How To Fix/Repair A Faulty BM54 Amplifier! E46 E39 X5

[37emeralds]

If the speakers in your car are not working, randomly stopped working, or working intermittently, the most likely cause is the BM54 amp failing. Most common symptom is some speakers will be working while others will not, or, some speakers will randomly stop working and then work again. The amp fails due to constant temperature change. If yours fails on you, there is a fix! New amps are expensive, and used ones aren't cheap as well. The worst part is that no matter if you buy a new or used one, it will eventually fail on you in the future since it's a common problem of those amps. There is a company in Europe that sells a repair kit with instructions on how to install it for 49£ ($69) Here is a link to the website where you can buy it...
http://www.diyparadise.net/bm54.html
Basically, the repair involves using a solder gun. If you have no experience in electronics, or just don't want to mess with it yourself, then you can send your faulty amp to them and they will install the kit themselves for 99£ ($140) Yes I know, you can hunt a good deal on ebay and buy another amp for that amount. But the good thing about this fix is that it resolves the common issue and the amp will last forever, (well, not forever):rolleyes
Note: The BM54 amp is located on the left inside the trunk area. You will have to remove the paneling to access it. The BM54 amp is the silver one, not the black one.
Just thought I would share this with the fam! Have a great day!

[cakM3]

The black one is actually the HK stereo amp. The silver module you're referring to in your post above is the BM54 radio module which the kit you linked is for. Just wanted to post this correction.

25229

[cakM3]

The sedan Harmon Kardon amp looks like this:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1629/25394734793_e9945d8d5d_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1637/25391223634_a6ec87a23e_b.jpg

For verts and coupes, the HK amp looks like this:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1566/25929169781_6a8ae5a5c0_b.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1544/25391223594_c2c3ec41ce_b.jpg

[ELCID86]

Colin is having issues with his left door speaker. We recently upgraded to BAVSOUND and I thought perhaps there was a loose connection. I guess it might be the amp. Any way to know which one?


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"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous

[ELCID86]

Colin just told me he is getting a loud whining and popping noise. Another sign of bad amp?


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous

[37emeralds]

The black one is actually the HK stereo amp. The silver module you're referring to in your post above is the BM54 radio module which the kit you linked is for. Just wanted to post this correction.

25229

My bad! Thank you for the correction.


Colin is having issues with his left door speaker. We recently upgraded to BAVSOUND and I thought perhaps there was a loose connection. I guess it might be the amp. Any way to know which one?

There is only one certain way to figure out if it's the amp that is faulty in this situation. You will need a wiring diagram for this, two small needles/paperclips and a bunch of alligator clips. Using the wiring diagram, figure out which wires got to the faulty speaker. Put each needle inside the positive and negative wires going behind the amp connector plug. (The plug still has to be connected to the amp) then, clip the alligator clips together so that they can reach the working speaker on the other door. Unplug the two wires from the working speaker. Clip the alligator clips to the positive and negative terminals on the speaker and clip the other side of the alligator clips to those needles. Basically what you just did now is create your own circuit using the alligator clips. Turn on the radio and play some music. If the speaker works, then that means either the other speaker is bad, or the wiring going to it is damaged somewhere. But if the speaker does not work, then the amp is the problem.

Sorry for such a complicated explanation. If it helps, I could post pictures...

[37emeralds]

Colin just told me he is getting a loud whining and popping noise. Another sign of bad amp?

The whining and popping noise could be something else. I'm not sure.

[WOLFN8TR]

Thanks for the info. I do believe this is what's wrong with my system.

Might have to send it to Baris for repairs!

http://www.carphonics.co.uk/bm54upgrades.htm

[derbo]

Colin just told me he is getting a loud whining and popping noise. Another sign of bad amp?


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous

I had whining and popping noise when water go in through the rubber grommet hole in the trunk channel and filled up on the amp's connector to the harness. Every car wash would cause issues until i figured out I was missing the grommet itself and how the water was getting in. Not sure if this is your problem, but the symptoms are similar of bad connections when everything was grounded by water.