WTF? radio woes

[rcbrown23]

My radio wasn't working properly. It would come on for 5 seconds, then go out for a half hour, then randomly come on for a few seconds here and there.

From the users of this forum, it seemed my amp was stuffed and not working.

I just got another one (used) from ebay, stuck it in, turned on the car and blam, it works. Great.

I go into my settings to change a few things (bass, treble, etc), and when I get to the "fader", I attempted to fade it to the front just to be sure my front speakers were working.

After two notches forward, the radio lights dimmed a bit, then it stopped working again. Now it's not working at all!

What's the deal? do I have a short somewhere?

What now?

-brown

[whiskychaser]

Are the front speakers correct for the amp and do they actually work? If not then the amp hasnt got the correct load and could fry itself.

[rcbrown23]

The amp was out of a 94 525i, and I'm in a 94 540i, but the serial number and connections are the same, so I'm assuming that it's the correct amp.

I'm pretty sure I heard the front speakers working, but can't be 100% sure. As I was trying to listen, it pooped out on me.

I should mention that the 6 disc changer hasn't worked at all in the couple of months I've had the car. Could that be what's causing this?

Or MAYBE the front driver speaker wasn't working.

Any ideas what to do next? I have all sorts of amps from previous car stereos... is there any way to hook up an aftermarket amp to this car, but leave the rest of the stereo stock?

-brown

[rcbrown23]

Here's a thread I found where this guy seemed to be having the EXACT same problem as me... but unfortunately it ends without a solution.

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthr...ftermarket+amp

[whiskychaser]

The amp was out of a 94 525i, and I'm in a 94 540i, but the serial number and connections are the same, so I'm assuming that it's the correct amp.

I'm pretty sure I heard the front speakers working, but can't be 100% sure. As I was trying to listen, it pooped out on me.
-brown

You will probably find your wiring at:
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/stereo_wiring.htm
I'd be tempted to put a multimeter across the wires and see if you get a click on each speaker. Dont want to lead you up a cul de sac but giving up when you had it on front fader only is my only clue. Did you check the fuses? You might have got away just blowing one

[rcbrown23]

UPDATE: Strange things are happening. Just went out and tried it, and if I turn the volume nob up and down over and over again, I get sound. Sometime's muffled, sometimes only on the left side, sometimes fine. All speakers are working, though. While it was working, I faded from front to rear, left to right and heard sound out of all speakers.

Any ideas now? I read somewhere to take out the volume knob, clean it, put it back in and, with the key out of the ignition, turn it up and down over and over again.

[BMWDriver]

By all means, try the knob cleaning thing. If it works: great.

If not, the options are many and can be complicated depending on your budget and the time and effort you are willing to put into it, not to mention how electrically enclined you are - meaning if you can use a multi-meter, splice wires... that sort of thing; or if you feel comfortable replacing the whole system or not, wires included.

[timandbim]

seems unlikely if you have never played behind the radio... but maybe you have a bad connection or corroded battery or accessory wire there, or maybe even the ground is bad... check first to see if your amp powers on and off in sync with the HU (the speakers should audibly come on and off with a soft bassy click/thud, music or no)...
i'm guessing of course, but the if the HU lights fade and then die at the same time as the sound, then the problem ought to have something to do with power to the HU, not the amp (and you've replaced that already anyway). the heating ducts so close to the wiring could add to the problem, or the problem could be in the HU itself... fried capacitor or something(?).
did it work ok before or has this always been a problem?

My radio wasn't working properly. It would come on for 5 seconds, then go out for a half hour, then randomly come on for a few seconds here and there.

From the users of this forum, it seemed my amp was stuffed and not working.

I just got another one (used) from ebay, stuck it in, turned on the car and blam, it works. Great.

I go into my settings to change a few things (bass, treble, etc), and when I get to the "fader", I attempted to fade it to the front just to be sure my front speakers were working.

After two notches forward, the radio lights dimmed a bit, then it stopped working again. Now it's not working at all!

What's the deal? do I have a short somewhere?

What now?

-brown