RAdio locked forever...CODE WAIT Hell

[stubear334]

Hey Guys,
I've tried everything to unlock my radio, but no luck. The radio card in my glovebox had the wrong code.

So, far I've tried leaving the key in the "run" position for an hour with no luck. Second time, in "accessory" for 2 hours, but nothing seems to work. The dealer gave me 2 possible codes, but I can't get past the dedblame "code wait" b.s.

Stuart

[stubear334]

Okay...I've tried every internet hack to clear the Code Wait on my radio with no luck. I will PayPal the lucky person who helps me solve this riddle $25 as a handsome reward.

Any takers?

[bullmand]

I just went through this with mine. I didn't do anything other than drive the car normally for about a day and a half worth of my normal driving and the code wait disappeared. The advice I found on the internet says it takes 90 minutes of driving to get it to clear. I didn't time it, but it was probably right around there. The code wait cleared out and it just said code with the dashes. I punched in the correct numbers and everything's fine.

[bigfatdan]

Same problem with mine except I drove my car (instead of key on) for about 2 and a half hours.

Good luck,
--DJL

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[stubear334]

Time for a road trip !

[bigfatdan]

Exactly, haha!

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[stubear334]

Got it! I took the car on a road trip and after an hour, it magically read "Code -----." I entered the dealer's first code & voila, the radio is working. The dealer gave me 2 possible codes-one for an Alpine and one for a Blaupunkt.

Now, I found out half the speakers are blown! What are my options ??

Stuart

[bigfatdan]

Haha, one problem after another huh lol?

Good lucm

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[stubear334]

The Ti is a piece of cake compared to my other project car....a VW Vanagon Westfalia. You could spend the rest of your life and paychecks fixing that thing. I could only tell you the stories. If you ever buy one, keep an xtra $8k on hand for a new engine. Everyone outside of CA ditches the wasserboxer and puts in a Subaru. In fact, the hottest conversion right now is a Subaru flat-4 diesel. Yes, that right diesel.

STu

[bigfatdan]

Nice lol, I've never driven a diesel anything.

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[BlackBMWs]

I guess if you enter the code wrong like way too many times, you get a code wait. I normally don't have to drive that long so I just have to wait for the weekend to clear it.

[stubear334]

The "new" BMW radio I bought requires the country code to be changed to enter the unlock code. There are 4 & 5 digit codes, I believe. Then, I change the country code back to U.S.A.

Someone on ebay is selling NOS BMW radios that were badged for the newer MG/ROVER cars. He covers up the insignia with a "M" logo. They are technically brand new. However, at new, these BMW radios were crap. It skips a lot and the sound is crappy.

Stuart

[BlackBMWs]

Ok, just turned on my car to key position 1 and will let it sit for an hour till I head to work. I figure I prolly have 30 minutes drive time in since I messed up the code, so perhaps in 30 minutes in can play my old school jam again. 😎


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[BlackBMWs]

All better now. When I was ready to leave for the office, it was ready for code entry. 😎


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[blackjulia]

Originally Posted by stubear334

The Ti is a piece of cake compared to my other project car....a VW Vanagon Westfalia. You could spend the rest of your life and paychecks fixing that thing. I could only tell you the stories. If you ever buy one, keep an xtra $8k on hand for a new engine. Everyone outside of CA ditches the wasserboxer and puts in a Subaru. In fact, the hottest conversion right now is a Subaru flat-4 diesel. Yes, that right diesel.

STu

Just bought a `98 Ti ... only have a few hundred miles on it thus far, but have 100,000 miles on various Vanagon Westfalias :^) They're really magnificent in terms of engineering simplicity, etc., though the stock engine can be problematic. I'm on my 5th one I think ... Subaru gas engine conversion in this one and it makes all the difference in the world. The California Air Resource Board has approved the Kennedy Engineering conversion for use in California, so that's been an option for folks in CA for awhile (and the Subaru diesel engine conversion is exempt from smog checks in CA). I've not seen many of the diesel conversions, however, as the engines are somewhat hard to come by.

Otherwise, I'm hoping this Ti is as trouble-free as every other old BMW I've owned. It's destined to be passed on to one of my boys when he turns 16 (or rather, he'll have the opportunity to BUY it at a discount ;^)