How to use trunk CD Player?
James Bott
info or manuals from the previous owner. There is a AM/FM cassette radio in
it. There is also a 12 disc CD changer in the trunk. It says "BMW" on it so
I expect it is stock, but perhaps installed later. I could not find any
other writing on it, but there may be a model on the back (which would
require removal to see).
I have no idea how to use the CD player. There appear to be no controls on
the radio for the CD player. I do note that there are 4 "bands" on the
radio, AM, FM, WB, and one that just shows four dashes (----). The AM and FM
I know--I have no idea what WB stands for. When on WB it cycles through
several channels, then beeps. No other sound comes out. I don't know what
the four dashes are either.
I put a CD in the player and tried every button and combination of buttons I
could think of, but I could get nothing from the CD.
Can anyone help?
Is it possible that the CD changer requires some type of remote control,
that I don't have?
Thanks,
James Bott
San Diego
fbloogyuds
> I have a '90 325iC that I got recently from a lien sale--so I didn't get
any
> info or manuals from the previous owner. There is a AM/FM cassette radio
in
> it. There is also a 12 disc CD changer in the trunk. It says "BMW" on it
so
> I expect it is stock, but perhaps installed later. I could not find any
> other writing on it, but there may be a model on the back (which would
> require removal to see).
>
> I have no idea how to use the CD player. There appear to be no controls on
> the radio for the CD player. I do note that there are 4 "bands" on the
> radio, AM, FM, WB, and one that just shows four dashes (----). The AM and
FM
> I know--I have no idea what WB stands for. When on WB it cycles through
> several channels, then beeps. No other sound comes out. I don't know what
> the four dashes are either.
>
> I put a CD in the player and tried every button and combination of buttons
I
> could think of, but I could get nothing from the CD.
If it's like the am/fm/cassette/cd in my '91 525i, one of the "bands" is the
CD player. If it's a Pioneer like mine, be sure to put the CD's in FACE UP
rather than face down. Very disconcerting for us people used to Alpine
changers.
The "WB" is Weather Band - it seeks for one of the four WX channels
available in most parts of the US to air.
Note that there are actually two FM bands - the mode (?) switch alternates
between them when FM is displayed.
Floyd
Nick
WB is for Weather Band. It will automatically scan then lock in on the
best signal, presumably the one carrying your local weather info. Mine
works fine-might depend on where you live.
Never heard of a 12 disc changer. Maybe it is not a BMW OEM. Sorry can't
help there.
James Bott
"fbloogyuds" <flo...@accessone.com> wrote in message
news:umb2omp...@corp.supernews.com...
That is what I was hoping. Does one of the bands on yours say "CD?" Mine
doesn't.
>>If it's a Pioneer like mine, be sure to put the CD's in FACE UP
> rather than face down. Very disconcerting for us people used to Alpine
> changers.
The cd cassette says to put them in label up, so that is what I did.
Tommorow, I will try label down.
> The "WB" is Weather Band - it seeks for one of the four WX channels
> available in most parts of the US to air.
Ah, I should have thought of that.
> Note that there are actually two FM bands - the mode (?) switch alternates
> between them when FM is displayed.
I thought there was only one, but I will double check that too.
Thanks,
James
James Bott
"Nick" <540...@bmw.yeh> wrote in message news:3D6594C...@bmw.yeh...
Ah, well, the antenna is gone, so that may be why I never got any reception
on that band.
> Never heard of a 12 disc changer. Maybe it is not a BMW OEM. Sorry can't
> help there.
Well, the only writing on it is "BMW" in big letters. I would think this was
OEM, even if not common. I haven't seen any reference to a 12 disc BMW
player either though.
James
Nick
>
>
I have 3 FM bands. FM1 and FM2 - which can hold 6 presets each but you
can up/down through all 12 across both bands. FMA (there is also an AMA)
each hold another 6 presets. Presumably for stations in areas you visit
often enough when "A"way from home.
fbloogyuds
That's a newer unit - like the one in my '01 330xi. The older unit in my
'91 525i
used the "Prog" button to toggle between FM1 & FM2.
James, BTW, if no magazine is in my CD Player, the 4-letter display reads
"DISC"
and the program display reads "no magazine" when the "Band" button is
toggled.
Floyd
Randy Walters
It and the radio ("pyramid" infrared type) are made by Alpine. The
changers were installed by the dealerships once they arrived stateside.
The "band" that shows four dashes is the CD mode, but the dashes
indicate that the radio isn't seeing the changer, or the changer isn't
working for whatever reason. When it's working properly it reads
DISC and has a few other messages that i can't remember. These
changers can be finicky and often don't work after all these years.
The data cable that connects the changer to the radio is an oddball
hybrid cable. It's possible that the cable has been nicked somewhere
along it's length, or could be disconnected from the backside of the
radio. Make sure the changer is getting 12 volts. There is also a
reset button on the changer itself that must be pushed if the power
is ever disconnected then restored. Try that. Sometimes the thingy
inside that senses the presence of the 12 disc cassette goes bad so
the radio can't see the CDs. The changer can be sent to Alpine for
repair but last i heard it was about $150 to repair. The suspended
chassis must be locked down with special long metric screws before
shipment.
When it's working properly, the pyramid-shaped toggle control and
other buttons that normally control the cassette are used to control
the CD changer when it's in the "CD Band" mode. It's kinda clunky
but gets the job done. I removed my changer and sold it and the
cable a long time ago. I still have the manual for the radio which
has a section about operating the 12 disc CD changer. If you show
up at the BMW CCA Autocross at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday
Sept 7th i'll let you read the booklet (i keep it in my glovebox :-)
There are a few good meeting places for E30 cars where you might
be able to get more info on the changer (and other E30 stuff):
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e30/
http://www.e30forum.net/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?
http://www.egroups.com/group/E30
Randy
89 325is
El Segundo/LAX
http://home.earthlink.net/~randylwalters/
http://community.webshots.com/user/randywalters
___________________________________________________