Anyone agree with me about the 3 series in dash cd players?

[LoMo987]

I love my 3 series to death but honestly the CD players that BMW puts in the dash for these cars absolutely suck. I got in my car about 20 minutes ago and hit the cd button and the letters TR pop up and that is it and the cd player will not even eject the disc to me! SOB!! I have had the cd player in this car replaced three times since I have owned it and it skips all the time over bumps and for some reason when I go around turns it shuts off! Has anyone else experienced these flaws with their in dash CD player?? I know it is not a big deal it is just the hassel of taking it to the dealership to get fixed@!!

 

[Tweet227]

My in dash skips all of the time too when I go over bumps. Its real annoying but I've gotten used to it.

 

[LoMo987]

I wouldn't be surprised if BMW made the in dash players really bad thinking that we will dish out the money for the six disc......

 

[donmbmw]

Ouch, so far my cd is working great. You can change the display to show the tracks etc. It's part of the in dash computer. I have the Harmon Kardon radio which came with the upgrade standard in '04. The CD is the best part. No skips, it ejects the discs on command and sounds great. If I have a complaint about the sound system it's the radio reception. I live about 20 miles from mid town Manhattan (radio capital of the universe) and the reception is mediocre at best. My old Grand Am with the monsoon system and external antenna was much better.

 

[codex57]

My player is fine. Not the best interface, but it has steering wheel controls and does the basics just fine. I like that little piece of foam that acts as a dust shield to prevent dust from entering the slot.

 

[MyHarley]

mine skips too........

 

[LoMo987]

Reception on my radio is awesome and I live in Suffolk County, no complaints there! The CD player just really sucks big time!! I had a lot of problems with my cd player in my 2000 328i four door!

 

[LoMo987]

I also heard that the reception of radio stations in NY has been hindered tremendously because of Sept. 11th!

 

[donmbmw]

Now that you mention it, for some reason when I drive East towards Suffolk the reception improves. I'm thinking now maybe my usual haunts are through poor reception areas or maybe theres something in my neighborhood interefering with the signal. I'll ask around town.
thanks for the reply.

 

[Section_8]

Well I got lucky with my 00, as when I bought it, the darn thing actually had a tape deck in it! My salesman told me the 00 was the last year that it was not 'CD standard'. They did a swap for me though and pulled the deck cd player out of a (I think new) 04 3series wagon and put it in mine. I was hoping it'd be new enough to read MP3 disks, but tried it last night and it doesn't..

However! The stereo is clearer and 'louder' now, on radio and cd playing! I don't quite get why, unless the stero is amping things more now then previously?

 

[donmbmw]

the upgrade to the HK system was a more powerful amp. It's now standard but it was formerly a "repair" they would only perform if someone complained. I'm guessing that when that they gave you the cd they gave you the new higher output system.

 

[bmwrocks]

I was hoping it'd be new enough to read MP3 disks, but tried it last night and it doesn't..

None, let me repeat none, NONE of BMW OEM CD players or 6 disc changers in any car thru today play MP3s. Did I say none? I meant to say NONE.

If you want to play MP3s you will need an aftermarket CD player or changer like the Alpine CHA-S634 that fits exactly in the trunk mounting brackets.

 

[LoMo987]

Yeah today when I was going to work the CD player still didn't want to work, maybe its the cold!

 

[Section_8]

None, let me repeat none, NONE of BMW OEM CD players or 6 disc changers in any car thru today play MP3s. Did I say none? I meant to say NONE.

If you want to play MP3s you will need an aftermarket CD player or changer like the Alpine CHA-S634 that fits exactly in the trunk mounting brackets.

Gaaah.. I wish there was something as simple as a stereo input jack so I could just plug in a Ipaq, or Ipod, Laptop, or whatever in, and play MP3's. I used to do that on my old car (dual CD and Tape). I had the tape adapter that had a stereo input end. I'd plug that in the headphone on my ipaq and play mp3's on my rides to work..

I think I saw a post floating around about an ipod. time to go searching..

 

[LoMo987]

Yeah I really wish I could connect my ipod to my car, then I would never have to use the CD player!

 

[Krafty04]

What? am I the only lucky one? my bare bone basic stock BMW radio plays CD's perfectly, has NEVER skipped (and I drive on cobblestone everyday!!!!!!!) and I only play burnt CD's.. are you guys buying quality Memorex or Sony CD-R's or CD-RW's??? had an old pontiac that would skip and lock up with cheap blanks like Imagestation.....

Maybe they ironed out all the kinks for the 04's..

 

[cordelli]

What? am I the only lucky one? .....

Maybe they ironed out all the kinks for the 04's..

We have an 04 and it rarely skips. Never got to trying it today in the single digits for the trip to New York, but we've never had a problem with it.

 

[LoMo987]

HAHA, burned CD's are a whole different story for my car, they RARELY work, I could rip the CD player out when I put a burned cd in. It skips no matter what kind of cd it is!

 

[salvo]

My 04 does NOT skip and plays CD-R/RW....

 

[BMWCA]

I have a '00 and the stock player (not HK) plays burned CD's. Sometimes it will have trouble reading a CD that I put in but I turn the power off and on a couple of times and it starts playing.