Antenna Help

[transatlantic0207]

My antenna has never worked and I was about to replace until when I went into the trunk and I just found loose wires. There is a red and a yellow wire extension of the red and white wires from the unit just loose from it not connected to anything with no harness
(red is extended from the red wire and yellow is the extension of the white wire)

Can someone tell me what to hook/splice these wires to so that I can have better reception or to determine if I need a new antenna.

Also I haven't seen this antenna motor on any e30's before in the junkyard or amongst my friends its a Hirschmann Automatic Mini-mot Hit Auta 5040SW

[tjts1]

Remove the antenna and motor, plug up the hole, hook up the antenna wire to the rear window defogger.

[StereoInstaller1]

Your Hirschmann is an aftermarket replacement for the stock Hirschmann. Excellent quality, about the best there ever was...long out of production.

Sounds like it is wired correctly. If your reception sucks, you likely need to change the antenna cable, assuming the radio works well.

[transatlantic0207]

i just don't know how to hook up the wires to see if it works. There is no connector and the wires are just loose and not connected to anything. What do I have to hook the red wire to and what do I have to hook the yellow wire to

On other setups, there is a connector from the red & white wires from the unit that connects to the a connector with red & white wires from the car...I don't have this

Also my rear defogger doesn't work

[AlpineIS]

If I understand this correctly the red and yellow wires appear to have been spliced in and the original connector tossed out.

The red (spliced into the original red) is your 12V+ and the yellow (spliced into the original white) is the remote lead.

Splice the existing wires into your antenna's wiring. Next, make sure the ground wire exiting the antenna housing is mounted to the vehicle chassis and that the fuse for the antenna is ok. It should work...and if it does not...

I suggest you source a pig tail with the connector fron a junker and splice the original back in so you can use the OE antenna.

[transatlantic0207]

Exactly!! I'll try this out. I should mention that there is no connector from the car either, its as if there was no power antenna hooked up, like stereoinstaller stated it is an aftermarket power antenna. Here are some pictures
I don't know what to hook the white (yellow)wire to.
I have a sony headunit and xplod 12in sub connected to two 500w amps for some reason, does that matter?
If I have to connect the white wire from the antenna to a stock wire from the car then I just need to know which one and that should be easy BUT if I have to find a wire connecting from the headunit, amps, or sub I am completely lost

Also it appears that the antenna wire from the radio goes directly into the antenna mast and is therefore not removeable like the normal e30 power antennaes

[StereoInstaller1]

OK, first wiring: Red is constant +12V, yellow is (blue on your Sony) remote power, and should turn on when the deck is on "TUNER" only. If your Sony does not have a blue wire, use blue/white.

Grab a testlight, do NOT use a DVM, check those wires. If your deck is putting out power on the blue wire when AM or FM is on, that yellow wire should be +12V. The red should have +12v at all times. If both of those have power, your antenna motor is doo-doo.

The stock ones are the best there ever was...quiet, clean and nice looking. If your Hirschmann is dead, find a good condition stock one.

[colombacho]

Remove the antenna and motor, plug up the hole, hook up the antenna wire to the rear window defogger.

How well does this work?

sorry for thread jack.

[tjts1]

Also my rear defogger doesn't work

Thats the best reason to do it.

How well does this work?

sorry for thread jack.

I'm really happy with it. I don't have a functional rear defogger anymore (it was always busted) but the reception is much better than my stuck antenna. Even AM reception is pretty good. Just make sure to disconnect the defogger on both sides before connecting the antenna wire.