How awful should the standard F30 radio be?

[keith jecks]

I have heard lots of stories about the stereo system in Ferraris, most of which seem to be written by people more dedicated to HiFi than me. However, the radio reception in my F430 is terrible - it won't even pick up Magic FM in East Grinstead. With my previous Ferraris (a 575 and a 360, both of which had a head unit that looked the same as the current one) I don't remember having this problem, but it may be that was just that I used to drive in different areas. Is the radio really that bad, or is there likely to be a fault with mine? I am wondering if the aerial cable was disturbed when an iPod lead was fitted, though if that were the case I would have thought it wouldn't work at all, whereas it does work, it just doesn't seem to have the range that every other car seems to have.

[kbooker]

Yep, they really are that bad...well mine was

[br d]

Properly awful.
First thing I did when I bought a 430 was go and have a decent system fitted, the standard thing is crap.

[red_duke]

The standard Becker BE 6105 radio in my F430 is fine. It locks in all the major FM stations plus all the local commercial crap.

You should have two radio removal keys that were supplied with the car. Pop the radio out and make sure all rear connectors are in place. The keys look like this:

Edited by red_duke on Sunday 22 February 19:18

[andyvdg]

Mine is fine too. I was expecting it to be terrible after all the comments on the internet, however it's perfectly acceptable and the worst elements of audio quality get overwhelmed by tyre noise and engine Grrrr at speed!

[keith jecks]

I don't think I have any radio removal keys with the car. I will get Maranellos to check the radio connections if there aren't any in the car

[voicey]

Please make sure you isolated the battery before removing the radio. It is very easy to insert those keys too far and short the board out.

[keith jecks]

Thanks! I will.

[Cerberaherts]

You don't need to remove it. Reach up around the back of the dash (you'll need a light) and find the ariel cable. It's a black wire with a small round connector. They often fall off, if this is the case then just push it back into the socket near the corner of the unit..

[keith jecks]

Damn. Checked it and it is all connected. The radio is apparently just rubbish! Irritating when the one in the Fiat 500 we have is just fine!