High Pitch Whine When Using CD Changer

[granit_silber]

I have had my e34 for less than 24 hours and am having a problem with the BMW branded CD changer.

Yesterday, everything was fine and the unit worked flawlessly. this morning I loaded three CD's and now when I access the CD changer the tracks play but with a high pitched whine that overrides the music.

The only difference between this morning and last night are:

3 Cd's in changer instead of one
Outside temp was 32 degrees and the car was out all night

Any ideas?
-ashley

[632 Regal]

might be a bad or loose ground wire. check the wiring from the player first then go farther into the cables, battery ground areas.

[granit_silber]

might be a bad or loose ground wire. check the wiring from the player first then go farther into the cables, battery ground areas.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[andyman32]

Yeah, that whine means that there's electrical interference in the pre-amplified signal transfer. That means it's either between the changer and the head unit, or between the head unit and the amplifier (behind the trunk carpeting on the driver's side, just to the rear of the rear-right wheel well). I would tend to agree with Jeff, but the wiring for these things is all built in to a wiring harness. You might just check that all the connections are snug and that there's no place where the wire is snagged or nicked.

Does it also occur when you're listening to the radio?

There's a chance that someone installed a replacement CD changer control cable that's either not routed properly, or not shielded, or both, any of which would probably permit interference like that.

[632 Regal]

Yeah, that whine means that there's electrical interference in the pre-amplified signal transfer. That means it's either between the changer and the head unit, or between the head unit and the amplifier (behind the trunk carpeting on the driver's side, just to the rear of the rear-right wheel well). I would tend to agree with Jeff, but the wiring for these things is all built in to a wiring harness. You might just check that all the connections are snug and that there's no place where the wire is snagged or nicked.

Does it also occur when you're listening to the radio?

There's a chance that someone installed a replacement CD changer control cable that's either not routed properly, or not shielded, or both, any of which would probably permit interference like that.

[granit_silber]

Yeah, that whine means that there's electrical interference in the pre-amplified signal transfer. That means it's either between the changer and the head unit, or between the head unit and the amplifier (behind the trunk carpeting on the driver's side, just to the rear of the rear-right wheel well). I would tend to agree with Jeff, but the wiring for these things is all built in to a wiring harness. You might just check that all the connections are snug and that there's no place where the wire is snagged or nicked.

Does it also occur when you're listening to the radio?

There's a chance that someone installed a replacement CD changer control cable that's either not routed properly, or not shielded, or both, any of which would probably permit interference like that.

Sorry, been out of town...
I checked the connections at the back of the unit itself, all were snug and tight.
No, the whine ONLY happens when the changer is cold. I hope its a loose connection in the trunk, maybe that will fix the left-only channel when playing CD's. Thanks for the info, I'll check it out.

[granit_silber]

This morning I checked the wiring harness from the changer to the amp (and found out that I don't have a folding rear seat). All the wires look good all the way to the amp. However, there are two wires that split off from the main bundle and connect to the frame (ground maybe) on those wires there is a taped bulge, like a connector was put in and then covered with electrical tape.
I have no experience with electrial stuff and have no idea how to check this. Any ideas??


I have had my e34 for less than 24 hours and am having a problem with the BMW branded CD changer.

Yesterday, everything was fine and the unit worked flawlessly. this morning I loaded three CD's and now when I access the CD changer the tracks play but with a high pitched whine that overrides the music.

The only difference between this morning and last night are:

3 Cd's in changer instead of one
Outside temp was 32 degrees and the car was out all night

Any ideas?
-ashley

[granit_silber]

The whine does not occur any other time than when I attempt to use the changer and the air temp is low.

After pulling the carpet out of the trunk, I didn't find any loose wires.
However, I did notice two "lumps" in the cable. Like the cable had been spliced and reconnected in two locations. I have no idea how to test those wires further.

New wrinkle...
Yesterday morning air temp was 31f. Turned on the radio and accessed the changer (in hopes that just maybe it would work) and the radio displayed this message:
"Low Temp"

Does this mean that for three months I can't use the CD changer and for the remaining 9 months only have full audio out of the front left speaker array??????

WHAT' THE DEAL???????????????
thanks for letting me vent!
-ashley