Pathetic Radio Reception - Any thoughts?
 

Hello - I live on the Eastside of Seattle and my X5 radio literally picks up only 4-5 stations total (across the entire FM1 band). I have the non-Nav radio and was wondering if anyone has experienced poor reception as well that might have some idea how to cure this? I'm planning the Nav upgrade in 2 months anyway but am living on my CD changer in the mean time. Any thoughts...?

Unfortunately I have noticed that all BMWs seem to have this problem. I think it is because they don't use a regular external antenna. While this obviously makes the car look nicer, radio reception suffers.

My non-nav radio picks up lots of stations. I would check to be sure the antenna is really connected.

Yeah take it to the dealership and complain. Ask to test drive another car and check that cars reception. I found that the cars on the lot (three) to be exact all had better reception than mine. They told me since I added a sub/amp thats what's interfeering with the reception and wouldn't do anything about it...

Ours is a 2001 and a few years back they upgraded the software/firmware in the radio module because of this problem. There was a TSB about it.

Many cars these days use antenna's bulilt into the glass, hell even my 98 Prelude is built that way.

Just get XM Radio -- Problem solved, and you have a hell of a music selection. The XM Direct kit is cheap (about $250) and you can install it yourself in about 10 minutes. However, if you are going to go with a factory Nav radio, XM Direct will not work. You'll have to go with an external XM tuner (as opposed to one that is controlled by the car radio with all data displayed on the radio itself.) I have Nav, so I put an XM Commander in the ash tray. I have installed quite a few XM Direct units in BMWs and it works really well.

-- Kelly

I also live on the Eastside and my radio reception is good. Sounds to me like you may have a problem with your antenna.

Mine never had problem and it's stock (knock on wood).

here's a couple things to consider. Do you have aftermarket tint? Metallic tint could affect both FM and AM reception. Also, pull the cover off in the back that leads to the lines on the side glass. That's your radio antenna. Make sure the wires are still connected on the bottom. 3rd.. Check pull out the business radio and check the connectivity of antenna lead to it.

There is a TSB about weak radio reception. Another of these "by customer complaint only" deals. They change out the antenna amp.

I'm with StatDoc...my '01 non-nav
"biz CD" w/regular AM/FM picks up
lotsa stations, at least the FM ones.

My AM has been "fixed" twice and
still sucks...FM cooks.

Get it fixed.
GL,mD

Thats total bullshit

Is your car tinted, if so make sure the rear windows wasn't tinted with metallic tint as this can mess up reception.

I have an '02 with the same problem. Without fail, all stations have some degree of annoying static in them, with a few having way too much. I live in ATL and hate listening to most stations due to this issue. The dealer replaced the antenna amp a couple of months ago - no change. They base their research on the service menu and see what the reception indicates, not necessarily on how audiophile-ready the sound is. My '01 X5 didn't seem to have this issue. My '93 325 also had less than stellar reception and almost nonexistant AM reception.

What do they actually fix? I will try again. Does anyone know the exact TSB? Or what they are supposed to do?

I have a 06 4.4i with nav. which is only 1.5 months old. I found that the radio receptions, both AM and FM, are not good at all compared with my former Lexus RX330. I am a little bit disppointed about this.