Poor FM reception

[grisopaul]

I live 19 miles NW of Boston. My two cars get a  ridiculous amount of stations to listen to. My old 2011 and my new 2017 RT can't find one station. The dealer can't find a problem with the system. They load up the radio with stations they find at their shop and say it's working great, then I drive 5 miles from their shop and lose half the stations. My opinion is the BMW radio is trash.


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[Rambler358]

My 17's radio seems fine to me - no issues.

[grisopaul]

That's good to know Rambler, maybe I have a bad radio.  How's reception for anyone else?
Love riding the RT, best bike I've ever owned, just don't use the radio.


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[timminator]

That's good to know Rambler, maybe I have a bad radio.  How's reception for anyone else?
Love riding the RT, best bike I've ever owned, just don't use the radio.


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The reception is fine on my 2016 RT.  Are you attempting to listen through the speakers or a bluetooth headset?  The quality of the BT sound is lousy.  Any chance you are experiencing poor BT quality rather than an actual reception issue, is it better if you use XM radio or USB audio?

[grisopaul]

Just the speakers, no BT.
XM works fine and I haven't tried the USB. The only issue is fm reception.


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[aweight]

I had the same issue on my 2015 RT LC, when the dealer investigated they found the antenna cable had been routed incorrectly (I tihnk by them when they fitted the AUX LED lights) and as a result the outer cable had been nicked and was grounding out.


A good test for this is to see if the antenna makes any difference at all, remove the RHS painted cover and unplug the antenna whilst listening to a radio station, if the signal drops, the antenna is working (at least a bit) - if the signal stays the same as it did for me it's a good sign the antenna or cable is at fault


Andy

[pencile]

I seem to have very poor FM radio reception as on my 2014RT.  I took the top covers off to look down in the abyss, and found what looked to be an unshielded  bradded  wire connection to the antenna...not a solid RG type I was expecting..Is that right?  You say by taking off the side panel you can gain full access?  is it hard to take off?...  Off subject but I just changed out the low beam headlight..OMG what a nightmare!!  cant be harder than that I hope!!

[aweight]

The flat braided wire is the "official" ground wire that acts as the ground plane for the antenna, it needs this as it's mounted to plastic, the signal cable is a thin sleeved black wire, it has a clip connector behind the RH fairing panel, which you can remove by undoing the two torx screws and hinging the panel upwards carefully (its the panel with the BMW logo on it)


Please be careful with the panel, the top is secured by two plastic tabs and these break easily as Cannon BMW who last serviced my bike discovered!


Hope this helps


Andy

[JBnAZ]

OP - I have a 2014 and did not like the antenna that is unattractive and eyeball poking height. So my radio reception is not great with the stubby micro antenna I installed. As an alternative I use a $7 USB Bluetooth receiver that has an aux style output which I plug into the aux input. So the USB port powers the device and connects to my Android smart phone. I set my audio system on aux, then use my phone for radio, streaming audio, gps, or my local playlists and music. My smart phone connects to my sena unit as well when I want that option.


This approach removed the need and cost for a nav system, which I did not buy, and solved reception concerns. Maybe this would be an option for you as well?


Good luck,
JB

[beemerboy9]

I have not experienced particularly good FM reception on any of my 3 RT's - 1100, 1200, 1200LC - over the years. I would say that it is tolerable at best. The reception from satellite (US) or DAB (Europe) is a lot better.


I should probably change my listening tastes  ;D .

[Old-Git]

Anyone in the UK tried a DAB adaptor?

[beemerboy9]

Anyone in the UK tried a DAB adaptor?

Yes, the Dension DAB+U as mentioned in this thread


Works well for me as I use it in and around Hertfordshire and Essex.

[Old-Git]

Thanks will look into that.