Can you buy a shorter ariel for an E30?

General E30 related discussions -
Please put technical questions in E30 Tech Help forum below

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
User avatar
lukec88
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 286
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Northamptonshire

Sat Jun 02, 2012 12:56 pm

as the title says really, do they do a shorter ariel rather than the standard one that makes it look like a remote control car?
Image
Diamond Schwartz black 1989 325I Sport MTech 2.
polsta
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 10322
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: portsmouth

Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:21 pm

have no idea about bmw or if you could get a shorter antenna and awap it over easily, but you could always buy a universal one and look for the lengths

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=e ... m270.l1313
User avatar
lukec88
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 286
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Northamptonshire

Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:24 pm

i looked at a few on ebay they all seem to be 39" antenna length
Image
Diamond Schwartz black 1989 325I Sport MTech 2.
Captain_Birdseye
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 874
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol (and Cheltenham)

Sat Jun 02, 2012 2:01 pm

I like the remote control look, amazed no kids have snapped it off yet - they probably don't even know what it's for.
boomerm20
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 625
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:00 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:16 pm

Anyone tried the e36/7 antenna mod?Should be plug and play.
Image
Image
pipework
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:00 pm

Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:28 am

I just cut my original arial in half with a hacksaw then pushed the rubber cap back on after. I've got no loss of signal and it looks 10 times better.
clipper
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1980
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Madrid

Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:35 am

Convert to a manual one instead of electric?

Then you can choose how far you extend it - the joy of telecopability......
These are sensations as hard to forget as they are to ignore.....
User avatar
Brianmoooore
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 49358
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm

Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:06 pm

The top of the range E30 models have always been fitted with a much shorter aerial.
age
Formerly twist316
Posts: 448
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: cork ireland (kosice slovakia)

Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:04 pm

^^^^this

you want a shorter ariel...
buy an m3 or a touring.
simples winkeye
Alex
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 22666
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:23 pm

Halfords use to do a "mini" extendable one that was only half the height, not sure if they still do though, was a few years back
User avatar
unmol
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: West London, Southall

Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:37 pm

i think the 318is has the same ariel as an m3 on the roof infront of the sunroof.
polsta
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 10322
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: portsmouth

Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:55 pm

unmol wrote:i think the 318is has the same ariel as an m3 on the roof infront of the sunroof.
the 2 ive owned did not, they had normal e30 ariel on left of the boot
User avatar
ndg
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 41
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:00 pm

Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:58 am

Ariels have to be on a geometric regression of the wavelength, so 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8th etc. Wavelength at the middle of the band is just over 3m, so ariels will be 3m, 1.5m, 75cm, 37.5cm.

Just puTting a manual ariel down a bit will work, but not as well!
Tom_Maverick
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1343
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:00 pm
Location: Brighton

Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:09 pm

I used a glass one and had the hole in the rear quarter welded up and smoothed over.. reception was a bit worse but not too terrible (it was amplified) and it was a nice subtle touch!
Image
User avatar
unmol
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: West London, Southall

Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:31 pm

o ok, the "is" i had had it infront of the sunroof. i think :mad:
clipper
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1980
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Madrid

Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:29 pm

ndg wrote:Ariels have to be on a geometric regression of the wavelength, so 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8th etc. Wavelength at the middle of the band is just over 3m, so ariels will be 3m, 1.5m, 75cm, 37.5cm.

Just puTting a manual ariel down a bit will work, but not as well!
Oh.

So you learn something new every day......
These are sensations as hard to forget as they are to ignore.....
cypriot_boy_2k7
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1641
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:00 pm
Contact:

Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:48 pm

I've fitted these to a few e30's, i think there quite era

Image

Image
Post Reply