According to sources MINI is planning on offering the R56 will be HD Radio in the US market. As with BMWUSA products, MINI USA will position HD Radio along side Sirius as an option for those who would like higher quality sound with more programs to choose from. However, the upside to HD Radio is that there are no monthly charges. For those that don’t know much about the new radio standard, here are a couple of articles explaining the benefits over Satellite and standard radio:
[ HD Radio ] Wikipedia
[ HD Radio is making waves ] Chicago Tribune
[ HD Radio Station List by City ] HDRadio.com
Can you add HD radio to the 06’s Does it work the Digital Power Sound Module & Navigation?
My guess would be no, the way BMW has been in the past is that there are fundamental differences in the code that controls the HU itself that are being changed in order to allow this feature.
As with AUX, ID3 tag support, Bluetooth steering wheel controls, this probably won’t be a retrofittable feature.
HD radio as an Option?? Shouldn’t it be a feature? Like RDS, the FM radio should just pick it up if the station is broadcasting with it. We have some stations around here already broadcasting in HD Radio. Does that also mean you can’t have HD Radio along with Sirius?
Any news on pricing? I hope they both drop the price of the sirius unit as well as modernize its features. Right now I barely recommend it because it is six or more times the cost of add-on units with many more features.
But does that make it go faster?
Sid Speed
Josh,
Just becuse the stations broadcast alongside FM, doesn’t mean the car manufacturers can’t charge you more for it..! Remember when any kind of radio in a BMW was an option..?
I just wish auto manufacturers would open up in general to both Sat formats – VW did this for a while but I guess they felt the technical challenges of keeping track of radio id’s through the manufacturing process was too much…..
There is a definitive after market opportunity for HD radio on pre-’07 models, and I wouldn’t put any brand loyalty towards Mini for this. I give kudos to Mini for leading HD as a model option, seems to be ahead of other car manufacturers on this front. Perhaps it will expand the HD market.
I’m definitely interested in HD audio options for my current ’05 HK audio.
<blockquote>But does that make it go faster?</blockquote>
Sid, I’ve heard it should be good for an additional 5-10bhp.
Hey Gabe, any indication as to if it will be released with the introduction of the R56, or is it going to be added on later to the car a few months into production, like the original HK system was.
Pay extra to have a digital radio that I’ll be forced to listen to commercials between every other song? Not in Chicago (maybe if I lived in SoCal or NYC). I’ll keep my XM, thank you.
Paul – that’s one of the key issues around sat radio and HD…sat radio is a subscription, so you have to pay for the receiver as well as ongoing monthly fees. HD radio has a single upfront cost (albeit too expensive right now), and then you’re done. So a subscriber may be willing to pay extra for no commercials, or not. There’s an article in today’s WSJ (<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115560663063635815.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs" rel="nofollow ugc">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115560663063635815.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs</a>)about the pros and cons here.
Personally, I prefer a higher definition audio from my radio with no ongoing fees. And when I don’t like a on-air commercial, I’ll do what I normally do – change the channel.