Why does my car stereo only pick up AM stations but not FM?

Why does my Mercedes E320's car stereo lose volume intermittently on FM stations?

• I have a 1998 Mercedes E320 with the stock car stereo (AM/FM, cassette, CD changer in the trunk). For the last couple of years, the sound on FM stations will suddenly drop to a barely-audible level for a time, then will go back to normal for a while, etc. This is not a problem with AM stations, nor with the CD changer or the cassette player. The windows are tinted after-market, and it was suggested to me that the antenna might be in the rear window and that the tint might be interfering with reception, but the sound doesn't fade in and out like I would expect with a reception problem. Is the radio/cassette unit simply malfunctioning, or is it the antenna, or some other part? (Someone once mentioned an "antenna splitter.) Since the radio that comes with the car matches the rest of the interior (buttons, colors), I'd hate to replace it with an after-market stereo system for aesthetic reasons.

• Answer:

  Are you listening to out of town stations? If the signal is far away then sometimes it will not pick it up well and the volume will drop. Well you wouldnt need anything special. It sounds like then that your antenna is not connected to the radio. Try pulling out there radio and there will be a big silver plug looking thing and see if it is connected.