where are the screws to remove radio???

[mishelelise]

Wow! I spent several hours cruising around this sight looking for info on my recently purchased '93 525i sedan.....the fuel pump went out after a few weeks of driving and now I have the radio code issue....nothing in glove box or on purchase papers and I got all the info about getting serial number off of radio back and calling dealership to get code. Was excited to go out and pull radio, got some allen wrenches and hex and needle nose pliers...BUT BUT BUT where are these two little screws that need to come loose? It is the stock dolby stereo and one place I found here said they were located "beneath the two little side doors on either side of the radio". Side doors? Hmmmmm, there are no little doors on my radio front (unless they meant the cassette door but there is nothing there either) Maybe I am focusing too much on radio face plate so I looked in, around, under all sides and knobs and I do not see any place where there are screw holes. I am going nuts without my tunes!! Helpppppppp
Michelle

ps ain

[Kalevera]

Michelle...

It's not *actually* an allen wrench, but one might do the trick. BMW has a special tool for it.

There are two caps on each of the outer edges. Use something small to pry them open. An awl or tiny flat blade screwdriver. They're hinged so they won't fly off. The retainer pins are behind it.

With some luck, the code will be on the radio itself. Some dealers started affixing a piece of paper on the head unit with the code. Kind of defeats the entire purpose of having a code, but...

best, whit

[SRR2]

It's a pentagonal socket. I made my own tool out of a nail slightly larger than the socket. It was a common flat-head nail. I ground the head into a regular pentagon, just by eye. Sounds harder than it was, actually it took less than two minutes. Then I set a fence on the grinder and used the facets on the head to set the angles at the tip of the nail. Just grind a bit off the tip, one facet at a time. A couple of tries as you decrease the size of the tip and you'll have it. The whole project took under than 10 minutes. And when you're finished, you'll have something sort of cool to talk about with other car people.

[632 Regal]

I definetly want and NEED to see pictures to figure out what your saying.


It's a pentagonal socket. I made my own tool out of a nail slightly larger than the socket. It was a common flat-head nail. I ground the head into a regular pentagon, just by eye. Sounds harder than it was, actually it took less than two minutes. Then I set a fence on the grinder and used the facets on the head to set the angles at the tip of the nail. Just grind a bit off the tip, one facet at a time. A couple of tries as you decrease the size of the tip and you'll have it. The whole project took under than 10 minutes. And when you're finished, you'll have something sort of cool to talk about with other car people.

[gale]

I wrote up a few details awhile back on taking the radio out:

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_36.htm

[stx133]

Dude, get an allen key

[stx133]

or a star type driver, you can but a set for a couple of buks like a screwdriver tip set

[uscharalph]

It's a pentagonal socket. I made my own tool out of a nail slightly larger than the socket. It was a common flat-head nail. I ground the head into a regular pentagon, just by eye. Sounds harder than it was, actually it took less than two minutes. Then I set a fence on the grinder and used the facets on the head to set the angles at the tip of the nail. Just grind a bit off the tip, one facet at a time. A couple of tries as you decrease the size of the tip and you'll have it. The whole project took under than 10 minutes. And when you're finished, you'll have something sort of cool to talk about with other car people.
I use a T-8 Star Socket. I'd be curious to see a picture of that nail thing also.

[mishelelise]

awesome! perfect, those 'little doors' sit flush with face plate and were really hard to see until I knew where to look, popped them open with my thumb nail....DUH!! Thank you Gale for the great pictures
I am WOMAN hear me ROAR (okay guys you can get back in your chairs and quit the laughing)
I am not a mechanical bimbo I am not a mechanical bimbo, I am not a mechanical bimbo
Thanks everyone

[JonE]

So, what did you use to get the radio out, the ground nail thing, a screwdriver, or did you get the actual pentagon shaped radio removal tool?
Obvious suggestion: write that code down somewhere safe after you obtain it from BMW. I keep a file of all of my BMW stuff and that code is in there.
Good luck with the radio!

[Bellicose Right Winger]

It's not that tough Jeff, I made mine years ago. The idea is to make a tapered 5 sided "allen" wrench. You make it tapered so the grinding doesn't have to be precise and so it will be a snug fit in the socket somewhere along it's length. Mine was ground from the awl in one of those junk 5 piece imported mini-screwdriver sets someone gave me for Christmas. A nail with a right angle bend is another good solution. Hold the awl/nail at a shallow angle to the grinder to grind a flat. Rotate the awl 72 degrees and grind another flat. Repeat 3 more times and you have a tapered 5 sided "allen" wrench. You can make a simple grinding guide to get the 5 sides accurately spaced. With a compass draw 5 radial lines 72 degrees apart on a piece of paper. Stick the awl/nail thru center where all 5 lines originate. Keep one of these lines vertical before grinding the first flat. Rotate awl/nail so next radial line is vertical and grind the next flat, and repeat.

Paul Shovestul



I definetly want and NEED to see pictures to figure out what your saying.

[SRR2]

DOOD, it's NOT an Allen key! What, you're one of those square pegs in roudn hole people? It's pentagonal. It's not six-sided like an Allen wrench. If you, DOOD, use an inappropriate tool in one of these that's particularly tight, then you'll have a stripped socket on your hands that you will have a very bad time getting out, DOOD.

[dacoyote]

I used the dremel..and made it a common.. then pulled it out... :-)

-Charles

p.s. If it cannot be fixed with the dremel or ducktape... get out the sledge....

[stx133]

is a dremmel some sort of a drill, using an 'easy out' screw remover will work fine if someone has managed to strip the head.

"When the only tool in the box is a hammer, all problems begin to look like nails"

[dacoyote]

is a dremmel some sort of a drill, using an 'easy out' screw remover will work fine if someone has managed to strip the head.

"When the only tool in the box is a hammer, all problems begin to look like nails"



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dremel

There is prop about 200 - 300 different things you can hook to it...

Depending on your eye hand cord with it... you can do many many things with it.


http://www.powerlabs.org/cdexplode.htm

-Charles

[mishelelise]

lol oh boy did I open up a can of worms??? YES I got the radio out and have the serial number...I just used a hex wrench that was a tad smaller, the screws were not so tight, it just took alot of turning before I heard a noise and realized the lock behind had opened...lol, i tugged a bit on cassette player inbox and it slid out fine....I will see if a dealer will give me code tomorrow. I may be back with code issues, I know all about having to leave ignition on (same as running it I hope) and the radio on for an hour , yeah yeah, I played with it and got the beeps more times then I can count
thank you so much for all your help!