CD Changer/DICE -- Amplifier Problem???
 

On my 2000 X5 4.4... I recently began to have audio problems with the CD changer. The left channel would sound very distorted like a blown speaker after about 5 minutes of listening. Sounds fine in the first few minutes.

The tape player and AM/FM tuner sound fine.

I decided to take out the changer and I installed the DICE controller for my iPod.

Now I have no audio out of the left speakers when running the DICE. The tape and AM/FM still are fine.

Where should I check next? I thought maybe cable is bad or the amp is going bad - but I'm confused because it only affects the CD changer input.

By the way this is with Navigation and NO DSP.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Sounds like you have a bad channel in the DICE module. Where was the kit purchased from?

purchased from bsw

You will need to contact BSW to arrange for a return since they are your original seller.

Followup:

I reinstalled the CD changer to eliminate DICE problems. The CD audio is fine until after about 5 to 15 minutes then the left channel gets very distorted.

I figured it might be an amplifier problem so I replaced the amp. Same problem exists.

So now I suspect the head unit. Am I on the right track? Would the head unit cause left channel audio problems out of the CD changer input only. The AM/FM and tape work fine.

If you have NAV, then you would need to take a look at the Board Monitor Radio (BM53) which is located in the trunk. The CD Changer directly connects to the BM53, so perhaps the radio has some how failed for that particular input. Its odd you get a similar problem between changer and DICE. You've already replaced the amplifier, so the BM53 radio is pretty much the only thing left to replace.

I do have NAV. I looked in the trunk and on www.realoem.com for the BM53. I can't find it. The CD changer cord looks like it runs forward in the car towards the head unit. I am planning on replacing the head unit with a wide screen unit -- so the changer doesn't plug into the head unit?

Can you point me closer to the location of the BM53. I have a 2000 X5 with NAV and no DSP.

Thanks.

Radio tuner is on the top left hand corner of this picture, you more than likely have a BM52 unit:

http://www.janixworld.com/x5/Sirius/Sirius_0551.JPG

We do offer BM53 radios if interested in new units.

Yea, since you have a 2000, I think that is pre- BM53 .... but you will have some sort of Boardmonitor Radio

This is the part though in RealOEM.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...76&hg=65&fg=05

The board monitor display is pretty dumb, in that it receives commands from the buttons on the unit, acts as a display (obviously), and feed audio from the Tape, or CD player back to the Board monitor radio.

Its the boardmonitor radio thats everything connects too. The BM radio talks to the Nav computer that generates all the menus and alike back to the display. Its quite a weird system, and overly complex. This is why 3rd party developers have all sorts of funs and games trying to integrate their solutions in with the BMW one. Such as iPod integrations that can display Id3 tags on the display !!!