Miller 0 Report post Posted September 10, 2006 Can anyone tell me what the other little wire taped to the main aerial wire is? Do you need it? Because at the moment i have quite poor reception and i woundered if it was because of this. Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30stz 0 Report post Posted September 10, 2006 earthing I believe.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miller 0 Report post Posted September 10, 2006 So could that be why im not getting very good reception. Because that is not grounded? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
westy 614 Report post Posted September 11, 2006 Ummm it might be the power booster??? Is it a seperate white wire that went into the main connecter? If it is it needs to be live. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miller 0 Report post Posted September 11, 2006 Um no it is a black wire that it taped to the main big black one. But it does run all the way back to the box in the c piller.It was pluged into the back of the factory headunit but it is not anymore as i have a aftermarket one. Is there any other wires you have to plug into or modify when installing a headunit into an e36? Im just talking about the aerial. Whats this power booster you are talking about? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
westy 614 Report post Posted September 11, 2006 Wire no 16 on the factory connecter. Its a booster for the aerial. It should be white and the connecter sould be numbered. Connect it to a power aerial or amp switching wire from the new stereo. Should help your reception. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jochen 4 Report post Posted September 17, 2006 >> a black wire that it taped to the main big black one. But it does run all the way back to the box in the c piller. This is the diversity antenna control wire. It's a coax cable with a coax connector on it. Your BMW has 3 x FM antennas and 1 x AM antenna on the rear windscreen. Your original factory radio could tell the antenna amplifier (in the C pillar) which FM antenna to use. ie: if reception dropped down on one antenna, the radio would tell the antenna amplifier to try the other antennas in turn until it found the one with the strongest signal. This gave the FM radio really good reception, a huge boost over a standard radio. Seeing as you have changed your original radio to an aftermarket one, you will now loose this functionality, and your FM reception won't be as good. You'll also loose the speed-dependent volume control, where the original BMW radio turns up the volume to compensate for increased raod noise at speed. You'll also loose the auto-dimming display, the genuine BMW look and feel, and all other features in the original, high quality, >$1,000 genuine BMW radio. Jochen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miller 0 Report post Posted September 17, 2006 Hi. I have fixed the problem now. Thanks Dirty Six you were a huge help. That white wire was the problem. Thanks for your comments jochen but it is fixed now and i get great reception. As for the speed control, i never had this. The headunit isnt that smart. And also my new headunit has 750 colours to choose from to match the factory dash colour. So i have mine set to the same orange as the rest of the dash and i DO still have the auto dimming feature. But thanks anyway. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jochen 4 Report post Posted September 17, 2006 (edited) >> As for the speed control, i never had this. All BMW radios for the last 15 years have had this function. You can adjust the setting via the radio's service mode. You just didn't know it was there :-) Edited September 17, 2006 by jochen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miller 0 Report post Posted September 17, 2006 lol. You learn something new everyday. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
