Okay, many of us enjoy AM radio yet are not pleased with our car's reception. Mine was bad but proven horrific (if I may say that about mere radio reception) when I took my wife's Mini Cooper Clubman to work. I work 25 miles north of my home and also that much further from my favorite AM station which broadcasts from West Palm Beach, Florida. Well, I put on my station in the Clubbie and listened all the way to my office as if the station were near my office and not that I was traveling away from it. I could listen in the Clubbie so well I was thoroughly disappointed with the Bimmer. What to do? What to do? DIY or a mod of some sort!
The obvious differences in the cars are the antenna. The Bimmer's is in the window while the Clubbie's is a mast, albeit short, on the roof. So, to remedy that, I was not about to drill a hole to mount a mast and I was not able to locate the old style trunk mount antenna that does not require a hole. So I needed wire of some sort to make an antenna, but where do I put it?
As I was checking the location and double-checking my antenna amplifier connections, I noticed on my car, the rear window gasket is a groove-shaped affair. It looked as if I could simply lay some antenna wire in there and end up making a big loop around the rear window glass. My theory, as if I know anything about antennas and such, was to make a long antenna by making a loop, much like this.
Instructable AM antenna loop/
or like this
YouTube vid of AM antenna loop/
Off to Radio Shack to pick up a spool of 22 AWG antenna or hook up wire like this Radio Shack hook up wire. I picked that up for $6.99 + tax as I recall.
Disclaimer: In this project I removed interior covers, cut wires, soldered things, and modified electrical equipment in my BMW. You may do the same solely at your own risk. I cannot, nor will I be held accountable for you destroying your car, blowing it up, causing the FCC to fine you, burning down your home, ruining your interior, hurting yourself, killing yourself loved ones or animals, or getting run over in the parking lot at Radio Shack or your favorite electronics part store. This is merely presented as how I solved my problem of poor AM radio reception. Are we clear? PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
The project. I did not take any pics of the interior C-Pillar removal or such, there is plenty of that here in the forum. What I did was to remove the C-Pillar cover so I could get to the antenna amplifier connections. There is a long black sawtooth connection from the amplifier to the window antenna, item 6 in the image below. I needed to find which were radio and which were not. I found that the wires at connections #3 and #4 were what I needed. The black sawtooth connection is numbered, but they are very small, so just look and be patient to find them. How did I know? Well, I took the spool of wire and removed some insulation from the end and started poking it into the black sawtooth connection while it was disconnected from the window AND I had the radio on. Obviously if I did something right, a radio station would be heard. And that is exactly what happened.
![Image]()
I ran the wire back into the trunk and across to the passenger side where there is a rubber grommeted opening for the wiring to the trunk lid. Here is where my antenna came into the car.
![Image]()
According to what I could find about antennas, I needed to make at least 2 turns in one inch where I wanted the loop to end. I think they call it a choke. Anyway, you can see some twists there to do just that.
I ran the wire around the window in the recess of the gasket around the glass. The bottom of the window does not have that gasket, but it does have a groove where the adhesive is between the body and the glass. I simply ran the wire there and it all sits well. I did pull it snug and twisted it tight so as not to have it come loose while driving. I am going to use some black adhesive caulk at the top of the window to hold the wire, as the top of the glass actually is concave down, so the wire is fully exposed and I think I want it secured from wind. This image is taken from the passenger side looking toward the driver side and the camera was rotated 90 degrees. My fingernail is touching the black antenna wire.
![Image]()
Finally I made sure my twists were good and then I made a "drip loop" before I ran the wires in through the grommet. Both ends went across the trunk and into the C-Pillar on the driver side and connected to the #3 and #4 wires going into the antenna amplifier. I cut the leads that ran from #3 and #4 at the black sawtooth piece going into the antenna amplifier. Sorry I did not take a pic of this, I was trying to beat the rain. What you want is to bypass the glass antenna and only use the new one.
![Image]()
AM Results: I am now able to travel 22 miles north before I lose signal from my favorite AM station. To me, the $7 or so and an hour of my time were well worth it to gain an additional 22 miles of listening time for my station. Previously I would lose the station about 2 miles north of my home.
FM Results: Once at my office, Palm City Florida in case anyone cares, I let the radio scan for FM stations. Was I surprised, I used to get about 4 or 5 stations up here to stop the scan. Now I get over 12! The antenna project is a resounding success.
I have a friend who is a HAM and he will help me tweak the antenna. I may put a different choke on it and perhaps a variable capacitor to allow me to fine tune the antenna a bit.
Of course ask away if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. And no, I did not lose any reception for my remote locking feature. Ultimately this is a pretty stealth solution and no real damage was done to the car other than cutting two wires. FWIW, the wire harness I cut only costs $12.00 USD according to RealOEM.com to replace, so it is not a huge deal to restore this mod to factory spec.
The obvious differences in the cars are the antenna. The Bimmer's is in the window while the Clubbie's is a mast, albeit short, on the roof. So, to remedy that, I was not about to drill a hole to mount a mast and I was not able to locate the old style trunk mount antenna that does not require a hole. So I needed wire of some sort to make an antenna, but where do I put it?
As I was checking the location and double-checking my antenna amplifier connections, I noticed on my car, the rear window gasket is a groove-shaped affair. It looked as if I could simply lay some antenna wire in there and end up making a big loop around the rear window glass. My theory, as if I know anything about antennas and such, was to make a long antenna by making a loop, much like this.
Instructable AM antenna loop/
or like this
YouTube vid of AM antenna loop/
Off to Radio Shack to pick up a spool of 22 AWG antenna or hook up wire like this Radio Shack hook up wire. I picked that up for $6.99 + tax as I recall.
Disclaimer: In this project I removed interior covers, cut wires, soldered things, and modified electrical equipment in my BMW. You may do the same solely at your own risk. I cannot, nor will I be held accountable for you destroying your car, blowing it up, causing the FCC to fine you, burning down your home, ruining your interior, hurting yourself, killing yourself loved ones or animals, or getting run over in the parking lot at Radio Shack or your favorite electronics part store. This is merely presented as how I solved my problem of poor AM radio reception. Are we clear? PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
The project. I did not take any pics of the interior C-Pillar removal or such, there is plenty of that here in the forum. What I did was to remove the C-Pillar cover so I could get to the antenna amplifier connections. There is a long black sawtooth connection from the amplifier to the window antenna, item 6 in the image below. I needed to find which were radio and which were not. I found that the wires at connections #3 and #4 were what I needed. The black sawtooth connection is numbered, but they are very small, so just look and be patient to find them. How did I know? Well, I took the spool of wire and removed some insulation from the end and started poking it into the black sawtooth connection while it was disconnected from the window AND I had the radio on. Obviously if I did something right, a radio station would be heard. And that is exactly what happened.
I ran the wire back into the trunk and across to the passenger side where there is a rubber grommeted opening for the wiring to the trunk lid. Here is where my antenna came into the car.
According to what I could find about antennas, I needed to make at least 2 turns in one inch where I wanted the loop to end. I think they call it a choke. Anyway, you can see some twists there to do just that.
I ran the wire around the window in the recess of the gasket around the glass. The bottom of the window does not have that gasket, but it does have a groove where the adhesive is between the body and the glass. I simply ran the wire there and it all sits well. I did pull it snug and twisted it tight so as not to have it come loose while driving. I am going to use some black adhesive caulk at the top of the window to hold the wire, as the top of the glass actually is concave down, so the wire is fully exposed and I think I want it secured from wind. This image is taken from the passenger side looking toward the driver side and the camera was rotated 90 degrees. My fingernail is touching the black antenna wire.
Finally I made sure my twists were good and then I made a "drip loop" before I ran the wires in through the grommet. Both ends went across the trunk and into the C-Pillar on the driver side and connected to the #3 and #4 wires going into the antenna amplifier. I cut the leads that ran from #3 and #4 at the black sawtooth piece going into the antenna amplifier. Sorry I did not take a pic of this, I was trying to beat the rain. What you want is to bypass the glass antenna and only use the new one.
AM Results: I am now able to travel 22 miles north before I lose signal from my favorite AM station. To me, the $7 or so and an hour of my time were well worth it to gain an additional 22 miles of listening time for my station. Previously I would lose the station about 2 miles north of my home.
FM Results: Once at my office, Palm City Florida in case anyone cares, I let the radio scan for FM stations. Was I surprised, I used to get about 4 or 5 stations up here to stop the scan. Now I get over 12! The antenna project is a resounding success.
I have a friend who is a HAM and he will help me tweak the antenna. I may put a different choke on it and perhaps a variable capacitor to allow me to fine tune the antenna a bit.
Of course ask away if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. And no, I did not lose any reception for my remote locking feature. Ultimately this is a pretty stealth solution and no real damage was done to the car other than cutting two wires. FWIW, the wire harness I cut only costs $12.00 USD according to RealOEM.com to replace, so it is not a huge deal to restore this mod to factory spec.
