[tccox]

My 128 had satellite so never really used HD radio. I ordered my 228 without satellite so have started accessing HD radio a lot. I'm having a issue with losing signal with a number of HD stations at random times. No pattern. Is HD radio reception really that piss arse poor ? Do I need to get satellite added back to my car ?

[BEM-S4]

Haven't used in the 235 (use sat or pandora via Bluetooth if using iPhone GPS w turn by turn) but have in my Macan and a few other cars I've driven over the years. Even on the P-car it's spotty at best.

[DanG]

Totally depends on the signal strength of the station. Not bad in the Seattle area. Get out of the area and it goes away.

[furii]

the thing to remember with hd stations is that it's not like traditional. you either have signal or you don't. whereas with traditional radio you may get a little static if the signal degrades the hd station will just cut out.

[K99]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Haven't used in the 235 (use sat or pandora via Bluetooth if using iPhone GPS w turn by turn) but have in my Macan and a few other cars I've driven over the years. Even on the P-car it's spotty at best.

You've got a Macan and a M235i !
Was toying with getting a Macan before ordering the Beemer but the 12 month waiting list put me off. I know their different cars but the write ups on the superb handling of the Macan made me consider it.

[jtzako]

Where I live the HD radio station gets better reception than the standard FM for the same station. I havent gone out to the edge of service area to see how it does farther out though.

[hyperzulu]

Originally Posted by furii

the thing to remember with hd stations is that it's not like traditional. you either have signal or you don't. whereas with traditional radio you may get a little static if the signal degrades the hd station will just cut out.

Most stations with HD have FM as well, and these are synced so that if HD cuts, the FM signal keeps playing. You will notice the quality drop in the higher frequency signal deteriorating. This is up to the station to maintain.

[plien69]

Originally Posted by hyperzulu

Most stations with HD have FM as well, and these are synced so that if HD cuts, the FM signal keeps playing. You will notice the quality drop in the higher frequency signal deteriorating. This is up to the station to maintain.

Same with AM stations that also have HD broadcast. On a few occasions, the broadcast streams for regular AM and HD got out of sync, so when HD dropped you would hear the regular AM broadcast, but a few seconds ahead, and when you started receiving HD again, you would hear a repeat of the last few seconds.

This was WFAN AM before they simulcast on FM 101.9. Now that they do, they've dropped AM HD.

[plien69]

On a related note, I find that radio reception in my 235i is worse than radio reception in my '08 135i. BMWs were always bad at AM reception, but now I find that FM reception is worse also.

[DanG]

I find that I am using either the satellite radio or my iPod. It is nice not to hear commercials.

[tccox]

Any ideas as to cost to add satellite to my 228 ?

[bimmerbuff]

Originally Posted by tccox

Any ideas as to cost to add satellite to my 228 ?

Dealer quoted me $695 to add it. Still comes with the 1-year free service.

I've had satellite since 2006, but I think I'm going to skip it to start and try living with HD radio and MP3 for a bit since my car will be a Sunday Funday special.

[bobabimmerlife]

Looks like I'm not the only one with FM radio issues. At first I thought an antenna was loose (which might still be the case) but my HD radio stations sound perfect. Non HD stations sound like crap and bugs the shit out of me. Problem is, most of my favorite stations are non HD! I'm still troubleshooting but it's gotta be a defective radio or antenna because the loaner cars I've had (which are the same model) had perfect FM reception HD or not.

[cbbplanet]

I live in Los Angeles and even some in huge metro city like that, I still do get bad reception from time to time.

[threepac3]

Isn't HD FM/AM reception done by the rear windshield not the "shark fin"? Sometimes the HD Audio stutters a little bit, but that's it.