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DAB Reception Quality

6K views 21 replies 17 participants last post by  godzilla 
#1 ·
Are people happy with the quality/stability of their DAB reception.

After having my M2 for 3 months and listening to various channels in differing locations & routes, I have to say it is less than poor in comparison to the system in my previous Golf R.

On like for like journeys, the M2 reception regularly drops out, to the point that I tend not listen to the radio as much.

Not sure whether to have BMW look at it or if it is just a common trait that the aerial quality is fairly low.
 
#6 ·
Yeah I have DAB in both our cars and both drop out in the same places, it's more about bad coverage than anything.

They really need to increase coverage if they're thinking of dropping the FM signal.

Whenever I head towards East Anglia I basically lose all channels for ages, so much so I gave up using it in that part of the country.
 
#9 ·
I also noticed DAB cutting out over the last few weeks, which had never happened before.

Assumed it may be something to do with the hot weather?

Especially as I always listen to BBC R6 Music and it cut out at places i go to daily without any issues normally.

Sth Mcr/Cheshire area.
 
#10 ·
FishFingers said:
I also noticed DAB cutting out over the last few weeks, which had never happened before.

Assumed it may be something to do with the hot weather?

Especially as I always listen to BBC R6 Music and it cut out at places i go to daily without any issues normally.

Sth Mcr/Cheshire area.
I'm south MCR and mine cuts out loads. Never had a problem with my M135 in the same area.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#13 ·
So, I had a major problem on my BMW 1 Series with the DAB cutting out. My previous cars (not BMW) did not lose the DAB signal in the same populated areas. BMW kept blaming the DAB Transmission in the UK, that was until I put up a video on YouTube showing that a £70 portable DAB radio continued to receive a signal when the DAB in my 1 Series dropped out. Clearly not a transmission problem but a BMW quality issue.
Instead of BMW wanting to improve the quality of the audio systems in their UK cars, they took back my car and told me that I was no longer wanted as a BMW customer. This was after many months and many letters, emails, etc., where they stated time and time again that the DAB system in my car 'met all manufacturing standards.' They never apologised. Check out for the video, the whole story, and examples from other frustrated BMW drivers experiencing the same drop-out issues with BMW cars.
 
#15 ·
#19 ·
Just found this on search. My M140 has unuseably bad DAB reception except for BBC stations, well R2 at least.
Absolute Radio for example connects ok, then cuts out after a few seconds.
We live in Surrey just off the M3 so not outer Mongolia.
Weird thing is my wife's M240 is absolutely fine with the same stations in the same areas.
Will try unplugging my Scosche wireless iPhone charger that is plugged into the socket by the glovebox. Could that be it?
Wife has an Anker USB plugged into the socket by the cup holders.
 
#22 ·
josheboss said:
So, i've narrowed my issues down to having my dashcam installed.

Solution is Ferrite clip on cores. One isnt enough to cure completely yet, just ordered some more to add to the power cable. But adding one improved signal massively.

I bought one of these and fitted around the cable as close to my Scosche wireless charging cradle and it sadly made no difference to DAB reception.
HOWEVER, I did try simply unplugging it and hey presto, all available DAB stations were back in reception!
So it was the charging cradle causing RF interference that blocked all but the strongest DAB stations.
Not ideal, but at least I can unplug it if I want to listen to the weaker stations and plug it back in when I don't.

So if you're having poor DAB reception, try unplugging any accessories if you have any.
 
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