About 3 months ago the radio on my 09 Cooper would lose reception after being on the road for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. I told the service writer about the problem at the time of my last scheduled maintenance (last free maintenance). When I went to pick up the car he told me that they could not replicate the problem - that the car sat in the shop all day with the radio going and it did not lose reception. He did say they did something to the computer that might be responsible for the problem. Feeling like an idiot I picked up my car and on the way home it did the same exact thing. At times it will lose reception and also the CD player will not work. Other times both will not work. If the car sits for awhile the radio will work fine and then of course fades after 15 to 20 minutes. I was also getting a periodic warning that the tire pressure warning system was inoperative
I made another appointment and fortunately on the way to the dealer the radio faded and the CD player quit working - so I could show them I was not crazy.
They had the car for 3 days - replaced the radio did something to the CD player and could not replicate the tire pressure warning system issue. I thought at least I had an operable radio. What are the chances of a new radio going bad - I don't think they found the problem - just replaced the most obvious thing. Within a week the problem returned exactly as before.
A new problem has also occured. This evening on the way home from work the headlights briefly went out - twice. Also the lights fade and dim when the engine is revved. I have approximately 9000 miles before my warranty expires. Anyone out there with similar problems. Electrics on English products has always been dodgey - although my 03 Cooper had none of these problems.

 

Stillk, no help with your problem, sorry, but I do have one suggestion, I might change the Title of the Thread if you can, being that it says Stock Radio, the Mods. could misconstrude this as needing to be moved to the Nav & Audio Forum, but since you've had the Radio replaced I would say that is now a mute point. Just my .02cents!!

 

Some kind of electrical problem but what?

 

1) First, I would get the battery load tested. Sometimes they can develop an internal short (plates touching) and it can be intermittent. If shorted, it would cause lights to dim and other electrical issues.

2) The only other thing I can think of may be a cable shorting or not grounded. Again, this could cause intermittent issues. Make sure all the cables surrounding the battery are tight, not melted, worn.

3) Unless it is a relay problem, I don't think it would be the alternator. Usually when they go bad, the problems are more continuous and easier to diagnose.

If you have a Scangauge or something similar, it would be nice to see what the charging system voltage is reading when the radio or lights are not working. I have seen many cars with a bad battery or alternator drive for miles, but the lights and other stuff barely work.

 

If it was just radio reception I would say the "antenna diversity" module is bad (there are three or four FM antennas and this module decides which ones to use). But since the CD player is going out, too that makes me think radio module as did the dealer. The radio module and CD player are in the same unit.

There must be some other power issue or wiring issue.



Do you have the HIFI amp? Maybe that could be an issue, too.

Do you have HD radio? That module could be bad.

 

And I missed the part in your post about the headlights... I agree with 009, your battery sounds very, very suspect!