<<< The OFFICIAL CD Changer Repair Guide >>>

[omeyhomey]

Hey guys,

These old MB CD changers have been driving me NUTS!! I have been trying to fix this sucker for literally 9 months since i got my car, and after many temporary fixes i FINALLY found the perfect solution.

Tools & Supplies:

- Black electrical tape
- scissors
- phillips screw driver
- corn pads (optional)
- Memorex (or any other brand) CD Lens cleaner

Step one (picture 1):

Pull trunk carpet up and locate the two mounts w/ the phillips screws in them. Unscrew the two screws and place them in a safe location where they will not get lost.

Step two (pic 2):

apply corn pads over screw holes, feel free to double or triple stack.

Step three (pics 3 & 4 & 5 ):

Pull up the entire housing and look at the wies below. You can see there is one tiny plug and one large plug. The tiny plug works great, it is the power cable. The big plug is the culprit we all love to hate. It is the very reason why thousands of MB owners have had to replace their stereos & CD changers MULTIPLE times. It is the worse designed plug I have ever seen. It hangs in the slot all loosey goosey and is why we get the dreaded "Magazine Empty" & "NO CD Changer" errors. Pull both plugs out.

Step four, optional (pics 6 & 7):

This is to adjust the orentation of the CD player from horizontal to vertical or vice versa. Take the large steel casing mount off the CD changer via the 4 phillips screws. Then take off the sticker covering the holes. and just mose the silver spring mount from H to V or anywhere in between (for diagonal mounting). once done reapply sticker.

Step 5 (pic 8) :

apply padding of some kind to the rubber bottom mounts. I used the fluffy velcro side but you can use something else if you like.

Step 6 (pics 9):

This is by far the most crucial step. The big plug is so poorly design that its always shifting about. So what you have to do is essentially create a "sling" out of black electrical tape to help need the plug "plugged in" all the way so the plug is in as far as it will go (normally there is literally 1/8th - 1/4 inch play, thats how loose it gets). I chose black electrical tape for a few reasons: one its very cheap. Two its black so it won't stand out. three, its very sticky and will last a very long time even in hot conditions. Four, it has elastic properties so it creates the proper amount of tension for the plug.

Step 7 (pic 10):

Use a CD lens cleaner like this Memorex one in order to clean the lens.

Now my CD player is bulletproof and never skips and never lags or takes a while for the song to start playing.


To Sum up:

- Black Electrica tape = $2
- CD lens cleaner ~ $10
- Tools = you already own them
- knowing that you fixed your CD changer for under $15 while most other MB guys had to replace their headunit & CD Changer multiple times and still having figured out the problem... = $ PRICELESS


As a side note:

-If you are having the "Empty Magazine" or "NO CD CHANGER" warning its probably the big plug (aka the bitch plug) itself.

-If your CD changer plays fine on certain sections of the CD but not on others (Mine would always get stuck on song 8), then its probably a dirty CD lens

This process should fix pretty much any issues you are having with your CD player. Anyways... ENJOY!

~Omey~

[omeyhomey]

Hey guys, after a few hours a driving I have finally concluded this is infact the CURE. Not a single skip or lagging song or anything. Its amazing. The CD changer works exactly as it should. hope that helps.

[ProV1x]

wow great post omey - !!

ya know, the changer in my E55 skips LIKE CRAZY. plus it won't really play burned CDs too well. I thought this was because of the stiffer suspension on my E55, because the changer in my E420 never gave me problems. Also, my changer will not read CD 1.

[saad12]

Thanks , i will try the proposed solution and hopefully it would resolve the issue.
Thanks a lot for all your help.

[B15M]

I fixed my CD player today based on what I read here.

Thank You!

I want to say that taking it apart for the first time is a little scary.
I used WD40 on the gears and a rubber band to hold the wire in place.

[Hi Fi]

Originally Posted by omeyhomey

Hey guys,

These old MB CD changers have been driving me NUTS!! I have been trying to fix this sucker for literally 9 months since i got my car, and after many temporary fixes i FINALLY found the perfect solution.

Tools & Supplies:

- Black electrical tape
- scissors
- phillips screw driver
- corn pads (optional)
- Memorex (or any other brand) CD Lens cleaner

Step one (picture 1):

Pull trunk carpet up and locate the two mounts w/ the phillips screws in them. Unscrew the two screws and place them in a safe location where they will not get lost.

Step two (pic 2):

apply corn pads over screw holes, feel free to double or triple stack.

Step three (pics 3 & 4 & 5 ):

Pull up the entire housing and look at the wies below. You can see there is one tiny plug and one large plug. The tiny plug works great, it is the power cable. The big plug is the culprit we all love to hate. It is the very reason why thousands of MB owners have had to replace their stereos & CD changers MULTIPLE times. It is the worse designed plug I have ever seen. It hangs in the slot all loosey goosey and is why we get the dreaded "Magazine Empty" & "NO CD Changer" errors. Pull both plugs out.

Step four, optional (pics 6 & 7):

This is to adjust the orentation of the CD player from horizontal to vertical or vice versa. Take the large steel casing mount off the CD changer via the 4 phillips screws. Then take off the sticker covering the holes. and just mose the silver spring mount from H to V or anywhere in between (for diagonal mounting). once done reapply sticker.

Step 5 (pic 8) :

apply padding of some kind to the rubber bottom mounts. I used the fluffy velcro side but you can use something else if you like.

Step 6 (pics 9):

This is by far the most crucial step. The big plug is so poorly design that its always shifting about. So what you have to do is essentially create a "sling" out of black electrical tape to help need the plug "plugged in" all the way so the plug is in as far as it will go (normally there is literally 1/8th - 1/4 inch play, thats how loose it gets). I chose black electrical tape for a few reasons: one its very cheap. Two its black so it won't stand out. three, its very sticky and will last a very long time even in hot conditions. Four, it has elastic properties so it creates the proper amount of tension for the plug.

Step 7 (pic 10):

Use a CD lens cleaner like this Memorex one in order to clean the lens.

Now my CD player is bulletproof and never skips and never lags or takes a while for the song to start playing.


To Sum up:

- Black Electrica tape = $2
- CD lens cleaner ~ $10
- Tools = you already own them
- knowing that you fixed your CD changer for under $15 while most other MB guys had to replace their headunit & CD Changer multiple times and still having figured out the problem... = $ PRICELESS


As a side note:

-If you are having the "Empty Magazine" or "NO CD CHANGER" warning its probably the big plug (aka the bitch plug) itself.

-If your CD changer plays fine on certain sections of the CD but not on others (Mine would always get stuck on song 8), then its probably a dirty CD lens

This process should fix pretty much any issues you are having with your CD player. Anyways... ENJOY!

~Omey~

Sad to say I checked the plug and it still says 'NO MAGAZINE' and I still can't get the changer to work...Thanks anyways. I just can't wait to start listening to cd's in my car.

[omeyhomey]

Originally Posted by B15M

I fixed my CD player today based on what I read here.

Thank You!

I want to say that taking it apart for the first time is a little scary.
I used WD40 on the gears and a rubber band to hold the wire in place.

awesome, glad I could help out

[omeyhomey]

sometimes... if you hit the eject button and take out the magazine then wait a few seconds then hit eject again and THEN put it back in and push it all the way down firmly into the slot then sometimes it fixes the problem. This procedure acts like sort of a refresh and that gets it to work too.

Again, this CD changer is a lot like your old Super Nintendo or Original nintendo, alot of the blowing & pushing techniques for the cartridges work the same (I think almost everyone here knows what I'm talking about haha). Hope that helps.

[Hi Fi]

I wish mine would at least eject the cartridge, it would be a start.

[omeyhomey]

Originally Posted by Hi Fi

I wish mine would at least eject the cartridge, it would be a start.

I think there is an emergency release somewhere, I forget where but I think theres a way to eject it once you take out the CD changer and mess around with it. It would make sense that they put one in. could be wrong but its worth a shot.