I had a VIN below the published pre-wired number, but after seeing posts about cars below that number actually having the sat radio wire harness, I looked in my trunk and was pleasantly surprised to see the harness. I ordered the XM kit from Grubbs for a little over $300 shipped which arrived in less than a week. The Grubbs kit includes a coupon code for free activation with XM and 2 months free service! (PM if you need the code)

Today I installed the kit in less than an hour. All that was involved was unhooking the neg battery terminal, plugging in the sat tuner to the white harness, plugging in the antenna to the harness, attaching the ground wire, reattaching the battery, turning on the stereo, and hitting the SAT button! The tuner can be secured however you'd like in the trunk next to the Bose amp housing. I ended up using the included velcro on one side of the sat tuner and fastening the other side of the tuner to the Bose amp housing with a cable tie.

Initially, I placed the included antenna on the rear deck of my coupe when the 3rd brake light would be if I didn't have the aero package. I have metallic tint and expected some reception problems, but it was great in my driveway. However, once I drove off into the surrounding hills and under some trees, I experienced some a lot of dropouts of reception. I only had reception less than half the time while driving. I put it outside on my trunklid and my reception went to almost 100%. So there definitely is a problem with reception if you have metallic tint! That included antenna is pretty big and nasty looking, so I headed over to Circuit City where I found the Terk XM3 antenna for $50 plus tax. Although still noticable on the trunk, it has a much lower profile and looks much nicer in my opinion. I also won an Ebay auction for the same XM3 antenna for $38 shipped, so the I'll return one to Circuit City next week.

I spent over an hour just sitting in my car listening to Sat radio today...hope my car battery doesn't run out! My digital camera battery was unfortunately out during my install, so it's recharging now and I'll get some photos tomorrow.

Dr. Jim
2003 Desert Platinum G35C 6MT/Aero/Prem/Nav/HyperGround/XMSat/BSM/Tint/ClearBra/CG
2001 Acura MDX/Touring/Nav
1997 Mercedes Benx E320/Eibach Springs+Dampers/OZ Racing Superleggera Wheels

 

Sounds awesome man...how much does it normally cost/month for XM or Sirrus?

 

You can find out about XM at http://www.xmradio.com and Sirius at http://www.sirius.com.

I went with XM because I live in SF Bay area. XM has a lot of repeater transmitters in urban areas to provide good coverage. My understanding is that Sirius relies strictly on the satellite transmission from the sky, but they have more satellites, so that might be better in rural areas without repeater antennas for XM. I'll be paying $9.99/month for my XM once the 2 free months run out in September. But at that point I'll probably upgrade to a 2 year subscription and pay up front to save $40.

Drove for more than 2 hours today and I love my XM, especially Fred (channel 44) and Ethel (channel 47)!

I put some XM antenna photos into my part of the Rides section. https://g35driver.com/rides/detailri...x=13&vehId=805

Dr. Jim
2003 Desert Platinum G35C 6MT/Aero/Prem/Nav/HyperGround/XMSat/BSM/Tint/ClearBra/CG
2001 Acura MDX/Touring/Nav
1997 Mercedes Benx E320/Eibach Springs+Dampers/OZ Racing Superleggera Wheels

 

Since we both live in the same area, you might want to consider placing the antenna withing the rear break light housing on the rear window shelf. I had my Terk M3 on the rear trunk lid, and moved it to the stealth location. It would be important to place a metal plate beneath the antenna if you place it there. There are more drop outs in this location, but those antennas are ugly as sin, and I can put up with a few drop outs as an appearance tradeoff.

03G35c/C_Blue/Willow/5AT/Premium/Splash/Garmin SteetPilot III/V1/SAT/XM/18" PermaStar rims w/NITTOs.

79174-G35c At GGNRA Thumb Dshadow.jpg

 

I have been searching the Net for a small (~ 3 inch or so) mast antenna for XM Sat. radio. Do you know where I can purchase a small mast antenna?? TIA

"Use the Forced Induction Luke!"
-Jedi
2003 G35C, 6MT, Navi, Black Obsidian/Graphite

 

"Any advice/resources re the satelite/repeater issue you described in making a decision? "

Mog, I asked around at a couple local aftermarket car stereo stores about the XM vs Sirius issue and the consensus among installers in my area was better reception and fewer dropouts with XM, that (as well as lower monthly fee) made my decision.

"Since we both live in the same area, you might want to consider placing the antenna withing the rear break light housing on the rear window shelf."

Ca_Kid, I did try an antenna on the rear shelf of my coupe but with my metallic tint, I ended up havingmore than 50% dropouts which is unacceptable. I considered removing the tint and retinting with Huper Optik ceramic, but I don't want to risk damaging the rear defogger strips and diversity antennas on the rear window with tint removal, so I'm limited to an external antenna. If I find a non-metallic paint that's a close match to my Desert Platinum, I may paint the antenna housing. For now, I'm happy with it on my trunk. It's definitely better looking than the included Clarion antenna in the kit.

I notice that you have a Garmin StreetPilot III. Do you use an external antenna for that? I have the same in my Mercedes and I use a low profile external magnetic antenna (even smaller than the Terk XM3) for it and get much better reception than the standard stub antenna on the unit.


Dr. Jim
2003 Desert Platinum G35C 6MT/Aero/Prem/Nav/HyperGround/XMSat/BSM/Tint/ClearBra/CG
2001 Acura MDX/Touring/Nav
1997 Mercedes Benx E320/Eibach Springs+Dampers/OZ Racing Superleggera Wheels