Weird speaker issue on driver's door

alexwhittemore · 10-03-2017, 04:44 PM

Hopefully someone's come across this before, but the internet seems to come up short. Lately, my entire driver's door has been cutting out. The other 3 corners all work, and my subwoofer works, which is tapped off the L and R rear lines just behind the rear seat (so should be unrelated to the front).

The weird thing is, it's not scratchy or intermittent, like you'd expect with a wiring or analog issue. It's completely binary, either they're all there or they're all dead. And I can get them back on by just cranking the volume way up,
then back down.

It sounds like one of those "I have no clue, try replacing the whole amplifier" kinds of issues, but I'm really hoping someone has a more specific diagnosis.

mathematics · 10-08-2017, 10:58 AM

I would try replacing the amp.

tylerboland01 · 10-09-2017, 01:30 PM

You could try swapping the drivers and passanger speaker pins at the amp. If the passanger sides replicates the issue you know it's the amp.

darkpuh · 10-17-2017, 01:20 PM

Did you ever find out what was the issue? I have the same exact problem in my 2011 318i. My audio setup does not have an external amp however, so that can not be the problem. I have replaced the door speakers, so I'm guessing it's the head unit itself. The symptoms are 100% what you are havings

alexwhittemore · 10-17-2017, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylerboland01

You could try swapping the drivers and passanger speaker pins at the amp. If the passanger sides replicates the issue you know it's the amp.

That's a good idea. But I think all that'd rule out is the speakers themselves. Unless you mean switch driver's and passenger's at input AND output. Then if it switches to passenger's side, you KNOW it's the amp. If it doesn't, we could then guess reasonably it's the headunit, since a speaker problem would be unlikely to behave like this.

Wait. I guess, if you swapped only the input side, you could isolate it also. If the problem stays in the same side after swapping inputs, it's probably the amp. If the issue moves, it's probably the HU.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkpuh

Did you ever find out what was the issue? I have the same exact problem in my 2011 318i. My audio setup does not have an external amp however, so that can not be the problem. I have replaced the door speakers, so I'm guessing it's the head unit itself. The symptoms are 100% what you are havings

I haven't yet. Intermittent issues suck to reproduce

. I take it you have the Radio Professional HU? This is kind of what I fear. It feels like, if it's somewhere in the analog chain, there'd be a more obvious cut-over where audio was scratchy or the wrong volume or highly intermittent or something. Entirely off and entirely on, but with proper volume, seems to me more like a failing DAC. But I'm not really sure...

darkpuh · 10-19-2017, 11:09 AM

I have the integrated navi in the dashboard and I have the infotainment computer. I've tried researching that can I fit an aftermarket player to my car, but that is not possible as the navigation is integrated with the head unit. New one costs 997€ + coding and installing work, so that's going to be roughly 1300€. I found one used and will try to get that to work. It will save me about 600-700€ if it works.

alexwhittemore · 10-26-2017, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkpuh

I have the integrated navi in the dashboard and I have the infotainment computer. I've tried researching that can I fit an aftermarket player to my car, but that is not possible as the navigation is integrated with the head unit. New one costs 997€ + coding and installing work, so that's going to be roughly 1300€. I found one used and will try to get that to work. It will save me about 600-700€ if it works.

Do get back, I'm very eager to hear.

I was thinking about putting together a diagnostic tool that listens with a microphone to that channel to detect cut-out, but I'm not sure if it'd reveal much about the actual cause.

alexwhittemore · 09-26-2018, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkpuh

Did you ever find out what was the issue? I have the same exact problem in my 2011 318i. My audio setup does not have an external amp however, so that can not be the problem. I have replaced the door speakers, so I'm guessing it's the head unit itself. The symptoms are 100% what you are havings

Hell, I should have remembered your post better. I just replaced the driver's door mid driver. We'll see how it works out.

Something interesting I didn't realize - the tweeter and mid share the same harness branch, wired in parallel, but going through the physical housing of the mid driver. I don't think my tweeter is impacted (when the door goes "quiet," I can still hear the tweeter just fine, but the mid driver is what's suddenly very low volume). The upstream harness connector was loose when I replaced the speaker, but that being loose I'd expect to be scratchy when acting up, and at least affect tweeter and mid equally. And any upstream electronic issue I'd expect to impact both speakers, as well. All of that seems to limit the problem to the driver itself.

Anyway, I haven't noticed the problem again the last two times I drove it, so I'll update after a few weeks and see if it's gone for good.

10-03-2017, 04:44 PM	#1
alexwhittemore Lieutenant Colonel 110 Rep 1,951 Posts Drives: 2009 Crimson 328i Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (0)	Weird speaker issue on driver's door Hopefully someone's come across this before, but the internet seems to come up short. Lately, my entire driver's door has been cutting out. The other 3 corners all work, and my subwoofer works, which is tapped off the L and R rear lines just behind the rear seat (so should be unrelated to the front). The weird thing is, it's not scratchy or intermittent, like you'd expect with a wiring or analog issue. It's completely binary, either they're all there or they're all dead. And I can get them back on by just cranking the volume way up, then back down. It sounds like one of those "I have no clue, try replacing the whole amplifier" kinds of issues, but I'm really hoping someone has a more specific diagnosis. __________________
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10-08-2017, 10:58 AM	#2
mathematics Captain 69 Rep 994 Posts Drives: 08 328i e93 alpine white Join Date: May 2009 Location: Queens, NY iTrader: (0)	I would try replacing the amp. __________________ iPhone 6 Plus (iTunes library/iTunes radio/Waze, etc) to Airport Express via AirPlay. Toslink out of Airport Express to Helix P-Six DSP. PHD AF 1.C tweeters, PHD FB 4.1 midranges. Jehnert Door Cards and mid-bass'.
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10-09-2017, 01:30 PM	#3
tylerboland01 Private First Class 53 Rep 151 Posts Drives: 08 335i Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Magnolia, TX iTrader: (0)	You could try swapping the drivers and passanger speaker pins at the amp. If the passanger sides replicates the issue you know it's the amp.
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10-17-2017, 01:20 PM	#4
darkpuh Registered 0 Rep 2 Posts Drives: 318i 2011 E90 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Kaarina, Finland iTrader: (0)	Did you ever find out what was the issue? I have the same exact problem in my 2011 318i. My audio setup does not have an external amp however, so that can not be the problem. I have replaced the door speakers, so I'm guessing it's the head unit itself. The symptoms are 100% what you are havings
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10-19-2017, 11:09 AM	#6
darkpuh Registered 0 Rep 2 Posts Drives: 318i 2011 E90 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Kaarina, Finland iTrader: (0)	I have the integrated navi in the dashboard and I have the infotainment computer. I've tried researching that can I fit an aftermarket player to my car, but that is not possible as the navigation is integrated with the head unit. New one costs 997€ + coding and installing work, so that's going to be roughly 1300€. I found one used and will try to get that to work. It will save me about 600-700€ if it works.
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