I have nothing but problems lately with my BMW 318is. So, after trying to diagnose a squealing problem from my engine bay, I'm driving the car with my tunes loud to wash away my irritation, and the music fades to a lower volume and starts crackling too.

I shut off the head unit, let it sit, turned it on, and then it hit hard again....for about 15 seconds, then went down again to a low crackly, muffled mess.

I did this a series of times, and the music starts strong, but then fades within a few seconds and becomes crackly and muffled again. My car simply hates playing loud music.

Is it over-heating or something? I wasn't playing my music for that long before I got these symptoms.

I have a Kenwood head unit, Kicker 12" sub w/ amp, and stock speakers. If you need the exact specs to help me out, please let me know. I was using my direct-wired IPod, but I don't think that makes a difference.

The stereo usually works just fine, unless I play my music loud, then it does this crap. Please help!

 

bump

 

Sounds like something is overheating to me. Is it all the speakers cutting out or just a certain pair?

 

From what I can tell, all of them are cutting out.

 

Does the amp power all the speakers or just the sub?

 

If it does power all of the speakers, it sounds like an input signal problem. I'll wait for his answer though...

 

It only powers the sub.

Factory speakers, aftermarket H/U, Kicker amp + sub. I am assuming there's another amp connected to the h/u?? Powering the other 6 speakers? (2 midrange, 2 midbass, 2 tweeters)

 

Then I'd start with the connections to the head unit. Make sure your battery connection is good, all the way to the head unit. If everything looks good, is tight, etc, my guess would be a bad head unit.

 

...the screen actually dims every now and then! It happens quite rarely, but it does happen. It'll just dim out, but the music will still play. I have to remove it using the security feature, and then put it back on and then it'll light up again.

Ugh...I hate this. I'm going to have to take the dam car apart.