eflyboy

Hello Everyone,

I've been checking this Forum out since I bought my wagon on Memorial Day. Lots of good advice here.

My new ride: 2006 530xiT 6-speed Manual, Monaco Blue, Sport Pkg, Premium Pkg, Logic 7, Navigation, Comfort Access, Cold Pkg. I really love the handling and ride.

My issues that I hope someone has experience with:

1) AM reception is very poor, basically a bad high pitched whine that is worse the faster you drive. Not engine speed, but vehicle speed. At 40 mph there is 60% radio and 40% whine. At 80 mph it's about 95% whine. I live about 30 miles from the station I like. If I'm closer to the station, within 10 miles, it is not too bad. All my other vehicles pick it up without the whine and over 70 miles away. I love my talk station.
2) Comfort Access is sporatic. Only locks/unlocks about 15% of the attempts. The buttons on the remote work about 45% of the time. Mainly a headache and hard to understand why sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.

I've taken it to the dealer about 5 times in the last few weeks, but no big success for these issues. Other items have been corrected such as the voice command system and some squeaks, but these 2 issues are still with me. Warranty is just about done, it's over 49K now.

Is there a chance that these two issues are related?

Thanks for any ideas!

luigi524td

AM Radio is prone to electrical noise - especially since the antennae on current BMWs are not tall whips that improve AM reception. As for whining noise, if you said it increased with engine speed it'd probably be traced to the alternator. Your dealer should see if it's related anyway. As for Comfort Access problems, the remote fob battery could be dying - it's replaceable easily and inexpensively .. watch button type sold at Radio Shack etc. If not, and you're under warranty, have the dealer investigate the antennaes for Comfort Access -- there are several of them! In most cases, if issues are identified but not resolved while under factory warranty ... you should still have them covered under the warranty. If you're covered by some aftermarket warranty check the terms and conditions and document every issue reported but not resolved ... record keeping is very important.

Welcome to the forum!

vwvwvw

+1. Make sure you get any issues taken care of, or at minimum documented, before the warranty runs out. You paid for it.

The comfort access problem does sound like it could be a bad battery. Does it fail with both fobs?

v_therussian

yes, I used to be a noob, just like you...

Propper choice of transmission, btw

Word of advice: never post pics of your car on here - we HATE it

Frank5er

to 5series.net!

rhnorb

I had somewhat similar issues with my 2006 530XIT. I think the comfort access problem related to the fact that I had the windows tinted. My AM radio was rather week (but not the whine you describe) , but the Satellite radio was good (and has plenty of talk channels).

Rudy

Can you hear the whine on any other music source (like FM or CD?) If not, then I'd say there's an issue with the antenna and/or the antenna connections. (If the whine is on all sources, then you may have a ground loop.)

Based on the issue with comfort access and based on the assumption that the whine is only on AM stations, I'm thinking you may have an issue with the antenna located in the rear window. Both the AM and comfort access systems utilize the upper portion of the rear window as antennas -- if something has scratched the conductors back there (or if there's a problem with the physical connection) then you may have these types of problems.

Take a look at the following post for more information and a .pdf file describing all the antenna locations:
https://5series.net/forums/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=509866

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot...Welcome!

eflyboy

Hello All,

Good ideas, but I have already tried new batteries and there is no tint on the rear window. Most of the time I get no lock or unlock, but sometimes it works. Maybe once in 15 tries. Then it might work again and then stop. Today the buttons would not even work standing anywhere around the car. I had to use the actual metal key in the lock! They gave me a new remote fob this past Thursday (and promising another when it is shipped), but the new one is just as sporatic as the old one. Comfort access is sporatic and the buttons are as well. I'm thinking it must be the antennas so I will push them to check these more. Basically it seems to work fine for them. I'll stay on them until it works for me also.

I like my free station with local traffic info, so sat is not for me. The whine/buzz is only on AM. FM and CD are just fine.The kids whine a little though, but this is even outside of the car. The dealer is trying to fix the Radio issue, but it always works better at thier shop that is fairly close to the AM station transmitter. I think it may be an electronically noisy sensor or other component, but there are so many in these cars. They say they have checked all the grounds and connectors to the various antennas etc.

I made another appointment in a couple of weeks. Got a road trip planned next week. The dealer knows this is documented and are attempting to fix, but they are kinda stumped. I was hoping that someone might know some odd quirk that hasn't been tried yet.

Thanks all and I'll let you know if solutions are found.

pjinca

Welcome to the forum and the E60 (5series?) family. I would go with Rudy's advice above - the man knows what he's talking about. Even if you don't have tinted windows currently, maybe the previous owner did - which means they could've scratched the leads when they removed it. Just check it beffore the warranty is out or you could be looking at a big bill.

darkus

Welcome aboard! I think a trip to the dealer is in order to be honest.. just get it done right...