Found a place the fixes the stupid volume knob on our radios!

[NachoB]

Like every E46 owner with a broken volume knob, I set out to find a business CD replacement but they were all broken, glued back or about to break but I found a guy/company called BavTek that makes his own volume bracket to sell or you can send the radio in and he fixes it for about $100 total. He charges $70 for the repair plus $15 return shipping and $15 to ship to him in Texas. He has a one day turnaround so you get it back in about a week. Really happy with it and wanted to share it with others if they want to buy the part or send it in. I have glued the part myself and have stripped the little screws so I sent it in.

Here is a link to his website: https://www.bavtekinc.com/

good luck!

[az3579]

Charlie and I fixed ours for next-to-free and 10 minutes of our time. With that said, I guess if you're happy with it then that's all that matters! I think the bracket they sell might be worth buying and DIY'ing. It's pretty easy to open up the unit itself and the bracket isn't too hard to replace either if one is available. Either way, at least there are solutions.

To avoid searching, here's a link to the bracket on the site: https://www.bavtekinc.com/do-it-yourself/e46-cd53

Personally I find the $100 service to be steep. It's worth it to DIY with the bracket though, so I might buy one for the next time it breaks.

[pedro2u]

To avoid searching, here's a link to the bracket on the site: https://www.bavtekinc.com/do-it-yourself/e46-cd53

Personally I find the $100 service to be steep.
I don't have this issue (yet) but great to know and great DIY video, so thanks for that! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS2zT2Fd1BE

While watching it, I couldn't help but think that if it's really that common, someone with a 3D printer could also make a copy of the original OEM part and make themselves a small profit (Sergy!)

[John in VA]

BavTek also has an eBay store, offering the knob mounting base & ship to repair service for a few bucks off:
https://www.ebay.com/str/BavTek-Inc/E46-3-Series-1999-2006/_i.html?_storecat=19762066

[cakM3]

I used a small paperclip to secure the volume knob and as Botond mentioned cost nothing but time to “engineer” the fix. I won’t be having anymore issues associated with my volume knob. It is stable and engages perfectly, solidly secured as it should be.

You would not notice, operating the knob or turning on/off the radio, that the volume knob has been worked on[emoji1417]


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[NachoB]

for me, I have purchased two radios to replace at a cost of over $100 and both eventually failed. You can find them on ebay for $50 and more but eventually they will fail. I have also glued the piece back together in the past but it breaks again so yes if too steep, you can get the $30 part or have him do it. Either way, it's a nice option that I only recently discovered.

[John in VA]

I used a small paperclip to secure the volume knob and as Botond mentioned cost nothing but time to “engineer” the fix. I won’t be having anymore issues associated with my volume knob. It is stable and engages perfectly, solidly secured as it should be.

You would not notice, operating the knob or turning on/off the radio, that the volume knob has been worked on [emoji1417]
Any details?

[Fried_Chicken]

I think I bought and installed that. Hasn’t broken again, but I don’t mash the button either for fear it will break

[Vas]

I 3d printed a new brackets and did a diy install. That cost is kinda high

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Oli77]

Perfectly cut and glued little piece of balsa wood did the trick for me (about 8 years ago).

[Oli77]

Any details?

If I remember right, the knob pushes on a part of the circuit board that is vertical, and that with time, angles backward. If you take radio out, take top cover off, you will have no problem seeing what is going on as you push the knob.
Little piece of wood nudged between the back side of the little vertical circuit board and a capacitor or something like that behind, stopped the motion of my knob.
It has been a long time so I hope I remember correctly.

[Fried_Chicken]

I 3d printed a new brackets and did a diy install. That cost is kinda high

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk


Perfectly cut and glued little piece of balsa wood did the trick for me (about 8 years ago).


I see two vastly different approaches to solve the same problem