My check control display can scroll through all the OBC funtions using the B/C stalk, but I have been wondering how some of you have the radio station, or the disc and track number for the cd changer, display on the check control. Is this some hidden feature? How do you get that to work? My CCD works fine, so I imagine it's something with the radio?

Unless it was a feature on newer E34s, there's no communication between the CC and the audio system. The manual doesn't mention anything, and there's no wiring connecting the two that I could see.

My check control display can scroll through all the OBC funtions using the B/C stalk, but I have been wondering how some of you have the radio station, or the disc and track number for the cd changer, display on the check control. Is this some hidden feature? How do you get that to work? My CCD works fine, so I imagine it's something with the radio?


later years circa 93-94

I also figured there was only a connection between the OBC and the Check Control. But after seeing pictures of radio info displayed on the e34 CCD, I started to believe otherwise. Also I searched for info on this and I found some threads of people saying their CCD wasn't displaying obc info but could still display radio info. I also found an instance where one owner said the only way he could get his CCD to turn on and display info was when he had it display radio info first, then he could display obc info. This leads me to believe radio info is possible.

My check control display can scroll through all the OBC funtions using the B/C stalk, but I have been wondering how some of you have the radio station, or the disc and track number for the cd changer, display on the check control. Is this some hidden feature? How do you get that to work? My CCD works fine, so I imagine it's something with the radio?
Track Info on Radio & displayed in CCD:
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_356.jpg http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_357.jpg

It's not hidden, but was a "radio" feature that started in 1993. Not all BMW had the feature as you can see in the chart below.

The problem might be that you don't have the orignal radio...and if the radio you have now came from an e36 318i...it may be the reason that the information doesn't appear.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/739000-739999/739005_37_full.jpg

Mine is a 94 but there is nothing in the owner's manual on this. Then again, the 540 isn't even in my owner's manual.

EDIT: didn't see the previous post. My radio is the original e34 radio, same as in that picture, and I have a 94 540. How do you display that stuff?

If you aren't the original owner or perhaps the 2nd owner that took possession of the car early in its life...there's no way you can tell if you have the original radio. All of the radios in the 3/5/7 series during those years looked alike.

The radio in my e34 isn't the original one, and neither was the radio in my 91 735iL the original one. There's lots of swapping of those units over the decades.

But the indentification feature shows up automatically. When a radio station is changed or a CD changes tracks or disks...the info just appears in the CCD all by itself.

Oh yeah, this info would have been in the radio booklet...not in the owners manual. :)

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/388515

Sorry for the thread revival, but I was removing my radio because it died and I wanted to find out once and for all how the radio display is output to the CCD of the instrument cluster. I know its a radio feature, and my radio DOES have the feature because according to the chart posted above, only the 318s don't have display output. My radio has Weather Band and telephone interface, so this eliminates both the 318 radios. It was also mentioned that it is only on 93+ e34s, well my car is a 94 540. So I found a pinout diagram of the stock cassette radio; and pin 7, along with a second one (can't find the pinout anymore) was for the display output. Well, pin 7 and pin 4 on my radio wiring harness go to a small black connector that isnt plugged into anything. Its just taped back onto the radio harness wires. Also, there is no empty sockets on the back of the instrument cluster for this to plug into. So what's the deal?

Could someone who has radio info displayed on their dash CCD check to see where pin 7 goes?

Also the car phone info displays on the CCD, and I was thinking maybe if you have the phone then this eliminates radio display on the dash.

I don't quite get your explanation of where the wires or pins 7 & 4 are located and why they aren't in the harness...but the radio would communicate with the IKE (or instrument cluster) thru one of the BUS systems...and I would venture to guess it may be the M-Bus.

Regardless...if you have two wires pulled from the radio harness...I'd say that is the reason that the info doesn't appear in the CCD. Re-insert those wires into the harness and that would probably solve the problem.

I used to have a legible image of the 1991-1995 radio harness...but I got stuck with just the thumbnail image on my cardomain site. I tried to blow it up so that you could see the pin layout...but it's still fuzzy. I circled #7 in read in the image I attempted to blow up.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_327.jpg

my bad, sorry I wasn't clear. It's wire 7 and wire 17 (not 4, I made a mistake) on the harness. By harness I mean the big black connector that has all the individual wires going into the back of it and it plugs into the radio. The radio has numbered pins, and I'm referring to the wires that go to pins 7 and 17 on the back of the radio, if you trace those wires they both end at a black connector behind the IKE that is not plugged into anything and CAN'T plug into anything.

I see on your pinout diagram for the radio it says 7 and 17 are not used, but I saw (can't find it) another radio pin out for the e34 that labels 7 and 17 as some sort of bus (I forget). I also read in another old thread that there are two wires that control the radio output to the CCD, and I imagine 7 and 17 are those wires. Those two wires are still attached to the big harness connector, it's just at the other end of those two wires they stop at a small black connector. What does this black connector plug into?

Qsilver, thanks for those pinout diagrams. Does anybody have an idea where the small black plug for wires 7 and 17 of the harness would go? Or does anyone have a pinout diagram for the back of the instrument cluster?