E36 radio lights are out

[NikWilliamsF1]

Hi folks,
My E36 radio lights were going on and off periodically last week, and now they are completely off. The radio/CD/Tape functions work ok, i just can't see what i'm doing at night. I've heard some alternator or short-circuit problems discussed and was wondering if anybody knew of a simple (cost-effective) way to fix this. Many thanks and Go Montoya for World championship title!

Nik

[tshaikh]

Yeah, I have the same problem.
My head unit light is out. I am replacing the whole thing with an alpine head unit. I can tell you this much, it's not a fuse issue. I think the backlight may just be dead. I wonder if there is a problem with the illumination wire. That would be the easiest fix.

Godd Luck.

[NikWilliamsF1]

Thanks for your reply tshaikh, how much is the new alpine head unit setting you back, because if the repair fr the stock unit is as much as a new unit, it makes sense to just get one. By the way, is alpine the closest to having the 'orange' look to the BMW dash lighting?

Secondly, any idea how much it costs to have that backlight fixed?

Thanks for your advice,
Nik

[tshaikh]

Well, the Alpine CDA9811 head unit is running about $300+ at crutchfields on the net. The red illumination is very close but not an exact match for factory (arguably). Who's worried though, it's a good unit. The BMW headunit probably can be fixed but I imagine it being cost prohibitive. You may just have to get a new factory unit (or pull it out of a wrecked car/ maybe find one on ebay).

If you are planning to do some car audio upgrades like subwoofers, larger multichannel amps, better speakers, etc. Then I would suggest getting a new head unit anyway. Sound quality is better than the stock CD changer and you add a host of connectivity for external amps.

Well, I hope this helps...
tshaikh