AM Radio

[Rdoig]

Hi, I do a lot of driving out of range of digital radio and far prefer AM to FM content. I understand that some i3s have an AM radio option that might be enabled. My car is a 2014 REX i3.
Is it possible to enable AM in this car?

 

[alohart]

Yes. You need to license the BimmerCode app (~$40) for your smartphone and buy an OBD to WiFi or Bluetooth adapter to enable wireless communication between your adapter and your phone (>$20 at Amazon). BimmerCode supports all sorts of customizations and improvements to default behaviors (e.g., silence seat belt warnings, eliminate legal disclaimer screens that must be dismissed, change the default driving mode, fold/unfold the side mirrors upon certain events).

Be aware that EV's produce a lot of electromagnetic static and that the i3's CFRP passenger module doesn't provide much electromagnetic shielding, so expect more static than usual, especially on weaker stations. Maybe because of this, an AM radio can't be enabled on 2018 or later i3's or maybe doesn't exist.

 

[Rdoig]

Hi Art, thanks very much fo that. That sounds like a very handy app. As well as wanting AM radio, I find having to promise not to fiddle with the radio (in my own car) very irritating I’ll get rid of the disclaimer.
Cheers and aloha
Robert

 

[jfran2]

As a plus, with Bimmercode you can also activate Hold State of Charge to turn on the Rex manually, if that hasn't already been done in your car.

 

[frictioncircle]

I understand that some i3s have an AM radio option that might be enabled. My car is a 2014 REX i3.
Is it possible to enable AM in this car?

Hello Rdoig, good advice from alohart. Bimmercode is an easy to use tool and there are a lot of great tweaks that can be made once you have it.

I've owned a 2014 BEV and a 2021 BEV s (both from new – the 2021 is the daily driver) and have coded the AM radio on in both, which suggests AM radio is in all US-market i3s – though I recall it was easier to code it on in the 2014.

With over eight years of driving these cars and using the AM radio, my opinion is that BMW overreacted in depriving US owners of AM listening. Granted I live in a big city and my AM listening is mostly reserved for one or two high-power stations, but I've found the AM performance is comparable to every other (metal-framed) car I've owned.

Good driving with your 2014!

 

[alohart]

I've owned a 2014 BEV and a 2021 BEV s (both from new – the 2021 is the daily driver) and have coded the AM radio on in both, which suggests AM radio is in all US-market i3s – though I recall it was easier to code it on in the 2014.

If you have the coding details to enable AM radio on your 2021 i3, please post them. I tried what worked on our 2014 i3 on our 2019 i3, but this didn't work.

 

[frictioncircle]

If you have the coding details to enable AM radio on your 2021 i3, please post them. I tried what worked on our 2014 i3 on our 2019 i3, but this didn't work.

I don't have details handy but when I get time over the weekend I'll connect to the car and hopefully figure out how I did it.

 

[frictioncircle]

If you have the coding details to enable AM radio on your 2021 i3, please post them. I tried what worked on our 2014 i3 on our 2019 i3, but this didn't work.

Hello alohart –

Haven't had time to check out my settings and not sure when I'll get to it but I came across this post which jogged my memory:

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16982

When trying to code the AM radio so it was available, I specifically remember that the option that has "AM" in the description will not make AM available, which is odd as that was the way to enable it in my 2014 BEV.

In my 2021 BEV s, I believe that the "KW" option is the one that actually enables AM radio. KW may be available at the top level of HU-NBT but it's also possible that it's under the advanced settings.

Note that it might take a combination of setting both AM & KW to Aktiv (or possibly MW?) to get this to work, but it absolutely does.

 

[alohart]

In my 2021 BEV s, I believe that the "KW" option is the one that actually enables AM radio. KW may be available at the top level of HU-NBT but it's also possible that it's under the advanced settings.

Note that it might take a combination of setting both AM & KW to Aktiv (or possibly MW?) to get this to work, but it absolutely does.

Thanks! "KW" is probably a German abbreviation for "short wave" with "MW" being "middle wave". I'll have to investigate whether the AM radio band is considered short or middle wave. I'll post the results of my experimentation.

 

[alohart]

In my 2021 BEV s, I believe that the "KW" option is the one that actually enables AM radio. KW may be available at the top level of HU-NBT but it's also possible that it's under the advanced settings.

Note that it might take a combination of setting both AM & KW to Aktiv (or possibly MW?) to get this to work, but it absolutely does.

Thanks! "KW" is probably a German abbreviation for "short wave" with "MW" being "middle wave". I'll have to investigate whether the AM radio band is considered short or middle wave. I'll post the results of my experimentation.

I was reminded that the North American AM radio band is equivalent to the European middle-wave band (MW). I see no evidence that the receiver in an i3 is capable of receiving short-wave broadcasts (KW).

I discovered that when setting the Head Unit (HU_NBT_EVO) setting "AM radio" to "Active" in BimmerCode's standard mode, 3002->RADIO_BAND_KW is set to aktiv in expert mode. However, that doesn't activate AM radio in our 2019 U.S. i3. But when I also set 3002->RADIO_BAND_MW to aktiv in expert mode, the AM radio band choice is available in iDrive and the AM radio works.

I'll ask the BimmerCode developer whether setting the "AM radio" to "Active" in BimmerCode's standard mode should actually set 3002->RADIO_BAND_MW rather than 3002->RADIO_BAND_KW to aktiv in expert mode. Maybe this is a minor BimmerCode bug.

 

[frictioncircle]

Sounds like your AM radio is working... thank you, alohart, for adding in the specific coding details!

 

[frictioncircle]

I'll ask the BimmerCode developer whether setting the "AM radio" to "Active" in BimmerCode's standard mode should actually set 3002->RADIO_BAND_MW rather than 3002->RADIO_BAND_KW to aktiv in expert mode. Maybe this is a minor BimmerCode bug.

Hello alohart, did you ever hear back from the developer?

A recent dealer visit wiped out my coding settings.

I updated Bimmercode and got to work re-doing my settings and found that the non-Expert Mode AM radio setting still is not working. A trip into Expert Mode and toggling MW on still works, though.

 

[alohart]

Hello alohart, did you ever hear back from the developer?

I sent the developer a message on 13 December but never received a reply.

A recent dealer visit wiped out my coding settings.

On 23 May, I hope to persuade my dealer to install the current system software version to eliminate the electric power steering bug that can cause sporadic reduction of steering assist and to fix the problem with the 4G telematics control unit that prevents voice calls from being made (e.g., emergency assistance, concierge). So all of my coding changes will be wiped out as well.

I updated Bimmercode and got to work re-doing my settings and found that the non-Expert Mode AM radio setting still is not working. A trip into Expert Mode and toggling MW on still works, though.

Apparently, BimmerCode wasn't updated to fix this bug in standard mode. Fortunately, you were able to enable the AM radio in expert mode.