Like most BMW owners, I enjoy driving at speeds considerably above the fifty five mile an hour speed limit. This fact, plus my desire to retain my driver’s license, instilled in me the desire to install a Citizen’s Band Radio in my BMW 2002. The only problem was where to put it to avoid theft and without marring the interior appearance. My solution was to purchase a Hygain 9.

This CB consists of two parts: a plug-in microphone that contains all the controls, (on-off, volume, squelch, channel selection and push-to-talk) and a digital channel readout.

The microphone cord terminates in a sixteen pin connector plug. The other part is a black box about 10″ x 8″ x 2″ that contains the rest of the works. It has the antenna jack, an external speaker jack, and a fuse. Extending from this unit are the power lines and a four foot cable terminating in a sixteen pin jack.

I chose to mount the black box under the passenger seat although the trunk is a good alternative, but necessitates the purchase of an optional extension cable.

After removing the seat, I secured the unit with sheet metal screws and ran the cable and the power wires through a slit in the rug under the inside seat track to a hole I made behind the center console after removing the side panel. The hole for the green dummy insert is just the right size for the microphone jack.

I drilled four holes (using the bracket supplied as a template) and bolted the jack in place. I use a magnetic mount antenna with the cable running from the trunk, under the back seat and the carpet to the black box.

The only problem was the sound from the speaker built into the microphone unit. It was tinny and required that the mike be set down facing me so that it could be clearly heard. I solved this problem by putting in an external speaker on the rear deck. Plugging this into the black box cuts off the speaker function in the microphone unit. It works great

The microphone unit makes it very convenient to use while driving. There’s no straining to reach the controls or squinting to read the channel numbers.

When I park, I simply unplug the microphone, pop the antenna off the trunk lid, throw them both in the trunk and I’m on my way.

Author: Tom Bergman