Bad Radio FM Reception Issue

[Silv3r]

I haven't complained in a while because I haven't had anything major to complain about but here is something that is somewhat of an annoyance lately.

One day about a month ago I noticed that the FM stations I normally listen to had a lot static and periodic interference whereas before, the reception has always been top notch. I figured it might have been some issues with these stations those days and just see and wait.

Since then the issue has gotten worse. If I go under an overpass there is interference. When I am downtown Toronto there is interference. When I head over to Hamilton/Kitchener/Waterloo I sometimes I have no FM frequency at all or its incredibly staticy. My AM stations are fine, its all the FM frequency that seems to be messed up. Stations where reception was excellent normally would be 103.5, 104.5, 102.1 and 99.9. Not anymore for whatever reason. When reception is good, the radio shows ST for stereo reception I assume meaning good signal. These stations go in and out of this regularly.

So what's the deal? My antenna is still up there, don't have a stubby or a fin, haven't done anything to the car. Car is still under warranty but knowing dealers, how am I to get them to deal with this if its not like there is no FM, just shitty FM reception. I enjoy listening to my CDs but I also enjoy my FM stations.

Your input is appreciated.

[dj_adamix]

In every radio circuit you would have and antenna ------> RF Amp--------->Mixer------->demodulator------>additional amp -----> O/P

So if the problem seems to be linear, so you see it is good then quality degrades as radio heats up, or over time. I would guess your RF amp is not functioning properly or one of your filters is not filtering noise. maybe its just a bad connector (dirty), take the unit out clean the antenna conector with rubbing alcohol but do it when its off, using cotton swabs.

If this doesnt help, there might be a kink, bend in your antenna wire, did u get into a collision prior to the problem? if not i would get its internal in radio circutry, get it changed if you have warranty on it.
But before you do so, heck carefully your antenna on the roof, it might become lose or disconnected due to wind and vibrations.

Another thing that could mess up your reception could be any devices youre running in your car. look for cheap car chargers, RF devices, etc.. They might oscillate a lot and mess up your reception. i had similiar problem while playing music from my phone, when i hooked up my charger to it it started picking up engine noise.

Just look around, but my guess is bad circuitry in the radio.

[Souls]

Hey wow! I thought it was just me! I bought my '06 3 Sport end of April... FM reception on those same frequencies were great. I was happy to finally be able to list to the radio... but yeah... over time the stations have gone to sh*t. I don't get it. I'm in a parking lot in Oshawa, some young hottie gets in her G5, and pounds out 1035... I turn mine on and it's not clear and I'm parked next to her!? sometimes I can't even get that right downtown near work.

there's so much junk on the radio anyways, but still the components should not degrade that fast... if the car was 7-10yrs OK, that's understandable. I've never removed the H/U, or added stubby, I've only added an amp and subs... used line level to the amp. the car was so mint when I got it, it could have rolled outta Japan the day before... I know this issue existed in my former VR6 too.. and that was with an aftermarket H/U