Beezer Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 I've been living with bad radio reception for far too long. It was so bad I couldn't even receive BBC radio stations on my regular commute around the m25. So I decided to do something about it. I'm posting here in case it's useful for anyone else. My stereo is an aftermarket touchscreen headunit & my car is a late model E46 Touring. I'd done my research & found out that I had the later antenna amplifiers that don't need the 12v feed down the antenna wire. If you look at the pic below, there's 3 FM antenna and 1 AM antenna on a touring. The rear glass contains 2 vertical FM antennas that feed into a diversity amplifier that's underneath the rear spoiler. The AM antenna is also in the rear spoiler & feeds into the same box. Critically, the left hand rear FM antenna also receives signals for the keyfob for unlocking your car. The wire from the rear amplifier feeds down a single wire into a 2nd box in the rear compartment. This 2nd box also takes a feed from an antenna in the rear quarter window. This box decides which antenna signal to feed through to the stereo. In my case, the problem was easy to isolate because the radio signal completely lost when I turned on the rear window heater. So, it HAD to be the rear window antenna system. I took off the rear spoiler and took a look. From looking at the wiring, there's no physical connection between the rear window heater and the radio antenna, so there had to be a short circuit somewhere. I couldn't find it, however. I'd read the the fix was to get a complete new rear glass & there's no way I was going to pay for that. So, a cheap fix had to be found. So what I did was to buy an ebay special amplified window antenna, fastened it in the back window and wired it direct to the diversity amp using the factory antenna wire, completely bypassing the rear system. Pics below... The antenna connector you'll need is a common SMB jack. e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111443638962 I now have VERY much better radio reception. HTH CharlE46 and touringking 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touringking Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 I thought I was only me with this problem, I think mine is the ariel in the rear screen. So this is a great help and I'm going look in to doing this myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touringking Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 Also have you got a link to the antenna? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beezer Posted October 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 I used this one, but to be honest - just pick any of the amplified antenna that looks cool & matches your budget. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371031518203 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
