BMW CD changers

[dick dastardly]

Does yours play CD-R's? Mine refuses to.

Also, does yours skip on scratches worse than any other CD player you own? Mine does.

Might need to get it looked at/replaced.

[Andrew D]

They play CDR's but not CDRW's, which is wEiRd because the head units play both.

Same goes for the BMW Mini, the changers play CDR but not CDRW, and the head units play both, but then both units play normal CD-Wav format and MP3! You'd think they'd cascade that technology up the range to the proper Beemers, but apparently not.

CDR's get skippy a long time before proper Audio CD's do, they're harder for the laser to read.

[dick dastardly]

Mine is seven years old so that'd probably explain why the MINI ones are better.

[CommanderJameson]

Mine won't have any truck with CDRs or CDRWs.

And at the moment, it's just saying "CD ERROR" and the cassette refuses to eject.

Arse.

[baz1985]

mine plays CDRs- never bothered with CDRW so don't know. But all discs- original and CDRs skip like hell

[david87M3]

The unit may need a new laser fitting.
Common problems with worn lasers are CD skipping refusing to read CDr's then eventually it will not play mass produced CD's

I service Cd players at work . I did some tests a few years ago with CDr discs.
The Denon mahcines I service have a test point on them and if the voltage at that point is less than .6 the laser needs replacing.
We had big problems with CDr discs so one day I got one of each type of disc Maxwell, Sony, TDK and Zonal recorded audio on them, Fitted a new laser to a CD player measured the voltage with a pre printed (mass produced CD) got about 1.1v with the CDr discs the voltage at the test point varied between .6 volt and 1.0 volt.
Generally if you hold a CDr upto a light bulb and you can see through it the cd player will have trouble reading it.
It pays not to buy cheap CDr discs

I have recently fitted a new laser to my auto changer and it works fine (cost me £20)

[Andrew D]

That mirrors my experience. In the past I've experienced a range of different discs, and generally the more you pay the better the compatibilty and service life.

I've experienced some real cheap sh*t that's managed to produce static in a digital signal (god knows how) on anything after the first 25 minutes of data, and lasted about three months before degrading beyond readabilty.

>> Edited by Andrew D on Friday 26th May 17:31

[Dick Dastardly]

CommanderJameson said:

And at the moment, it's just saying "CD ERROR" and the cassette refuses to eject.

Arse.

Mine just started doing this as of an hour ago. What was the outcome? Could it be fixed or did you need a new changer?

[CommanderJameson]

Dick Dastardly said:

CommanderJameson said:

And at the moment, it's just saying "CD ERROR" and the cassette refuses to eject.

Arse.

Mine just started doing this as of an hour ago. What was the outcome? Could it be fixed or did you need a new changer?

Haven't fixed it. Got an iTrip instead.

Still need to get cassette out, though, as it's got 6 of my CDs in it.

[M5Dave]

Dick Dastardly said:

CommanderJameson said:

And at the moment, it's just saying "CD ERROR" and the cassette refuses to eject.

Arse.

Mine just started doing this as of an hour ago. What was the outcome? Could it be fixed or did you need a new changer?

The same thing happened on my last car. Unfortunately the changer was "beyond economical repair" according to the dealer, and I had to get a new one.

[LMC]

Last week mine started refusing to play any cds. It came up with the "ne disks" message.

I'd been thinking about other means to music for a while and that made my mind up; I got a Dension Ice Link Plus and its great. Gave me an excuse to upgrade to a 80gb iPod too lol

[Dick Dastardly]

Not the replies I had hoped for.

[LMC]

Yeah OK, now I've read your question

Before mine buggered up it did play cd-r disks but it never ever skipped, no matter how I was driving.

Les

[Dick Dastardly]

CommanderJameson said:

Dick Dastardly said:

CommanderJameson said:

And at the moment, it's just saying "CD ERROR" and the cassette refuses to eject.

Arse.

Mine just started doing this as of an hour ago. What was the outcome? Could it be fixed or did you need a new changer?

Haven't fixed it. Got an iTrip instead.

Still need to get cassette out, though, as it's got 6 of my CDs in it.

I managed to fix it yesterday. Underneath where the cartridge slots in there is a clasp which holds it in place. Slot something thin right below the centre of the cartridge to release it (I used a skinny ruler). It's all working fine now.