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Changed. Forget Pyramid - Need a Pioneer KE-ZBM or two...
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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, update... The radio IS coming... After my extended discussions with the supervisor at eBay, they came down very hard on him, so he shipped it yesterday. I see another from a guy in Alabama, that looks more reputable. Right now, it's cheap... if it stays cheap, even if the one that comes tomorrow is good, I'll buy that one too just as a spare... they're still 25+ year old radios... And the environment here is just brutal on this stuff...

More info coming... I feel like Wolf Blitzer... CNN Breaking News!!!
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, the radio came. What a wanker... He wrapped it in the cardboard from a priority mail box, and shoved it into another priority mail box, with no stuffing or bubble anything. The radio bounced around there from one side of the country to the other! When it came, two of the corners of the bezel were broken, and the bezel was cracked at the top... But I'm good at this stuff, so I rebuilt the corners with black epoxy (luckily, it was the wrap arounds, and didn't actually migrate to the front face), and they're fixed.

You were absolutely correct Bob... easy install. The only thing I didn't have was the lights/dimmer connector, which I fashioned from an old computer fan cable. It's not absolutely perfect, but it's almost there now. All functions work, I have all 4 speakers, the weather band, reception is really decent, and it's definitely more powerful (still running it through the amp that I had installed in 2006) but the output is much higher and clearer.

The only thing that DOESN'T work is the lighting behind the volume knob, and who knows... that might just pop back on sooner or later, but as a perfectionist, I see it and it bothers me. I'm still going to buy another if I can to have as a spare.

Thanks for the help Bob... It's a huge relief to have a stereo in there that actually works correctly. Frankly, I didn't have much luck wit the slider on the pyramid radio anyway... 1/2 the time I got it to activate, the other half of the time, I looked like a manic trying to get the bass up Wink!
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bob... Any idea what the SB button is for when the tape deck is playing? I push it and SB shows upon the display, but nothing else happens...

NEVER MIND!!! FOUND IT!

It means "Skip Blank." If the tape deck finds a section of tape with more than a few seconds of blank nothingness, it automatically goes into fast forward mode.

Wow... that was the last thing I didn't understand.

Now, if anyone actually knows what amber bulb/light is behind the "Anti-Theft" header and volume button, I'll get one and solder it in... Then it should be close to perfect.

Bob, again, you mentioned capacitors from the pyramid stereo... don't all of these have oodles of capacitors that can leak?
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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beejay



Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 1158
Location: Eastern, Pa

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glad you got it in and working!
It's a shame that sellers are so clueless. I've had similar experiences with damages stuff from poor packing.
Definitely give him bad feedback for it, it will help the next person.
As far as the caps leaking. Just seemed to be a problem with the Alpine units. cheap parts from China no doubt.
I though the Pioneer had better sound as well over the Alpine.
It's a shame. I just junked 2 of those. you could have used the bezel off one.
As the saying goes. Throw something out and you'll need it tomorrow

I wouldn't bother to try and fix the light. I tried to get at that volume knob once. I gave up and junked the radio. It was too difficult for the average mechanic. A radio guy who knows how to solder electronics could to it.

Just keep your eye out for another. they come up fairly often.
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Bob
92 325ic gone Sad
14 BRZ ltd
05 Tundra SR5 TRD
01 VFR800fi - 03 DR650S - 83 CB1100F - 82 CB900F - 69 CB750
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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I gave him horrific feedback, and placed 4 calls to ebay support, and was pissed off enough to have them call me back 5 times! They also gave me a coupon for $15 that I had to pay the bum for the code, so I can use that for another. I made an offer on one that was pretty high. I offered low, he came back but his wasn't much of a reduction... I'm giving it a day before I tell him what they're really going for. I missed one on Friday by probably $2... just stupid, cheap bidding on my part.

There was something funky going on with the right front channel, but I finally figured out the connector on the amp wasn't totally locked in.

I think the bulb for the volume control is the bulb behind the Anti-Theft display on the bezel... I don't want to open this one up again until I have to pull it, but I might be able to get to that bulb without dismantling anything... But maybe I'm wrong about that... Just looks like it would illuminate below it too... I do know that that specific bulb is out cause the Anti-Theft display thing doesn't light up either...


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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another update... The display is a bit flaky... I know where the connection is that's causing it, but I didn't fix it.

HOWEVER, I *WAS* able to dismantle the radio pretty quickly this afternoon. I removed the cover, removed the cassette assembly, disconnected the ribbon cable and removed the front panel. I had to do this cause I did something stupid... I got pissed off at the display and smacked the front of the deck, and lost the BAND and WB buttons.

So I took off the front panel, removed the cluster of contacts behind the buttons, and removed the two BAND and WB buttons. Sure enough, I had broken the two stubs that press the contacts on the board, so, carefully, I re-glued them back in to both buttons with superglue, reassembled the front panel, reinstalled cassette assembly, reinstalled the front panel and put the deck back in... everything except that volume light is working again.

I was correct... it's that bulb in the diagram above... still broken, but I know how to get to that too, once I figure out what bulb the replacement actually is!

I was surprised at how fast I was able to do all of the above... 30 minutes from start to finish... I also know now, where to push lightly on the bezel to reactivate the display if it doesn't come up. Of course, this isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing!

Yeah Me!
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't catch a break here. The radio's working well, all channels are good. But I think it's dying. The LCD stopped being lit up (backlighting), but I don't think it's that because ALL of the lights are now out, and the alarm beep is faint.

I'm now able to dismantle the radio almost completely in a few minutes (did it again after everything went out), and stripped it all the way down to the chassis. I even reflowed a few solder joints, but it didn't help. I also purchased the service manual for this thing, and surprisingly, I can still get many of the components, but they're costly, and I'm not sure WHAT isn't working correctly.

I'm still looking for one or two more of the KE-83ZBM radios... I'm hoping I can find a good working one for not too much, and after I have one that's consistent, combine other non-working ones into a few good spares.

Anyone got one they don't need???
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Bob...

Thanks for all the info on this radio deal... I've got one working now, but you'll never believe what I've gone through!

1. Bought one on eBay... the one I mentioned in the original post. The light for the volume button wasn't working. Slowly over the course of two weeks, all lights disappeared. It was a crappy transaction and I had to report the guy and more. In any case, I used it as everything else was working, but without ANY lighting, it was almost impossible to press the right thing or get to any meaningful settings. I kept checking eBay for another, and they just weren't coming up, except on for too much. Weeks went by...

2. Recently, several showed up. One sold for a whopping $310.00, others were selling for $129.00. Some would show up lower but as parts. There was one auction where he was selling 3, all with different phases of problems, for $45.00. I tried to deal with him, but he wouldn't budge. One came up for $49.95 including shipping, and it looked nice... he said he probably could provide the code. So I bought it. But it wasn't shipping. I got an email from him that he had contacted the original owner of the car, who brought in all of the manuals he could find, but no code. There was also no serial number on the radio. Another came up for $225, but with some issues, and unknown working condition. While waiting for the other guy, I made an offer on the $225 one for $45 plus his $12 shipping. He accepted and shipped right away. The middle guy had offered to ship the radio, which came out of a 5 series car, or refund the money. I suggested he refund $25 and ship the thing! He accepted and another was on its way.

3. While waiting for the other two to arrive, I tried to contact Pioneer to find out if there's another way to get the code... Never heard back.

4. The two arrived today. I knew I couldn't use the one without a code yet, so I opened it up and looked inside... a tad dusty but in great shape and the front was perfect. Closed it up.

5. Got the second one later in the afternoon, went to the post office to do something, and while there, popped out the no-light unit and popped in the one I had just received. Sure enough, it worked. The lighting was good although the led display was bright on the left, and dim on the right, but other than that, the radio functioned perfectly... lots of scratchy stuff in the volume control but still, working. I popped in a cassette, and bang, the thing hung. I couldn't eject the tape nor could I pull it out. So now, again, I had nothing lol.

6. Stopped at Radio Shack and got some contact cleaner and then came home, removed the radio, and took it upstairs. Now, I had 3 radios, NONE of them working right!

7. I put them on the desk, and wrote the codes all over the cases on the two that had codes. Then started dismantling... I worked on the one I had just gotten first. I removed the cassette unit, and got the tape out. The front cassette door had a pretty deep scratch and didn't look great... but I had two other fronts Wink! Also, the display's backlighting for the LED wasn't right... strong on the left, weak, on the right. I removed the front and the front from the radio with no code (the tape unit had to come out first). I replaced the faceplate on the other I got this afternoon, and replaced the cassette with the one in the first one I got. I also replaced the LED display with the one from the first unit as that was working well before it all crashed, and sprayed the contact cleaner into the volume control and worked that around well for a while. Went down to the car to test. Put it in the car, and sure enough, it was working fine. The display was bright and even, all the buttons were lit properly, and the cassette unit worked fine, and the scratchiness was gone...

But, as a lark, I figured I'd take the faceplate off again, and try the unit that wasn't lighting. So out came the cassette unit, and the faceplate, and then in went the old faceplate and the cassette unit... down to test again... Sure enough... everything worked well and all was bright. So I brought that one back up, put back all of the screws, closed it up and reinstalled it. It's working perfectly and is nice and bright... all lighting working including the volume control!

So, now I know that something went wrong with the lighting circuitry on the motherboard or one of the other components in the original radio I got, because it's faceplate is on the presently installed radio.

What do I have left? Well, I have the radio with no code... I don't know if it works but he said the radio WAS working in the car before it was removed, and I know the faceplate is perfect because I tested that. It's complete... In the end, I didn't use any parts from it at all.

I have the original radio, which had the lighting problem. I also have the defective cassette unit but I'll try to fix that, and I have the front faceplate which works but has the scratched door.

I'd like to figure out how to decode that other unit I got today so I can see if it works and keep it as a spare. The other, I'll either sell or toss unless I can figure out how to get the lighting working again. I definitely want to keep a spare, but the one with a code doesn't light, and the one without the code is unknown!

Anyway, I DO indeed have a perfectly good working radio in the car with all lighting correct, and at worst, lots of replacement parts to keep it going!

Thanks again Bob!!! Cheers & Happy Holidays!
_________________
Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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beejay



Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 1158
Location: Eastern, Pa

PostPosted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

if there's a serial # on it, then BMW parts can get a code for it.
I will call the guy that bought my E30. He pulled the NOS radio out that I put in and put in an aftermarket. If he's interested in selling it would you be interested?
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Bob
92 325ic gone Sad
14 BRZ ltd
05 Tundra SR5 TRD
01 VFR800fi - 03 DR650S - 83 CB1100F - 82 CB900F - 69 CB750
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85-325e



Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 4712
Location: Southampton, NY

PostPosted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the second radio, there's no serial number... nothing on the case at all, except for a notation of what car it came out of... a 1989 525. But all paper labels are gone, including the little serial number sticker on the back near the connections.

I'm hoping I can get the code from Pioneer if I can get a number from the motherboard... I know there are people out there that have decoders for these, but they charge an arm and a leg. At worst, I have it as all good parts (the faceplate was perfect and worked perfectly so I know at least that's in great shape)...
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

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