I am getting progressively worse AM radio reception in my '02 MC with navigation. I bought the car used last June and the radio seemed fine. In the months since, the AM radio reception has become worse and worse. No problems with FM reception.

There is also a high frequency beeping sound in turns, when I go around corners, drive under bridges or pass even remotely near power lines. The beeping in turns and corners was there--but very, very faint--when I bought the car. It is now much louder and almost constant. WSB 750 AM in Atlanta is a 50,000-watt clear channel station which now sounds like a 50-watt country stations in many parts of the metro area. It is virtually unlistenable much of the time.

In August, Global Imports in Atlanta showed me a TSB for the beeping noise. The bulletin said the noise is particularly noticeable on talk radio stations with little music which is what I listen to most of the time. Per the TSB, Global replaced the radio under warranty. However, the problem still remains and has become worse.

The antenna for the AM radio in the '02 is in the right rear window. I recently took the car to Hank Aaron MINI south of ATL and they said I needed a new quarter window with antenna for $650 plus installation. They allege that the window has been tinted was damaged when scraping off the tint. No warranty coverage. While I am not the original owner, I am 99+% certain the windows were not tinted.

Have any of you had this problem or heard of it? There are not too many '02s with the nav and window antenna out there so this probably a bit esoteric when it comes to main stream MINI issues. Any help or ideas in getting back to a quality AM radio experience will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

 

It's fixed!

After 11,000 miles of scratchy and whiney AM, Eric Peters, one of the SAs at Global Imports in Atlanta, dogged the problem until he found an answer. It turned out to be a bad antenna amplifier that was replaced under warranty.

Hank Aaron MINI had my car for four days for a variety of issues and basically blew me off on this one, saying that the antenna in the window was damaged by scraping off the never installed window tinting. Wouldn't pursue the problem and told me I would have to pay for fixing it. Completely bogus.

Global has suffered from a questionable reputation for years but several recent personal experiences in the MINI store, MINI service, parts and BMW service (my son's car) leave me with nothing but raves to report.

Thanks to Eric and their techs, I am again a happy motorer.

Jim