[DaveDBD]

Sign said tune to 1610 am for highway informatiom. My car said it was not possible.

BMW has cheapened the 50e on so many ways over the 45e.

[mattsrs]

Originally Posted by DaveDBD

Sign said tune to 1610 am for highway informatiom. My car said it was not posdiblr.

BMW has cheapened the 50e on so many ways over the 45e.

It is not just BMW, Ford and Tesla started doing the same unfortunately.
https://musictech.com/news/industry/...w-am-fm-radio/

[drbluedevil]

In what other ways has BMW cheapened the 50e over the 45e? I'm considering buying a 50e so I'd like to get your take on it.

[jad03060]

They did that on the i3, but by coding, you could enable it. It might be worth checking...the hardware may be there. With the electric drivetrain, it's harder to cancel enough electrical noise to make AM radio sound good, but then, AM never sounded great.

[NorwegianBlue]

Originally Posted by jad03060

They did that on the i3, but by coding, you could enable it. It might be worth checking...the hardware may be there. With the electric drivetrain, it's harder to cancel enough electrical noise to make AM radio sound good, but then, AM never sounded great.

Came in to post the interference that electric motors generate in am reception:

https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar...ctric%20models.

[DaveDBD]

The 45e has AM and no interference.

A luxury car should have it.

BMW must be ignorant about 1610 am highway alerts.

[eelnoraa]

Guys, please don’t act like Stockholm syndrome. don’t try to find a reason to help bmw any car makers to make bad decisions. Electric motor interfaces AM radio is such a weak BS. 45E has AM. For 80k, they cannot shield interference from radio?? I know. You guys love bmw. It maybe the best car you have ever bought, but man, believing EV interference is the justification for eliminating AM is being brain washes.

[biterror]

AM radio in 2023? Wow. I haven't listened to AM since 1980's when I was DXing. :-) I thought it was pretty much dead nowadays, thanks to the sound "quality".

[Jlewisinsyr]

Originally Posted by biterror

AM radio in 2023? Wow. I haven't listened to AM since 1980's when I was DXing. :-) I thought it was pretty much dead nowadays, thanks to the sound "quality".

Same…with integrated traffic alert systems through GPS, modern HD radio, satellite ans streaming audio, I’m actually amazed people still even know what AM is.

I doubt the vast majority (like 99%) of people driving today haven’t tuned to an AM station either ever or in the last 20 years.

[Marty in NY]

I couldn't even tell you if the AM radio in any of my cars works.

[eelnoraa]

I have at least use it recently. Winter storm I-80 closure. Traffic, road condition, alternative route info were broadcast over AM only. No GPS, google map or sat radio contain those critical information.

[DaveDBD]

Yes. No one listens primarily to am radio. But it is used for local traffic / weather alerts. There is no other way to get these local alerts.

BMW is indeed being cheap to delete it from the 50e just as they deleted other features that were on the 45e.

A luxury car should have features other cars do not. Even if used only once in 100k miles.

BMW is turning into Tesla which deleted passenger lumbar because only 5% used it. Do you really want a car designed and equipped this way?

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by DaveDBD

Yes. No one listens primarily to am radio. But it is used for local traffic / weather alerts. There is no other way to get these local alerts.

What are you talking about? I get local traffic/weather alerts from any number of sources and I haven’t used AM radio in 20 years.

BMW is indeed being cheap to delete it from the 50e just as they deleted other features that were on the 45e.

They’re not being cheap, almost nobody cares about this.

A luxury car should have features other cars do not. Even if used only once in 100k miles.

It’s an incredible waste of money to include a feature that you’ll only use once in 100k miles.

BMW is turning into Tesla which deleted passenger lumbar because only 5% used it. Do you really want a car designed and equipped this way?

Doesn’t bother me in the least. My last X5 had three DVD players inside and my new one has zero…I owned my Ford pickup for several years before I realized it didn’t have a CD player…time marches on.

[LOFT]

I live in one of the most traffic congested cities in North America.

We have an all news AM radio station that provides traffic updates every 10 minutes, frequently providing better information than Google/Waze on CarPlay.

That station is a pre-set along with my XM Sirius music stations, and is easy to access when I get in the car, or for quick updates on news/traffic etc.

It's very relevant and I'm not sure how else I could get this info "live" in the car...maybe carry a transistor radio hanging from the mirror like in my first car?

[cellarrat]

one of the local sports stations is am-only, and it carries some college programming I'd miss if the am wasn't there.

[MJBradley1967]

Apparently there's a bill to keep AM radios in cars.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/bipart...io-in-new-cars

This story claims car prices could "jump" if they have to put AM radios back in cars.
https://thedesk.net/2023/05/car-pric...cta-statement/

Looks like Ford has already walked it back, for now.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/23/fo...rom-lawmakers/

Seriously, the radio/navi unit is there either way. How T·F much could having AM radio capability really cost? (this is what I've been googling, the actual mfr cost, with no luck)

[jad03060]

As I said earlier, AM radio was in the i3 when delivered, but it was not available. To get it, you had to code AM radio to be on. That MIGHT still be true on the 50e. It might be there, but turned off. Now, as the supply chain moves along, some might have it, and some might not, but if you have BimmerCode or something else that can code, look for it...on my i3, I turned AM radio on via BimmerCode years ago.

[nosnoop]

Originally Posted by LOFT

We have an all news AM radio station that provides traffic updates every 10 minutes, frequently providing better information than Google/Waze on CarPlay.

Many of the AM stations especially these all news stations are also broadcast in FM HD Radio sub-channels. You can check it if that's the case for your station here. And it sounds a lot better than AM.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by nosnoop

Many of the AM stations especially these all news stations are also broadcast in FM HD Radio sub-channels. You can check it if that's the case for your station here. And it sounds a lot better than AM.

I don't think we are talking about the same traffic info. Channels like AM1610 broadcast a very location specific info, such as say July 4th firework traffic diversion, game night traffic diversion, or I-80 chain control point , closure and diversion plan .... Not general traffic of which highway is slow ...

[nosnoop]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

I don't think we are talking about the same traffic info. Channels like AM1610 broadcast a very location specific info, such as say July 4th firework traffic diversion, game night traffic diversion, or I-80 chain control point , closure and diversion plan .... Not general traffic of which highway is slow ...

Yes, I know. I was replying to LOFT who wanted to listen to the all news AM station, and not your TIS channel.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

is it only 50e or all lci ?

[Qsilver7]

As mentioned above, some AM stations are simulcasting on an FM band (our big local AM station that’s been around since the golden era of radio just did this).

Another work around for those that actually listen to AM is to see if one of the radio apps like Tune-In carries the AM station you listen to. You can tune the station in on your phone, then BT stream the station.

Not sure if the travel channel 1610 AM info is streamable from an app. And I also used to listen to the WEATHERBAND channel when traveling and the skies turned dark and gray. When in a strange location, one may not know where to turn to for weather alerts…and back in the day…just a quick press of the WB button would turn the radio to the regional weather announcements.