I'm wishing that I had bought my car with nav and sirius. (especially now that XM and sirius are the same)

Has anyone ever retrofitted a non XM or non sirius mini with these items?

I'm thinking it would be expensive not to mention complicated. (ie. wiring harnesses may be totally different)

Even if I can't have nav, I'd at least like to be able to have built in sirius.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Mark

 

An MA told me it couldn't be done, but you know how reliable their information is...

 

after being good and staying under my budget, i too regretted not getting the nav and sirius with it's integrated car controls on the perfectly located widescreen. i haven't heard of anyone retrofitting the oem nav. it would require quite a bit of leg work replacing the speedo, headunit, dvd and cd, the handbrake console with the joystick control, as well programming. if you're set on it, i would trade in your car for a new/used one with nav and all the other things you wished you had gotten.

here's my journey down the rabbit hole with pics and what i ended up with if you're interested. my very first mod was the kuda mounted garmin 660.



garmin's gps interface is so much better than the oem nav imho. problem is i had to stash it away in the secret compartment every time i park. i learned the hard way and had it stolen within a couple hours on a busy upper east side manhattan street. i eventually moved it here so it was more discreet and got the newministuff stereo harness (i'm selling it in marketplace now) that will mute and play the audio through the front speakers. made the bluetooth function usable.



you can also see my custom mounted sirius stratus. i was tempted to get the overpriced dealer istalled sirius module but i heard it was awkward browsing using only the one-line radio display. i used the patch cable to the oem antenna conenction underneath the passenger seat. i liked sat radio so much, i exchanged the stratus for the sportster 5. i know, very cluttered. i also had a back-up cam monitor in the center cubby.



i found my way to mp3car.com and couldn't help myself. i ended up fabricating a slot in the center console for a 7" touchscreen and putting a laptop in the glovebox.





now i have xm radio (with a beautiful graphic interface), mp3s, videos, internet, GPS vis Garmin Mobile, and a back-up and dashcam at my fingertips. great thing is since it's pc based, it is very customizable. people have integrated TPMS as well as OBD-II. the carpc software interfaces (frontends) are amazing. i don't have a pic, but the xm radio interface is slick with it's station graphic icons and browsing with the flick of your finger.



if you're interested, check out my detailed worklog at mp3car.com. i still have a few more things to do including a headrest monitor before i make an official diy thread here.



well, thousands of recycled ebay dollars later, blood, sweat, cursing, and tears, besides the low screen location and a/c controls, i can honestly say i'm glad i didn't get the oem nav. luckily, i'm stil married.

 

Looks good...unfortunately, too much cutting/modifying my stock car for what I want. It looks like if I really want it, the best suggestion is for me to sell mine and buy a new one.

Oh well, it was worth the thought.

Mark

 

You can add the MINI Sirius radio after the fact (the module installs under the passenger seat), but not all Sirius radios can get the XM channels. Only newer ones built for that, and MINI's is not among them last I heard.

I just use a Garmin Nuvi for navigation and it works great.

 

Easily added but compatibility with the XM/Sirius Merger is now a question on a retrofit and the new cars as well.

The parts for the NAV would currently cost over $2500 plus install time if the wiring harness is the correct one. If the wiring harness needed to be changed (and it may) it would add about 30 hours in labor costs to change just the harness.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Mark[/quote]

 

Yeah, I've got nav (handheld unit) and it works great, I just returned from a long trip and between my remote for the xm radio, my gps and cell phone, I've got everything cluttered up on the console....drives me nuts.

Mark

 

BEFORE you go trying to "retro" the OEM Nav, I'd read this thread first! Then, go get yourself a $200 handheld unit and mount it like everyone else has done, and you have a nice GPS that works properly.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ch-issues.html

 

your thread always made me feel better about not getting the oem nav. i've been spoiled by garmin. i got addicted watching the little mini car on the clear 3d maps. having ready access without having to put the nav away eventually drove me to the carpc/fabrication i mentioend above.

 

Yea, and YOUR thread/work has always made me feel BAD about getting ripped off by Mini!! Really nice work.

I have all Garmin stuff on my boat, touchscreen and amazing software. I just got a Garmin 400c handheld as a backup nav unit for offshore, the thing is the size of a bar of soap, cost a couple hundred bucks, has a touchscreem and the same 6 million POI's as the $2,100 mini nav has. Only, it takes abotu 5 seconds to find ANYTHING.

Mini is really killing themselves with this software. They are doing nothing but increasing Garmin sales, and killing there own.