QuestionQUESTION: All of a sudden one day I have static coming from the whole left side of the speakers in my 98 BMW (740il). It only has the static when the radio is on. If I insert a CD into the player in the trunk it sounds perfectly fine. I tried replacing the tape deck, but it did the same thing.
ANSWER: Hi Lori,
What does it do on AM?
The reason I ask this is because it sounds like you have an issue with the FM modulator in the deck, causing it to make a mess out the left side of the car. AM doesn't do stereo.
Check the antenna connections aswell; BMW uses what's called a 'shark fin' antenna, which are not the best antennae as far as reception goes (they forego reception for beauty), so a slight loss in a connection could be wreaking havoc on your FM reception.
Justin
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I checked and the AM radio does NOT work either. Let me know what you think...thanks
AnswerHi Lori,
What I'm thinking then, is that there's either a short, or some interference being brought to your system by the 12V power that is being sent to the antenna when the car is in radio mode.
Because of the BMW antenna being so small, it receives 12V power from the car to amplify the signal it gets. I'm thinking that 12V is interfering with your speaker wires. The bad news is that if this is the case, you're probably looking at taking the car to the shop to have it fixed.
Justin
