CD Changer in trunk will not work. How to diagnose?

[GRIDLOCK]

Hey all,

New to the forum but long time BMW owner / DIYer. I am not too electrical savvy so I need some help. A little while back, the CD-changer (in trunk) in my 95 325is (manual) just stopped working. The stock radio/tape deck reads "ERR" and that does not help me much other than telling me theirs a problem. The green power light on the CD changer unit does not come on at all. I tapped the CD changer unit and the green power light flickered a bit but then went out completely. I am hoping someone here can point me in the right direction in diagnosing this problem. Short? Frayed wired? I have a multimeter but i'll be damned if i know how to use it! I have checked the fuse box and their are no fuses that have shorted.

All help / advice / tech tips much appreciated.

Happy Holidays!

[Jeron]

Did you do anything to the car before the problem occured?

Find a buddy with the same changer and swap to see if the changer is bad. Learn to use the multimeter, but you'll need a pin out to know what to test for.

My guess is the changer went out. There are non BMW replacements.

[GRIDLOCK]

Did nothing to the car at all, CD changer just went kaput. I would like to somehow check the power line going to the CD changer unit. There could be something possibly wrong with the power line.

Thanks for you advice Jeron.

[blkongry]

If your unit ended up getting a break in a wire somewhere, which is what it sounds like, then I will say from experience it will be a nightmare to track it down. There are a few things I can get from what you've written... first, since you can tap the changer and the light will flicker tells me the short/open is somewhere internal in the changer itself... that's something that is a pain to work with. It's one thing to have short/open in the wiring, but internal is more difficult. Second, it's just no worth trying to repair the factory changer. If you want, you can remove the changer, pop it open and look for something obvious. A good trick is to reheat the main power solder locations (if there is a mini-short/open problem, this often fixes it). If there is nothing readily obvious, getting a used replacement changer is the way to go.

Actually the whole E36 stereo system is kind of crappy, so if you have your changer go out, you may want to replace the whole system. I wish my changer would completely go out so I can justify replacing the whole system. Instead, my changer just sporadically knocks a CD off the spindle every once in a while, which is annoying at most.

You may want to just get a used replacement unit like this one... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7942853851&category=43948#ebayphotohosting

[GRIDLOCK]

Thanks blkongry. I'll do that today. I'll crack open the unit and see if there is anything that looks unusual right from the get-go. If nothing appears to be wrong, then i'll just leave it alone and buy a new or used one. Yea, i heard about the stock E36 stereo systems being a bit on the crappy side. So i might just treat myself to a nice Christmas and buy a new set of speakers/ head unit/ cd changer / amp. But, maybe i can find the source of the problem now and save a few bucks!

Thank you for the advice blkongry!

[blkongry]

Your welcome on the input... just to add my 2c's in there on if you go aftermarket, you can get a sweet clean system by just getting a high-powered deck unit driving 4-speakers... no need for an amp unless you are going to run a sub. My choice is definitely Apline, but there are some very nice units coming out these days.

Enjoy the Arizona Christmas weather... it's sunny and nice here, but probably not as warm.

[wavewuver]

When my PC starts acting up, I reboot. You may want to try disconnecting the cables (both power and signal) at the CD player for a minute and then reconnect them. You just never know, sometimes the simple things work.

['89cab]

I think you're lucky it lasted this long. My son's 1994 325ic had a cd changer as you described. I removed it after trying all the other voo doo. Had two cds stuck in one rack. Even taking the sucker apart, I wasn't able to fix it.

bought a $200 critchfield stereo mp3 player and installed it. much better solution than trying to fix the lousy cd changer.

[blkongry]

I second that notion!!