Hi all,

I have 11.2003 E60 530i automatic with MASK. I purchased the car in September 2018 and the remote locking/unlocking was not working. Also the radio was not saving radio stations and other settings like BASS and Treble settings. Also, radio reception is disturbed once the I place the key to position 2. In position 1 the reception is fine without any noises.

I checked the battery of the key and it was OK yet I still installed a new rechargeable VL2020 battery but still no luck. I had the key checked and I was told that the key was transmitting ok.

I removed the diversity antenna and cleaned the tabs as well as the places where the sit on the rear window. I can see the diversity antenna works as with it detached from the window I have no reception. Once installed reception is fine even in underground parking.

I also get no error codes in INPA.

I managed to save some radio stations and other settings on the radio by going in INPA and resetting CAR ACCESS SYSTEM. Then I have about 5-10 min to save radio stations so that they will remain after leaving the car rest for 1hr or so.

I am really out of ideas now.

 

Did you check fm aerial filter on pillar C. And are there broken metal strip at rear windshield?

 

Hello,

Is it the suppression filter, no 2 in the link?

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

I don't see any broken metal strips at the rear windshield. Wouldn't they be apparent with poor FM reception?

I am afraid that the fact that the system loses the possibility to save changes is related to the lack of remote not working.

Something else I experienced is that when I disconnected the battery to check the diversity antena, the system regained the ability to save changes for a few minutes as it had saved a different starting radio station.

To me it looks like there is some sort of a short somewhere that goes off when turning the key over to position no 2 and probably shuts off part of the system.

 

There was no filter or anything apart from the airbag on the driver side C pillar.

 

Hello Deni, sorry for late reply. Yes its no 2 in the link. But now I'm confused with your radio memory problem? Memory radio control from head unit. And e60 key controlled by cas. I still wonder the connection between them.

Maybe like you said, remote not working to transmit key signal memory, so your cas recognize as new key and have no radio memory. But sometimes, when you key transmit better signal, it regain your radio memory. Btw are you using keyfob or ordinary key?

 

Strangely enough I didn't find any filter or anything else on the driver side C pillar.
The keys are one original that came with the car and one that I purchased from ebay and had it cut and coded locally. It was the guy that coded my new key that said that the keys are transmitting fine and that the problem should be somewhere else.

I have managed to save my preferred radio stations to both of the keys as the system seems to be able to store changes to the keys for about 5 min after I pull the battery or reset it via INPA.

I will go today to the junkyard to test another diversity antenna and see if it helps.

Thanks for the help

Deni

 

Seems like the Diversity antenna was the culprit. I got another one at the junkyard, replaced it, coded the keys and it was ok.

Hope this helps other people as well.

 

Just to clarify, are you referring to the antenna amplifier (grey box in the rear) or the diversity antenna itself which is just a wire taped to the body? I have an E61 so my antenna and antenna amp look a bit different than those on E60’s.

 

It is the antenna that has an arc and connected to the sharkfin antenna. Attached the pictures.