Someone posted about the lack of AM radios. Here is the answer. https://www.autoweek.com/news/a42025199/will-electric-cars-kill-am-radio/ Is broadcast radio an endangered species in the new generation of electric vehicles? The AM band in particular is subject to electrical interference, which is one reason the BMW i3 electric car declined to include it back in 2014. Tesla evidently gave up on terrestrial AM in the Model S circa 2018, and it’s not available on current Teslas. The Mercedes-Benz EQS EV doesn’t have regular broadcast AM, and both Volvo and Audi have produced EVs without AM. The interference problem could get worse as EVs carry larger electric motors...
I didn’t realise AM still existed, in Norway even FM is endangered, the country switched to DAB several years ago.
When I saw that article today, I scoffed at the idea that modern electronics cannot overcome EV Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). I believe I'm the main complainer about the lack of an AM tuner in the SE. Our Clarity PHEV has an AM radio tuner that works great, so it's obviously possible. I can listen to my tiny portable AM radio in my SE and don't hear much RFI. I've read that the BMW i3 has a secret AM tuner activatible through bimmercode, but I've never read an account of how well it works. I'll admit I can often hear the sporting events I want on Sirius/XM, but sometimes they make me listen to the opposing team's broadcast.
I assume that tuning in distant stations would produce more RFI, but do you hear interference with local AM stations? It would be surprising if BMW added the secret AM tuner after 2020-21 model years. I hope someone with Bimmercode will check the RADIO_BAND_KW setting on a 2020-21 SE.
It works, but it is fuzzy on a 2022 model on the headunit: AUDIO_TUNER_TRAFFIC RADIO_BAND_MW - set to aktiv 0x01
Good strong signal (on my driveway!). We’ll see how it performs out and about. I use AM for traffic reports and news updates only.
Quick update - it works! Strong signal with no electrical interference. Thank you to @pictsidhe for the info.
Earlier, Bimmercode users couldn't discover a way to activate the AM radio tuner in the 2020-21 SE. If the AM tuner was hiding in the BMW i3 and is hiding in the 2022-23 SE, it seems to me it should also be hiding in the 2020-21 SE, too. Hint, hint, thanks.
I think it was always available, but the Bimmercode thread died after someone needed an E-sys remote recovery. We all acknowledge and accept the risks involved (hopefully).
Activating the secret AM radio tuner is the only reason I would dabble with the dangerous Bimmercode. I don't want to buy Bimmercode and then risk bricking my SE only to find out that the 2020-21 SE-owning forum members with Bimmercode were correct when they reported their SEs had no secret AM tuner.
I’ve heard of some bricked cars, but that’s a risk I’ll take so long as it has no effect on the car’s ability to actually drive. I have coded 4 cars a couple times each and no issues whatsoever. Surely the risk of bricking a car is far less than actually driving the thing. I’ll take that risk because coding offers so many QOL improvements. Worst case, the car can’t download an auto-save file and it has to go to the dealership?
Well maybe I'd be lucky and not brick my SE, but I don't want to even bother to acquire Bimmercode and an OBDII set-up, only to find there is no secret AM tuner in my SE. I'll keep hinting until some helpful 2020-21 SE owner with Bimmercode reports they were able to activate the secret AM tuner.
Honestly the i3 was iDrive 5.0/6.0 NBT Evo (next big thing) which is the same as the MINI F56. Now BMW is already on iDrive 8.0 with the wide curved screens. There shouldn't be any problems other than irrational fear of messing up. Okay maybe 3.0 for the 2014 i3..but that should have been for the base model with the tiny screen.
I remember the first time this AM radio question surfaced for the SE, and at that time I posted a couple of less daunting work-arounds than messing with Bimmercode: (1) Many AM stations now simulcast on FM frequencies. Check the websites for the AM stations you want to receive to see if they are among that group so you can listen to them on FM. (2) Many, if not most, AM stations also offer live Internet listening. You can use your phone (Android or Apple), tablet or other device with LTE or 5G local access to tune in to the AM station you want and then use a Bluetooth connection to the AUX portion of your SE head unit -- the car just doesn't know or care that it isn't playing music instead of a local football game or newscast over the SE's audio.
I appreciated your work-arounds before and also now, but I'm lazy and want a single-button AM option. For 2 years, my solution has been the lowest-tech alternative to your modern-day work-arounds: A 3-inch long portable radio and earbuds. I would quickly get un-lazy and spend the bucks for Bimmercode and an OBDII dongle if someone with a 2020-21 SE could verify Bimmercode activated the AM tuner in their car. I thought there were quite a few Bimmercode users on this forum, but it appears none of the forum members with an SE like mine (2021) gives a hoot about amplitude modulation.
