[snakeman56]

I just wanted to ask here if anybody else is having problems with reception. I get alot of popping sounds when listening to my favorite AM station here in Denver Colorado. It's KOA 850. I just got back from the dealership and nothing was found wrong with the car.

They also checked a new 5 series on the lot and it did the same thing. This only happens on the station mentioned above!!!

The service department is going to start a case and see if this is happening to other 5 series owners.

thanks
Tom

[EV0LVE]

Mine has no AM reception at all.

[Mr. Magic]

I have had AM reception problems on a 2001 E46 that affected only certain stations. I had lots of "whirring" and "popping" sounds on some stations I used to get very well. I took to dealer and they were unable to resolve.

I did some research myself and found a service bulletin on this item. Near the rear glass and near the left rear courtesy light just above left rear passenger left shoulder space, there is some sort of junction box for the antenna below the headliner (I think this might be a switching device that detects best antenna for reception - if it malfunctions, it would really ruin reception). I accessed it via the courtesy light, I disconnected the antenna wires and lightly abraded all the connectors to take off any oxidation off the metal contact surfaces. I've done this about 3 times, and the reception comes back on those AM stations. Great care must be taken to avoid getting finger prints on the headliner or breaking the courtesy light.

I have had colleagues with a similar issue on a E46 and this fixed it for them.

I do not know about F10, but it might be a similar problem with these connectors oxidized. I noticed in RealOEM, the connectors might be on #4 or #2 on the diagram here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...19&hg=65&fg=30

Edit: turns out this is pretty common problem on prior 3 and 5 series. Do some searches - there are posting and threads in various forums - some report the procedure above worked for them on older 5 and 3-series, or they just wiggled, unplugged, and plugged the wire back into the "antenna amplifier module" - that seemed to recover reception presumably the antenna connectors were a bit loose or oxidized. Others replaced the entire "antenna amplifier module". Since car should be under warranty, they should take care of this here for you, but you might have to suggest where to look since these problems can be hard to diagnose without prior knowledge of AM station reception.

[snakeman56]

I was called by the dealership shortly after I posted this question! The problem was with me having had turned on the HD feature in AM. Well I turned it off and no more popping sounds at all!!!

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by snakeman56

I was called by the dealership shortly after I posted this question! The problem was with me having had turned on the HD feature in AM. Well I turned it off and no more popping sounds at all!!!

Good to know

[E90Fleet]

Also been found SIB 65 04 11 deals with this problem in the F10

Apparently the AM antenna cable shorts to the bodywork sometimes, especially when driving over bumpy ground. This is close to where the antenna cable connects to the rear glass AM antenna

Fix is a small piece of Duct or Gorilla tape between where the antenna cable comes off the glass antenna and the bodywork


This works for noise on AM and no AM reception at all.