My Crutchfield order is scheduled for delivery today, too!

I just emailed Enfig and asked if they'd refund the sales tax for me. Thanks, Ryan.

Mark

 

What did you search for on ebay? I looked at xm things and there a lot of items. Be my luck to get one that fits a 58 Nash.

Thanks,
kws

 

Both my enfig order and crutchfeld order are sitting on my couch! Just need the wife to get home with the Mini. I was going to give this to her (and the Mini) for christmas but it may be an early gift instead.


FYI: Enfig shipped out my order within 24 hours of the order placement. Very pleasent buying experience.

 

My experience as well. Would not hesitate to recommend ENFIG in the future or use them again myself.

Don't have the XM Direct unit yet (heck, my MINI is just getting on the slow boat from Southampton as we speak) but will be picking one up soon. This will probably be my first mod...can't be without my XM!

 

The tuner from Crutchfield arrived today. It's much smaller than I expected, which is good.

Christian from Enfig emailed me and said the invoice was a mistake and I wasn't actually charged the sales tax. I'm very happy with Enfig, too, and recommend them.

Now, in a few days, I'll have the last remaining part: the car itself!

Mark

 

I got my XM Direct from Crutchfield today too as promised by UPS! I'll tear apart the car later tonight and get it installed and activated!

[edit] Ran into a snag. Seems when I got my head unit replaced (at Motor City MINI) they erroneously ordered a european spec head unit. My blitzsafe appears to not communicate to it, as when I toggle through the Mode I get CD and Radio, but no "Sirius" as it should say

going to try tearing head unit out and checking those connectors, because I wouldn't be suprized if MCM monkeys forgot to do anything right

 

GRRR no dice

Best I could measure was I'm getting 12V to the Blitzsafe, and confirmed the car has the CD changer signal wires actually connected to the headunit, but I need a scope[meter] to determine whether I'm getting output from the XM Direct, and a pin-out to see anything happening on that bus cable between the XM Direct and the Blitzsafe. OK I hava a scope, but didn't feel like dragging it out tonight.

 

Uh oh!

 

YAY!

Huge thanks to MtnBikerBones and Wraith1416 for their help. MtnBikerBones helped me determine this morning that my B-safe and XM Direct are functioning correctly by using his MINI as a test bed, and Wraith1416 volunteered to trade his US-spec head unit for my euro-spec, as he has no plans for sat-radio in the future.

Found out something useful! Wraith1416 has a base stereo, and I have h/k. Our head units are interchangable! This means that his "base" HU works in my h/k MINI, with full h/k functionality. Likewise, my "h/k" HU works in his base with full base radio functionality (they have slightly different functions). This means that ANY head unit will work in ANY factory stereo, and work correctly!

Anyway, XM rocks. I ended up putting the antenna behind the aerial mast (like CooperB!), because reception sucked otherwise I notched the rubber grommet going into the headliner a bit so not to chaf the antenna wire on the sheetmetal. The toughest part was reinstalling the weatherstripping for the boot! Oh, and the magnetic antenna, scratches the paint harshly if you move it, no matter how clean the paint is!

 

To solve the scratch problem , get 4 self adhesive felt pads and that will keep the scratches of the roof, no issues with movement at all..

 

^^you mean levitate the magnet just above the roof with thin felt pads? Good idea!

 

No such things as a European HU, it's all in software!

All you need to do is reset the HU to USA mode - and your HU will work fine...

If you disconnect the OEM satellite ready BMW radio (either by disconnecting the battery or the head unit itself, the factory head unit may default to "Euro" mode. If this happens the radio does not recognize the satellite connection (XM Direct).

Here's the fix:
1. Turn Radio Off.
2. Turn Radio On.
3. Press and hold the "m" button for about 10 seconds.
4. Press < or > to navigate and + or - to change settings. May also need to press certain Preset buttons to change settings as well.
5. When you see Euro, change it to USA.
6. Turn radio off to exit.

The headunit should then recognize the XM Direct connection.

Chris.

 

Good idea!

 

Just to be sure, the XM module is
Terk XM™ Universal Tuner (XMDirect™)
TRK XMD1000
Right?

Edit: Nevermind, found it at Crutchfield. That is correct. Ordered! XM module at CCity was $49.99 and of course the module from Enfig for $145 ($5 for shipping)

 

Finally got around to installing the XM today using the XM Direct receiver/antenna (from Crutchfeld) and the SLD 01 adapter (from Enfig). Took about 30 minutes to install (could probably do it again in 10 minutes now that I know what I am looking for).

It does have a learning curve to find the right touch to change channels or change presets (see CooperB's post). I too wish I could get the radio to scroll. Maybe one day BMW/MINI will release a firmware update for the radios to address this (doubtful).

Anyhow, IMHO XM/Sirius is completly worth $10/12month for this level of music selection. For those on the fence I would say go for it!

Oh, a tip I thought of today while installing the antenna. Most of us are running the antenna wire through or under the grommet on top of the boot right? Well here's my thought. If water is going to get into the car from the location of the antenna wire, why not bring the wire in from the bottom of the grommet instead of the top (as pictured in an earlier post). This way gravity should help us keep water out and not hurt us. Just a thought.

 

Just thought that I would share something that I ran across tonight while playing with the XM........


I was listening to my local traffic/weather station (Channel 215, Pittsburgh, PA) to find out the forecast for tomorrow. Out of curiosity I hit the info (INF) button while on the traffic/weather station. The first time I hit it said "Drizzle". The second time I hit the info button it it said "37 DEGREES". And by-golly it was indeed drizzling and 37 degrees out.

How cool is it that you can get the current weather status and temp just by hitting the info button . Another cool feature of XM in your MINI

EDIT: If someone from BlitzSafe ever reads this, here is a suggestion: For those 'older' MINI's (i.e. 2003's, some 2004's) with the 2 spoke MFSW how about modifying the adapter so it will allow us to utilize the "dead" button on the left side of the rear of the steering wheel? You know the one that is in the center of the left sided buttons. I think if I could make this into an (INF) Info button then it would save me the hassle/potential danger of reaching onto the headunit to find out what artist/song I am listening to. This way I could just move my finger to the MFSW button and WHAM... track info appears on the headunit (although it won't scroll ). Just a suggestion. :smile:

 

Got my final piece in the mail from Enfig yesterday (took a couple extra days for some reason) and installed everything. Got it up and running in an hour or two, and sounds great!


So, what are your favorite channels?

 

So far I like to listen to "Ethel" 47 and "Fred" (42 I think) the most. I also really enjoy the XM Comedy xL on channel 150. I do find myself listening to everything from big bands to alternative to hip-hop. Gotta love the selection.

 

Hi everyone, if this has been covered, I apologize. The therad is 9 pages long. . .

I have the MINI iPod adaptor. I thought the plugs in the boot area were for the CD changer. The iPod adaptor takes the place of the CD changer. Am I mistaken? Are the boot plugs for XM? If so, does anyone out there have XM and the MINI iPod adaptor?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

If I understand correctly, you have to get the more expensive XM interface to use a CD changer with XM. Not sure about the iPod as it uses the Aux port correct?

 

Boneyard (41), The 80's (8), and Squizz (48?) are the ones I find myself listening to most. Sometimes Ethel and Lucy (forget the number for Lucy, but near Fred).

I need to do more exploring. The selection is huge!

 

It's not the xm interface but the blitzsafe interface that's different. The cost is about $10.00 more...depending on where you buy it.

 

Installed XM direct into my car last night and I gotta say its pretty easy. XM is so much better then FM deffenately worth the $ .

 

I really like Channel 150 for comedy. Pretty good stuff.

 

Just be carefull with 150 if you have a convertible.