Anyone have a schematic for the Audio System '16?

Hey all,

I have an RT but suspect all BMW audio systems would be the same for the '16 model year.

I can't seem to locate anything showing the inputs to the audio system. I'm thinking about upgrading my SiriusXM antennae but can't tell which is the correct connection. There are 5 inputs to the amplifier under the seat Pink, Black, White, Burgundy, and Blue (left to right looking from the front of the bike). I am thinking that one of these should be the antennae input. Can anyone verify or expand upon this? The connectors are not known to me so if you know how to detach them I'd like to hear it. Is there ANY chance that BMW used the same connector that Sirius uses as a standard?

I like the sound of the Sirius through my Motocello and earbuds but get real tired of the signal dropping and "linking" showing up on my stereo display. This occurs regularly in areas where I get rock solid reception in both if my cars.

Help is appreciated.

Ski

PS - As an alternative is it feasible to move the current antennae to a better location?

Maybe something here:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?95646-2015-RT-Audio-System-Manual-wanted

20774 said:

Maybe something here:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?95646-2015-RT-Audio-System-Manual-wanted

Click to expand...

Thanks. That is a good version of the operators manual but I'm looking for a wiring diagram.

Ski

The antenna is the pink lead.

You can buy adapter cables and run other antennas. Amazon has some adapters.

I was just looking at a thread on this last night, darned if I know where it was.

I found some info, the connector is pink and is called a FAKRA connector. You can buy antennas with the FAKRA connector that will hook right up.

Here is a antenna, not sure of the quality. https://www.amazon.com/Eightwood-Sa...&sr=8-4&swrs=109BF55C35F1DDECC803DF5BE4B70CCE

PoorUB said:

The antenna is the pink lead.

You can buy adapter cables and run other antennas. Amazon has some adapters.

I was just looking at a thread on this last night, darned if I know where it was.

I found some info, the connector is pink and is called a FAKRA connector. You can buy antennas with the FAKRA connector that will hook right up.

Here is a antenna, not sure of the quality. https://www.amazon.com/Eightwood-Sa...&sr=8-4&swrs=109BF55C35F1DDECC803DF5BE4B70CCE

Click to expand...

Thank you sir!!!!!!
Ski

Wow,
A lot of really crappy reviews for these aftermarket antennas, the only ones with decent review have 23feet of cable !!!

Ski

Sirius works at a frequency that has a very short/small antenna.

XM service is assigned 12.5 MHz of bandwidth in the frequency range of 2332.5 to 2345 MHz.

This example is readily visible when you look at the “hump” on the roofs of satellite radio equipped vehicles.
While a vehicle may have the “hump” and a cowl/fender antenna, the “hump” is for the satellite reception.
The 23’er is probably a comprise am/fm satellite antenna. The antennas rarely go bad so I would do some testing. An easy test is the bike and the car next to each other and compare the reception. Moving the bike in a circle would be the next test to see if the reception changes.
OM

skibumwi said:

Wow,
A lot of really crappy reviews for these aftermarket antennas, the only ones with decent review have 23feet of cable !!!

Ski

Click to expand...

I also ride a Harley bagger and run a XM Roady aftermarket satellite radio. I have tried three different antennas before I found one I like. Worst thing it was sold at a truck stop, intended for trucks! I was able to modify it to work, but, yep, it came with twenty some feet of cable. Luckily on the Harley there was room under the fairing to stuff away all the wire. BMW's engineers don't like leaving unused space anywhere so it would be almost impossible to hide all the wire.

This one, https://www.amazon.com/7732-Satelli...&sr=8-4&swrs=109BF55C35F1DDECC803DF5BE4B70CCE

I thought about cutting off the cable and solder on a new connector, but was unsure if the cable length was important and also question my ability to replace the connector.

Typically with antenna cables, shorter is always better - it's a passive lossy element.

If some particular length affects the reception, then there are other electronic issues to be addressed (way beyond the scope of this forum).

Pauls1150 said:

Typically with antenna cables, shorter is always better - it's a passive lossy element.

If some particular length affects the reception, then there are other electronic issues to be addressed (way beyond the scope of this forum).

Click to expand...

Back in the day (1977 or so) we had CB radios on Voni's bike and my bike. When I got an antenna - about 3 feet long, not a full length whip - it came with about 20 feet of coaxial cable. The instructions were very specific: "Do not shorten the cable." I don't know why.

I was a City Planner, not a radio engineer, so I followed their instructions and hid the cable inside the bowels of a Leuftmeister fairing.

PGlaves said:

Back in the day (1977 or so) we had CB radios on Voni's bike and my bike. When I got an antenna - about 3 feet long, not a full length whip - it came with about 20 feet of coaxial cable. The instructions were very specific: "Do not shorten the cable." I don't know why.

I was a City Planner, not a radio engineer, so I followed their instructions and hid the cable inside the bowels of a Leuftmeister fairing.

Click to expand...

It’s part of “the matching network” requirements for the radio’s operation. A quick tutorial-

Let’s say a transmitter “transmits” a 1 quart (RF) signal......the antenna needs to be “tuned” to accept the 1 quart signal- efficiently. When this balance is off, RF is reflected back to the radio drastically reducing how well the radio works.
A quarter wavelength CB antenna is 102” long so there is some electrical “massaging” going on that involves the long piece of coax.
OM

Again, out of scope for the forum, but:

This is typically much more important for a transmitter - a signal source - than a receiver, since reflected power can cause damage to the transmitter. In any case, it's the antenna and/or the transmitter's output impedance matching network that needs to be tuned; and even external matching networks can be home-built or bought commercially.

The cable doesn't need to be any "specific" length - but changing that length will change the vector summation of the reflected signal (standing wave), and "hopefully" re-phase it to something more useful and/or less damaging. Yes, we did this in our ham days; yes it's still adding more loss to the line. Since the chosen cable is of a specific impedance (hopefully!), it also becomes a "matching pad" to give the transmitter a better impedance to look into and an element to reduce the reflected signal from the antenna.

If the transmitter and the antenna are each properly tuned for a particular frequency of operation, the transmission line remains a lossy element.

Receivers do NOT have this problem, as long as the antenna is "reasonably decent", but too long a cable will actually DE-tune (and degrade) the receiver's input stage.