No FM Signal

[zilvia 2]

So after 7 month looking for a E46 330CI I found one, few issues one being no FM reception on the factory Dynanav, probably one of the first generating unit's which uses the rear window with wires running around it for reception and a amplifier unit in the left C pillar. I do get AM signal and the keyless works, I checked all the connectors are seated ok. All the posts on forums point to this site

http://blog.bavauto.com/10056/bmw-poor-radio-reception-am-and-fm-e46-3-series-and-other-models/ but my connectors look fine. Forums also talk about tints, I do have side window tints and after looking at my rear windows I'm pretty sure I have a rear tinted window but it's very light, also it almost looks factory as the tint contours the rear window perfectly. What do you guys think ? Be disappointed if I rip off the tint and I still don't have any reception.

Edited March 19, 2016 by zilvia

[Neal 546]

The aerial amp in the left hand c pillar gets its power via the white wire. Muke sure your seeing 12 volts when your head unit is turned on. If not this will likely be the cause of poor fm reception.

[zilvia 2]

So after digging deep the problem may not be a easy fix, the previous owner was very good on maintenance on the car but I get the feeling this no FM signal was put in the too hard too expensive bucket. The car came factory with built in TV tuner, cell phone and earlier dynavin (without nav), was probably pretty advance for its time back in 2001. I started to look into the boot where all the box's and wiring go to, in total there was 5 controller box's !!!, TV tuner, cell phone unit, CD stacker/player, radio unit, and amp with around 100 plus wires to go with it. The actual brains of the radio is in the boot and the headunit is more of a dumb terminal with the TV unit providing display output the the headunit and radio from the radio box unit. My first through was to replace the head unit with a BMW CD business unit, keep it factory, but that's no easy task. The radio unit in the boot has a very similar connector to a normal BMW head unit but different, it does have an aerial connection and when I unplug it i lose AM radio so I'm thinking the antenna system is ok and the BWM radio unit is faulty, ebay these units go for $250 plus USD so it's a no go really. Not sure on what to do next, does anyone know a good stereo installer in the Christchurch area or someone who might know how the units work ?

Edited March 24, 2016 by zilvia

[polley 916]

Find a friendly wrecker that might let you swap in some known good units so you can isolate the problem?

[Neal 546]

Your car had factory JDM Nav.

The bm53 tuner, video TV module and cd stacker and amp is reusable.it would require a 16/9 board monitor for the front of the car and give control to these components. You could also get a mk4 Nav unit to complete the setup but it's not really needed..

Alternatively you need to get an antenna power from your current head unit and run a wire and connect it to the white wire that is in the large square connector in the boot. This will power the aerial amp and give you fm reception .