio on/off several times, changed sources etc and pressed every button. Everything worked as it should on the display but no sound whatsoever, not even a click which led me to believe that there might be more than one fuse.
 
Bing said:
This happens to me sometimes - switch car on, satnav works (different end unit) but no amount of button pushing produces noise. I have to stop, switch off the engine and start again, then it all works fine. Weird, no idea what the problem is :?

Be interested to hear if you solve it...
Click to expand...
How weird - I switched on the ignition and it worked fine. :scratchhead:
How often has it happened to you Bing?
 
This is interesting from the 06 Coupe ICE install thread, which I did not know:

I've also had a problem (which I thought I'd cured but has just come back) where there is no sound at all (eeek) I spoke to BMW who said the headunit detects the ohm resistance of the speakers and if there's an issue or mis-match it goes into safe mode and kills all the sound.

Rebooting the cleansweep cures the problem, but I don't want to do that every time I go out to the car! I guess the next step is to re-do all my connections and see if that cures it but it's very odd (I'm sure it kills the output from the headunit as the active sub behind the passenger seat comes off a lineout convertor prior to entering the sweep)
Click to expand...

Thread here
 
Half Colin said:
Bing said:
This happens to me sometimes - switch car on, satnav works (different end unit) but no amount of button pushing produces noise. I have to stop, switch off the engine and start again, then it all works fine. Weird, no idea what the problem is :?

Be interested to hear if you solve it...
Click to expand...
How weird - I switched on the ignition and it worked fine. :scratchhead:
How often has it happened to you Bing?
Click to expand...

It has happened only 3 times as far as I can remembern in about 15 moths of ownership, so not a biggie. Be interested in reading that thread PVR has posted when I get a moment, especially if there is a solution. Could it just be a loose connection ?
 
IIRC, Pre-facelift cars have a Becker BM24, facelift cars have a BM54 unit that added a dual tuner for full TMC functionality, mp3 support etc

There are some known issues with the BM54s cutting out and there are repair kits available

Search for BM54 repair kit on google and you'll see heaps of results
 
pvr said:
Bing - do you have a DICE or any other iPod interface?
Click to expand...

No, I don't. Got a facelift though - what is 'full TMC' functionality ? My TMC only works when I use the CD player, I assume because it uses the radio to get traffic info ? Perhaps this repair kit fixes that too...
 
There are two tuners in the radio, one for the one you are listening to, one for the TMC.

In the older radios, you have to tune to a TMC capable channel to receive TMC info.
 
pvr said:
This is interesting from the 06 Coupe ICE install thread, which I did not know:

I've also had a problem (which I thought I'd cured but has just come back) where there is no sound at all (eeek) I spoke to BMW who said the headunit detects the ohm resistance of the speakers and if there's an issue or mis-match it goes into safe mode and kills all the sound.

Rebooting the cleansweep cures the problem, but I don't want to do that every time I go out to the car! I guess the next step is to re-do all my connections and see if that cures it but it's very odd (I'm sure it kills the output from the headunit as the active sub behind the passenger seat comes off a lineout convertor prior to entering the sweep)
Click to expand...

Thread here
Click to expand...
Thanks, going in to 'Safe Mode' seems to be the issue then. Just not sure what caused it to see the mismatch in the first place - probably a dry or slightly corroded speaker connection somewhere. Basically not worth investigating further until such time as it happens more frequently.
 
I wonder if, because mine is an early facelift, I have the older BM24 unit ? I can however play MP3s... Though they are a bitch to navigate between albums :x
 
From what i can see, the repair kit is essentially a replacement amp.

As I listen to the iPod more than anything now, the TMC is fine. Pita if you like the radio though, unless you like classic fm
 
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