BMW E30 Power Antenna replacement / fix

When the antenna starts to malfunction, you can hope it just needs to be cleaned. If it is more than that, you should hope that you can replace just the antenna mast. The mast is about $30, and the entire motor is about $87.

I already had taken the entire power antenna motor apart once before. I just cleaned it out and squirted some spray lubricant all over the motor. It ran without a problem for about 5 years.

Recently the motor had been slowing down again. I had been meaning to do something about it when the weather got warmer. That's when disaster struck. I was cleaning ice off of the rear window, and I broke the antenna mast. Since I had CDs, I was able to continue on may way. It was a week before I got back to the problem (the mast wasn't sticking up), and I tried to replace just the mast. Unfortunately, the exposure to the elements along with the age of the antenna motor meant that the new mast didn't go up OR down.

I had to replace the entire antenna motor. It took about 20 minutes. All you need is a replacement antenna motor which comes with a new mast.

1. Turn off the ignition and open your trunk. The antenna motor still has power with the ignition off. If this bothers you, then remove the power antenna fuse.
2. Peel back the grey fabric trunk lining, working from the extreme left rear of the car. There are two metal tabs behind the left side of the trunk opening which you will have to bend down so you can remove the lining.
3. The power antenna motor is attached to the car in only two places. The first place is a 10 mm bolt and nut at the bottom of the motor. The ground wire may be attached at this bolt.
4. The second place is the car body. Very carefully remove the large nut that holds the antenna assembly to the body. This nut has one slot on each side. I used a small pair of needle nose pliars, pointed straight down, to remove the nut.
5. Unplug the white nylon electrical connector. Remove the antenna connection.
6. The 10 mm bolt is attached to a plastic strut on the motor. I had to move this strut from the old motor to the new motor.
7. Put the new motor in the car, and loosely attach the 10mm bolt. Put the split ring nut back on the top of the antenna motor, being careful to put the new antenna in exactly the same position (my paint was darker where the old antenna covered up the paint.
8. Before you put the trunk lining back in, check the proper operation of the antenna