Wierd: Radio does not work, but CD player and Aux-in does, and fried electronic smell

snacks · 03-10-2015, 02:11 PM

2006 e90 325i base model, 165,000 miles.

I was listening to my phone all morning plugged in the Aux just fine. Then I switched over to the radio (tuner). It played for a couple seconds, started cutting out, then it was gone. I thought it was some error at the station, but I had nothing from any station. I messed with some settings and re-scanned the stations and eventually got to hear the same static coming through no matter what I was tuned to. I managed to pull in one AM station for a short time, but everything else was static. CD player is totally fine.

There were two abnormalities that happened:

- One was a small splash of water on the radio from a bottle in the cup holder, but it didn't get inside as far as I could tell, and I wiped it up right away. I also tested the radio and CD player immediately after this - both were fine. All fuses are good.

- The other was the DTC, ABS and TPI warnings all coming on at the same time. This has happened before several times, and I finally (I think) rooted out the problem being a loose connection on the negative terminal, and it would foul up that stuff if I went over a bump and the battery was jostled. It hasn't happened since I tightened the terminals months ago, until now, so I'm thinking there is something deeper than a loose terminal. I pulled over, shut down the car, and then started again. After about 5 minutes, the warning lights went away, but the whole time I also had a slight burning electronics smell in the cabin which is really worrying me.

Other than the tuner not working, I also noticed that the cigarette lighter plug directly under the radio no longer has it's orange light when it's in use. It still has power, but no light. The lighter plug in the armrest is also fine.

It's really odd that only the tuner stopped working, and from what it's doing, seems like the antenna is not plugged in. That's the only thing I can think of, but it seems pretty unlikely to me. EDIT: I do have a lot of crap in my trunk, and when I was uncovering the battery to check the terminals after my DTC/ABS/TPI errors, I may have done something to the antenna connection. I will check this later. Seems unlikely as well, but the radio symptoms point to no antenna connection...

Anyone have experience with something like this?

It's going to sit for a few hours until I drive home from work, so maybe if some water got in the stereo it will dry and everything will right itself.

snacks · 03-21-2015, 05:51 PM

10 days of this and I have one update:

Sometimes the radio works, except it will only randomly pull in one station. No matter what I tune to, it's the same station. This is weird.

03-10-2015, 02:11 PM	#1
snacks New Member 0 Rep 6 Posts Drives: 2006 325i Base Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Dallas iTrader: (0)	Wierd: Radio does not work, but CD player and Aux-in does, and fried electronic smell 2006 e90 325i base model, 165,000 miles. I was listening to my phone all morning plugged in the Aux just fine. Then I switched over to the radio (tuner). It played for a couple seconds, started cutting out, then it was gone. I thought it was some error at the station, but I had nothing from any station. I messed with some settings and re-scanned the stations and eventually got to hear the same static coming through no matter what I was tuned to. I managed to pull in one AM station for a short time, but everything else was static. CD player is totally fine. There were two abnormalities that happened: - One was a small splash of water on the radio from a bottle in the cup holder, but it didn't get inside as far as I could tell, and I wiped it up right away. I also tested the radio and CD player immediately after this - both were fine. All fuses are good. - The other was the DTC, ABS and TPI warnings all coming on at the same time. This has happened before several times, and I finally (I think) rooted out the problem being a loose connection on the negative terminal, and it would foul up that stuff if I went over a bump and the battery was jostled. It hasn't happened since I tightened the terminals months ago, until now, so I'm thinking there is something deeper than a loose terminal. I pulled over, shut down the car, and then started again. After about 5 minutes, the warning lights went away, but the whole time I also had a slight burning electronics smell in the cabin which is really worrying me. Other than the tuner not working, I also noticed that the cigarette lighter plug directly under the radio no longer has it's orange light when it's in use. It still has power, but no light. The lighter plug in the armrest is also fine. It's really odd that only the tuner stopped working, and from what it's doing, seems like the antenna is not plugged in. That's the only thing I can think of, but it seems pretty unlikely to me. EDIT: I do have a lot of crap in my trunk, and when I was uncovering the battery to check the terminals after my DTC/ABS/TPI errors, I may have done something to the antenna connection. I will check this later. Seems unlikely as well, but the radio symptoms point to no antenna connection... Anyone have experience with something like this? It's going to sit for a few hours until I drive home from work, so maybe if some water got in the stereo it will dry and everything will right itself. Last edited by snacks; 03-10-2015 at 04:26 PM..
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03-21-2015, 05:51 PM	#2
snacks New Member 0 Rep 6 Posts Drives: 2006 325i Base Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Dallas iTrader: (0)	10 days of this and I have one update: Sometimes the radio works, except it will only randomly pull in one station. No matter what I tune to, it's the same station. This is weird.
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