Re: need radio help on my E34

["Michael Barrett" <mbarrett635@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>My stock E34 radio is giving me some funny chirping noise when the 'ST' 
>light
>comes & goes. So I bough another BMW radio from another E34 and when I plug 
>it
>up, it won't recognize the CD player. Everything else works fine. Is there
>something I need to do? or didn't all radios come CD ready?
>Richard V

Richard

What model year is your E34, and from what model year did the replacement 
radio come?  And probably more importantly, what brand was your original 
radio, and what brand was the replacement?

Early on, the radios and changers in the E34 came in two flavors, Pioneer 
and Alpine.  Although they look the same from the faceplate, they are not 
interchangeable.  Later (at least as of 1995), either head unit could 
control either changer.  I know, since I installed a Pioneer made changer in 
my wife's '95 525i, and it worked fine with the Alpine head unit.

If you can't tell from the labels on the side/back/top of the radio, you 
should be able to check by pressing the "PROG" and the "-" (that's the 
"minus" button next to the "mode" button) simultaneously. The display should 
indictae something like "PIO5" or "ALP3".  In all likelihood, you have mixed 
the two brands, and that's the cause of your problem.

HTH

Mike Barrett
BMW CCA 111632
93 850Ci
88 635CSi

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