Why does the radio in my sisters BMW 118i SUCK so much?

[cawimmer430]

The 80's sucked, music wise.   

The 80s were awesome, music wise. 

And cars too. 

[S204STi]

Ah, this is going in the direction of sexual slang, eh? 

No I just wanted to learn an obscure German phrase to use in situations that would normally call for profanity.

[Byteme]

The 80s were awesome, music wise. 

And cars too. 

[Rupert]

I'm going to ask my fellow 1-Series drivers on Germancarzone.com if they have similar problems. Sucks that most of them live in Sweden and the UK so things might be different there...

Do you know what "literally" means?

[Rupert]

The 80's sucked, music wise.   

Unless you like punk, metal, derivations thereof, or Michael Jackson.

[280Z Turbo]

The 80's sucked, music wise.   

Yeah, especially Depeche Mode.

[280Z Turbo]

This video contains content from Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment. It is no longer available in your country.




What song was it?

99 luftballons

[Rupert]

Yeah, especially Depeche Mode.

Revenge of Submariner in 5... 4... 3... ...

[the Teuton]

European cars have never had particularly good radio reception down under, especially with AM radio. I had this discussion a few months back at work with a customer, and I'm told his current-model Statesman could pick up an AM broadcast from Auckland when the car was in Geelong - a good 2700km/1677 miles away. Even the Lexcen can pick up the odd station from Melbourne (700km/435 miles away) given favourable weather conditions.

I can almost get WXDX from Pittsburgh here, 130 miles away. For being a short-range local station, that's amazing. The reception in my Saturn is perhaps better than it was in the brand new Hyundai I rented a few months back.

[Byteme]

Am I alone in noting how the seek function seems to really suck on most new car radios.  Unless I'm in or near an urban area the radio finds nothing when I use seek on either FM or AM.  At the same time manual tuning finds a multitude of staitions with signals strong enough to listen to.  Can the sensitivity of the seek function be altered by the user?

[S204STi]

I agree John, many radios simply suck with that.  I think it's a matter of internal design, not alterable as far as I can tell.  Maybe a real radio wiz with a soldering iron and the right parts could change that...

[Raza]

Maybe it's because I generally stay in the same 100 mile radius, or that when I do travel, I use my iPod, but I don't think I've ever once used seek in my Jetta.  I think I used it twice in my Passat, both times when I moved to new towns.  Finding nothing but country stations that far into the wilderness, I stuck to CDs (back then...oh, what a way to listen to music!  Large plastic dishes that hold only a dozen or so songs.  The past was such an interesting time!)

[Byteme]

Maybe it's because I generally stay in the same 100 mile radius, or that when I do travel, I use my iPod, but I don't think I've ever once used seek in my Jetta.  I think I used it twice in my Passat, both times when I moved to new towns.  Finding nothing but country stations that far into the wilderness, I stuck to CDs (back then...oh, what a way to listen to music!  Large plastic dishes that hold only a dozen or so songs.  The past was such an interesting time!)

Try driving across Nebraska.  About all I was able to pick up were farm reports on AM and Country on FM.

On road trips we generally take a load of CD's as well, but if driving all night or most of the night (which we do a lot)  I find that talk radio keeps me more alert so I start looking for Coast to Coast AM to find out what the UFO crowd and nut cases are up to.  And Saturday mornings I need my "Car Talk", "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "Says You" NPR fix.

[cawimmer430]

Do you know what "literally" means?

Never heard of that word. What does it mean?

[cawimmer430]

99 luftballons

What a cool song!

God, I love the 80s! 

[Rupert]

Never heard of that word. What does it mean?

Oh?

I am not an expert on radios but my main problem with it is the lack of radio stations and the piss poor reception at times. Ever since my sister got the car the radio was been literally crap. [...]

Then why did you use it?

Anyway, literally means actually or exactly. If I say something is literally crap, for instance ( ), I mean that it is crap, not that it's like crap. So, to say that your radio is literally crap, you're saying that, somehow, BMW put a turd in the place where the stereo goes.

[rohan]

What the hell is wrong with this BMW radio? Is it the fault of the radio, the antenna or some other factor? I've driven the 118i and E320 on similar routes and the radio found in the E320 always delivers excellent reception and a healthy choice of radio stations.


So what is wrong here?  

I think you nailed it- it's a lowly BMW radio.  Nothing can match the unrivaled quality of a Benz radio and we all know BMW radio's are simply subpar.

[rohan]

Anyway, literally means actually or exactly. If I say something is literally crap, for instance ( ), I mean that it is crap, not that it's like crap. So, to say that your radio is literally crap, you're saying that, somehow, BMW put a turd in the place where the stereo goes.

I think that's what he's saying. 

[Rupert]

Oh, OK then.

[cawimmer430]

Actually I am just ranting on the poor reception and lack of radio stations that the BMW radio gives me. I never wanted to imply that the radio in our E320 was better. I don't even want to compare them technically since the E320 radio, APS-50, is definitely more advanced in the first place. Still, I find it outrageous that a base radio found in a BMW 1-Series delivers such poor reception and so few stations when driven outside urban environments (or sometimes even in the cities).

[Rich]

MY antenna in the Cooper S looked the same.  Might even have the same radio (mine was pretty identical to the E46 radio.  Horrible reception.  My old '98 Cavalier was like a rolling radio tower compared to the MINI

[cawimmer430]

MY antenna in the Cooper S looked the same.  Might even have the same radio (mine was pretty identical to the E46 radio.  Horrible reception.  My old '98 Cavalier was like a rolling radio tower compared to the MINI

Interesting. Maybe these antenna are related somehow since they're both made by BMW or supplied to BMW by a manufacturer. I will really have to ask some fellow 1-Series drivers about their reception and number of radio stations available to them.

[Raza]

Try driving across Nebraska.  About all I was able to pick up were farm reports on AM and Country on FM.

On road trips we generally take a load of CD's as well, but if driving all night or most of the night (which we do a lot)  I find that talk radio keeps me more alert so I start looking for Coast to Coast AM to find out what the UFO crowd and nut cases are up to.  And Saturday mornings I need my "Car Talk", "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "Says You" NPR fix.

That's why I use my iPod!  So much music in there, you'll never get bored.  And if you do get bored of music, throw on some Top Gears or movies and just listen.

[2o6]

That's why I use my iPod!  So much music in there, you'll never get bored.  And if you do get bored of music, throw on some Top Gears or movies and just listen.

Or a podcast.

[Raza]

Or a podcast.

Yeah, I have some podcasts from my local morning show.  Pretty funny stuff.

[CJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U990QFyvN3M



(and yes I know he was Austrian)

I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND THAT SONG FOR THE LONGEST TIME.  I hear it on Jack FM all the time. 

[93JC]

Hmm, guess you were too young to remember when that song was popular.

[hotrodalex]

My BMW radio is pretty crappy, AM wise. Its FM reception is excellent, though.