Front speakers shorting

[GatorGambit]

Hey all, first post!

Just bought a 91 525i yesterday - trying to knock out a few small glitches. One of them is an issue with the speakers. I have the stock headunit and premium speaker system. I did a search on this in the forum and found another post with someone having the exact same problem I am having:

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=1627

Does anyone have any ideas as to why this would happen? Would swapping out the head unit for something newer solve the issue?

[gmannino]

Its pretty weird that the whole front 3 channels on the left side go out at the same time. Here is how I would troubleshoot the problem.

Disconnect 2 of the 3 speakers and see if it plays. If it does play, connect each speaker until you hear it cut out. Once it cuts out with that particular speaker, then you know its blown. (speakers can internally short out when playing or warm.)

If this doesnt work, you might have a bad front left channel coming from the radio. The radio only has 4 outputs, which is front left, front right, rear left, and rear right channels. The front left channel might be damaged at the radio. I believe you have the old radio with no single harness, so try swapping the connecters for the front channels. Swap right with left and see if the problem happens to the right side now. If you cannot swap it then you might need a test radio or signal generator to feed signal down the signal path.

Its possible you have a bad amp but its unlikely that 3 out of the 10 channels went out at the same time.

[GatorGambit]

Its pretty weird that the whole front 3 channels on the left side go out at the same time. Here is how I would troubleshoot the problem.

Disconnect 2 of the 3 speakers and see if it plays. If it does play, connect each speaker until you hear it cut out. Once it cuts out with that particular speaker, then you know its blown. (speakers can internally short out when playing or warm.)

If this doesnt work, you might have a bad front left channel coming from the radio. The radio only has 4 outputs, which is front left, front right, rear left, and rear right channels. The front left channel might be damaged at the radio. I believe you have the old radio with no single harness, so try swapping the connecters for the front channels. Swap right with left and see if the problem happens to the right side now. If you cannot swap it then you might need a test radio or signal generator to feed signal down the signal path.

Its possible you have a bad amp but its unlikely that 3 out of the 10 channels went out at the same time.

Thanks Greg! I am going to take a look and see what's hapening. I wouldn't be surprised if the front left channel is damaged at the radio, as it has other issues too (the display is washed out).

[Elekta]

www.sound-repair.com

send your headunit to have the bad capicitors replaced. $99 incl shipping.

You get back a brand new radio for a hundy.

It's the best value for the money hands down

[GoldenOne]

www.sound-repair.com

send your headunit to have the bad capicitors replaced. $99 incl shipping.

You get back a brand new radio for a hundy.

It's the best value for the money hands down

why would it be the headunit??? I have an aftermarket headunit and all three of my front left speakers are shorted except from time to time they will produce a crackling like sound...

[Elekta]

why would it be the headunit??? I have an aftermarket headunit and all three of my front left speakers are shorted except from time to time they will produce a crackling like sound...

speakers can be perfect, blown, or loosly connected. So you have to go back to crossovers if you have any. Most of the time in OEM, it's the headunit.

my .02

[neil_004]

My front dvr speakers started going out then the psgr ones went too. Same shorting over bumps and such. It started cutting out with the factory headunit which I replaced with an aftermarket one and it was ok for a while and then it started again. Turning the volume up really loud would bring them back. Turned out to just be dirty contacts on the harness. Cleaned them last weekend and they are all better now. This might not solve your problem but it is free and only takes a min.