radio problems

[mlhewitt]

Looking for info on my 2001 z8 Phillips multi function radio. The radio will go on then after a half hour or so it cuts off. Only one small led light flashes every two seconds or so. Took the radio out and brought it to BMW. They say they can not find anyone to service it. They say it would have to be replaced. Problem is they cant tell me if it is the radio or some other component in the car that may be shorting and causing the inernal time delay fuse to go. This is a german version of this car and any help that anyone can give me would be appreciated.

Thanks:confused:

[RRZ8]

Do you mean the red (anti-theft) led ? This would mean that the power supply to the complete unit is interrupted and in stand-by (?)
I have heard that the radio-unit does not work by itself but is 'supported' by the Navigation-computer and this unit works together with the telephone-unit. In other words; a rather complicated problem.
I know of German Z8 owners which had their radio-navigation units replaced under warranty; maybe you should contact the dealer and ask him to check the complete radio-navigation-telephone module ?

[mollyshark]

Just yesterday I was enjoying a ride and the radio went off with a loud snap. Turned it off and on again..nada. About 30 seconds later it came on with a loud snap for about 5 seconds and then went off, but the readout showed vertical orange lines for several seconds. This went on for the entire ride. My ride home (which of course means the car was off and then back on) had the radio on without incident. Will be taking the Z this morning on a quick errand. Will have to see if it does the on/off again. I was hoping a wire was simply loose. I don't want to hear "there is no one who can service it!"

[RRZ8]

Doesn't sound like a loose wire (...) Let's hope that it just keeps working :)

[Z8 Dave]

My radio just completely stopped working! It's a 2001 with very low miles(under 7000). I checked all of the fuses but they are OK. I wonder what a new head unit costs!:eek::eek::eek:

[mollyshark]

Mine has continued to be sporadic. Talked to my guys at Lone Star Bavarian and they gave me a smile and said..how good of friends are you with the dealer because those head units are expensive. Oh charming. I do have an extended warranty on the beast, but will have to see what is what. When it pops on and off, it really does it with a vengeance. Even if I am somewhat ready for it, I still jump.

[Orcatek]

Mine went out and was dead for like 5 drives. Then it came back for a few minutes one day. Then another 2 drives and it came on, and so far it has stayed on. Of course now that I've said that I'm sure it will go back to being off LOL.

[RRZ8]

There must be a logical explanation for this behaviour..... Did anyone at this forum ever 'open up' a head unit ? Internal fusing, melted wiring or more complicated (prints..?) ? :confused:

[ldr1220]

I had the same experience that Mollyshark describes happen to me. Extremely loud snap followed by orange vertical lines on the readout. The volume went up, could not turn the volume down or turn the radio off. I pulled off the freeway, turned the car off and waited a few minutes. After I restarted the car the radio and nav unit were inoperable. Was on the way to BMW of Fremont for oil service, will be Monday before I know what the radio prognosis is.

[hayvenhurstkid]

My 01 did the same thing. I was enjoying a leisurely drive and the radio just quit. It came back on after a bit and quit again. It did this about six times. I stopped for lunch and when I got back in the car around an hour later, it worked fine the whole way home. My car is nearly three years out of warranty, but when I had my dash replaced late last year, I told them of the problem with the radio. BMW NA agreed to replace the radio under their goodwill policy. When the new radio arrived, it would not work, so they had to order another one, which, fingers crossed, has so far worked perfectly. BMW NA is well aware that this is a problem quite common in Z8's. By the way, list price on the part is over $1,200.

[macfly]

I am finding more and more to appreciate about the way BMW NA looks after us, the overall level of long term support has really impressed me.

[RRZ8]

Is BMW NA a 'full daughter' of BMW AG Germany ?

[jpklecker]

Yesterday on the way home from work my CD player ceased to function. I had six discs loaded but the radio display said that no discs were in the player. The radio did function, e.g. FM radio. Once I got home I took the magazine out of the player and re-inserted it, still no recognition that I had discs loaded. After three tries of this in-and-out the radio finally read the discs and started playing normally again. I don't know if this might be the start of some of the radio problems others have encountered. I will advise all of you if this continues or progresses into sonething else / worse.

[Bend]

If you find out that it is the CD player, this might be a good time to go the way of an iPod. Alternatively, one of us who installed an iPod would likely be willing to part with his CD player that's in storage ... somewhere.

[hayvenhurstkid]

GM has a pretty trick new CD player option. It has a 40GB hard drive, so it is like a built in iPod. You can choose which CD's you like and they download onto the harddrive and then you can store away you CD. Apparently, it can store something like 40,000 songs. I am sure there must be other aftermarket radios available which do the same thing.

[jpklecker]

Thanks for the tips / thoughts, I'll let you know if this continues or was just a fluke. Also, I'll let you know if I need / want to acquire a CD player from one of you for my car.

[KenZ8]

GM has a pretty trick new CD player option. It has a 40GB hard drive, so it is like a built in iPod.

Is this a plug-in replacement for the CD unit?

[hayvenhurstkid]

No, it would be a replacement for the radio itself, but it would render the CD behind the driver's seat obsolete. No nav, though.

[Z8Mania]

My CD player just up and died one day- this was after a about a year of the kind of behavior mentioned above- it not working- then working. The dealer replaced it for me. My head unit sometimes will come on but nothing will be on the display for a few minutes. My plan is when the head unit is dead is to get a new head unit but not to install it. I will keep it in its box and get my local high end installer to find me a single DIN unit that will fit the Z8s radio spot and install a nice aftermarket unit with nav and ipod and replace the speakers in the car with something better but keep the enclosures the same size and keep the stock speakers so one day it could all go back to stock if needed. These kinds of things are expected to happen over time. The loud pop when the radio goes on and off does sound like a lose wire.

[Z8Ros]

The radio damage can also occur by changing or disconnecting the battery. If you connect the battery again you get the full power on the electric system at once. It is necessary to keep 12 volt power on the system by external 12 volt adaptor. When you have connected the battery you can remove the external power supply.
Z8Ros
The netherlands

[Z8Mania]

Interesting- very good point.

[mollyshark]

Mine still isn't replaced. I'll have to contact the dealer again. I have a full after-market warranty that hopefully will step in if the dealer doesn't..deal.