MINI Sirius Antenna Update

GSKChicago Feb 28th, 2005 Link

Okay, I’ll start. :o)

My fiance’s new car came with XM built in and 90 days free to tease us into subscribing. Thus far, she never uses it and I have used it when driving her car but I’ve been quasi-unimpressed so far.

I love the concept and have been considering getting Sirius added to my ‘05 MCS, but am unsure at this point. Admittedly, I have only spent a little time playing with the XM stations and capabilities, so I am sure I’m missing things so far. I need to look at the station list more closely to determine what should be “my stations”.

That said, I don’t know what is tremendously different with Sirius at this point?

I guess the biggest drawback so far is too many choices and needing a menu to determine the stations. Choice is generally not a bad thing.

What about using the service in the car and in the home? If it’s an integrated system with the stereo… Is that still possible to do (obviously I would need a receiver for the home or office)?

I’m rambling, but hopefully making sense.

G.

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Lucien W. Dupont Feb 28th, 2005 Link

Ok.. :-) My wife has Sirius in her car, and I have XM in my MCS Convertible and a home unit.

We both far prefer XM radio She tells me that the Sirius dj’s talk too much, mainly about all their recent deals, and other channels, etc.

Our favorite channel on both is Cinemagic on XM, a channel that plays movie soundtracks and clips from that movie. If you love movies, this will swing you in my opinion.

Now if I can only get my XM Direct box and antenna to work properly. (My dealer couldn’t find a good spot to attach the antenna on the convertible, so they tucked it inside the header part of the windshield frame. It works about 70% of the time here in Portland, Oregon, the other 30% is hissing or no signal at all.

If anyone has any suggestions on that, please post them here.

Lucien

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Edge Feb 28th, 2005 Link

Interesting…

but I’m waiting for the collaboration between NavTeq and Sirius, to make the navigation system compatible with Sirius!

Come on… collaborate, Collaborate, COLLABORATE! :)

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Gabe Feb 28th, 2005 Link

wait… did something just happen. Is this like Beetlejuice?

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Ian Feb 28th, 2005 Link

Sirius did not work for me – lousy reception with lots of dropouts due to trees, buildings, overpasses … scrapped it all and went back to my own 10GB+ of music ;)

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TJKonarski Feb 28th, 2005 Link

I sure wish this antenna were available when I had my XM installed. I wonder if aftermarket XM installations can tap in to this new ’satellite ready’ antenna. If it isn’t compatable I totally recommend what I did…

I have an ‘05 MCS Convertible and my partner has XM in his Escalade. Having it in his truck I came to love the convenience and variety XM offered. So, back when I was ordering my MCSC I wanted satellite radio, but I also wanted navigation — And, of course, it was not possible to order both at the same time and all MINI offered was Sirius. I figured it was easier and cheaper to retrofit satellite radio so when I ordered my MCSC I got the navigation and then I could later retrofit XM. I bought from http://www.myradiostore.com the Blitzsafe adapter and XM receiver and had a local automotive aftermarket accessories store install it for me. They were able to put the XM antenna above the windshield right next to the radio antenna. (I know some of you out there put the antenna on the rear of the convertibles, just above the brake light.) Click the link below to MINI2 Forums and you can see what I wrote in detail about my installation and see the pics of my MINI’s antenna:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82874

I get excellent reception and have no serious (no pun intended) complaints about my aftermarket XM. I’m completely satisfied with my choice and love XM. All the channels I listen to are commercial free and the DJ’s speak very minimally. I especially like not having to hear the same songs over and over and over throughout the day. However, Sirius is the only satellite radio provider that has an all-gay station and if you like Howard Stern Sirius has locked him in with an exclusive contract — But you’ll have to wait until 2006 to hear Howard on Sirius.

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Miles Mar 1st, 2005 Link

You know, I’ve gotta say nothing’s easier than the XM Direct install. It took me all of about 15 minutes to get that puppy installed in my MINI, and it sounds perfect!! I’ve never used Sirius, but I sure am happy with my XM :D

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ChrisB Mar 1st, 2005 Link

I have had XM in my “S” for 2 yrs now and is great. Have had almost no drop outs. Have a mp3 player that hardly get used because of the variety of XM. Added a XM roady2 in my company ride this past summer and now get to enjoy ESPN , Jazz, Rock and Blues 24/7 in areas that get no terrestial signal. Now I need to replace that bulky XM antenna on Greta with the newer smaller ones.

CB

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Kurt Collins Mar 1st, 2005 Link

I absolutely love my XM Direct kit – I’ve had it in two MINIs now and it works truly as advertised! For the uninitiated you can get XM direct at http://www.xmfanstore.com/showproduct.php?id=xmdirect

According to my buddy at XM there are more BMW/MINI’s with XM installed than Sirius!

Also, you can’t get Opie and Anthony on Sirius – only that doom and gloom guy Howard who says “I don’t care.” :-)

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TJKonarski Mar 1st, 2005 Link

Kurt Collins: Did your XM purchase from http://www.xmfanstore.com include an adapter of some kind? http://www.myradiostore.com included a Blitzsafe Adapter to make the XM Receiver “communicate” to the MINI’s satellite-ready radio.

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KevinR Mar 1st, 2005 Link

After listening to them both, I decided I preferred the content on Sirius. And no, it has nothing to do with Howard Stern.

The deal cincher came when I found out ClearChannel is an equity partner in XM. I don’t like what ClearChannel has done to local FM radio and don’t want to support them if I can avoid it.

I’m currently using a Blaupunkt plug and play radio because I wanted a more extended test prior to committing to expensive MINI specific equipment. I plan to switch to the MINI parts later this year.

My car’s an early ‘04, so I don’t think I’ll be affected by this change.

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Josh Wardell Mar 1st, 2005 Link

There is no need to argue or research people’s opinions. You can determine your own now, both XM and Sirius allow you to listen in for free for several days off their web sites.

I’ve been using Sirius for several years, and find it was valuable enough to me to warrant spending the $600 on the OEM MINI sirius receiver. But $100 on a PNP receiver and the Aux adaptor will work almost as well.

I’ve given XM a try and find it is much more commercialized, the stations do not play as good a selection of music, the station tags are overabundant and annoying, and the DJs have no personality. Not surprising from a company run by ClearChannel.

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Steve Carlin Mar 1st, 2005 Link

Question – I have the Dension ice-link iPod adapter and I have the auxiliary audio input. Can I add XM by purchasing the MyFi and plug it into the auxiliary instead of the FM modulation (which has never sounded good and often drops whenever I have tried it with iPod transmitters)?

Thanks for any help.

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Paul Mar 1st, 2005 Link

The price of both just went up $3 – ouch!

In the who’s best category I want to repeat what Josh said, but in reverse. I have found XM to play far more obscure and interesting versions of songs than Sirius, at least on the channels I listen to – 80s and upop; some very cool Brit stuff. And the Sirius DJs I heard were very irritating.

I suspect it comes down to what kind of music you want to listen to most and who has the best channels of that kind. So as he says, check out the trial feeds and make up your own mind. Something for everyone.

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Kurt Collins Mar 1st, 2005 Link

Yup it did go up yesterday – but Opie and Anthony, Playboy Channel and XM for your PC are now included for free. Also, the friends and family plan rate remains at $6.99/per additional radio that you add to your plan.

My XM Direct box did include the Blitz Safe adapter.

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Peter Mar 1st, 2005 Link

XM just launched a 3rd satellite into orbit yesterday. Whether this will improve signal coverage over the continental U.S. or elsewhere, or whether system capacity has been expanded remains to be seen. However, on our recent trip to Hudson Bay in sub-arctic Canada (see story elsewhere in Motoringfile…) we had seamless, full-strength satellite signal reception all the way (so long as we weren’t driving in the deep shadows of a mountain blocking a southern view). It’s deceiving how both XMSR and SIRI say they don’t “offer service” outside of the U.S., yet. As for programming, I haven’t had any experience with SIRI, but I’m content with the quality, variety and depth of XM’s. The scrolling quote ticker (or sports scores) feature on the XM SKYFi2 display is neat too.

In general, satellite radio is definitely good i.c.e. for long road-trips. None of your buddies (or back-seat drivers) can blame you for poorly stocking up your iPod or MP3 player when you can flip through all the sat-channels ad nauseum, wherever you go.

Yes, the monthly subcription price has just gone up! I also haven’t seen my monthly cable bill go down in over 10 years either!

(caveat: I own/ed stock in either company, currently or previously.)

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TJKonarski Mar 1st, 2005 Link

Regarding XM and Sirius not offering satellite radio outside of the U.S. Is that really possible or true? How is that controlled? I mean… If satellites are hovering high above us, orbiting the earth, wouldn’t we be able to pick up the signal just about anywhere? Like for instance I live in SE Michigan. If I crossed the bridge to Canada and headed for Toronto would I lose my signal? (Toronto is about 3 hours NE of Detroit.) It’s not as if it’s limited by distance like radio waves are or limited by wires, contracts and legal ordinances like cable is. It’s a satellite orbiting the earth. It certainly sounds like I’m wrong from what some of you have said, but it seems like the signal should be in the air everywhere… no? Anyone out there with more knowledge or better insight?

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MadisonMini Mar 1st, 2005 Link

Well, they still don’t address when the antenna will be available for the 2005 convertible…it is still not available yet! I believe this update is only for the hardtops.

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Eric Mar 1st, 2005 Link

All right! Great thread! Picking up my MINI from the dealer today to get the Sirius put in after the antenna snafu. I decided to go with Sirius because it looks stock (big plus) and it has LIFE NFL and LIVE English Premier League games, a ton of $$$ if you were to order on TV.

That sealed the deal. Plus, the Dance and 80’s stations were pretty good.

I think people could be happy with both, but decide based on the obscure content. Like I said, the English Premier games was the clincher for me.

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Michael Babischkin Mar 1st, 2005 Link

I don’t think XM or Sirius have operating licenses in Canada. Their main focus is the US market and they are working to ensure that the US has the best coverage that they can afford.

Of course radio waves being radio waves means that there will be some coverage in Canada and Mexico, but since neither company is concerned about the Canadian or Mexican markets, whatever coverage you get there is essentially “bonus” coverage.

But the claim that they don’t offer coverage in Canada or Mexico is 100% correct. If you live in Mexico or Canada you can’t purchase a subscription for use in those countries. Neither provider will guarantee any service outside the US.

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mapleleaf Mar 1st, 2005 Link

I believe the reason XM and Sirius are only “offered” in the US is due to international broadcast laws. I know the XM service works in Toronto and is probably available to where 90% of Canadian’s live. The way they limit it is you must provide a US billing address and pay with a credit card that has a US billing address tied to it.

I use the XM Roady unit in my MINI and plug it in to the AUX input. Works great (if you don’t mind the wire running from the XM unit to the AUX input) and wouldn’t have a car without it. I split the time 50/50 between XM and my iPod. My fave station on XM is U-Pop. They play a lot of songs popular in Europe and other parts of the world that you would never hear on regular radio. There are dozens of artists that I have purchased music from because I heard their music on U-Pop.

I have never used Sirius mainly because I have been an XM subscriber since before Sirius offered service.

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Paul Mar 1st, 2005 Link

U-Pop is the best! But where do you buy the music from? A lot of the things I like aren’t available in the US, or on the iTunes store so I have to go without.

My brother in law takes his XM radio to Lorreto in MX and gets a great signal.

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TJKonarski Mar 1st, 2005 Link

Paul: http://www.towerrecords.com is a good source for import music. Depending on where you live they might have a store in a city near you. They have many locations around the country, but if you’re not close to one of their stores ordering online is a great alternative and their selection is excellent.

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Bucky Mar 1st, 2005 Link

XM-3 went up yesterday because one of the other XM satellites was having problems with the solar array. XM-1 and XM-2 will be parked next to each other and run at half power to extend their lives. XM-3 will take the spot vacated by one of the other satellites. (I don’t remember if it was 1 or 2) The main objective was not to expansion, but to maintain the existing level of service.

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Richard Mar 11th, 2005 Link

I have an ‘04 MCS with the factory Sirius set up. It’s my third car with Sirius and I love it. I will never own another car without satellite radio. As far as reception goes, I have driven my car across southern Canada with no reception issues and I have a friend who gets Sirius in Mexico City. Here in the Midwest, I have no problems.

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ADam Apr 22nd, 2005 Link

I called xm today, and they said they will gladly bill a Canadian Credit Card, you must provide a us adress, however they said if your paying by credit card they dont send invoices so it seems although they cant sell services in canada, they have no problem billing us for it.

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Jordan Kaufman Oct 14th, 2005 Link

So if Sirius works all the way down to mexico city it should work in the Baja (just a few hours south of the California/Mexican border) right?

I’m moving down there so it would be nice to know.

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