Antenna Issues

[Dmckim]

1980 633csi. e12 based car.

Power antenna stopped going down when car turned of or radio turned off. Pushing down on the mast while turning off radio would make it retract. I pulled the mast out, and have the internal plastic wire with teeth. Unfortunately, it looks like it snapped. My guess is that when I pushed down on the mast, the remainder of the cable in the mast caught in the motor and would make it retract. Motor sounds like it is operational.

Since I surmise there is a broken piece of plastic wire in the motor, can I just buy the replacement mast, or do I need to buy the whole motor?

If I replace the whole motor, is there an access point in the wheel well so the fender doesn't need to come off?

Regards,

Dale
Buffalo, NY

[slofut]

If they're still available you can just replace the mast and plastic rack. Check realoem.com and get a part number for your car. Prob get it at a dealer. I've replaced others without taking the motor apart but your results may vary.

[griffo]

hi all just quickly this question is related to the topic so I thought it would be better to ask here-
my e12 based 633csi has the antenna on the right hand side at the rear of the car. I cant put a mtech spiler on it because of this so I want to know why the car has the antenna in this position?

[WelshBentleyBoy]

I too have an antenna issue. Mine has just stuck half way up. I cannot push it down and there is no sound of the motor when the radio is turned on off.It seems that there is no power getting to the motor. I have checked the fuse (No 28) and that seems ok. Any suggestions please

[Tommys 89 635]

I've changed the mask in my 89 once before because it was bent, it was an easy fix.

[MrE]

I too have an antenna issue. Mine has just stuck half way up. I cannot push it down and there is no sound of the motor when the radio is turned on off.It seems that there is no power getting to the motor. I have checked the fuse (No 28) and that seems ok. Any suggestions please

If you can take the aerial unit out and open it up you may be able to fix it or work out why it's not getting power. It can be done but often they're just worn out after 30 years or so of use.

It'd be good to work out if its broken or not, but depending on how much they cost in your area you may be better off just getting a new one. You can get aftermarket ones that are similar in size & fitment, or you can pay top dollar for good ones like Hirschmann that will likely last you another 30 years.

I had stupid hassles with mine when removing it (mine was sticking up about 6 inches when fully retracted so that initially made it difficult to access the retaining screws from above) but I asked online and people gave me the answers on how to get it out.

[MrE]

hi all just quickly this question is related to the topic so I thought it would be better to ask here-
my e12 based 633csi has the antenna on the right hand side at the rear of the car. I cant put a mtech spiler on it because of this so I want to know why the car has the antenna in this position?

griffo, with your car it is most likely that a previous owner has put an aftermarket aerial on the rear fender and placed it way down at the back there.

Your E12 633 means your car would have had its factory aerial originally mounted on the front left fender. BMW moved the aerial from the front to the back with the E28-based cars.

There might be a rubber patch or something on the front fender filling the hole where the original aerial used to be? There was on my old Reseda green 633.

Check this out:
http://www.e-24.ru/eng/theory/gallery/e ... 71.shtml#p

[MrE]

1980 633csi. e12 based car.

Power antenna stopped going down when car turned of or radio turned off. Pushing down on the mast while turning off radio would make it retract. I pulled the mast out, and have the internal plastic wire with teeth. Unfortunately, it looks like it snapped. My guess is that when I pushed down on the mast, the remainder of the cable in the mast caught in the motor and would make it retract. Motor sounds like it is operational.

Since I surmise there is a broken piece of plastic wire in the motor, can I just buy the replacement mast, or do I need to buy the whole motor?

If I replace the whole motor, is there an access point in the wheel well so the fender doesn't need to come off?

Regards,

Dale
Buffalo, NY

Sorry Dale - didn't realise your issue was still unresolved.

It's a good question actually, I've only ever dealt with removing the rear mounted aerial, which is easily accessible in through the boot/trunk. I'm not sure what's involved in accessing an aerial mounted in the front guard?

Has anyone here got experience with that?

Regards,
Ellis.

[griffo]

hi all just quickly this question is related to the topic so I thought it would be better to ask here-
my e12 based 633csi has the antenna on the right hand side at the rear of the car. I cant put a mtech spiler on it because of this so I want to know why the car has the antenna in this position?

griffo, with your car it is most likely that a previous owner has put an aftermarket aerial on the rear fender and placed it way down at the back there.

Your E12 633 means your car would have had its factory aerial originally mounted on the front left fender. BMW moved the aerial from the front to the back with the E28-based cars.

There might be a rubber patch or something on the front fender filling the hole where the original aerial used to be? There was on my old Reseda green 633.

Check this out:
http://www.e-24.ru/eng/theory/gallery/e ... 71.shtml#p

um just did a bitta research and supposably the hallmarks had it on the rear!

[MrE]

hi all just quickly this question is related to the topic so I thought it would be better to ask here-
my e12 based 633csi has the antenna on the right hand side at the rear of the car. I cant put a mtech spiler on it because of this so I want to know why the car has the antenna in this position?

griffo, with your car it is most likely that a previous owner has put an aftermarket aerial on the rear fender and placed it way down at the back there.

Your E12 633 means your car would have had its factory aerial originally mounted on the front left fender. BMW moved the aerial from the front to the back with the E28-based cars.

There might be a rubber patch or something on the front fender filling the hole where the original aerial used to be? There was on my old Reseda green 633.

Check this out:
http://www.e-24.ru/eng/theory/gallery/e ... 71.shtml#p

um just did a bitta research and supposably the hallmarks had it on the rear!

Gosh!

So there's your answer then.

[griffo]

but it looks rough!
is there anywere else were bmw put them?

[GRNSHRK]

My apologies Dale, for the highjacking of your thread

griffo, on the E28 based cars (as Mr. E duly noted) the proper antenna location is here

Also as Ellis has noted, yours was most likely hacked without consideration for mounting a rear spoiler

[Ralph in Socal]

1980 633csi. e12 based car.

Power antenna stopped going down when car turned of or radio turned off. Pushing down on the mast while turning off radio would make it retract. I pulled the mast out, and have the internal plastic wire with teeth. Unfortunately, it looks like it snapped. My guess is that when I pushed down on the mast, the remainder of the cable in the mast caught in the motor and would make it retract. Motor sounds like it is operational.

Since I surmise there is a broken piece of plastic wire in the motor, can I just buy the replacement mast, or do I need to buy the whole motor?

If I replace the whole motor, is there an access point in the wheel well so the fender doesn't need to come off?

Regards,

Dale
Buffalo, NY

Hello Dale. Removal of the inner fender liner [plastic piece secured with 8 mm (or 10 mm) head screws] will allow access to the antenna parts. It is easy to take apart and rebuild if you can find a new mast. They were previously sold on ebay but I have not searched in a while. The remaining section of plastic mast drive is still inside the collecting drum within the unit. You should remove any of the residual material and clean it up well prior to re-assembly. Careful on reassembly as the small rubber spacers can fall out of place easily. Take pictures to make sure you put it back together the same way as it is a pain to align the antenna to raise and stand in the correct position when in use. Best of luck.

Ralph

[Dmckim]

Thanks for the help guys. I ordered a replacement mast from FCP Euro, and it seems to have a different mount than the one in the car. The existing antenna has a large chrome "nut" that secures the antenna to the outsude of motor housing. The replacement has a smaller thread on it that secures to the inside on the housing. Not sure if mine was replaced at some stage by P.O.

Will keep everyone updated.

Thanks for the help, especially Ralph. Bobbo., not so much

Dale

[Dmckim]

Well....solved part of the problem. It was a Japanese aftermarket antenna. Hence the issue with the replacement mast. Ordered a new Hirschmann one.

Thanks again to Ralph for the removal guide...took longer to get the air compressor out than getting the antenna out.

Dale

[GRNSHRK]

Thanks for the help, especially Ralph. Bobbo., not so much

Amazingly Dale, my antenna still functions just fine after 26 years of ownership

Must be the CA weather

Hope all's well up in Beefalo

[Diabelko]

Okay guys, since I'm not the first one to hijack this thread, I feel better what I'm about to do.

IMG_0087.JPG (1.89 MiB) Viewed 12737 times

I just bought a new antenna, supposedly fitting this car - original Hirschman stuff and all that.
This is antenna with radio being turned off. Am I doing something wrong or this is clearly wrong antenna and it should be way shorter?

[Ralph in Socal]

Okay guys, since I'm not the first one to hijack this thread, I feel better what I'm about to do.

IMG_0087.JPG

I just bought a new antenna, supposedly fitting this car - original Hirschman stuff and all that.
This is antenna with radio being turned off. Am I doing something wrong or this is clearly wrong antenna and it should be way shorter?

With the radio in the off position, the antenna has +12V only at the red wire. The motor and control are in the retract position so that means all the plastic drive you have in the photo should be in the storage drum. The top of the mast assembly in your hand has a threaded section to screw into the antenna riser.

I have never tried to feed the plastic drive into the antenna housing while it is still in the car. I have always taken the housing apart and re-assembled on a bench. There is a sequence of parts which need to be "in the loop" during threading of the plastic drive into the storage drum. I then bench test the unit prior to install. Not saying it can't be done though.

Ralph

[Diabelko]

Ralph,

problem is that actually wire is longer than that and part of it is already inside. I followed some website with black and white images of installation, but I have a weird feeling I'm doing something wrong. Is this possible that previous antenna was ripped off and part of that plastic wire is still inside and that's what causes the issue?

[Dmckim]

Ralph,

problem is that actually wire is longer than that and part of it is already inside. I followed some website with black and white images of installation, but I have a weird feeling I'm doing something wrong. Is this possible that previous antenna was ripped off and part of that plastic wire is still inside and that's what causes the issue?

It could be. The antenna I removed from the broken unit was noticeably shorter than the replacement one. How do yours compare? If there is a broken piece still in there, I guess that you would still have an issue. See Ralph's post above.

FWIW, I installed new Hirschmann unit yesterday in the car. Pretty simple process.

Dale

[Diabelko]

It could be. The antenna I removed from the broken unit was noticeably shorter than the replacement one. How do yours compare? If there is a broken piece still in there, I guess that you would still have an issue. See Ralph's post above.
Dale

Problem is it was already ripped out from the car - only outer part was sticking out of the car, but after unscrewing it there was no wire or any visible parts there. I guess my only shot is to remove whole electric motor and check it.

[WelshBentleyBoy]

Sorted my problem. The motor had burnt out.

I bought a Hirschmann Auta 2050 Electric Car Aerial Chrome Mast for £51. I am no genius with a spanner so the local Car audio shop fitted it for £50.

Now working perfectly