I just received a silver MCS for graduation (aren't my parents the best!!), and i am wondering if i should get XM with Delphi receiver. Do you have any suggestions or comments? I love this community by the way!!thanks!!

 

Hey, welcome to MCO, I am still in high school, and my parents gave me my Red/white MCS, it is great, and I am thinking of getting sattelite radio put in, but I'm not to sure, I want to wait, and see what other people that have done it think.

 

thanks....i am kinda at that stage too, ya know waiting for others to see what its like...

 

I have the XM Satellite radio by Delphi.

BTW, you DO NOT have to put that ugly antenna on your roof.
I mounted mine on top of the dash, right on center, about a half inch back from the windshield. It works great there and is not noticable at all.

I used a GPS swivel mount on my radio and sacrificed my right side cup holder for the location of the swivel (ball joint type) mount. If I ever take the radio out there will only be four little screw holes in the bottom of the cup holder. Not really noticable at all.
Here's a pic. (sorry the antenna location doesn't show in this photo)

The "Y"

 

wow!...that looks really good! i think i will get one. is satellite radio one of those things that you don't realize how great it is until you actually have it? well, in other words, you didn't know what you were missing?thanks

 

First go with XM over Sirius, XM has a much larger subscriber base than Sirius, and most importantly is the one closest to turning a profit.

I haven't made the move to satellite radio because I'm not completely sure that there is a future for satellite radio, and I don't want to have a bunch of useless radio receivers and ancillary equipment that cost me a few hundred dollars.

 

>>wow!...that looks really good! i think i will get one. is satellite radio one of those things that you don't realize how great it is until you actually have it? well, in other words, you didn't know what you were missing?thanks

You bet it is!!!
I totally relied on the BBC world news service to get what was "really" going on over in IRAQ. You know, no *war* themes and flag waving.... just good reporting.

Lots of choices of music/talk/comedy---really good no matter what you are into.
The CD quality audio is quite good too. Lots of nice features on the radio.
For a $150 radio and $10 a month it may not be for everyone but I do enjoy it very much.

Don't forget however. You will have to purchase the electronic adaptor that plugs into the cable where the muli-CD changer goes in the trunk. They get you about $100 for the Mini/BMW version. Then you have to run wires all the way forward to the unit. Not the easiest but it could be worse.

Just remember... DON'T put that ugly antenna on your roof!
BTW, another cool thing is the boom box adaptor. You just slip the XM out of it's car holder and slip it into the boombox for the beach, picnic, sports, whatever. The boom box is really really cool. I use it in our family room at home. It sits next to the window and gets it's satellite view of the sky that way. Since your spending ten bucks a month better use it in as many ways as possible I think.

The "Y"

 

I also have the Delphi system and I can honestly say I hate leaving home without it.
I think that yours looks great Yfoiler. What I did though was to put mine right behind the cigarette lighter, straight in back of where Yfoiler has his.It just happens to fit perfectly in that space and with a little push is snug in there. It can also be readily pulled out so you can take the unit with you.

After having had the Alpine XM radio in another car I have to say that the Delphi is awesome.

I just noticed that Yfoiler said he has his hooked to the multi cd changer in the boot, right? What I did was purchase the FM modulator they make for fifty bucks and it is hidden in the console behind all of the toggle switches. Either way though is just fine.

I looked at the boombox and decided I just needed another in home setup to attach it to my work radio. I kind of thought the boombox was weak compared for me personally.

But whatever you do you will love XM radio.

 

Y, I have the same system but don't have my MINI yet. How did you work the input cables with the MINI stereo?

That's a great location for it. Kinda where I was thinking of it and it's good to know I won't have to use the stickpads that never work for long anyway.

Tom

 

Moving this to the audio forum where you may get some more response from the audio-philes here

 

>>I just noticed that Yfoiler said he has his hooked to the multi cd changer in the boot, right? What I did was purchase the FM modulator they make for fifty bucks and it is hidden in the console behind all of the toggle switches. Either way though is just fine.
>>
>>But whatever you do you will love XM radio.

I missed that as well. I think I'll probably follow your approach with the RF modulator. Now to find a way to run the antenna cable.

 

>>Y, I have the same system but don't have my MINI yet. How did you work the input cables with the MINI stereo?

I used the Blitzsafe model DMX V1.D interface box made for BMW/Mini to interface the Sat. XM radio. I got it very quickly with an online order to Rspeed in Georgia.
It plugs in to the existing cables for the CD Changer in the rear of the Mini. The hassle is you then have to run these wires up to the XM radio from the rear of the car. Not fun, but worth it. Because....
Some here have mentioned using the cassette adaptor instead of the Blitzsafe.
This is convenient but will not give you CD quality audio because of trying to couple the audio signal through the cassette tape head---not the best way to go.

The "Y"

 

>>I used the Blitzsafe model DMX V1.D interface box made for BMW/Mini to interface the Sat. XM radio. I got it very quickly with an online order to Rspeed in Georgia.
>>It plugs in to the existing cables for the CD Changer in the rear of the Mini. The hassle is you then have to run these wires up to the XM radio from the rear of the car. Not fun, but worth it. Because....

Can anyone talk to the +/- of using the Blitzsafe DMX V1.D rather than the MINI AUX port? It seems the MINI AUX port, installed somewhere in/under the dash (some have put it in with the Euro parcel shelf) would give a more useable solution since you could easily swap out an XM tuner for an MP3 player, etc. I think it provides a mini-DIN connector. The Blitzsafe solution connects all the way in the boot. I don't think either one gives you control over the SkyFI or the new Roady so I think they're equal in terms of just getting the tuner's output into the H/K system. Thoughts?

 

I just noticed that Yfoiler said he has his hooked to the multi cd changer in the boot, right? What I did was purchase the FM modulator they make for fifty bucks and it is hidden in the console behind all of the toggle switches. Either way though is just fine.
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Does that mean that by purchasing the $49.99 FM modulator you can mount it somewhere under the dash and not have to do the Blitzsafe thing of running wires all the way from back to front ? If that is the case, the FM modulator is the thing for me. Also, I have seen pics fo the dash mounted antenna (right in front of the MINI optional sensor). How and where does the wire run, and did you do this yourself? Delphi says it reqires professional installation.

Final question: with the SKIFi, can you still use your regular car radio that comes with the MINI to listen to local stations?

 

Can you give us a detailed description as to how you ran the antenna wiring from the top of dash to the XM unit? Thanks.

 

I ran the wire along the base of the windshield over to the passenger side, at this point I got it under the weatherstripping until it was under the dash. Then out of the weatherstripping and along a wiring bundle until I got to the center of the car where I ran it under the AC to my Shuttle mounted on the drink holders...