Not posting to complain, but to ask: I'm in a loaner S hardtop. I had a couple days in a Gen 3 justa, and didn't have this experience. But in this car, the radio reception is terrible. Stations that I know came in (FM and FM HD) either do not, or are lost way sooner than in either the first HT or my Countryman. In the station list, there will be multiple HD channels shown, but commonly none of them will come in; "no signal" is displayed at the top of the screen. I only had the first HT for a couple days, but I don't remember having to change stations multiple times in my 35 mile commute.

So, here's why I ask: SWMBO might be considering one, but I would need to reassure her that this car just has "issues."

Or--are they all like that? Thx!

 

I don't listen to the radio much and I haven't noticed anything. We don't have HD around here, but I can do some dx'ing, I'll give that a try tonight. In my R50 I could pull in 1110 Omaha and WGN Chicago, about 650 miles each.

 

1110 Omaha was a little weak, but did come in. WGN was strong.

On FM even the tiny local stations came in, but the farthest I could hear was only about 125 miles. 50 miles away was fine.

 

Thanks for the info. Sounds to me like this car has either a bum radio, bum antenna, or a bad connection between the two. AM reception is almost nil. There's a strong AM station (WFNZ 610) in Charlotte (≈45 miles away) that's a whisper. Almost no stations come up in the list. FM reception is remarkably bad, with strong Charlotte stations disappearing with changes in terrain.

Since my car is in the shop with ...radio issues... I'm sort of reluctant to report this car's problems, but I guess I should.

But, I'd still welcome more information on others' experiences with Gen3 cars' radios.

 

Sheepish admission/discovery:

Okay, here's my excuse(s): 1) I don't own this car or a Gen3. 2) BMW, Honda, and others have gone to a small bump with a fin for the antenna.

So, it didn't occur to me that the reason for the sh***y reception was that they gave me a loaner...with no antenna screwed in. I happened to poke the hole where the mast should be, and discovered that there wasn't one. Installed the one I'd removed from my Countryman in lieu of a stubby, and Bob's yer uncle, reception dramatically improved.

Carry on.