factory radio repair possible???

[motuman]

Any electronic gurus around?

The factory radio on my 1990 535i has the "crackly, staticy, volume knob problem". I was able to dissabmble all of the internals (which is tricky little jigsaw puzzle) except for the volume pot assembly. This is soldered together with some fine connections which I don't know if I could repair/re-solder even if I found a new pot. I can't see any numbers but the back of the pot says "ALPS" (I think) and "JAPAN"

The question is - What are the odds of finding the exact replacement for the volume pot on a 15 year old radio? (Would have to be the exact one, with same pins, push feature, etc.)

If there is no chance of finding the exact replacement component then I will use the radio as is for the rest of it's life, however long that may be. If I can find a new pot, however, I would like to take a shot at replacing it.

Thanks to all.

[bahnstormer]

yes it is fixable!
a company in FL did mine for 75 bucks,
made it 10x louder, fixed lights and new butons
it is WORTH it

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Before you change the pot, try contact cleaner such as Nu-Trol. This is available at electronics hobby stores. Spray a small amount into the pot - there's usually a slit in one side and you can see the pot's wiper as you rotate the shaft. Turn back and forth a few times to work the cleaner in and re-assemble.

HTH,
Anthony

[motuman]

Thanks for the tip.

That's what I was hoping to do, but it is so inaccessible I don't know if I can get any in there. Kind of frustrating becuase virtually everything else came apart with screws & tabs, but the pot and the housing around it are soldered in.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Thanks for the tip.

That's what I was hoping to do, but it is so inaccessible I don't know if I can get any in there. Kind of frustrating becuase virtually everything else came apart with screws & tabs, but the pot and the housing around it are soldered in.

I guess if you're prepared to take the pot out to install a new part (yes ALPS is the manufacturer) you could try taking it out to apply the cleaner. I'd be surprised if you could find a replacement as the pot is likely a custom design - most OEMs don't use off-the-shelf components in their designs as they are often interested in tweaking, cost reducing or adding special functions to the parts for use in high volumes.

Cheers,
Anthony

[ElNormo]

That's what I was hoping to do, but it is so inaccessible

Maybe you've already tried this, but I simply pulled the volume knob off and shot some contact cleaner down into the radio. It did the trick nicely. I gave up trying to take the radio apart once I found the volume assembly was buried pretty deep.

Good luck,

Norman

[motuman]

I was able to get the radio apart enough to get a couple of shots of Nu-Trol contact cleaner into the volume pot. Works fine now!

I was so inspired, I also pulled the factory radio out of my e28 M5 and gave that a shot of contact cleaner as well. (Different disassemby procedure, same result) Also works fine now! I really didn't thing the M5 radio would come back because that one sounded really shot, but the Nu-Trol did the trick!

Thanks!

[uscharalph]

Cool, the local electronics store is out till tommorrow. Can't wait to try it out then

[uscharalph]

Thanks for the Nu-Trol tip. Worked like a charm. Only problem was that I had to but the 12oz can. They didn't get the smaller size in, but it was still worth it.

[uscharalph]

Just a note: The 1st application produced great results (Very little crackling). The followup application removed crackling totally as well as solving the problem of certain speakers going in and out.

[Gene in NC]

Is there something special about Nu-Trol or would the garden variety of contact cleaner, eg Radio Shack work as well?

[grave77]

any contact cleaner whould do alchohol works, cerosin oil just a cleaner that can remove the mess off the resistive line. sprays r good cuz it gets inside due to the pressure of the spray. but after sometime when the pot is done u will need to change it. and as an answer for the 1st question here, any pot with the same pin configuration would work. just get the same resistance or approximatly close. some times in the past I used to wire the pot to the PCB and it also works. some radios were 25 years old. its not a porblem. everything can be fixed.

[henryw525i]

I fixed that probelm by spraying WD40 into that volume pot...fixed the problem right up!

[htspecialist]

I had the same problems as others with the factory radio on my 1989 535i. Scratchy volume control, cutting out channels, etc. I the wd-40 trick. It worked about 2 weeks. On the advice of others here I shipped the unit ot Sound Repair in Cocoa, Florida (www.sound-repair.com). They did a great job. They replaced the offending pod on the volume control, replaced the light and cleaned all the grime off the keys. It looks just like new. The price had gone up a bit to $95 but I am a happy camper. They did a great job!

[califblue]

funny you should mention that:
this is formmy good friend w/97'528

I got my audio volume problem corrected. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery didn't help so I took the car to Fast Track Electronics - the outfit that Pacific BMW recommended. Fast Track Electronics is in Santa Monica and looks like a hole in the wall. A guy named Dave runs the show and Richard is the electronics guru who diagnoses the problems and does the work - pretty much a two-man show. When I pulled up and saw the place I was skeptical. Once I went inside it was a real eye-opener. These guys have BMW and Mercedes audio units and navigation systems everywhere, and they routinely deal with BMW dealerships coast-to-coast.

While I was there they were installing a totally custom sound system in an un-named NFL players 740i. The guy had just purchased the car and the first thing he did was to have the car totally repainted in the colors of the team; had the interior torn out and redone in leather with team-matching colors, including his personal logo in the middle of each headrest; had the wood trim re-painted with the team colors; threw on 20-inch custom wheels, also with his logo on the hubs. Cost of custom work after the car was purchased were ballparked in the $75K area.

Dave and Richard had also just finished doing an audio installation on Paul Allen's (Microsoft billionaire)vehicle.

Since my problem was with the volume control knob, they removed the faceplate and said they would call me when they had finished the repair. The next day Dave called and said that they had checked the faceplate and couldn't find anything wrong with it, and needed the car for additional diagnosis. I took the car in the following day and left it with them. They called later in the day and said that no matter what they tried,they could not get the problem to recur. We assumed that removing and reinstalling the faceplate had served to reset something that had glitched somehow. I paid them a $45 bench-check fee and left.

Bottom line - if you EVER have an audio issue, these are the guys to see. They totally know their **** and that Richard guy is a freaking wizard.

Fast Track Electronics
1946 14th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-396-7781
www.gofte.com

[joshua43214]

I had the same problem. I just turned the key off, gently pushed in on the knob and turned it back and forth, then gently pulled out on the knob and turned it back and forth.

Learned this from an audiophile friend of mine who recomended doing this as preventative maintainance on any pot type volume knob.

[Russell]

I was told by the dealer you could "exchange" for $175.00

[AngryPopTart]

And to think, I took my deck completely apart and even removed and dismantled the pot itself and cleaned the contacts myself and put it back together. I'm actually not so comfy with the idea of shooting cleaners into the pot. I know that some of them are just alcohol based, but eh!

Another note, however is that the contacts used for turning the deck on and off had large divots dug into the contacts from being turned on and off over the years. I think this is perhaps due to slight arcing as well. I sanded them down so they were close to flat again, but my advice is to do as I do and just never turn the deck off ever again. Hehe!

[Ross]

The radios for these cars aren't expensive, I remember selling the last one I had for $40.

[ThoreauHD]

I threw mine in the trash. Some things get better over time, like the E34. Sadly, car phones and radios aren't one of those things.

[Sixdown]

Heh, I threw some contact cleaner into my '85 e28's original radio that literally would not go louder than 1/4 way because the crackling would shut the volume off. Well, it works 100% now, WAY better than I have ever known it to be. It's an amazing fix.

[Elekta]

www.sound-repair.com will replace all the capacitors, clean and test the radio and mail it back to you in under a week for about $90 including shipping...it's a brand freaking new radio when you get it. They advertise in the roundel. Used them for years for every e34 radio I've had. nuff said