I Want Hd Radio!!!

[guydude]

Ok, so iv been researching ....yes this included search and a few calls to the dealer.....

08' 135
I have NAV and Sat radio, as well as Logic 7....but for some reason no HD radio?! so i searched realoem but could not locate a part #....called dealer and he said not an option for 2008!???? is this true??? wtf bmw.....

[1ToBeOn2Wheels]

He lied. It was indeed an option for 2008--a ridiculous $500 standalone option (given that it is now standard). Ask me how I know...

[rps]

My 08 has HD Radio, now if we just had some HD stations

[Dackelone]

Can't you have the radio coded to HD specs? Or is it a different HU?

OP - I think you should PM "technic" our audio expert here.

[pinmagic]

I would pay $500 to NOT have it! HD radio is junk. Research it.

[JB135MDCT]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Can't you have the radio coded to HD specs? Or is it a different HU?

OP - I think you should PM "technic" our audio expert here.

Completely different electronics. Check the junk yards.

[guydude]

is it a part i can add like the SAT RADIO IS? or am i shit outta luck if i forgot to click that stupid little freakin box when i built/ordered it......i swear i thought i clicked every single box!!! ahhhh

[JB135MDCT]

Originally Posted by guydude

is it a part i can add like the SAT RADIO IS? or am i shit outta luck if i forgot to click that stupid little freakin box when i built/ordered it......i swear i thought i clicked every single box!!! ahhhh

Yes, You screwed yourself. Just get a 1M. ...I believe the HD tuner is a module and an antenna switch and expensive.

Best solution is Android phone with Pandora internet radio plugged in to aux input. It's awesome.

[fwmcb]

I have it, just wish there was a station!

[FJUNO78]

HD RADIO is crap. Don't waste a penny trying to get it. In NYC we get enough stations, but the layout is awkward.

[Wakka]

Originally Posted by guydude

is it a part i can add like the SAT RADIO IS? or am i shit outta luck if i forgot to click that stupid little freakin box when i built/ordered it......i swear i thought i clicked every single box!!! ahhhh

I dunno anything about HD radio... but i am interested in the SAT radio. You can just order a part and get it goin in the car?

sorry for the

[daixloxbmw]

+1 to everyone who said HD Radio is garbage. I wish I didn't have it. I would almost pay to get rid of it!!!

I live and work about 20 minutes outside of Boston where HD Radio isn't always available. So in my 15 minute commute between home and work, the HD signal comes and goes about 20 times and every time it switches between the HD digital signal to the standard analog signal, the music does this funky echo transition effect. It is soooooooooooo farking annoying. I want to get rid of HD Radio altogether so I would never hear that noise.

My 2011 135i obviously has it standard and my previous 2008 335i did not have it and I really can't tell the difference in quality. This is coming from a guy who spent $5+k on a home theater system so my ear is somewhat trained.

[daixloxbmw]

I should also add that I rarely turn on the radio anyway because I really love the 135i's exhaust but I occasionally like to listen to the radio on the morning commute to work.

[tankus]

Originally Posted by Wakka

I dunno anything about HD radio... but i am interested in the SAT radio. You can just order a part and get it goin in the car?

sorry for the

You can get it if you are willing to pay BMW to activate it for you

[FJUNO78]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

+1 to everyone who said HD Radio is garbage. I wish I didn't have it. I would almost pay to get rid of it!!!

I live and work about 20 minutes outside of Boston where HD Radio isn't always available. So in my 15 minute commute between home and work, the HD signal comes and goes about 20 times and every time it switches between the HD digital signal to the standard analog signal, the music does this funky echo transition effect. It is soooooooooooo farking annoying. I want to get rid of HD Radio altogether so I would never hear that noise.

My 2011 135i obviously has it standard and my previous 2008 335i did not have it and I really can't tell the difference in quality. This is coming from a guy who spent $5+k on a home theater system so my ear is somewhat trained.

you do know that you can turn off the hd signal... this will eliminate the echo.

[daixloxbmw]

Originally Posted by FJUNO78

you do know that you can turn off the hd signal... this will eliminate the echo.

Do tell... or should I RTFM?

[JB135MDCT]

Originally Posted by FJUNO78

HD RADIO is crap. Don't waste a penny trying to get it. In NYC we get enough stations, but the layout is awkward.

CD quality, no commercial and free.

[JB135MDCT]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

+1 to everyone who said HD Radio is garbage. I wish I didn't have it. I would almost pay to get rid of it!!!

I live and work about 20 minutes outside of Boston where HD Radio isn't always available. So in my 15 minute commute between home and work, the HD signal comes and goes about 20 times and every time it switches between the HD digital signal to the standard analog signal, the music does this funky echo transition effect. It is soooooooooooo farking annoying. I want to get rid of HD Radio altogether so I would never hear that noise.

My 2011 135i obviously has it standard and my previous 2008 335i did not have it and I really can't tell the difference in quality. This is coming from a guy who spent $5+k on a home theater system so my ear is somewhat trained.

If you can't hear the difference you wasted your money on the HDTV too.

[ptack]

I've had it in BMW loaners and, unless you're within sight of the transmission antenna, it's just frustrating. As mentioned before, the signal keeps dropping and switching to analog. It sounds really good and very different from analog - for a few seconds - and then it's gone.

[Technic]

I would suggest to try to find a MY2010-on OEM HU P/N 65129225857 with built in HD Radio so the current non-HD OEM HU can be replaced.

BMW sells that new OEM HU for $600, used on eBay sometimes they are at less than half that price.

Retrofitting the HD Radio tuner involves replacing the left side trunk liner ($70), adding the mounting braket ($15), and the tuner ($380) and either laying out new MOST cables and power wires with the connector if you do not have any available (CD Changer pre-wire could be used), or adding the tuner to the CD Changer pre-wiring, connecting the antenna splitter to the antenna amplifier and recoding the OEM HU to recognize the new tuner.

Most probably when you finish you will be spending pretty close what a new OEM HU would have cost, with less install issues unless you find all the parts used. And that's assuming that it has been done in the forums before, and so far it has not AFAIK. There's no BMW official HD radio retrofit either.

[Dackelone]

^^Great info Technic - as always.

[daixloxbmw]

Originally Posted by JB135MDCT

If you can't hear the difference you wasted your money on the HDTV too.

I was actually comparing my 335i without HD Radio with the 13 speaker audio system to my 135i with HD Radio and only 10 speakers, so any subtle improvement in quality from the HD Radio (if any at all) would have been negated by the additional speakers and more powerful amplifier in the 335i.

In any case, I don't see the relation between not being able to HEAR a difference and the quality of a VIDEO device.