Stubby Ariel

Head units and speakers, MP3 and CD changers, GPS and SatNav, plus PDAs, mobile phones, Bluetooth, TalkAbouts...
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johnz3
Joined: Wed 13 Sep, 2006 10:27
Posts: 670

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Pitsea

Stubby Ariel

Post by johnz3 »

Hi. Brought a very nice looking one of the above which looks much better than the standard one which is around 12 inches high. The stubby one is about 3inches. Problem is reception. The stubby cost under £4 If I buy a more expensive stubby will I get better reception. Thanks
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('_')Z3
Joined: Sun 21 Mar, 2010 19:29
Posts: 555

  Z3 roadster 2.0
Location: Lymm

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by ('_')Z3 »

Put simply no :(
I'm on my 4th aerial including the OEM stubby and as far as I can see they're all rubbish. Form over function and all that.
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Bi11
Joined: Mon 05 Nov, 2012 21:26
Posts: 150

  M roadster S54
Location: Bedford

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by Bi11 »

Reception on my oem stubby is ok where the signal is strong, but dodgy where the signal is a bit weaker. Doubt any of the stubby aerials are as good as the original (I wait to be corrected!), but they do look much better. A compromise as ever.
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
Posts: 6436

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by Southernboy »

There is only one way to get a stubby to work as well as or better than an OEM aerial...
Here's the gist of it...The OEM part is as long as it is so that it will intercept 80% of a radio wave from trough to crest...as such it isn't bad....the shorter the aerial length, the less of each wave it can intercept...but it does catch reciprocal parts of subsequent waves as you move / drive...as long as you have a powerful signal in the area you're in.... As you move away from the signal source, the transmitted waves are more and more scattered...by hills, buildings etc etc..and you lose the signal to a greater degree... In fact, the Z3 reception would be even better if it had a 3 foot aerial... but as mentioned - form / function etc...
To overcome this you could add a lengthy coil under the boot lid extending from one side of the boot lid to the other in an elongated "S" fashion...Mercedes did this on one of their models in an effort to elliminate the long aerial...BMW and others have used micro wiring around the the roof which extends all the way round the car above window height...they have even extended this in a front and rear windscreen surround as well as running a second circuit in conjunction with the heated rear windows on some models....all of this does improve reception to some extent, but nothing beats a serious pole stuck to the roof of a car...But then, we're all subject to our sense of aesthetics, and we'd rather listen to iPods etc as alternatives for zero reception through a stubby..
At the end of the day...size matters... :wink:
"Normal is overrated"
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Alan W
Joined: Thu 20 Jun, 2013 10:56
Posts: 670

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Bexley, Kent UK

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by Alan W »

I put on a quality (Rover) stubby, the reception was not as good and tbh I prefer the look of the old one as with the stubby fitted the car looked as if it had 'something missing'.. so original is now back on and I feel a lot happier. Think the stubby look works better on the likes of VW Golfs.
1999 facelit Z3 Roadster 2.8 Auto in Cosmos Black aka 'Gloria'
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
Posts: 6436

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by Southernboy »

I agree... I have a really stunning stubby...gathering dust in my "spares" cabinet... The OEM aerial is almost invisible on a black car...so doesn't bother me any... I still loose the signal from my fav radio station at around 120kms out...on the FM frequency...fortunately they also transmit MW simultaneously...so I switch over...It's not stereo transmission, but good enough...
"Normal is overrated"
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
Posts: 6436

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by Southernboy »

BTW..." as your post title suggests - Stubby Ariel - I was expecting a mermaid with a shorter tail.......... :wink:
"Normal is overrated"
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gookah
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Joined: Thu 07 Aug, 2008 09:51
Posts: 2737

  Z3 roadster 2.8

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by gookah »

I put a stubby aerial on mine so I no longer had to listen to some self opinionated blabber mouth, infrequently interrupted by songs I wouldn't choose to listen to.....
Reception is crap, so it works a treat.... :D
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Scrapman
Joined: Thu 06 Mar, 2014 21:23
Posts: 9

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Ayrshire

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by Scrapman »

gookah wrote:I put a stubby aerial on mine so I no longer had to listen to some self opinionated blabber mouth, infrequently interrupted by songs I wouldn't choose to listen to.....
Reception is crap, so it works a treat.... :D
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I have just bought my first Z3, and I am surprised how poor the stereo and speakers are. I just turn them off and listen to my 3 litre straight 6.





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bertiejaffa
Joined: Fri 26 Jul, 2013 09:28
Posts: 1733

  M roadster S50
Location: Manchester

Re: Stubby Ariel

Post by bertiejaffa »

I have a stubby and the OEM aerial and both are the same. I actually think the head unit is the part of the system that will (or wont) make the difference. Get a good one - preferably DAB and everything will be fine.... That is if you wish to listen to the radio of course.

If the radio isn't your thing then a new unit will probably also have BT Audio (or at least a USB) meaning you can play your music from your ipod/iphone/mp3 etc... which also means that you can fund it buy selling your old CD's to music magpie.... :D
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