E61 Touring Discussion The touring is also known as the wagon version of the 5 series.

Diversity antenna - comfort access and remotes not working

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Old 09-21-2018, 01:41 PM
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Default Diversity antenna - comfort access and remotes not working

My remotes stopped working. No control access and no keyless start.
I opened up the rear spoiler just to find the diversity antenna corroded due to moisture and water ingress.
I have checked all my fuses and all seems fine. I have not tested the wiring to the module yet.
a replacement part is 600$ at my local dealership.

Does it require to be programmed once installed or is it a plug and play unit?
Can I fit an used one if I find it? can this modules be repaired?

thanks

corrosion

box
!
Old 09-23-2018, 01:35 PM
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Diversity antenna should be plug and play. good luck.
Old 09-26-2018, 01:56 AM
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You can get these on eBay for about $125 - the E63 modules are more common and cheaper - the only difference with an E63 module is that it has captive mounting screws instead of nuts - but you can just switch them out with the antenna you've pulled. The E63 part number is 6934485. Good luck.
Old 09-26-2018, 02:08 AM
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I just checked on eBay - there's a few active listings for the E63 module for $25 to $75 - you're in luck.
Old 10-02-2018, 02:11 PM
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thanks!
replaced and all is good now!
Old 04-06-2019, 01:34 PM
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My antenna went out. Strange no water damage. I have a '08 535xi wagon with comfort access, will this work?
Thanks in advance
Old 04-06-2019, 05:45 PM
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Originally Posted by quattromeister
My antenna went out. Strange no water damage. I have a '08 535xi wagon with comfort access, will this work?
Thanks in advance
It’s worth a shot. I’m debating the same thing. Really grateful that you guys mentioned the E63 being cheaper because these things for E61’s are quite pricey on eBay. Could also be a broken wire going through the hinge.
Old 04-08-2019, 08:47 PM
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Tonight tried debugging a few things and didn’t get very far. With INPA I was monitoring the antenna field strength while doing various tests but saw no issues.
  • Unplugging the coaxial cable from the antenna amplifier (FBD) caused INPA to report the connection to the FBD was faulty. Radio reception decreased dramatically. Remote keys would not work at all.
  • Unplugging the power cable to the FBD caused it to say connection was faulty and radio reception decreased dramatically. Remote keys would not work at all.
  • Unplugging 3 pin rear window antenna cable from FBD caused marginal drop in signal strength. Touching pieces of wire to the 3 FBD pins made a bit of a difference (basically making my own antenna).
  • Unplugging the diversity antenna (inside rear spoiler) caused remote keys to not work and a dramatic loss in AM reception.

All this to say, seems like everything is working as it should. I would assume a bad FBD would show little to no decrease in performance when unplugged.

One interesting thing to note is that on FM my radio reception increased when I disconnected a little 2-wire black plug to the right of the FBD. Not sure what that goes to. Reception went from 12/15 to 8/15 repeatedly.

I did notice that one of our two keys has vastly better range than the other. Swapping batteries did not transfer the range to the other key. My wife uses that other key normally and she said it usually works ok, sometimes has to take it out of her purse and put on console to start the car.
Old 04-26-2019, 02:30 PM
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Got an antenna amplifier from a 2008 6 series on eBay for $30 and it appears to have fixed all my problems! My other amplifier is date stamped 2015 and looks great, so not sure what failed. This one from 2007 is working great.
Old 11-19-2021, 04:45 PM
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I just pulled an antenna from an 04 6 series, and it works in my 09 wagon. Best $8 I've spent
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