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CD Changer Cable Woes
In Digest 174 Ian Writes:
I am trying to find out where they hide the wiring (pigtail) for the
factory CD changer in the '96 318ti. <snip>
***********************
Hi Ian,
I'm well aware of all the confusion. Look for the DATA cable in the right rear
taillight housing. You should be able to find the wires for the POWER supply
behind the carpet near the same rear tailight. Pull it back and it will
probably
be near the middle of the right rear quarterpanel behind the carpet. It took me
forever to find this cable. The data cable was easy, but the instructions for
finding the power supply are WRONG (they say in an E36 it should be near
the rear speaker near the inside of the wheelwell behind the seat (nope)!
After getting the changer in, the head unit may not recognize the changer
(ie. you hit BAND and all you get is AM and FM, no CD). If you are using the
Pioneer changer (I don't think you would be, but just in case) there is a
"CLEAR" button on the front of the changer that you push and this should
initialize the headunit/changer. In my case, I'm using the Alpine changer
and it's supposed to be recognized immediately by the head unit. I've been
told that even though the BMW is supposed to be "pre-wired" often times the
data cable is not secured into the back of the head unit. If you do not get
recognition
of the changer after installing it and have power, check the connection at the
back of the radio. There will be a black cable (data cable) make sure it is
secured into the radio and try again. This is usually the cause of the problem
with the Alpine unit not being recognized.
Good luck,
Michael
michael_muramoto@domain.elided