Anybody have any suggestions on the best place to mount (my MCS has a sunroof) and how to run the wiring? Thanks

 

Just found a post on "The other MINI forum"... OK, MINI2... that somebody have positioned their Sirius antenna on the front dash, up against the windscreen. Seems like a pretty good idea, just wondering if that creates any interference problems.

I'll post "over there" too, to see what the story is.

 

Swiped from pkrehbiel on MINI2.

 

I put my XM antenna centered on the dashboard 1/2 inch back from the windshield.
No drop outs---works 100 percent.

Get everything installed and just lay the antenna up there to try it first.
I think you'll find that's the place for it.

Yfoiler

 

My XM Sirrus connected up with Blitzsafe to the factory connections at the rear boot. I then ran the antenna under the rear trims and is attached by it's magnet mount directly behind my Nav shark fin. Super clean and excellent reception

 

Mine is on the dash over on the passenger side about 1/2 to inch from the windshield.

I did find that if you put it too close to the windshield (almost against it), the windshield wipers will affect your reception if you go in the right direction... Just slide the antenna back a half inch and it's fine...

 

Thanks guys, so the dash definitely seems like the way to go. Appreciate the input. Can't wait to finally have satellite radio!

 

No...up high and behind the antenna is the best way to go

 

>>No...up high and behind the antenna is the best way to go

Just doesn't seem like thre is all that much room on the roof between the edge and the regular antenna, and I really don't want to mount it anywhere else (i.e. off-center). Not to mention, the possibility of it being "removed" for me, is really unattractive. Many horrible things can happen to vehicles in large parking lots. Someone already bent my aftermarket antenna...

 

I just asked MSFITOY, but I thought I'd ask anyone else out there. If you have pictures of your install or at the very least, the outcome, I'd really appreciate it if you could email them to me.

Tried last night to mount the antenna on the dash, which didn'y fly (I have the Terk antenna with the "dragonfly" tail, which is a pain, and I couldn't really figure out how to mount it).

Plus, I tried to mount the tuner under the passenger seat, and I really didn't like how that turned out. Where else are people mounting their tuners? And how, if you've mounted the antenna on the roof, do you run the wiring out the boot?

Thanks... again...

I NEED SATELLITE RADIO!!!

-Chris

 

Plenty of room on the roof if you use the micro antenna:

 

>>Plenty of room on the roof if you use the micro antenna:
>>
>>


That's exactly where mine is placed too. I'll take some pics after work. My antenna is just as small but black. It've very hard to notice on my black roof.

 

Can you guys post a pic of how you ran the antenna wire out from the boot? And also (I know I know, I'm a pain), a pic of where your tuner is located? Yesterday I tried to mount it under the passenger seat, and that just wasn't going to fly. Wures were way too much of a hassle. For the Sirius tuner, at least, there is about 20 feet of friggin wire!

 

My antenna isn't going to look as clean.

As I mentioned, the Terk antenna I have has a thick protective rubber down the first 4-5" of the wire. So its going to have to be mounted almost adjacent to the regular antenna.

 

>>>My antenna is just as small but black. It've very hard to notice on my black roof.

Mine's black too - the camera flash makes it look grey. I agree - it blends right in with a black roof.

The antenna cable goes from there into the hatch trim until it gets to the inside headliner level. Then I tucked it above the headliner edge up the passenger side of the car until just forward of the passenger window. Then inside the rubber window trim down to beside the glovebox. Then to the inside of the glovebox where my tuner is. The tuner is integrated into my head unit so I don't really need access to it.

 

 

Awesome, thanks a lot.

 

Finally got Sirius installed this weekend. Ended up very clean, thanks for all of the help. Can't imagine how I lived without it!

One more thing. It seems that pre-sets don't work with the stock head unit? Does anyone else experience this?

 

>>Finally got Sirius installed this weekend. Ended up very clean, thanks for all of the help. Can't imagine how I lived without it!
>>
>>One more thing. It seems that pre-sets don't work with the stock head unit? Does anyone else experience this?

What do you mean? Mine works ok. The buttons behind the left steering spoke control the presets. The center controls the Sat presets. There are three times six that equals 18 preset to be had. Do you have the same unit? radiosandmore.com

 

I can use the steering wheel controls to scan through the stations, but I can't set the pre-sets. I figured it was just a matter of press-and-hold the pre-set button to set the station, but it doesn't do anything at all.

 

>>Can you guys post a pic of how you ran the antenna wire out from the boot? And also ... a pic of where your tuner is located?

It's easy to get the wire inside the Mini. You can just peel back the gasket on the wire bundle at the top of the hatch and gently pull down on the headliner. I ran my wire under the headlinger, down the hatch seal and into the service panel by the radio Boost. I didn't feel like pulling additional trim, so it comes out at the bottom and under the rear seats. It runs along the door jam seal to the glove box. I bundled up the extra wire and tied it up under the dash on the passenger side. Very clean install and easy to remove if needed. Hope that helps. :smile:

 

That looks real sharp.

 

Don't know why I didn't think of trying it BEFORE installing mine, but has anyone tried to install the XM antenna between the headliner & roof instead of outside the car?

If so have you noticed any degredation of signal reception?

 

Don't think that would work, the antenna should see the sky and the roof would be blocking it.

I tried 3 different places, and let me clarify that where I live has to effect the reception, because even on the roof I still get signal drop offs. But only on some of the most twisty mountain roads with lots of tree canopy obscuring the sky. This is rather rural and there are no ground repeaters either.

1. Center of the dash, between the red dot sensor and the windshield - no good for me.
2. Behind the main antenna, standard local and ran the wire between the roof and headliner down the a-pillar to the Roady mounted to the right of the tach - Best reception for me
3. I tried to mount the antenna between the sunscreen and the glass on the rear portion of the sunroof. I fab'd and tried 2 brackets; one that mounted on the metal between the 2 roofs and pointed aft, and one that ran across the opening to support the antenna. There is plenty of room for the standard antenna that comes with the roady, so no contact between the glass and unit. But neither of these provided good reception - lots of drop offs. The big plus of this idea was totally hidden antenna!

They recommend that there be at least a 6 inch surface area of metal surrounding the base of the antenna - now some will say that's not needed and others will say it is. Good luck!

 

It's that 6" around the antenna that at least in my mind leads me to believe the antenna somehow uses the roof to amplify the signal to the antenna. If that's the case then it's possible the antenna can be mounted from inside the roof, opposite from where it's mounted the roof.

Any thoughts?