So I'm at the dealership getting a new vacuum hose since my last one was making my car sound like a mule (honest, a mule!) when I'd turn the car off. Anyway, the parts guy approaches me to inquire about my sirius installation.

I told him I was complaining about the sillyness of not being able to order NAV AND Sirius on the 04's. He said it's actually possible! So, this thread is for those who want NAV and Sirius in their cars or ANY MINI owner who wants the OEM Sirius Radio setup in their car.

Bascially it works like this....MINI North Scottsdale decided to ignore BMW NA's archaic satellite radio setup and simply decided that if they swapped head unit's (HU), added the BMW antenna kit, and a few other cables, it'll all work just fine. So, you can get the OEM look and maintain everything else you have...this means you don't have to waste your AUX input on a satellite radio setup when you can just leave it for MP3 capabilities AND you get to use the steering wheel controls to control the Sirius setup.

Here's what you need:

part no:
84-11-0-141-979 sirius antenna $125
84-11-0-150-535 HU w/sirius $299
84-11-0-150-534 install kit $75

and a couple of other cables:
84-11-0-150-533 and 532 running at $12.50 each

There you have it. OEM Sirius Radio in your MINI AND if you have NAV, it's still not an issue (unlike what the website thinks).

If you want to discuss with further with the dealer, contact the parts guy directly.

Matthew Sanders
480-538-3960
msanders@unitedauto.com

cheers,
haf :smile:

 

btw, I should have posted this in the audio forum.....can someone move it? Thanks.

 

Where does the Sirius antenna mount? And only 299 for the head unit? Sounds awful cheap! Is it an actual CD headunit, or the add-in tuner?

*interest piqued*

 

Greatbear, it's the EXACT MINI Factory HU with the Sirius capabilities. Not a bad price. I should add, he even offered me a 10% discount (I didn't include that in the prices listed above) for no other reason than "just becuase."

The antenna mounts on the roof. You have two options on the antenna:

Option 1:

BMW Antenna - looks like any other satellite radio antenna on cars you see with it...except it has two lines (one for satellite, one for repeaters)...the repeaters are in areas with limited line of sight visibility (downtown buildings for eg....but I'm not sure how many cities really have a lot of them).

Option 2:

MINI Antenna for No NAV - it sits at the base of where the radio antenna on the roof is now but looks like a "bubble" and the radio antenna screws into the top of it.

haf :smile:

 

Please post all audio related info in the Audio section. Thank you :smile:

 

Gah, I have Nav.

I'd be best mounting the BMW Sirius antenna on my dash somewhere.

So lemme get this straight... this would be a Sirius-ready CD head unit for 299 smackers, plus the other goodies needed, correct?

 

Greatbear, you should still mount on the roof...the reason for this is because the entire roof of the car will help to sustain your signal in rough spots....hence they recommend you always mount the antenna to sheet metal....you could still do the dash (I"ve read others doing this) but I wouldn't personally.

So yes, the HU is $299....then you need the antenna kit and additional wiring.

Bluepotato - sorry about posting in the wrong forum....I actually did mention somone should move this earlier above...cheers :smile:

 

Greatbear,

I have an '03 MCS with dealer installed Sirius but not NAV. The $299 should be for the Sirius receiver that mounts in the boot, not the head unit in the dash which should already be Sirius ready in '03 MINIs.

An alternative antenna would be to use one of the smaller XM units instead. I've tested this antenna with both an Audiovox and a Kenwood Sirius receiver and it worked fine.

Blitzsafe antenna and this Terk antenna splitter

Sean

 

Sean, very interesting....thanks for posting that. I had a half hour convo with the parts guy who was selling me on the headunit for that price! I need to find out what's going on...hmmmm...

 

Any more info on putting Sirius into your MINI yourself? I'm really wanting to do this, and I want Sirius rather than XM. Does anyone know if the basic blitzsafe adapter would work with a Sirius receiver?

A little help...?