[fusionnv]

Originally Posted by Stavros

for those of us like myself who did not opt for prewiring. Is it possible to plug in a sirius radio unit directly into the aux port under the glove like the ipod?

If the thing got a mini jack yeah, but it won't be intergrated.

[SilvertE90]

Sounds like plug and play,Is there any reason one could not install their own ?

[zordar]

I am confused about satellite radio. Is there a way to get XM satellite radio on the new E90? Do I need the satellite prep in order to do so? I am just wondering what to do before I order the car, because I don't want to pay $600 for Sirius sateliite radio. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

[ward]

why would you want XM????
have you tried/listened to both?

I must say I'm addicted to sirius

[midwest_rollin']

My dealer told me that with labor, adding the OEM satellite radio will cost about $900. based on that information, i chose to pay the $595 (or whatever it costs) to get the sat radio pre-installed.

[CC 330i]

Originally Posted by CaptJack

OK Boys and Girls, Here's the straight scoop on Sirius radio:

I ordered my E90 from the factory in early March with the Satellite Prep Pkg. but no radio since I wasn't sure I would really wanted it. I currently have an XM radio in my wife's car and have a portable unit that I really love. So, to get Sirius meant another $12.95 per month for their service.

To make a long story short by the time the car arrived early this month I had decided to go for the radio after all and had it installed by the dealer. It works great and here are the facts and details:

1. The Sat Pkg. contains ALL the required wiring and antenna equip. (Shark fin) necessary. No additional wiring or antenna are necessay.

2. The radio unit is the same one used in the new 5 and 6 series cars so they are available even though the dealers may not realize this fact.

3. The radio consists of a metal box approx. 10" x 3" x 6" and is installed behind the left side panel of the trunk. It simply plugs into the wiring harness provided by the Sat Pkg. The only problem is that there wasn't a connector available to hook into the car's antenna system and there is still no BMW mounting bracket available to mount the system. The mechanic at my dealer was pretty sharp and fabricated the mount and procurred a connector from a 6 series parts bin.

4.All the functions of the radio are available through the radio in your car already so fortunately they don't have to pull the radio unit out at all. Everything hooks up through the wiring harness that is part of the Sat. Pkg.

5. The cost of the radio is $495 ( $100 less than factory installed unit) BUT installation labor is extra and will be at least 2 to 3 hours since they have to fabricate the mount. There is also apparently some software updates that need to made as well. In the end the whole thing ended up costing me about $725. It's probably a good idea to make sure that there is a cap on the installation costs as some mechanics may not be as efficient as others and it's conceivable that the labor bill could end up being something outragious.

6. You get a one year free subscription to Sirius. No paperwork comes with the radio inatall kit since its operation is covered in your manuals. Therefore no info on how to get the free subscription. No one at the dealer or even BMW customer support knew how to go about getting the free sub. As it turns out the BMW OEM units have a serial number that is registered with Sirius so when you call them to activate the radio and give them the number that is displayed in your radio disolay panel it automatically shows up as a 1 yr free service unit. Considering this, it might be worth being cautious about buying any of these units other than from an authorized BMW dealer. They may possibly NOT have the free years subscription which is worth about $155.

Bottom Line: The radio works great, sounds great and is a real joy to have. If you have a choice, by all means order it from the factory rather than having the dealer instal it as it will almost surely cost less in the end and save some frustration.

HAPPY LISTENING!!!

This might have to be my next project. I have prewiring, but didn't get the Satellite radio option. I just hate paying techs 2 hours labor to plug something in to a wiring harness and update software. I am sure that when the mount is available, it will be a VERY simple install/retrofit. I may look into fabricating a mount also. If someone can take a picture of their satellite module, that would be great. I am sure there are discount dealers around that will offer this module at less than list price when they become widely available. This should still include the 1 year free service.

It sounds like the way to go would be to get the changer/sat combo. Might be overkill but I like the idea of both.

Just make sure you order Satellite prep at the bare minimum. If you know you want Satellite NOW, order it from the factory as this seems like your best bet.

[Hunter399]

Originally Posted by batmanwagon

The satellite prep. option allows for BMW Center installation of the BMW OEM Sirius satellite receiver. It will interoperate seamlessly with the existing head-unit in the car just like the factory installed satellite radio. If I recall the price correctly, the dealer-installed (i.e., BMW Center installation) price is $495, so it will wind up being roughly the same price as the factory installed option. One downside that my dealer tells me is that the BMW Center installation will require another antenna that will be mounted on the trunk.

About the only reason for doing satellite prep. as opposed to ordering the factory-installed version is that you're not yet certain that you want satellite radio - remember that it is a monthly subscription. That's exactly why I'm getting a satellite prewiring as opposed to ordering factory-installed satellite radio.

My dealer tells me that it is closer to $800 to get Sirius installed at the dealership....

So Sat prep. is almost pointless, because if you want sat radio, you should just get it factory installed to save you about 400 bucks...

[zordar]

Originally Posted by ward

why would you want XM????
have you tried/listened to both?

I must say I'm addicted to sirius

I haven't heard Sirius - is it any good? I heard XM has more channels available and I would be able to get the monthly service for a cheaper price than with Sirius (under the family plan). I know there is an XM adapter available from BlitzSafe but I don't know if it will work on the E90.

[ward]

sirius has just as much music as XM.

Plus XM has raised it's prices to the same level as Sirius, so unless it's a second subscription to you (second subs with sirius are 6.95 a month)
you can hop on their website www.sirius.com and get a free trial, I have friends with XM and for my tastes Sirius is far superior in terms of music

[e90fanatic]

CaptJack,
does this mean that if I get the Sat Prep. and install the OEM afterwards at a BMW center, the only addon equipment will be in the trunk, meaning nothing visible to the eye?

Originally Posted by CaptJack

OK Boys and Girls, Here's the straight scoop on Sirius radio:

I ordered my E90 from the factory in early March with the Satellite Prep Pkg. but no radio since I wasn't sure I would really wanted it. I currently have an XM radio in my wife's car and have a portable unit that I really love. So, to get Sirius meant another $12.95 per month for their service.

To make a long story short by the time the car arrived early this month I had decided to go for the radio after all and had it installed by the dealer. It works great and here are the facts and details:

1. The Sat Pkg. contains ALL the required wiring and antenna equip. (Shark fin) necessary. No additional wiring or antenna are necessay.

2. The radio unit is the same one used in the new 5 and 6 series cars so they are available even though the dealers may not realize this fact.

3. The radio consists of a metal box approx. 10" x 3" x 6" and is installed behind the left side panel of the trunk. It simply plugs into the wiring harness provided by the Sat Pkg. The only problem is that there wasn't a connector available to hook into the car's antenna system and there is still no BMW mounting bracket available to mount the system. The mechanic at my dealer was pretty sharp and fabricated the mount and procurred a connector from a 6 series parts bin.

4.All the functions of the radio are available through the radio in your car already so fortunately they don't have to pull the radio unit out at all. Everything hooks up through the wiring harness that is part of the Sat. Pkg.

5. The cost of the radio is $495 ( $100 less than factory installed unit) BUT installation labor is extra and will be at least 2 to 3 hours since they have to fabricate the mount. There is also apparently some software updates that need to made as well. In the end the whole thing ended up costing me about $725. It's probably a good idea to make sure that there is a cap on the installation costs as some mechanics may not be as efficient as others and it's conceivable that the labor bill could end up being something outragious.

6. You get a one year free subscription to Sirius. No paperwork comes with the radio inatall kit since its operation is covered in your manuals. Therefore no info on how to get the free subscription. No one at the dealer or even BMW customer support knew how to go about getting the free sub. As it turns out the BMW OEM units have a serial number that is registered with Sirius so when you call them to activate the radio and give them the number that is displayed in your radio disolay panel it automatically shows up as a 1 yr free service unit. Considering this, it might be worth being cautious about buying any of these units other than from an authorized BMW dealer. They may possibly NOT have the free years subscription which is worth about $155.

Bottom Line: The radio works great, sounds great and is a real joy to have. If you have a choice, by all means order it from the factory rather than having the dealer instal it as it will almost surely cost less in the end and save some frustration.

HAPPY LISTENING!!!

[fox13weather]

My friend has Sirius in his car and is able to change the way the data is diplayed on his screen... i.e. he can program which stocks to show on the screen while listening to CNBC, more importantly he can program which scores to show while listening to ch 120, ESPN radio...I can not find this option available anywhere. Any info on this??

[RedStripe]

Yes

Originally Posted by e90fanatic

CaptJack,
does this mean that if I get the Sat Prep. and install the OEM afterwards at a BMW center, the only addon equipment will be in the trunk, meaning nothing visible to the eye?

[Rather Dashing]

i got sat prep because i'm very unsure of satellite radio as of right now because i do have an ipod. I also am quite certain that the price of the receiver will go down in cost and that i would be able to do the installation myself. No way it takes two hours to plug it in.... Also why would you need a custom wiring harness if every e90 with satellite prep is identical. Sounds to me that they are just screwing people over with installation.

[ward]

The nice thing with sat radio is that you get exposed to new music, while an Ipod is nice, and I also use one myself. I sometimes get sick of the music I already have and like to keep in touch with what's new

As for the price going down for the accesory, I know aftermarket stuff will become cheaper, but the factory piece probably won't go down in price

[e90fanatic]

Originally Posted by ward

The nice thing with sat radio is that you get exposed to new music, while an Ipod is nice, and I also use one myself. I sometimes get sick of the music I already have and like to keep in touch with what's new

As for the price going down for the accesory, I know aftermarket stuff will become cheaper, but the factory piece probably won't go down in price

agree. The factory sat radio is actually not bad because it's only $470 above sat. prep and it comes with a year's free service which costs about $155 if you get it later. So you're really paying $315 above sat prep. or (total of $385) for the unit installed. Not too shabby. I'm sure Sirius will get bigger in the future and will eventually get to be a standard.

[Frank_NJ]

As to answer the Blitzsafe question a while ago. Unless they can come up with a tuner that will work with the BMW fiber optic bus then you will have to go with Sirius. I think Sirius is gaining market share anymore and I know that at the end of 2006 there is a couple of stations on XM that will be moving to Sirius.

[06alpine325icm]

75 bills.. i have seen most cars come with it unless its an order car

[zoidal@mac.com]

Suppose you have sat prep, and no radio. Can you use the sirius antenna for a third-party radio? I don't care about integration. I only want the antenna access. I'm fine with the aux input. Besides, the new Sirius s-50 is incredible. It's color display looks like an ipod nano and it's black and about that size. it pops out of it's carkit mount and works antenna-less as an mp3 player & it records the sirius programming on it's own internal flash drive. It holds about 50 hrs of material, so you can store Howard Stern, and listen at the gym without an antenna. The car system sounds great with it, but before i do the permanent install, i'd like to try to use the existing antenna.

Help?

[Rather Dashing]

I just had similar experience, told my parents to get me sirius for my car for xmas (I have Sat Prep) told them it would be $300-$400, went to the deal and they said $700.

Sat Prep is a rip off.

[gsxrpaul]

So if I don't have Sat. prep already I can't get Sirius installed? is that what the deal is.

[loopsandsounds]

Originally Posted by gsxrpaul

So if I don't have Sat. prep already I can't get Sirius installed? is that what the deal is.

I'm working on it here. Hopefully I'll get my last bit done today and create a DIY.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8282

[zim07]

Does Sat Prep include vehicle coding or does this have to done at installation by the dealership?