No radio signal, only noise

[Brian-bmw]

All of those cables you circled go to the rear window diversity antenn system.

The pair of identical cables that are up and two the right in the picture are your TV module antennas.

The pair of cables that are in the lower left area of the picture are your radio antenna cables. (The radio module is that thing with the black heat sink and the single silver bolt in the center.) If the cables in the lower left area are not connected, that is probably the problem.

[DustyLion]

Hi Brian-BMW

I have a problem getting into the region settings.

When I hit the radio knot and immediatly press and hold the SELECT Button the only thing that happen is that in the upper left corner it either says PRESS ON or OFF

[DustyLion]

The pair of cables I circled in the left corner are connected to the radio module but I have a similar pair of cables lying behind my headunit, where are they supposed to be connected, I can't find any place to connect them on the back of the headunit?

[Brian-bmw]

Originally Posted by DustyLion

I have a problem getting into the region settings.

When I hit the radio knot and immediately press and hold the SELECT Button the only thing that happen is that in the upper left corner it either says PRESS ON or OFF

There may be a few different ways to get into the radio service menu, depending on the age of the radio. Try this sequence instead:

1. Turn the radio ON.
2. Within 8 seconds, press the "INFO" button.
3. From the Info screen, select RDS.
4. Press and hold the BM control knob (right side knob) for at least 8 seconds.
5. Scroll through functions using the station search buttons.
6. Turn the radio off to leave the service mode.

Originally Posted by DustyLion

The pair of cables I circled in the left corner are connected to the radio module but I have a similar pair of cables lying behind my headunit, where are they supposed to be connected, I can't find any place to connect them on the back of the headunit?

You should not have antenna cables behind your in-dash screen. On a side note, the screen is just a dumb input/output device, kind of like a computer keyboard and monitor. The screen does not do anything by itself. So, I have a theory...

I suspect that the car did not originally come with navigation from the factory. One of the previous owners probably did a navigation retrofit in the car, and that is why you found some leftover radio cables in the dash area. So, maybe the radio that the PO (previous owner) installed in the trunk is bad, or maybe the PO did not connect the new antenna cables to the diversity antenna amplifiers in the C-pillars.

[DustyLion]

Still cannot get into the radio service menu.

Is this correct: The rear window is connected to th diversity antenna in the C-pillars and the diversity antenna in the C-pillars are connected to the Radio module in the trunk and the radio module is connected to?????

[Brian-bmw]

You have one of the earlier radio modules, so that is probably why you are having difficulty getting it into service mode. I gave you the only other alternate path that I know, but there are probably others for the earlier radios.

You will not find an obvious connection from the radio to anything else (other than speakers or amp). The radio is connected to the car's "I-Bus" communication network through a single wire. It is a cool system, but you can not easily trace it. The front display communications with the radio through the I-Bus wire, and the radio communicates with the amp and nav computer through the I-Bus as well.

It may be that you have a bad radio module. Does your CD player work, and does Tape work?